Civil War and Reconstruction Notes

Legacy of the Civil War and Reconstruction

Introduction

• U.S. History from 1877 to the present begins where History 17A (American Civil War and Reconstruction) ends.
• The Civil War is considered a crucial turning point in American history.

Causes of the Civil War

• Traditional views cite slavery, politics (states' rights), economics, and cultural differences.
• While all these factors played a role, slavery is identified as the root cause.
• Economic, political, and cultural differences stemmed from slavery.

Purposes and Legacy of the Civil War

• The main purposes were to save the country and, later, abolish slavery.
• Northerners viewed it as a war to save the nation, seeing Southerners as traitors.
• Southerners saw it as a war of independence, similar to the American Revolution, viewing themselves as the true Americans.
• The Union was preserved, and the idea of secession was rejected.
• Slavery was abolished, leading to complex issues and challenges.

Emancipation Proclamation

• Issued on January 1, 1863, it declared slaves in the Southern states free.
• The North had to win the war to enforce the proclamation.
• The 13th Amendment eventually abolished slavery.
• Approximately 4 million slaves were freed by 1865.

Post-Emancipation Challenges

• The transition from slavery to freedom raised questions about the status and treatment of freed blacks.
• Racial views towards blacks worsened after emancipation.
• As slaves, blacks were considered property, offering a form of protection.
• As freedmen, they were loathed and despised, leading to increased violence and a lack of protection.
• The South was left in ruins, with destroyed economies and workforces.

Impact on the South

• The Civil War was primarily fought in the South, causing widespread destruction.
• Northern soldiers salted fields to prevent crop planting and burned farms and homes.
• The goal was to make Southerners suffer the consequences of their actions.
• The war resulted in a massive loss of life, estimated at 6 to 7 million men by today's standards.
• The single bloodiest day in American history occurred at Antietam in 1862, with 23,000 casualties.
• The Confederacy lost over a quarter of a million men, representing 10% of their male population.
• 90% of southern white men of military age served in the war, including drummer boys as young as 11.

Southern Identity and the Lost Cause

• The war created a strong southern identity based on shared negative experiences.
• Southerners identify with the entire region rather than individual states.
• The defeat led to the Lost Cause mystique, the belief that their fight was noble despite the loss.
• Southern women, having lost husbands and sons, were unwilling to believe they died for nothing.
• The loss created a generation of orphans and widows who were raised on stories of heroism.

Coping Mechanisms and Lack of Introspection

• Instead of introspection about the morality of slavery, Southerners developed coping mechanisms.
• Germany has repeatedly apologized for World War II atrocities, while Japan has not fully accepted responsibility.
• Southerners, like the Japanese, were grudging or unwilling to accept responsibility.
• Hero worship and deification of the southern dead emerged, along with a longing for the antebellum South.
• The antebellum South was romanticized, with idealized images of happy slaves and a focus on states' rights rather than slavery.
• Symbols of the Lost Cause include the movie "Gone with the Wind" and the Confederate battle flag.

Gone with the Wind

• A book by Margaret Mitchell, later made into a successful movie, portraying a love story against the backdrop of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
• Influenced perceptions of the Civil War era, even though it was a Hollywood portrayal.

Confederate Flag

• Originally a battle banner, it reemerged in the 1950s in response to the civil rights movement.
• Southern states flew the flag at state capitol buildings, and some incorporated it into state flags.
• The flag remains a common sight in the South, often seen as a symbol of southern heritage rather than racism.
• Its meaning is debated, with some viewing it as a symbol of racism and others as a symbol of southern pride.

Reconstruction

• A series of plans to rebuild and restore the rebellious states and bring them back into the Union.
• Lincoln's 10% plan proposed that if 10% of the eligible voters from 1860 in a rebellious state agreed to be loyal to the United States, the state could rejoin the Union.
• Many Northerners felt that Lincoln's plan was too lenient.
• After Lincoln's assassination, Vice President Andrew Johnson, a Southern Unionist, became president.
• Johnson's plan favored a return to pre-Civil War conditions without slavery, but with limited protections for freed slaves.

