HIST-222: Reconstruction Era (1865-1877)
I. Introduction
After the Civil War, much of the South lay in ruins and its future was uncertain (railroads, roads, and social order destroyed). Questions centered on reintegration into the Union, civil status of freedpeople, and the meaning of freedom.
The era featured open debates about citizenship and equality, with African Americans and Radical Republicans pushing to realize the Declaration of Independence’s promises that “all men are created equal” and have “certain unalienable rights.”
White Democrats offered formal legal freedom to Black people but little more; a new struggle emerged to define the legal, political, and social implications of citizenship for freedpeople.
Reconstruction witnessed revolutionary possibilities and violent backlash; resistance persisted and the era eventually collapsed, leaving enduring limits on freedom for Black southerners.
The chapter situates Reconstruction in a broader arc of citizenship, equality, and power, linking to founding principles and to ongoing political and moral contestation.
II. Politics of Reconstruction
As the war neared its end, reunification of the former Confederate states became a central, divisive question.
Lincoln’s Presidential Reconstruction aimed to restore the Union with leniency toward the South; Radical Republicans in Congress saw Lincoln’s plan as too forgiving toward traitors.
Lincoln’s policy included a proclamation allowing southerners to take an oath of allegiance; when 10 percent of a state’s voting population took that oath, loyal Unionists could establish governments. This is reflected in the idea that only a minority required to form new governance existed in some states.
Lincoln’s early “Lincoln governments” appeared in pockets such as Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas; these regions were also exempted from the liberating effects of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863) committed the U.S. to abolition in areas of rebellion but freed only those enslaved in certain zones, leaving more than 4{,}000{,}000 in bondage elsewhere.
The Thirteenth Amendment (passed January 31, 1865) abolished slavery “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted”; Section 2 granted Congress the power to enforce the amendment.
Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865; Andrew Johnson became president (April 1865) and offered rapid restoration to the Union under a lenient plan.
Johnson required provisional southern governments to void secession ordinances, repudiate Confederate debts, and ratify the Thirteenth Amendment; he pardoned many whites with property under >$20,000, while the southern aristocracy sought restoration through Johnson’s pardon process.
Johnson’s policies led to Black Codes in states like Mississippi, designed to reassert white supremacy and control Black labor and mobility.
Black Codes granted some rights (owning property, marrying, contracting) but denied core rights (jury service for Black men, testimony against whites, vagrancy laws).
Vagrancy laws required freedpeople to prove employment; failure to do so could lead to arrest, fines, and forced labor through sheriff’s hire-out power, effectively echoing slavery “by another name.”
The codes and associated mob violence spurred Republicans to advocate for stronger Reconstruction measures.
Republicans in Congress passed Civil Rights Act of 1866 to define citizenship for all American-born residents (except Native peoples) and to protect fundamental rights; this catalyzed a broader push for constitutional changes.
The Fourteenth Amendment began to take shape in this rivalry, emphasizing birthright citizenship, due process, and equal protection, and signaling federal enforcement of the Bill of Rights over states’ authority.
Congress drafted and passed the first Reconstruction Act (1867), dissolving southern state governments and dividing the South into five military districts; states had to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, draft new constitutions, enfranchise African Americans, and abolish Black Codes before readmission.
President Johnson faced impeachment for obstructionism; he narrowly avoided removal, reinforcing Congressional power to direct Reconstruction.
In July 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, guaranteeing birthright citizenship and equal protection under the law.
The 1868 presidential election featured Ulysses S. Grant (Let Us Have Peace) vs. Horatio Seymour (opposing Reconstruction); Black southern voters were pivotal to Grant’s victory; Scalawags (white Southern Republicans) and Carpetbaggers (Northern newcomers) also supported the coalition.
Black voters helped transform the South into a Republican-leaning region with African Americans holding public office for the first time in large numbers. A notable image shows Black men voting, challenging stereotypes of Black political participation.
By Reconstruction’s end, African Americans served in federal and state offices, with significant representation in legislatures and at the constitutional convention level.
Key early Black officeholders included Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce in the U.S. Senate (Mississippi), and dozens in the House; many others held patronage roles (postmasters, customs officials, assessors, ambassadors).
