5.10 notes

Main Ideas

  1. Presidential vs. Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction

    • Presidential Reconstruction: Initiated by Abraham Lincoln and continued by Andrew Johnson; favored rapid, lenient readmission of former Confederate states with minimal protection for freedpeople.

    • Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction: Led by Radical Republicans (e.g., Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner); imposed military rule in the South via the Reconstruction Acts (1867) to enforce civil rights and political participation for Black Americans.

    • Conflict & Impeachment: Andrew Johnson repeatedly vetoed civil rights measures and the Freedmen's Bureau Bill. Congress overrode his vetoes and impeached him in 1868 for violating the Tenure of Office Act; he was acquitted in the Senate by a single vote.

  2. Constitutional Transformations (Reconstruction Amendments)

    • 13th Amendment (1865): Formally abolished slavery and involuntary servitude throughout the United States, except as punishment for a crime.

    • 14th Amendment (1868): Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. (overturning Dred Scott), guaranteed equal protection under the law, and extended due process rights to state actions.

    • 15th Amendment (1870): Prohibited the denial of voting rights based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude (disappointed women's suffrage advocates who were excluded).

  3. Social, Economic, and Political Realities in the South

    • Freedmen's Bureau: Created by Congress in 1865 to provide food, medical aid, legal assistance, and notably public education to formerly enslaved people and poor whites.

    • Sharecropping & Debt Peonage: Landowners divided land and provided seed/tools in exchange for a share of crops; predatory credit systems (crop liens) trapped Black farmers in perpetual financial debt.

    • Southern Republican Coalitions: Governed Southern state administrations, consisting of freedmen, Northern migrants, and Southern Unionists.

  4. Resistance and the End of Reconstruction

    • Violent Backlash: Paramilitary organizations like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and the White League used terror and intimidation to restrict Black political power and dismantle Republican state governments.

    • Enforcement Acts (1870–1871): Federal laws enabling presidential force to combat political violence and protect civil rights.

    • Compromise of 1877: Settled the contested 1876 presidential election between Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) and Samuel J. Tilden (Democrat); Hayes gained the presidency in exchange for withdrawing federal troops from the South, officially ending Reconstruction and allowing "Redeemer" governments to institute Jim Crow segregation.

Key Vocabulary

  • Black Codes: Severe local and state laws passed in the South immediately following the Civil War to restrict African American freedom and compel them to work in a labor economy based on low wages or debt.

  • Carpetbaggers: A derogatory term used by white Southerners for Northerners who relocated to the South during Reconstruction to pursue political, economic, or humanitarian opportunities.

  • Scalawags: A derogatory term used by Southern Democrats for white Southerners who supported the Republican Party and Reconstruction policies.

  • Redeemers: Southern Democratic politicians who aimed to oust Republican coalitions, restore local white dominance, and overturn Reconstruction policies.

  • Tenure of Office Act (1867): Law requiring Senate approval for the president to remove executive officials; used as the primary legal basis for Andrew Johnson's impeachment.

  • Compromise of 1877: Unwritten agreement that awarded Hayes the presidency in exchange for removing federal troops from the South, marking the official end of Reconstruction.