Radical Reconstruction

• The Republican Party, founded in 1854, was initially an anti-slavery party.
• The Democratic Party was associated with slavery, segregation, and the KKK.
• The Republican Party was considered the liberal party, advocating for the freedom of slaves and anti-Klan activities.
• Radical Reconstruction involved more radical members of the Republican Party taking charge.
• Southern Democrats were tainted by their association with slavery and the Confederacy.
• Republicans effectively controlled politics for a generation by labeling Democrats as traitors.
• Since the Civil War, there have been few elected Southern Democrat presidents.

Congressional Control

• Congress sought to punish the South and divided it into military districts governed by Northern military generals.
• The army protected newly freed slaves and white Southerners who became Republicans (scalawags).
• Northern white individuals who came south to aid blacks were called carpetbaggers.
• The army helped ensure political loyalty and votes from the newly enfranchised black population.

End of Reconstruction

• Reconstruction ended around 1877 due to a loss of Northern zeal and a desire to focus on other issues.
• Troops were redirected to the West to address American interests against Native Americans.

Loss of Northern Zeal and Redemption

• White Southerners sought to regain control of their state governments from black and white Republicans through violent efforts.
• This process was called redemption, framing it as rescuing the South from Yankee and black control.
• Groups like the KKK, Red Shirts, and White League used violence to intimidate blacks and Republican supporters.
• Northerners underestimated the determination of Southerners to use extreme violence to maintain white supremacy.
• This resulted in battles between the KKK and the United States Army.

Black Codes and White Supremacy

• Black codes were enacted to restrict the rights of blacks, including prohibiting them from owning guns.
• White Southerners were unwilling to accept blacks as equals after 250 years of slavery.
• White supremacy was regained, and blacks lost most of their rights with little recourse.

Lack of Recourse for Blacks

• Blacks had limited avenues for justice, as police and judges were often members of the KKK.
• Openly empathetic whites were rare, and blacks who spoke out faced retaliation.
• Northerners heard of the atrocities but did not fully grasp the situation due to a lack of visual evidence.

Compromise of 1877

• A disputed presidential election led to the Compromise of 1877, ending Reconstruction.
• Democrats agreed to accept Republican Hayes as president in exchange for the removal of troops from the South.
• This marked the beginning of Jim Crow segregation, with separate facilities and treatment for blacks and whites.

Life for Free Blacks

• Emancipation was a momentous occasion, but most ex-slaves remained in the South due to logistical and economic constraints.
• Former slaves adopted surnames to create their own identities, sometimes taking the names of former masters.
• Education was highly valued, as it had been suppressed during slavery.
• The Freedmen's Bureau helped establish schools, leading to increased literacy among blacks, although it was still lower than among whites.

Education and Challenges

• Both young and old people walked miles to attend ramshackle schools, often facing attacks and discrimination.
• The sacrifices made by blacks to obtain an education contrasted with the excuses made by students today.
• Historically black colleges were established to provide higher education opportunities for blacks.

Land Reform

• The idea of \$40$ acres and a mule" was a myth based on a field order that was not implemented by the US government.
• Land ownership was crucial for economic independence, but without it, blacks remained dependent on white landowners.
• Many ex-slaves were stuck in sharecropping, a form of semi-slavery where they worked the land for a share of the crops but remained in debt.

Sharecropping

• Sharecroppers did not own the land and often worked for their former masters.
• They borrowed equipment and supplies, paying back with a share of the harvest, perpetuating a cycle of debt known as systemic and institutionalized poverty.
• Black Codes also furthered the cycle of debt. Blacks could be arrested for vagrancy (being unemployed) and then fined. If they could not pay the fine, they were then sentenced to "work" for their former masters in order to pay off their debt.
• Sharecropping was very similar to slavery.

Social Restrictions and Segregation

• Blacks faced rigid segregation enforced by law and culture.
• They were subjected to social restrictions, such as having to walk off the sidewalk for whites (and doff their caps), entering stores through the back, and being addressed by their first names or as uncle/auntie.
• Violence and intimidation were used to enforce these restrictions.

Lynchings

• Fake cries of sexual assult of white women against black men was one of the biggest reasons for lynchings.

Limited Empathy and