Modern American History: The Civil War and Reconstruction

The United States on the Eve of the Civil War

• Prior to the Civil War, the United States maintained a largely agrarian economy. While the First Industrial Revolution had begun to introduce mechanization and propel specific industries, the nation remained rural. By the year $1860$, approximately $70\%$ to $80\%$ of Americans lived in rural areas.

• Economic and demographic disparities between the North and South were stark in $1860$:

  • The Union states held approximately $234,000,000$ in bank deposits and coined money. (This meant the Union possessed more economic strength, which allowed for better financing of military operations, manufacturing capabilities, and the ability to sustain long term conflict. They raised funds through war bonds and taxation)

  • The Confederate states held approximately $74,000,000$. (They had limited financial resources to fund and source military supplies, equip troops, and maintain infrastructure. This would impact effectiveness during the war.)

  • The Border states held approximately $29,000,000$. (They also possessed limited financial resources, which were crucial for sustaining local economies whilst facing divide. Mixed allegiances impacted financial support and would lead to them often borrowing funds)

  • Population of Union states: approximately $18,500,000$ inhabitants.

  • Population of Confederate states: approximately $5,500,000$ free inhabitants and $3,500,000$ enslaved inhabitants.

  • Population of Border states: approximately $2,500,000$ free inhabitants and $500,000$ enslaved inhabitants.

The American Civil War ($1861$–$1865$)

• The war began on April 12, $1861$, and concluded on April 9, $1865$.

• The immediate catalyst for the secession of Confederate slave states was the election of Abraham Lincoln. Southern states sought to maintain unchallenged authority over the institution of slavery.

• Causes of the war are debated: many maintain the preservation of slavery was the primary cause, while others minimize its role in favor of factors like taxation or the principle of States’ rights.

• Outcomes of the conflict:

  • The Union achieved a hard-won victory.

  • Casualties totaled approximately $750,000$, which represented nearly $2\%$ of the national population in $1860$ (total population: $31,443,321$).

  • Disease was a major killer; nearly $57,000$ deaths were caused by Dysentery alone.

• Territorial divisions during the war included Union free states, Union slave states (border states), slave states seceding before the attack on Fort Sumter in April $1861$, and those seceding after.

Slavery and Racial Violence in New York

• New York represents a contradiction to the narrative of a purely "Liberal North." Slavery was abolished in New York in $1827$, which was comparatively late relative to other Northeastern states.

• The New York City economy was intrinsically tied to Southern agriculture. By $1822$, cotton shipments accounted for half of all exports from New York City.

• The history of New York is marked by white violence and racial tension:

  • The NYC Anti-Abolitionist Riots occurred in $1834$.

  • The NYC Draft Riots of $1863$ remain the largest civil and most racially-charged urban disturbance in American history.

• Five Points, Brooklyn, and other areas illustrate that the myth of a liberal North often erases a long history of systemic violence and economic complicity.

The Complicated Legacy of Abraham Lincoln

• Lincoln's position on slavery evolved, often dictated by wartime strategy. The Emancipation Proclamation ($1863$) did not free all enslaved people; it excluded Border States and Union-occupied territories, leaving over $700,000$ people in bondage.

• During the war, Lincoln established "Lincoln governments" across the South, which were characterized as lenient, conservative, and short-lived.

• Lincoln's presidency oversaw the largest mass execution in U.S. history. In November $1862$, over $300$ Santee Sioux in Minnesota were found guilty of crimes against Anglo settlers and sentenced to hang. Lincoln commuted most sentences but allowed the simultaneous execution of $38$ Sioux men on December 26, $1862$, in Mankato.

• Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, $1865$, at Ford's Theater.

• The post-mortem fascination with Lincoln includes his coffin being moved $17$ times and opened $5$ times, most recently in $1901$.

Reconstruction ($1865$–$1877$): Policy and Conflict

• Reconstruction aimed to rebuild the nation both physically and ideologically, focusing on questions of citizenship and equality.

• Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was a Tennessee native described as a states' rights advocate, strict-constructionist, and unapologetic racist. He favored a quick restoration of seceded states with limited federal interference.

• Johnson’s populist leanings led him to require Southern aristocracy to take oaths of loyalty, but he remained complicit with Southern Democrat resistance. This conflict with the Republican-controlled Congress led to his impeachment by the House of Representatives, though he was not removed (failing by one vote in $1868$).

• Congressional Reconstruction was driven by Radical Republicans ($1854$–$1877$), including leaders such as Thaddeus Stevens, John Bingham, James Mitchell Ashley, Charles Sumner, and Ulysses S. Grant.

• Radical Republicans demanded:

  • Civil rights and suffrage for freed slaves.

  • The Reconstruction Acts and the $14$th Amendment.

  • Limited political and voting rights for former Confederate officials.

Black Freedom and Political Action

• Reconstruction provided a window of political opportunity. By its end, over $2,000$ Black men had served in government positions, with approximately $1,000$ holding office in the South.

• These officials helped enact vital legislation, such as the creation of the Southern public school system. They served as juries, county court judges, and governmental clerks.

• Hiram Revels became the first colored Senator, alongside other representatives like Benjamin S. Turner, Josiah T. Walls, and Robert Brown Elliott.

• The Freedmen’s Bureau ($1865$–$1872$) was central to this era, helping families reconnect, teaching literacy, and advocating for political participation. However, it also faced internal issues regarding work relations and traditional gender roles.

• Definitions of freedom for the formerly enslaved included:

  • The importance of land: Sherman’s Special Field Order No. $15$ initially set aside land in Georgia and South Carolina for freed people, though this was later reversed.