At the state level, over 1,000 African American men held offices in the South; P. B. S. Pinchback served as Louisiana’s governor for 34 days during impeachment proceedings, the first Black governor until 1989.
Between 1868 and 1877, more than 2{,}000 Black men served in various offices; Black officeholding reached a peak with substantial participation across local, state, and federal government.
A major outcome of Reconstruction was the establishment of a public school system in every southern state, much underwritten by Republican officials.
Public institutions (mental asylums, hospitals, orphanages, prisons) were opened to both Black and white residents, though often segregated; efforts emphasized industrial development and internal improvements.
The era also saw significant participation by African Americans in the federal government (e.g., Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce as senators; 14 Black members in the House; hundreds in patronage positions.).
The era also saw de facto leadership by ministers and clergy who used church networks (Union League, militias, fraternal organizations) to shape political life.
III. The Meaning of Black Freedom
Early hope included land redistribution; General William T. Sherman’s Special Field Order No. 15 proposed land for freedpeople in Georgia and South Carolina, but the order lacked lasting authority and was not fully implemented.
The Freedmen’s Bureau aimed to redistribute confiscated land to formerly enslaved people, but the 1866 policy reversed and land was returned to ex-Confederates; freedpeople were urged to return to wage labor.
Bureau officials sometimes coerced formerly enslaved people into labor contracts to harvest crops; nevertheless, the Bureau also established courts to address abuses.
Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner pushed for land reform, but their bills were tabled; Republican focus shifted toward economic stabilization rather than full racial justice.
Family reconstitution was a major freedom goal: freedpeople searched for long-lost relatives, worked to legally formalize marriages, and sought control over their own children and labor contracts.
Freedpeople pursued education vigorously; one-room schools with large enrollments became common; the Bible’s accessibility motivated evening/night and Sunday schooling efforts.
Churches became central to freedom and political life; independent Black churches proliferated and built organizational networks across regions, often led by northern Black volunteers who aided post-emancipation communities.
The development of Black religious associations and Baptist/Methodist/Pentecostal organizations provided space for political leadership, education, and social reform.
Women’s leadership emerged within religious and political life; Black and white women contributed to anti-violence efforts and reform networks; gender roles within churches and communities evolved, laying groundwork for later women’s organizations.
The period saw tensions between northern Black church organizers and southern congregations, especially over worship styles and education requirements; women’s leadership roles expanded, including protection against sexual violence.
The era saw the rise of women leaders like Nannie Helen Burroughs and Virginia Broughton within Baptist contexts and broader national reform networks.
IV. Reconstruction and Women
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton built a long-running relationship to seek political rights for women, forming the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) after joining the national abolitionist movement.
Stanton framed Reconstruction as an extraordinary moment for “equal rights for all” and universal suffrage; AERA merged abolitionism with women’s rights work in 1866.
AERA faced internal divisions over whether Black male suffrage should take precedence over universal suffrage, given the political climate in the South.
Frances Harper and other African American women challenged white suffragists to consider class and racial dynamics, arguing universal suffrage would not automatically resolve complex inequalities.
Stanton and Anthony advocated universal suffrage and petitioned Congress (Stanton’s petition to extend suffrage to all regardless of sex; 1865) but the effort failed to pass, delaying women’s voting rights for more than half a century.
The 1867 Kansas campaign highlighted tensions between Black male enfranchisement and women’s rights, prompting strategic realignments and controversial alliances.
The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments caused friction: the Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship but included male, and the Fifteenth Amendment barred racial discrimination in voting but did not include sex, provoking strong reactions from women’s rights leaders.
The New Departure strategy emerged from NWSA to argue that the Constitution already guaranteed women voting rights through citizenship, leading to several hundred women attempting registration between 1868 and 1872.
The 1875 Supreme Court decision (in effect on New Departure arguments) held that citizenship existed but suffrage was not universally guaranteed by the Constitution, undermining the New Departure strategy and shaping subsequent suffrage arguments.
Northern women’s suffrage activism persisted, while Southern women’s experiences evolved differently, with white women attempting to preserve or restore traditional hierarchies and Black women navigating the aftermath of emancipation and racial reconfigurations.
