Exam 1 Review

Reconstruction

Lincoln’s plan for reconstruction

• Wade-Davis Plan: Southern states to be readmitted to the Union under strict conditions

• Lincoln proposed the lenient, 10% plan

• The plan gave a general pardon to all Southerners except high-ranking Confederate leaders, required 10% of the 1860 voting population to take an oath of allegiance, and allowed the restored states to draft new constitutions.

• Lincoln hoped this would lead to speedy reconciliation and make emancipation more acceptable

• Radical republicans were upset about the 10% plan, they believed it was too lenient and wanted to punish the rebel states.

Thirteenth Amendment

• The 1863 emancipation proclamation did not fully resolve the legal status of slavery, so Radical Republicans made slavery their top priority

• In January 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment was passed, abolishing slavery.

• Lincoln was assassinated shortly before the final ratification of the 13th amendment, on April 14th.

Presidential Reconstruction

• Lincoln’s assassination led to Andrew Johnson, a Southern Democrat from Tennessee, being sworn into office.

• He was originally elected as Vice President as Lincoln needed more votes from the South.

• Johnson quickly wanted to reincorporate the Southern states back into the Union, angering Radical Republicans

• President Andrew Johnson's Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction was issued on May 29, 1865, to grant amnesty to former rebels and restore their rights and citizenship.

• Amnesty provided sweeping pardons and property rights to most Southerners, furthering conflict with Radical Republicans in Congress.

Johnson Takes on Congress

• Congress pushed for greater rights for freed people and a more thorough reconstruction of the South, while Johnson advocated for leniency and a swifter reintegration.

• The Freedmen’s Bureau was proposed by Congress in 1865 to ease the transition from slavery to freedom.

• Johnson vetoes attempts of the Freedmen’s Bureau and those to restore civil rights, though Radical Republicans still supported it, leading to tensions between Congress and the president.

• Southern states pass the discriminatory Black Codes in 1865, which aimed to maintain the social and economic status of racial slavery.

• In response to Black Codes, Congress passed the 14th amendment and the 1865 Civil Rights Act, which defined citizenship of African Americans, and also addressed issues such as confederate debts and the Three-Fifths compromise.

• Johnson vetoes Civil Rights act and openly tours the U.S. to take his case to the people, urging the South to not ratify the 14th amendment.

Johnson Loses

• Northerners are still angry about the war.

• Moderates now join the Radical cause.

• Republicans sweep congress with a “veto-proof” majority.

• Congressional Reconstruction begins.

Radical/Congressional Reconstruction

Reconstruction Acts

• The 1867 Military Construction Act divided the South into 5 military districts controlled by Union Troops and imposed martial law, with the goal of protecting freed slaves and overseeing elections.

• Only “qualified voters” - people who didn’t take up arms against the government, vote in constitutional votes to guarantee black suffrage.

• The Reconstruction Acts required that southern states ratify the 14th Amendment in order to reenter the Union.

• The Tenure of Office Act limited a president’s power to remove federal officials from office without approval from the Senate.

• President Johnson vetoed the Reconstruction Acts and ignores the Tenure of Office Act, but his vetoes overlooked by Congress.

Punishment for Rebels

• Jefferson Davis imprisoned.

• Warden of Andersonville Prison executed.

• No one else is punished.

Scalawags, Carpetbaggers, Illiterates in Congress?

• Conmen descend on parts of South, esp. the Sea Islands (hurting freed-slaves as much as Southern whites, preventing land redistribution)

• Idealistic northerners: teachers, politicians, reformers

• Black congressmen: mulattoes (often descended from planters), blacks from North, preachers, soldiers

• Southern hype illiterate black politicians, corrupt northern interference

Tenure of Office Act/Johnson’s Impeachment

• The Tenure of Office Act led to Johnson’s Impeachment because he violated the act by firing Edwin Stanton without the Senate’s approval, which under the act, is required by law.

• Johnson’s continuous opposition to Congressional Reconstruction led to his impeachment, though he escaped conviction in the Senate, the impeachment effectively silenced him and led to continued Reconstruction program.

King Cotton

King Cotton was a phrase frequently used by Southern politicians and authors prior to the American Civil War, indicating the economic and political importance of cotton production.

Problems Facing the South

Social hierarchy challenged & overturned

• The power of the planters

• Slaves are now Freedmen

Lack of infrastructure & industry

• ​Sherman's March to the Sea was a significant military campaign during the American Civil War, characterized by a destructive path through Georgia aimed at crippling the Confederate war effort.