  • Autonomy: Reconnecting families, legalized marriage, mobility, and the adoption of new names and identities.

  • Institutions: Education and the creation of "the Black Church" for religious autonomy.

The Reconstruction Amendments

• $13$th Amendment ($1865$): Abolished slavery "except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." This loophole led to the convict lease system. Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina leased prisoners to private companies from $1866$ through $1872$. Mississippi did not officially submit documentation to ratify this amendment until February 7, $2013$.

• $14$th Amendment ($1868$): Established birthright citizenship and the due process clause. Section $2$ of the amendment introduced the first mention of gender into the Constitution, specifying that representation would be reduced if the right to vote was denied to "male inhabitants" over the age of $21$.

• $15$th Amendment ($1870$): Guaranteed that the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Gender and the Suffrage Movement

• Initially, there was solidarity between abolitionists and women's rights advocates, as seen at the $1848$ Seneca Falls Convention featuring Frederick Douglass.

• In $1866$, the National Women’s Rights Convention merged with the American Antislavery Society to form the American Equal Rights Association (AERA).

• Conflict arose during the AERA meeting in Kansas in $1867$ over whether to prioritize universal suffrage or Black male suffrage. This led to feminist divisions where some early feminists allied with white supremacists to advance women's voting rights.

Resistance, White Supremacy, and Racial Violence

• Southern resistance took legal and extralegal forms:

  • Legal: Black Codes (e.g., Mississippi’s Vagrancy Law and Penal Code) restricted ownership of guns, militia service, jury duty, and leisure activities. Literacy tests were also implemented.

  • Extralegal: Vigilante groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) used domestic terrorism and violence to maintain white supremacy.

• Violence targeting Black Southerners increased post-Civil War. Lynchings became a tool of subjugation, peaking in $1892$. Between $1882$ and $1868$, the Tuskegee Institute recorded $4,743$ lynchings; the Equal Justice Initiative recorded $4,084$ African Americans lynched in the South between $1877$ and $1950$.

• The Enforcement Acts ($1870$–$1871$) tried to criminalize the deprivation of civil rights and deemed Klan behavior as rebellion, allowing for federal troops, but their power was limited.

The End of Reconstruction and Historical Memory

• The Depression of $1873$ shifted national focus from racial idealism to economic concerns, weakening the Radical Republicans.

• The Election of $1876$ between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden led to a compromise that resulted in the departure of federal troops from the South, marking the end of Reconstruction.

• Three visions of Civil War memory emerged:

  1. Reconciliationist: Focused on coping with death and devastation.

  2. White Supremacist: Characterized by terror, violence, and the "Lost Cause" narrative.

  3. Emancipationist: Sought full freedom and Constitutional equality.

• The Dunning School at Columbia University, led by William Archibald Dunning, promoted a Southern apologist view of history that hijacked the narrative toward "states' rights."

• In $1877$, Frederick Douglass challenged these debates, stating, "Yes, let us have peace, but let us have liberty, law, and justice first."

Questions & Discussion

• Who is largely blamed for sabotaging Reconstruction? Andrew Johnson.

• What are two things the Mississippi Black Codes did? Examples include vagrancy laws that criminalized unemployment and restrictions on the right to own firearms or serve on juries.

• Which amendment abolished slavery? The $13$th Amendment (with the exception of criminal punishment).

• Which amendment added the first mention of gender into the Constitution? The $14$th Amendment.

• What domestic terror organization worked to keep Black men from voting? The Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

• Name an early feminist who allied with white supremacists for suffrage. Elizabeth Cady Stanton or Susan B. Anthony (contextualized by the AERA split).

• What motivated most Republicans to protect freedmen? A mix of moral idealism and the political necessity of securing a loyal Republican voting bloc in the South.

• Approximately how many Black men served in governmental offices by the end of Reconstruction? Over $2,000$.

• The election of which Republican president saw the end of Reconstruction? Rutherford B. Hayes.

• Was Reconstruction a success or a failure? This remains a central interpretative question in American history, weighing the Constitutional gains of the amendments against the eventual rise of Jim Crow and systemic violence.

• The first seven Southern states to secede from the Union in early 1861 were:

  • South Carolina (December 20, 1860)

  • Mississippi (January 9, 1861)

  • Florida (January 10, 1861)

  • Alabama (January 11, 1861)

  • Georgia (January 19, 1861)

  • Louisiana (January 26, 1861)

  • Texas (February 1, 1861)   

• Following these states, four additional states seceded after the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861:

  • Virginia (April 17, 1861)

  • Arkansas (May 6, 1861)

  • Tennessee (May 7, 1861)

  • North Carolina (May 20, 1861)

Lincoln established "Lincoln governments" across the South during the Civil War, characterized by their lenient and conservative approach. Their primary objectives included:

• Restoring civil order in areas recaptured by Union forces.

• Facilitating the reintegration of Southern states into the Union.

• Implementing wartime policies with limited federal interference, reflecting Lincoln's strategies for reconciliation.

The NYC Draft Riots of 1863 remain the largest civil and most racially-charged urban disturbance in American history. The riots were sparked by widespread anger over the implementation of the draft, officially called the Enrollment Act, which required men to serve in the Civil War. Many working-class citizens were frustrated by the ability of wealthier individuals to avoid service by paying a $300 commutation fee, which exacerbated class tensions. The riots lasted for several days, resulting in extensive violence, destruction of property, and a significant death toll, primarily targeting Black individuals and abolitionist sympathizers in New York City.