HIST-222: Civil War and Reconstruction

Grant's world tour

A post-Civil War tour by Ulysses S. Grant that highlighted the international resonance of the conflict as a pivotal event shaping global ideas of democracy and freedom.

Modern War Features (Civil War)

Emergence of industrialization on the battlefield (railroads, telegraph, accurate rifles); fortified positions and trenches favoring defenders; unprecedented casualties.

Civil War Casualties

Total wartime casualties numbered well over 1{,}000{,}000, with 620{,}000 combatants dying and nearly 50{,}000 at Gettysburg alone.

Union's Victory Significance

Helped consolidate the American Union and anchored the idea that the nation was founded on universal principles of democracy and liberty, not ancestry or language.

Emergence of American Nation-State

The Civil War created the modern national state in the United States, expanding the federal government's power beyond the prewar decentralized model.

Lincoln Administration Economic Policies

Established the first national banking system, a national currency, the first income tax, and protective tariffs, laying groundwork for the first transcontinental railroad.

Abolition's Role

Slavery lay at the root of the crisis; abolition became central as Union victory unfolded into social revolution.

Emancipation Proclamation

Issued January 1, 1863, it transformed the war from a political struggle to a social one, enabling a shift toward a society where blacks played a central role in the outcome.

Black Men in Union Armed Forces

Approximately 200{,}000 Black men served in the Union armed forces, establishing Black citizenship as a postwar political issue.

Fourteenth Amendment

Embodied birthright citizenship and equal protection under the law for national citizenship.

Fifteenth Amendment

Established Black male suffrage.

Dred Scott Decision (1857)

A pre-war Supreme Court decision that underscored growing contested racial definitions of liberty and citizenship.

Reconstruction (Black Political Participation)

Black men gained the right to vote and hold office across the South from 1867 onward, a radical shift in political power.

Radical Republican Reforms

Pushed major reforms including the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Fourteenth Amendment, redefining federal responsibility for civil rights.

Reconstruction Achievements

Established interracial democracy in parts of the South, created public school systems, and began rebuilding the economy.

Black Codes

Laws enacted during Reconstruction that restricted former slaves' rights.

Andrew Johnson's Program

A lenient Reconstruction program that allowed white Southern elites to regain control.

Limits of Reconstruction (Suffrage)

Suffrage was extended to Black men but remained restricted to men (women's suffrage pursued later).

Limits of Reconstruction (Economic)

No comprehensive economic plan backed Black independence (e.g., no guaranteed land redistribution like 'forty acres and a mule').

End of Reconstruction

Occurred in 1877 with the withdrawal of federal troops under Rutherford B. Hayes, leading to white Southern resistance and the rise of the Lost Cause narrative.

Lost Cause Narrative

A historical interpretation that emerged in the South after Reconstruction, often romanticizing the Confederacy and downplaying the role of slavery.

Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)

A powerful veterans' organization in the North that remained politically influential and helped sustain Republican dominance for decades.

Post-Reconstruction South

Characterized by disfranchisement, segregation, and a new racial order, with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments effectively undermined by local rule.

Historical Interpretation of Reconstruction (Early 20th Century)

Often blamed Reconstruction's failures on corruption and 'carpetbaggers/scalawags'.

Historical Interpretation of Reconstruction (Mid-to-Late 20th Century)

Reframed Reconstruction as an unfinished attempt at interracial democracy.

Second Reconstruction

A term used to refer to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, drawing parallels to the unfinished goals of the post-Civil War era.

Legacy of Civil War and Reconstruction