  • The destruction caused by Sherman’s march led farmers to be unable to maintain their livestock and crops which led to food shortages and economic instability in the South.

• Self-inflicted wounds of the Old South (King Cotton)

Sharecropping

• Sharecropping was a system that worked to the advantage of landowners, which involved sharecroppers paying landlords with the crops they grew, leading to a never-ending cycle of debt.

• Sharecropping effected the south for many generations, severely limiting economic development

Grant Administration and the Freedmen’s Bureau

1868 Election

• Ulysses S. Grant, moderation in Congress.

• Grant was a popular war hero, a moderate, and sent troops into lawless areas but backed out due to political concerns.

Reconstruction Fails

• The Freedmen’s Bureau provided clothing, shelter, medical assistance, and land to those formerly enslaved. It helped relocate families and legalize marriages.

• In the Reconstruction era, Black people sought to reconnect with their families and enjoy civil freedoms, often through the Freedmen’s Bureau.

• Freedmen’s suffrage given priority over land redistribution.

• White Southerners found the Freedmen’s Bureau to be unjust and resented the federal government for restoring black communities while the south still remained devastated from the failed Confederate Rebellion.

• Grant and his administration attempted to bring an end to violence causes by the Klu Klux Klan, passing a series of Enforcement Acts.

Grant’s Corruption and Graft

• Grant was guilty of being too trusting. Although he was never guilty of corruption, he often trusted colleagues who were.

• These scandals hurt his public image, leading many people to believe Grant himself was corrupt, and he’d lost faith from Republicans and his administration.

Tilden/Hayes Election

• Samuel Tilden (D), governor of New York and civil reformer vs. Rutherford Hayes (R), former officer in Union

• Tilden won the majority vote and possible electoral college, though it went to Congress leading to Hayes’ win.

The Compromise of 1877

• Democrats were enraged of the results of the election

• Southern Democrats agree to end destruction and accept president Hayes as long as we removed federal troops from the South, thus ending Reconstruction.

Amendments 13-15

13th Amendment (Civil War by N states)

• (Abolished Slavery)

• “Section 1- Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the US, or any place subject to their jurisdiction”

• “Section 2-Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation”

14th Amendment (Ratified to reenter US)

• (Defines Citizenship and Voting Rights)

• Section 1-If you are born in the U.S. you are a U.S. citizen

• Section 2-Suffrage for all non-rebels/criminals over 21, right to punish states for abridging this

• Section 3-No rebels in public office

• Section 4-The U.S. will not reimburse former masters for their slaves or pay any debts incurred by the CSA (screw you, England!)

• Section 5-Power to enforce above

15th Amendment (Last Recon. Amend.)

• (Black men given right to vote)

• “Section 1-The right of citizens of the US to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude

• “Section 2-Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation”

Manifest Destiny

• the 19th-century belief that the United States was destined to expand westward across North America.

• The expansion was believed to be obvious and certain, and was thought to be ordained by God.

• The concept of Manifest Destiny, which implied divine encouragement for territorial expansion, was a key driver of westward migration.

Importance of the West in American Culture:

• The cowboy/frontiersman

• Rugged Individualism Ideal

• Quintessential American, like Japanese samurai or British knight

Earlier Trends that drove America West

• Argument about going west: Proclamation of 1763 & the Revolution

• Napoleon & Jefferson: how the slaves of Haiti gave the US Louisiana

• Manifest Destiny, ~1840

• Prospecting (’49ers)

• Cattle/agriculture

• Homestead Act (1862)

• Continued immigration

Homestead/Dawes Acts

• The homestead act was a law that allowed citizens to claim 160 acres of land in exchange for living and improving on it.

• Claimants had to live on the land, build a home, make improvements, and farm the land for five years.

• American Indians were excluded from the Homestead Act because they were not recognized as U.S. citizens.

• The Homestead Act was a hardship for the tribes that originally lived on the land. As a result of the Dawes Act, they were forced to move to reservations, which severely limited their ability to hunt, fish, and gather food.

• The Dawes Act was put in place to assimilate Native Americans to mainstream U.S. society.

• This led to lots of warfare between the natives and the U.S. government.

Fredrick Jackson Turner & the Frontier Thesis

• Fredrick Jackson turner argued that the frontier was essential for American democracy and expansion.

• His theories influenced historians and the public’s understanding of American history.

• The frontier played the most significant role in American history, as all major events in history have been somehow involved with the frontier.