civil rights kq1

When did the American Civil War end?

April 1865

What was the cause and aims of the Civil War?

Southern states believed they should have the power to govern themselves rather than the federal government interfering.

• Southern States wanted to keep slavery withing their borders and leave the union to avoid the fed gov.

• When Lincoln threatened to stop the spread of slavery, 11 Southern States seceded and formed the Confederate States of America.

• North wanted to preserve the US as one nation and stop secession.

What is the ‘emancipation proclamation’ and when was it issued?

September 23rd 1863

An order issued by President Lincoln in 1863: declared that all enslaved people in Confederate states were considered free.

• Only applied to Confederate states.

• Lincoln had little power to enforce it

How many people died in the American civil war?

620,000

How many black slaves were freed by winning the war?

4,000,000

How many black men enlisted in the Union army after the emancipation proclamation?

180,000

What was Lincoln’s view of slavery?

He had made lots of previous statements that suggested he would abolish slavery if the opportunity arose.

Believed the long term solution was gradual, compensated emancipation - paying slaveholders to free enslaved people slowly over time.

When did Lincoln submit a congressional proposal to Congress, and why?

March 1865, in order to end slavery all together.

He was able to persuade many of the Democrats who were in Congress to support his Republican party members to agree to the Thirteenth Amendment.

When was the 13th amendment passed/ratified?

January 31, 1865

December 6, 1865

How much did the 13th amendment pass by?

Passed by 119 to 56, narrowly reaching the required two-thirds majority.

The necessary ¾ of states ratified it by December 6, 1865.

How much $ did the 13th Amendment wipe out?

Each enslaved person had a market value of ~$800 each. By 1850: combined market value of $1.3billion 1/5 of the entire nation’s wealth, nearly equal to the entire gross national product.

US gov paid nothing to slaveholders after the 13th.

Many of the white planters rebuilt much of their lost wealth in just one generation.

2 quotes from Lincoln about civil equality:

Lincoln Douglas debate, 1858: “I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and black races’

Letter in 1862: ‘If I could save the union without freeing any slave, I would do it’.

Who were freemen?

African Americans freed from chattel slavery.

What followed the adoption of the 13th amendment in certain states regarding the rights of AAs?

1865: Black Codes

13th Amendment prohibited slavery except as a punishment for crime; exploited by Southern states by criminalising activities that would make it easy to imprison AAs, forcing them back into slavery.

KKK was founded less than a month after.

Who was Frederick Douglass?

A leading AA advocate of Civil Rights.

• Was an abolitionist, toured the North and Britain giving lectures on the realities of slavery. Very eloquent.

• Wrote ‘the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass’ in 1845.

• Called Abraham Lincoln the ‘black man’s president’ in 1865 after his second inaugural address.

• ‘This work does not end with the abolition of slavery, but only begins’

What did Frederick Douglass say about black disenfranchisement?

‘Slavery would not be abolished until the black man had the right to vote’.

What was a migratory response to emancipation?

There was considerable internal migration across the former slave-owning states, with lots of people moving to towns in search of job opportunities - the urban population of black Americans almost tripled after emancipation.

What was the ambition of ex-slaves after emancipation?

• Land ownership; promised 40acres and a mule

• Reuniting families: thousands travelled across the south in search of relatives, and newspapers carried “lost family” advertisements.

• Education: freedmen’s Bureau established more than 1,000 schools for AAs; 1865 inspectors reported around 740 schools in operation.

• Political participation: went to vote in large numbers and black politicians were elected in Southern states

Who was William T.Sherman?

A union general during the Civil War, most famous for issuing Special Field Order No.15

What was Special Field Order No.15, and when was it issued?

An act that confiscated a strip of coastal land that exceeded 30 miles inland from Atlanta as federal property. This gave the majority of the 400,000 acres of land to the newly emancipated slaves in 40 acre sections.

Issued on 16 January 1865

What was the Southern Homestead Act of 1866?

Southern homestead act: A law setting aside 44 million acres in five southern states for ex-slaves.

• Alabama

• Arkansas

• Florida

• Louisiana

• Mississippi

Did ex-slaves generally succeed at creating their own farms?

No, by the end of Reconstruction only around 12% had created their own farms.

What were some obstacles that stopped ex-slaves becoming independent farmers?

• Lacked experience and education to become their own ‘masters’. Around 90% of formerly enslaved people were illiterate in 1865.

• Lacked money buy the necessary equipment and tools to work the land.

• Southern white Americans were very reluctant to sell land to ex-slaves. Plantation owners wanted to replace the slave system with a system of cheap black labour.

• No land distribution

• No access to credit or capital

What was sharecropping?

A scheme of land rental where landowners subdivided large plantations into small farms of 30-50 acres under a rental agreement, usually involving payment in half the crop produced on the land.

Why was sharecropping popular after 1873?

The economic depression led to economic downturn, meaning sharecropping seemed to be a more economic use of land.

What percent of land was farmed by sharecroppers by 1880?

80%

In what ways did Civil war and emancipation bring considerable social tensions to the former Confederacy?

• Southern economy was severely damaged.

• Creation of the ‘Bureau of refugees, freedmen and abandoned lands’.

• Ex-slaves attempted to leave plantations and set up their own farms, leading to black people being assaulted and murdered.

• Many acted as if slavery still existed.

• Freed people refused to work the same land under the same conditions, demanding wages and independence. Constant friction as white landowners needed their labour, bet refused to treat them as equals.

What was the Freedmen’s Bureau?

Established in 1865 by Congress in order to help former black slaves and poor white people.

Provided food, housing and medical aid, established schools and offered legal assistance.

Also attempted to settle former slaves on Confederate lands confiscated or abandoned during the war.

In what ways was the Freedmen’s Bureau prevented from carrying out its goals?

Johnson vetoed the Freedmen’s Bureau’s Bill in 1866, cutting funding

Only 900 agents

Bureau agents frequently threatened by the KKK; two Bureau agents murdered in Arkansas. KKK called a sitting US congressman form Arkansas and 3 state congressmen from South Carolina.

more than 2,000 people were killed, wounded or injured in Louisiana within weeks of the presidential election in 1868.

Johnson abruptly ended the programme in 1872.

Who was Henry Adams and what did he claim?

• An ex-slave

• Claimed over 2,000 black people were murdered in 1865 in east-Texas.

What was the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, and when was it issued?

Aimed to plan for how the South would be brought back into the Union after the Civil War

December 1863; any former Confederate state could form a government whenever a number of voters, equivalent to 10% of those who voted in 1860 elections, took an oath of allegiance to the USA.

Was deliberately lenient; showed how Lincoln wanted reunification over punishment.

What were some examples of ‘black codes’ that were implemented?

Mississippi: AAs were forbidden from owning land

South Carolina: AAs couldn’t own property in towns

Formerly enslaved people could not carry firearms or liquor

AAs could not testify in court

Black people had to show passes when on the roads

Vagrant former slaves were punished when caught and faced fines; when these couldn’t be paid, they were solved intro private service until they worked off their fine.

Radical Republican ‘Benjamin Flanders’ recognised that the Codes were ‘designed to return the situation as near to slavery as possible’

When was Abraham Lincoln assassinated?

April 14th 1865

Who succeeded Abraham Lincoln?

• Andrew Johnson, a Southerner from Tennessee who remained loyal to the USA during the Civil War.

• Was a war democrat, represented unity between Republicans and Democrats.

• Was staunchly anti-Confederate and disliked the plantation-class.

• Possessed the view that black Americans were inferior to white Americans, and had previously been a slave owner himself.

Who was Johnson popular with?

More radical Republican members of the party in Congress; one declared that God had ‘kept Lincoln in office as long as he was useful, and the substituted a better man to finish the job’.

However, this relationship deteriorated once his program for Reconstruction was announced.

What did Johnson do on May 29th, 1865?

Extended a general pardon to former Confederates who were willing to take the oath of allegiance to the USA. Men who had held high office or whose property exceeded $20,000 were excluded.

What did Johnson do in regards with former Confederate states and enfranchisement?

Urged Confederate states to hold constitutional conventions to re-establish elected governments - he left it up to them to decide who could vote, and none accepted the enfranchisement of AAs.

Many states chose former senior Confederates for high office (eg. Alexander Stephens in Georgia, who had been vice president of the Confederate States of America).

Mississippi rejected the 13th Amendment; Johnson did nothing.

What was the reaction of the Northern states to the black Codes?

Norther outrage. Turned Northerners against Johnson’s lenient Reconstruction policies.

Republicans won a landslide victory in the 1866 congressional elections, giving Radical Republicans the 2/3 majority to override Johnson’s vetoes and take control of Reconstruction.

Actively led to the Reconstruction Acts of 1867.

Who were the leaders of the Radical Republicans in government?

Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner

Which two pro-black bills did Johnson veto and what ended up happening with them?

The Freedmen’s Bureau bill and the Civil Rights Bill. This decision was greatly resented and a two-thirds majority managed to override the veto - so, both proposals became law.

What is a presidential veto?

A presidential refusal to sign a proposal, preventing it from becoming a law. It can be overridden by congress if two-thirds of each house of Congress agree to override the veto.

What was the high point of Radical Republican opposition to Johnson?

February 24 1868; House of Reps voted 126 to 47 votes to impeach Johnson for ‘high crimes and misdemeanors in office’. Ended up being tried in office and survived by one vote.

What was the Republican Party and what was its original aim?

The Republican Party was founded in 1854 with the aim of preventing the extension of slavery into the western states of the USA.

What distinguished Radical Republicans from other Republicans?

Radical Republicans were members of the Republican Party who wanted to use the end of the Civil War to permanently transform southern society and create racial equality.

What extreme measures did some Radical Republicans propose after Lincoln’s assassination?

After Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, some Radical Republicans, such as Henry Coffin, demanded the execution of southern leaders for treason.

Who were key Radical Republicans in Congress?

Key Radical Republicans included Charles Sumner, Benjamin Wade and Henry Wilson in the Senate, and Thaddeus Stevens, George Julian and James Ashley in the House of Representatives.

Where did most Radical Republicans come from and why is this significant?

Most Radical Republicans came from the North

What role did Thaddeus Stevens play in 1865?

Thaddeus Stevens helped ensure that the House of Representatives passed the Thirteenth Amendment in January 1865, which abolished slavery.

Drafted the Amendment, then delivered the closing remarks of the debate. Continued to push for a broad interpretation of the amendment that included economic justice in addition to formal end to slavery.

In what ways did President Johnson fail to transform southern society?

• Did nothing to prevent the passing of Black Codes in 1865-66. Vetoes CR act of 1866 due to it being an “unwarranted interference in States’ rights”. Racial hierarchy was legally re-entrenched within months of the war ending.

• John reversed General Sherman’s 400,000 acres of Confederate land re-distribution, returning it to pardoned white landowners.

• Pardoned 13,000 former Confederates by 1866.

• Violence against AAs went unpunished eg. the Memphis Massacre (1866), where 46 AAs were killed and over 100s homes burned, but no one was prosecuted.

• Vetoed Freedman’s Bureau Bill

Why were the 1866 congressional elections important?

The 1866 elections were important because Radical Republicans gained significant seats, allowing them to control Reconstruction policy.

What violent events in 1866 increased support for Radical Reconstruction?

In 1866, white mobs killed 46 people in Memphis and 40 in New Orleans in attacks on black Americans, increasing support for Radical Reconstruction.

What laws were passed on 2 March 1867?

Congress passed the Military Reconstruction Act, the Command of the Army Act and the Tenure of Office Act, overriding President Johnson’s veto.

What did the Military Reconstruction Act do?

• Divided the South into 5 Military Districts; each commanded by a Union general with troops to enforce order - South was effectively under military occupation.

• Disenfranchised former confederate leaders who were stripped of their political rights and barred from holding office.

• South had to rewrite state constitutions accepting black male suffrage.

• Required ratification of the 14th Amendment.

What was the Habeus Corpus Act (1867)

Habeus Corpus Act (1867): Federal courts could hear habeas corpus petitions from anyone whose rights had been denied or violated - protecting freed Black people from being wrongly imprisoned.

Republican Congress repealed the Court’s appellate jurisdiction over cases brought under the 1867 Act, fearing that they would use the McCardle case as an opportunity to declare the Reconstruction laws unconstitutional.

What did the Supreme Court decide in Texas v White (1869)?

Ruling firmly established that the Union was permanent and that states could not unilaterally dissolve their relationship with the federal government.

What did the Command of the Army Act require?

Part of the effort to strip Johnson of power over Reconstruction:

• All military orders had to be issued through the General of the Army (Ulysses S. Grant) rather than directly to field commanders.

• The general could not be removed or reassigned without Senate approval.

What did the Tenure of Office Act state?

Stopped Johnson being able to fire cabinet members without Senate approval.

What was the impact of military rule in the South?

Military governments enforced Reconstruction laws, protected freed slaves, and implemented changes such as those required by the Freedmen’s Bureau.

How did different groups view military governments?

Freed slaves saw them as protectors, while many white southerners saw them as an occupying force.

What were “Redeemer governments”?

• White Democratic administrations that gradually overthrew Radical Republican Reconstruction governments across the South during the 1870s.

• Came to power through violence and intimidation.

• Paramilitary groups eg. the White League and Red Shirts terrorised AA voters.

• Black sharecroppers who voted republican risked losing jobs, home and credit.

Once in power, they would reverse black political gains, slash funding for public education, restore white supremacy in law and practice, laid the groundwork for Jim Crow in the 80s and 90s.

How did Reconstruction Acts change the electorate?

They disenfranchised 15% of white voters and enfranchised 703,000 freed slaves, giving black voters a majority in five states.

Which states had black voting majorities?

South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida and Alabama had black voting majorities.

Who were carpetbaggers?

Carpetbaggers were northern migrants who moved south after the war to take advantage of political opportunities and often supported Republican policies.

Who were scalawags?

Scalawags were white southern Republicans, often small farmers, who supported Reconstruction.

What were the Civil War Amendments?

The Thirteenth (1865), Fourteenth (1868) and Fifteenth (1870) Amendments aimed to give black Americans full civil rights.

What did the Fourteenth Amendment establish?

• All persons born or naturalized in the US were citizens (overturning Dred Scott)

• No one could deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process. No arbitrary imprisonment without proper legal proceedings.

• Every state gave all persons equal protection under law, targeting the Black codes.

• Banned former confederate officials who had previously sworn an oath to the Constitution from holding federal or state office.

• Reduced a state’s congressional representation if it denied the vote to any male citizens.

How did the Fourteenth Amendment overturn Dred Scott?

It established that all persons born or naturalised in the USA were citizens, reversing the 1857 Dred Scott ruling.

What did the Fifteenth Amendment do?

Section 1: No citizen could be denied the vote by federal or state government based on race, colour, or having previously been enslaved.

Congress was give the power to enforce the amendment through appropriate legislation.

What limitations did the Fifteenth Amendment have?

• Only covered race; didn’t ban discrimination based on literacy, property ownership, or tax payment.

Allowed for southern states to immediately introduce poll taxes, literacy tests etc.

• Only applied to men

• No protections against private violence.

What was the Civil Rights Act of 1875?

• Guaranteed equal access to public accommodations (hotels, inns, theatres) regardless of race.

• Also banned exclusion from jury service on the basis of race.

Limitations:

• Didn’t cover schools, churches or cemeteries.

• Very weak enforcement.

• Little political will to enforce it.

How did the Supreme Court weaken Reconstruction?

In the Slaughterhouse case (1873), United States v Reese (1876), and the 1883 ruling, it limited federal protection of black civil rights.

When did Reconstruction officially end?

Reconstruction officially ended in 1877 after Rutherford B. Hayes became president and federal troops withdrew.

How many black Americans held political office during Reconstruction?

Around 600 black Americans served in state legislatures, with 2 senators and 14 representatives in Congress.

Who were the two black US senators?

Hiram Revels and Blanche B. Bruce, both from Mississippi.

What reforms did Reconstruction governments introduce?

Established the first public school systems, encouraged black political participation. Heavily invested in rebuilding southern infrastructure devastated by the war.

Modernised Southern legal codes, abolished property requirements for voting and juries. Established fairer tax systems.

