Reconstruction Era Summary

Lincoln and moderate Republicans wanted quick reintegration of Southern states.
After Lincoln's assassination, Andrew Johnson sided with Democrats for better treatment of the South.
Republicans aimed to give black men political experience through voting, allowing all male freedmen to vote from 1867.
Radical Republicans favored strict policies, but were vetoed by Lincoln and Johnson.
Radical Republicans: Faction from 1854-1877 that opposed slavery, distrusted ex-Confederates, and supported civil rights for freedmen.
Reconstruction: Period from 1865-1877 focused on resolving the status of ex-Confederate states and freedmen.
Suffrage: The right to vote.

Radical Republicans wanted to destroy slavery and Confederate nationalism.
Moderates wanted Southern states to repeal secession and accept the Thirteenth Amendment.
Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan (1863): States reintegrated when 10% of 1860 voters pledged allegiance.
Radical Republicans proposed the Wade-Davis Bill (stricter, majority loyalty oath), vetoed by Lincoln.
Lincoln advocated working with each state's efforts toward unification, against stringent standards.

Republicans believed voting provided political experience, enfranchising male freedmen.
In 1867, black men voted for the first time. More than 1,500 African Americans held public office in the South.
Suffrage for former Confederates was debated; Radicals wanted to prevent them from voting (via "ironclad oath").
Compromise: Many Confederate leaders were temporarily disfranchised (estimated 10,000-15,000).
Debate over whether freedmen should be allowed to vote, regarding representation in Congress.
Lincoln supported allowing some black men, especially veterans, to vote.

The North had a more developed industrial economy.
In 1861, Union population: 22 million; South population: 9 million (3.5 million slaves, 5.5 million whites).
North had extensive railroad network for troop and supply movement.
South relied on "King Cotton" to gain foreign support, which did not materialize.
The Northern economy grew during and after the war, while the Southern economy was destroyed.

The North strengthened its economy during the Civil War and continued to do so after the war, while the Southern economy was destroyed.
Republicans in Washington promoted industrialization, efficient factories, productive farms, strong national banks, and rail links.
Post-war, Northern economy prospered with transportation systems and manufacturing.
Second Industrial Revolution (from 1870) spurred economic expansion through inventions.
Many Southern cities and resources were destroyed during the Civil War, leading to a shift to tenant agriculture.
Livestock and farming supplies were decimated in the South.
Southern white men faced high mortality rates, and the economy had to be rebuilt after emancipation.

Post-Civil War South faced ruined infrastructure and depleted resources.
The Confederate dollar was worthless; bartering and Union dollars became necessary.
With emancipation, planters lacked capital, leading to sharecropping.
Sharecropping: Landowners provided land, tools, and credit to farmers in exchange for a portion of the crops.
Freedmen migrated to cities, relegated to low-paying jobs.
South locked into poverty, caused by war and reliance on agriculture.