The Fifteenth Amendment prohibited voting discrimination based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude, but did not enfranchise women, prompting ongoing debate and strategy among suffragists.
Public demonstrations (e.g., a large May 19, 1870 parade in Baltimore) celebrated the Fifteenth Amendment and Black political participation, illustrating the era’s mixed progress and contested meanings of freedom.
The Civil War era forced a reevaluation of womanhood and political agency: white women sought to protect their status through gains in public life, while Black women pushed for new definitions of citizenship and equality.
Southern white women engaged in Lost Cause-era memorialization and social organization (Ladies’ Memorial Associations) to reframe gendered roles and preserve political influence in the postwar era.
White and Black southern women faced common economic devastation and social upheaval; some women leveraged memorial and civic groups to anchor community life, while Black women built parallel networks to sustain families and communities.
V. Racial Violence in Reconstruction
Violence shattered biracial democracy and underscored the persistence of white supremacy and resistance to Black political power.
After emancipation, southern whites used violence to undermine Black labor and political participation; the period featured riots, interpersonal assaults, and organized vigilante groups.
Riots occurred in Memphis, New Orleans (1866), Laurens (1870), Colfax (1873), New Orleans (1874), Yazoo City (1875), Hamburg (1876), and other locales; cities grew as Black populations moved in, provoking white backlash.
Individual-level violence and mob activity targeted Black citizens with impunity; white perpetrators were rarely prosecuted despite occasional Federal or Freedmen’s Bureau reports.
Violent actors included nightriders, bushwhackers, and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), which emerged in 1866 and spread to most former Confederate states by 1868.
The KKK drew on antebellum elites but overlapped with other groups; violence aimed at suppressing Black political participation, intimidating voters, and preventing land ownership and economic independence.
Notable episodes include Klansman murders and mass drownings in Mississippi, targeted killings of Black officeholders, and raids on families and homes.
The federal government responded with the Enforcement Acts (1870–1871), which criminalized deprivation of civil rights and authorized military protection against Klan violence.
Despite federal efforts, violence persisted; by 1876, federal opposition weakened as Republicans faced internal divisions and national crises (
Panic of 1873), allowing Redeemers to regain power in the South.Sallie Adkins’s letter to President Grant illustrates civilian pleas for protection and justice amid ongoing violence.
The suppression of Black political power through violence helped end federal Reconstruction-era commitments and catalyzed a new era of racial repression.
VI. Economic Development during the Civil War and Reconstruction
The Civil War devastated the Southern economy and transformed national economic life.
Before the war, the South depended on enslaved labor for its wealth, with enslaved people valued at roughly 3{,}000{,}000{,}000$$ (in today’s terms, the value figure is often cited as about USD 3 billion). The war exposed weaknesses in the slave economy, while the Union’s blockade and federal policies reshaped production and finance.
The North boasted a diversified economy with factories, railroads, and a robust market system; a growing interstate network and a strong banking system supported war mobilization.
The War led to inflation, debt, and new fiscal tools (e.g., the first national income tax in 1862) and introduced fiat currency (greenbacks) in 1861; inflation gradually spread to the North as well.
The war accelerated government efforts to reorganize the economy through tariffs, banking, and land policy.
The Morrill Land Grant Colleges Act and the expansion of higher education funded by federal policy created new institutions (e.g., state universities) that spurred postwar development.
The Transcontinental Railroad and internal improvements connected national markets, though their immediate economic payoff was uneven and sometimes obstructed by powerful interests.
The nationwide banking system and standardized currency facilitated interstate trade and investment.
The Homestead Act aimed to settle the West but faced resistance from railroads and speculators; the Transcontinental Railroad’s long-term payoff was slow to materialize.
The Black Friday stock market crash (Sept. 24, 1869) signaled financial volatility and a growing political backlash against centralized federal economic policy.
War-time economics revealed a close relationship between the government and business elites, sometimes leading to corruption and catastrophe, which fed popular backlash in the West and South.
Debates over the direction of American economic development soon eclipsed immediate Reconstruction goals, highlighting tensions between emancipation, civil rights, and economic policy.
VII. The End of Reconstruction
Reconstruction ended as Northern commitment waned and white Democrats (Redeemers) regained political power in the South.
