To what extent did 1865-1877 improve the lives of black americans?

Yes black Americans benefited

• 13th Amendment 1865

• 14th Amendment 1868

• 15th Amendment 1870

• Enforcement Acts/Klan Act 1870+1871

• Radical reconstruction/military rule 1867

• Civil Rights Act 1875

• Freedmen’s Bureau 1865

• Growing black consciousness and community

No black americans didn’t benefit

• ‘40 acres and a mule’

• Black Codes

• Johnson’s racism

• white supremacist groups

• sharecropping

13th Amendment

1865

abolition of slavery - 4m emancipated

benefits for BA:

• they could be postmen

• they could ride on streetcars

• black witnesses were allowed at federal courtcases

black people were now able to become participating members of the political system

14th Amendment

1868

aimed to reinforce in 1866 Civil Rights Bill. this and the 14th A:

• struck down on Black Codes

• guarenteed all citizens equality before the law

• allowed federal government intervention if any states denied citizens their rights

• banned most of the old Confederate elite from holding office

old confederate states refused to accept it so Congress imposed Radical Reconstruction on the south with the Military Reconstruction Act

15th Amendment

1870

gave BAs the vote

promoted by Ulysses S Grant (69-77) to ensure the Republicans had the black vote in the South

limitations

• failed to make voting requirements uniform across the USA

• made no reference to the rights of ex-slaves to hold political office

• women not included

Enforcement Acts/Klan Act

1st EA: 1870 → criminal penalties for anyone who tries to prevent BA from voting

2nd EA: 1870 → placed the election of congressman under the surveillance of federal election officers

protected the BA right to:

• vote

• hold office

• serve on juries

• have equal protection under the law

the 3rd EA = KKK Act: 1871 → allowed southern govts. to introduce martial law in countries where they deemed white supremacist groups were active and gave federal troops power to ignore habeus corpus and arrest KKK members + outlawed activities closely associated w/ the KKK

However, they exposed the efficiency of the KKK and its threat to BAs

Civil Rights Act

1875

aimed to prevent discrimination in public places such as railroads, hotels and theatres

it was unsuccessful because it was deemed unconstitutional in 1883 by the SC - civil rights issues = responsibility of each individual state

no lasting effect

Radical Republicans and military rule

1867-1877

• Tenure of Office Act (1867) - required consent of the (republican-dominated) senate for the president to remove any office holder

• Military Reconstruction Act (1867) - allowed black southerners to vote and occupy public office and divided former confederate states (apart from Tennessee) into five military districts under commanders

• Command of the Army Act (1867) - decreased Johnson’s power (over the army)

The military government was responsible for protecting emancipated people from violence and intimidation.

However, their focus (and the goal of reconstruction) was union and controlling the confederacy (not BAs)

cons of military rule, led to:

• scalawags - southern white people who was willing to work w/ reconstruction state govts

• carpetbaggers - northern white people who went south to make money and exploit the economic dislocation of the former confederate states

Also the fact that it was so ‘radically’ republican meant that opposition rose massively and things started going the opposite direction in 1877. Temporary short-term gains which were crushed by later long-term bad things

Ulysses S Grant made the end of reconstruction really bad which led to democracy rule:

• refused to provide federal troops to suppress white terror groups

• admitted democrats won 1875 election using fraud and violence

• 1872 amnesty act - removed the political penalties associated with participation in the Civil War

1877 compromise resulted in last the republican party governor in the south leaving office and he attacked hayes’ policy saying it was an abandonment of BAs

Freedmen’s Bureau

1865

To help former slaves and poor whites in the South transition to a new life after the Civil War.

• Established health programs and 40 hospitals

• Distributed 21 million rations

• Built over 4000 Black schools and over $400,000 was spent to establish teacher-training institutes

• Offered legal aid to freedmen

• Helped distribute confiscated or abandoned land, though this was a controversial aspect of the bureau's work

However, it faced large Southern resistance. Also it had insufficient funding and staffing so could not meet the needs of emancipated people and poor WAs. Shut down in 1872

40 acres and a mule

1865

large strip of land confiscated by General Sherman to divide up into 40 acre sections for emancipated people

• lacked experience and education

• lacked $ and equipment to run the land

• lacked $ to buy land

• southern WAs reluctant to sell to emancipated people

• by 1877 only a small fraction of emancipated people had their own farms

Black Codes

several former confederate states

undermined reconstruction

designed to make it impossible for BAs to:

• vote

• get an education

• purchase or rent land

• receive meaningful protection from the law

maintained black economic, social, political and legal inequality

caused uproar in the Northern states

Johnson

1865-1869, democrat, anti-confederate, previous slave owner and insisted BAs were inferior to WAs

• Mississippi rejected the 13th Amendment in Dec 1865 and Johnson did nothing

• Attempted to veto the 14th Amendment - congress overrode this

• Attempted to veto the Freedmen’s Bureau and civil rights bill 1866 - overrode by congress

• introduced ‘Presidential Reconstruction’ allowing states to return to the Union if they accepted the 13th Amendment. This lead to black codes.

white supremacist groups and violence

Violence:

may 1866 → white crowds in memphis, tennessee attacked black soldiers, 46 dead

former slave owners continued to whip, maim and kill black americans as if slavery still existed in some areas

KKK = formed Dec 1865 in Nashville

• 1870 - attacked a Republican party rally in Georgia - killed 4 BAs

• 1870 - burned down black churches as school houses in Alabama - cross about the 15th Amendment

• 1865-71 major period of KKK lynching (declined in 1871 due to the KKK ACt)

White League = formed march 1874 in Louisiana

• 1874 Coushatta Massacre - murdered 5 BAs and 6 Republican Officials

• 1874 Battle of Liberty Place - 5000 WL members fought with 3500 New Orleans police and the WL overturned the NO city gov for 3 days

Knights of the White Camellia = formed May 1867 in Louisiana

• 1773 Colfax, Louisiana - 280 BAs killed

sharecropping

new scheme of land rental

by 1880, 80% of the land in the cotton producing area of America was farmed by sharecroppers

there were more poor WAs in sharecropping than BAs

system of permanent debt for sharecroppers - borrowing money for equipment and seed

exacerbated by illiteracy - didn’t understand the agreement before agreeing

couldn’t escape - continued servitude - similar to slavery, replaced slavery

pros:

• provides some security

• feasible given the political atmosphere

• doesn’t cost to start

cons:

• trapped in a system

• exploitative

• money was paid at the end of the contract (they often didn’t even get paid)

overall

abolition of slavery - 4m emancipated

huge successes with the amendments but racism and violence continued and became the opposition to authority which led to white supremacist groups

Difficulty in emancipated people finding jobs (not including sharecropping) - lack of assets, illiteracy, lack of education,

Attitudes underpinning racial tensions hadn’t changed