Reconstruction

What was Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction?

“Ten-Percent Plan” — allowed a Southern state to be readmitted to the Union once \(10\%\) of its 1860 voting population took an oath of allegiance to the United States

• full pardon and restoration of property (excluded elite Confederate officials and military leaders)

• had to recognize the permanent freedom of formerly enslaved people

• (once 10% threshold met) voters could elect delegates to draft revised state constitutions and establish new governments

What was Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction?

wanted a blanket pardon for as much of the South as possible—

• pardons and restoration of property for anyone under $20,000 of property

• nothing about voting or property for Freedmen

• states had to ratify 13th Amendment and nullify secession

held special congressional elections in 1865—elected Confederates were allowed back in office

What was Congress and the Radical Republicans’ plan for Reconstruction?

created military districts in the South governed by generals; would not acknowledge reconstructed states until:

1. voter registration

2. new state constitution with universal male suffrage

3. ratify the 14th Amendment

What was the 13th Amendment?

abolished slavery and involuntary servitude across the United States

What was the 14th Amendment?

guarantees birthright citizenship and equal protection under the law to all Americans

What was the 15th Amendment?

the government cannot deny a U.S. citizen the right to vote based on their race, color, or past status as an enslaved person

What was the Freedmen's Bureau? How did it try to help former enslaved people?

a temporary federal agency established by Congress in March 1865 to help millions of formerly enslaved people and impoverished white Southerners transition from the devastation of the Civil War to freedom and citizenship

What were the Black Codes and what were they designed to do?

laws that allowed arrest of African Americans who could not document employment or residence or were “disorderly”

judges could remove children for “apprenticeship”

designed to maintain slavery in all but name

What steps did many Southern states take to prevent African-Americans from voting?

the Klu Klux Klan —lethal violence, physical terrorism, psychological intimidation, and economic coercion

How was the Election of 1876 decided? Why did it mark the end of Reconstruction?

decided by a special bipartisan Electoral Commission created by Congress to resolve contested electoral votes—Republican Rutherford B. Hayes won

triggered the Compromise of 1877

Why did Reconstruction fail?

1. Democrats v. Republicans

2. North v. South

3. Corruption

4. Cost and taxes

5. Loss of Northern interest

What was the Tenure of Office Act and what happened after it was passed?

Act states that the president cannot fire officials without Senate approval.

President Johnson broke it intentionally and the House voted to impeach him— seven Republican Senators break with the party so they failed to convict him.

Weakened the Radicals and gave strength to moderate Republicans

What was the Compromise of 1877?

essentially removed the monopoly the North had over the South and allowed them to govern themselves once again