Between 1868 and 1877, economic concerns and political calculations shifted attention away from civil rights toward economic stabilization.
Stalwart Republicans prioritized political control and governance; New Departure Democrats pursued business and corruption issues, contributing to a political realignment in the South.
Redeemers promised white-only rule and returned to power in Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia (1871);
The Depression of 1873 worsened conditions, reducing support for Reconstruction and undermining reform coalitions in the North.
The Mississippi Plan (1875) used violence and intimidation to suppress Black voters; federal intervention was limited despite gubernatorial pleas for help.
The Hayes-Tilden election of 1876 culminated in a contested result; a federal electoral commission awarded the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes in exchange for removing federal troops from the South and granting economic favors to the region (Compromise of 1877).
Following the Compromise, federal troops were withdrawn; the era of federal intervention effectively ended, and white conservatives regained political control in the South.
Some local Black political gains persisted in certain areas (e.g., South Carolina) for a time, but the broader promises of Reconstruction remained largely unfulfilled.
The official military district readmission and conservative takeovers (as listed in the accompanying table) show the staged process of readmission and the eventual retreat from federal enforcement.
VIII. Conclusion
Reconstruction achieved Lincoln’s paramount goal: the restoration of the Union and the abolition of legal slavery.
However, African Americans remained second-class citizens, and women did not gain full political rights in this period.
The closing of Reconstruction reoriented North-South relations toward economic growth and territorial expansion rather than universal rights.
The era left a mixed legacy of progress (citizenship, public schools, Black officeholding, civil rights law) and enduring racial oppression (Black Codes, violence, disenfranchisement) that would shape American politics for generations.
IX. Primary Sources
Joseph E. Baker, The ‘Rail Splitter’ at Work Repairing the Union, 1865 (cartoon) – reflects early reconstruction attitudes about Union healing.
John Lawrence, Reconstruction, 1867 (print) – visual metaphor of reunion and the banner declaring “All men are born free and equal.”
Alfred R. Waud, The First Vote, November 1867 (print) – depicts Black men voting during Reconstruction; emphasizes new democratic participation.
Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce as Mississippi senators; fourteen Black men serving in the House; P. B. S. Pinchback as Louisiana’s acting governor – highlights Black political representation.
Currier & Ives, First Colored Senator and Representatives in the 41st and 42nd Congress, 1872 – shows Black Congress members.
The Freedmen’s Bureau, 1868 (Waud) – image of federal protection and bureaucratic work to assist freedpeople.
Print by Thomas Kelly, The Fifteenth Amendment, 1870 – celebrates Black suffrage and the political mobilization around the 15th Amendment.
Images of Ladies’ Memorial Associations and Lost Cause rhetoric – reflect gendered memory work and political culture in the postwar South.
Various depictions of Black churches, schoolhouses, and local governance – demonstrate the social infrastructure of Reconstruction.
X. Reference Material
Military Districts and Readmission Table (as presented):
District 1: Virginia — Readmission 1870; Conservative Takeover 1870
District 2: North Carolina 1868; Readmission 1870; South Carolina 1868; Readmission 1877
District 3: Alabama 1868; Readmission 1874; Florida 1868; Readmission 1877; Georgia 1870; Readmission 1871
District 4: Arkansas 1868; Readmission 1874; Mississippi 1870; Readmission 1876
District 5: Texas 1870; Readmission 1873; Louisiana 1868; Readmission 1877
Additional references (themes and terminology):
Scalawags: white Republicans in the South; Carpetbaggers: northern movers to the South
Black Codes; Jim Crow; convict-lease system; sharecropping; vagrancy laws
Enforcement Acts (1870–1871)
Civil Rights Act of 1866; Fourteenth Amendment; Fifteenth Amendment
Compromise of 1877; Redeemers; Redemption in the South
Freedmen’s Bureau: role in education, labor contracts, and legal redress
Morrill Land Grant Acts; Transcontinental Railroad; national banking system; Greenbacks
Reconstruction Acts: division into five military districts; constitutional requirements for readmission
New Departure; National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA); American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA); American Equal Rights Association (AERA)
Key figures: Thaddeus Stevens, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Booker T. Washington, Hiram Revels, Blanche K. Bruce, P. B. S. Pinchback