Comprehensive Review of Reconstruction, Expansionism, and the World Wars

Overview of Reconstruction ($1865$ to $1867$)

• Goal of Reconstruction: The federal government attempted to bring the North and South back together and reintegrate the Southern states into the Union.
• Definition of the Union: The Union refers to the original government that remained constant throughout the conflict; the Southern states that left had to be formally readmitted.
• Key Challenges of the Period:     * Disagreements over the process, speed, and requirements for readmitting states.     * The Southern economy was in complete shambles after the Civil War.     * Determining the new legal status of African Americans.     * The physical rebuilding of the South, particularly infrastructure targeted during the war.
• Sherman's March to the Sea: This event involved the targeting of Southern resources and infrastructure to cripple the region's ability to fight, necessitating a massive rebuilding effort afterward.

The Two Phases of Reconstruction

• Presidential Reconstruction: This was the initial phase where the President was in charge of the process.     * Lincoln’s $10\%$ Plan: Abraham Lincoln’s plan required that $10\%$ of the voters from the $1860$ election in a given state take an oath of loyalty to the Union. Once this threshold was met, the state could apply for readmission.     * Lincoln's Assassination: Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth shortly after the war ended ($1865$), leading to Andrew Johnson becoming President.     * Andrew Johnson's Role: Johnson continued a lenient vision for Reconstruction, which allowed many Confederate leaders to return to power.
• Radical Reconstruction (Congressional Reconstruction): This phase began when Congress took control of the process from the President.     * Radical Republicans: Key figures included Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner.     * Philosophy of the Radicals: They favored securing rights for freed African Americans and believed in strong federal intervention in the Reconstruction of the South.     * The Caning of Sumner: This event, involving the physical assault of Charles Sumner by Preston Brooks, is a notable historical pre-cursor and context for the Radical position.

The Reconstruction Amendments and Legal Changes

• The $13^{th}$ Amendment: This amendment officially abolished slavery.
• The $14^{th}$ Amendment: This provided citizenship and stated that citizenship could not be based on a person’s former condition of servitude. It aimed to provide a legal basis for citizenship for formerly enslaved people.
• The $15^{th}$ Amendment: This granted African Americans the right to vote.
• Impact on Previous Laws: These amendments technically nullified the Three-Fifths Compromise and the Dred Scott decision. However, Southern states countered these by passing Black Codes to limit the movement and freedom of African Americans and to ensure a steady labor supply for the planter class.

The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

• Context of Conflict: Congress and President Johnson were in constant disagreement regarding the direction of Reconstruction and the management of the cabinet.
• The Tenure of Office Act: Congress passed this law, which prohibited the President from firing a cabinet appointee during the term of the President who appointed them.
• The Firing of Edwin Stanton: Johnson attempted to fire his Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. Because Johnson was serving out Lincoln’s term, Congress argued he could not fire Lincoln’s appointee under the Tenure of Office Act.
• Impeachment Outcome: Johnson was the first of three presidents to be impeached (followed later by Bill Clinton and Donald Trump; Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached). He was not removed from office, but the process effectively ended his political career.

Military Reconstruction and the Successes/Failures of the Period

• Military Reconstruction Act of $1867$: This act stationed American soldiers in the South to ensure Congress's reconstruction plans were enforced.
• Successes of Reconstruction:     * Rebuilding of some Southern infrastructure.     * Readmission of Southern states to the Union.     * Pardoning of individuals without mass incarcerations.     * Establishment of schools in the South and increased educational opportunities.     * Election of former slaves to government positions and a major political shift in black voting power.
• Failures of Reconstruction:     * Widespread segregation remained.     * The social structure continued to reflect the supremacy of planter elites.     * Economically, many former slaves remained in a state of constant labor through sharecropping.     * Rise of racial discrimination through the KKK and Jim Crow laws.     * Implementation of poll taxes and literacy tests to restrict voting power.

The Compromise of $1877$

• The Disputed Election of $1876$: Republican Rutherford B. Hayes ran against Democrat Samuel Tilden. The election was heavily disputed due to unclear winners in states like South Carolina, where both parties claimed victory.
• Violence and Fraud: There was significant violence at the polls and many blacks were prevented from voting.
• The Deal: The Democrats agreed to let Hayes become President in exchange for the removal of federal troops from the South.
• Consequences: The removal of troops created a power vacuum that Southern Democrats filled, paving the way for the creation and enforcement of Jim Crow laws.

The Evolution of the Republican Party

• Origins: The party was formed from various groups including the Free Soil Party (who wanted no slavery in the Western territories), anti-slavery Whigs, and Northern Democrats.
• Platform: Beyond opposing slavery, the party supported the Union, infrastructure development, land distribution in the West, and protective tariffs.
• Support Base: The party’s support was concentrated primarily in the North.

Post-War Expansion and the Gilded Age

• Manifest Destiny: Westward expansion continued after the Civil War ended.
• Frederick Jackson Turner: He wrote "The Significance of the Frontier in American History." The $1890$ census officially proclaimed the American frontier closed.
• Expansion Outside the U.S.:     * $1867$: Purchase of Alaska (known as Seward's Folly).     * $1898$: Spanish-American War.     * Territorial Gains: The U.S. gained the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii, and occupied Cuba.
• