reconstruction (USI)

13th amendment (1865)

abolished slavery except as punishment

14th amendment (1868)

• birthright citizenship

• equal protection:

• fair treatment by judicial system

15th amendment (1870)

• cant deny right to vote based on race & religion (didn’t include females)

• TL;DR: gave black ppl rights

lincoln’s 10 percent plan (1863)

• Southern states readmitted when 10% of voters swear allegiance to union

  • lenient to the South

  • goal = keep union together

• makes reentry easy

presidential reconstruction

• johnson’s approach to Reconstruction when Abe died

• extra lenient to south, allow states to join easily

  • just have to: ratify 13th + renounce secession

• focused on speed; not protecting freedmen’s rights

andrew johnson (1865-1869)

• 17th US president (after Abe)

• implemented lenient Reconstruction plan —> significant opps from Congress

• first president to be impeached

• Southern Democrat (Tennessee) who stayed loyal to union

• ran away

pardon of rebels

• 13,000+ pardons

• to reconcile quickly & restore political rights to former CS

• high ranking CS officials & wealthy Southerners:

  • have to apply directly to Johnson for a pardon

• ordinary soldiers granted general amnesty

  • (amnesty = legal pardon for a group of individuals)

radical republican reaction to pardons

• outraged

• felt that it undermined reconstruction & gives back CS power (in south)

• want STRICTER requirements + protect civil rights for freedmen

congressional reconstruction (1867)

• after rad reps (N) gained control of Congress

• divide S into 5 military districts (under federal control)

• requires S to ratify 14th amendment & guarantee black men voting rights before rejoin union

radical republicans

• north (strong ideals)

• faction punished for harsh measures on S + strong protection for freed slaves

• “Johnson’s approach = too soft”

• leaders: Thaddeus Stevens + Charles Sumner

thaddeus stevens

• leading rad rep in HoR

• fierce advocate for racial equality + harsh Reconstruction policies

• supported land redistribution (from plantations) to help freedmen

impeachment of johnson (1868)

• first president impeached

• violated tenure of office act (tried removing secretary of war w/o Senate)

• HoR —> impeach / senate —> failed by 1 vote

freedmen’s bureau

• help freed slaves + poor white southerners

  • food, homes, education, healthcare, & jobs

• set up schools, help negotiate labor contracts, and provide legal aid

• face strong S resistance + underfunded

sharecropping

• agriculture system where freedmen work a land owners land for a share of the crops

• often trapped workers in cycles of debt + poverty

• became dominant system in S post-slavery

40 acres and a mule (1865)

• idea that slaves would get land that was taken from CS landowners (SC + Georgia mainly)

• promised by Gen Sherman

• never fully implemented (bc land was just returned)

reconstruction act 1867

• passed by RR’s to have military rule over S

• 5 military districts in S

• states MUST —> write new constitution, ratify 14th, guarantee blackmen’s rights

black codes

• laws passed by S to restrict freedmen’s rights

  • vote, testify, own guns, move freely, vagrancy

• similar to slavery

KKK and terror

• white supremecy

• used violence, intimidation, & murder to suppress blacks + restore white dominance

carpetbaggers & scalawags

• make bags from carpets of S homes

  • move south, seen as opportunists

• white southerners who sympathize/work w north (reverse of copperheads)

civil rights act of 1871

• gave feral gov power to crack down on KKK + protect Civil Rights

  • can use troops

compromise of 1877

• ends reconstruction

• deal ended the 1876 prez election (Hayes vs Tilden)

• demo agrees to have Hayes if fed troops withdraw from S

jim crow law

state + local laws enforcing racial segregation in S

lasts until Civil Rights movement (1860s)

end of reconstruction

who: hayes, demo, reps

what: ended federal efforts to enforce Reconstruction policies

where: south

why: settle 1876 election + restore political power

how: compromise of 1877

TWE was reconstruction a failure or was it betrayed and violently sabotaged/subverted?

• abolish slavery

• citizenship + legal protection

• blackmen vote

• black schools + churches + political participation

• s resistance undermined progress (KKK, black codes, violence)

• n fatigue + compromise of 1877

• economic systems (sharecropping)

• jim crow laws

reconstruction date range

1863-1877