Criticised for:

Corruption: genuine scandals of misuse of public funds and bribery.

Carpetbaggers: Northern Repubs who moved to the south; sought to exploit the South for personal gain.

Overspending - fiscally reckless.

What was the impact of the Civil War on the South?

25% of white adult males died, the economy collapsed, and slave owners lost $2 billion in property.

What were Black Codes?

Black Codes were laws designed to restrict the freedom of former slaves and enforce racial hierarchy.

When and where was the Ku Klux Klan founded?

The KKK was founded on 24 December 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee.

Who led the KKK in 1867?

Nathan Bedford Forrest was elected Grand Wizard.

What was the purpose of the KKK?

The KKK aimed to intimidate black Americans and restore white supremacy through violence.

What groups were targeted by white terror organisations?

Targets included black Americans, Republicans, carpetbaggers, scalawags, and federal officials.

When was KKK violence at its peak?

KKK violence peaked between 1869 and 1871.

What major acts of violence occurred during Reconstruction?

Examples include the burning of black schools in Tuskegee (1870),

The murder of 1,000 AAs in Louisiana during the presidential election.

26 AA delegates were victims of KKK attacks

1868: Lee A. Nance shot and killed outside his home.

First Black town commissioner of North Carolina (Wyatt Outlaw): was lynched by KKK members.

How did the government respond to KKK violence?

The Enforcement Acts (1870–71) allowed federal intervention, including martial law and arrests of KKK members.

What was the White League?

The White League was a paramilitary group formed in 1874 in Louisiana to support the Democratic Party.

What was the Coushatta Massacre?

In 1874, the White League murdered six Republican officials and several black citizens.

What happened at the Battle of Liberty Place (1874)?

5,000 White League members defeated 3,500 police and temporarily overthrew the government of New Orleans.

What was the Colfax Massacre (1873)?

Around 280 black Americans were killed by white attackers in Louisiana.

How did violence affect elections?

Violence and intimidation caused many black voters to avoid voting, helping Democrats regain control.

Which states remained Republican controlled by 1875?

Only Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina.

What was the Amnesty Act of 1872?

It pardoned most former Confederate leaders, allowing them to return to politics.

Cleared over 150,000 former troops

Eg. Zebulon Vance - eventually returned to politics, serving as Governer of North Carolina and later a US Senator.

Led to an increase in Democratic office holders and the return of white supremacy.

How did the 1873 economic depression affect Reconstruction?

• Shifted Northern attention away from Reconstruction. Unemployment hit 14%; more concerned with jobs than the rights of AAs.

• Voters turned against the party in power, reversing the Republican majority in Congress until 1896.

• Democrats won Congress in 1874.

• Freedmen’s Savings Bank collapsed - wiped out savings of ~61,000 Black depositors.

What happened in the 1876 presidential election?

Samuel Tilden won the popular vote, but Rutherford B. Hayes won the electoral college 185–184.

What was the significance of Hayes’ presidency?

Hayes’ victory led to the end of Reconstruction and withdrawal of federal troops in 1877.

Why did Reconstruction ultimately fail?

Reconstruction failed due to white resistance, Supreme Court rulings, political compromise, and declining northern support.

How did W.E.B. Du Bois interpret Reconstruction?

Du Bois described it as a brief period when black Americans gained freedom and rights before losing them again.

‘The slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery’

Which were the confederate states?

South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina

What did Johnson do to Special Field Order No.15?

He reversed it and restored the confiscated land to many white Southern owners.

Destroyed hopes of widespread black land ownership and forced many freedpeople into sharecropping. AAs were kept economically dependent on the South and remained ties to Southern agricultural labour.

What was debt peonage?

AA farmers had to borrow from the landowner for tools, seeds, housing and food at inflated prices. At harvest time, this debt almost always exceeding their share of the crop, leaving them permanently indebted and legally bound.

Around 80% of Black Southerners were trapped in this cycle by 1870.

What was the ‘Freedmen’s Bank’ and what happened to it?

An institution created specifically because no one wanted to loan to black applicants.

Collapsed in 1874 due to mismanagement.

Wiped out the savings of around 61,000 Black depositors.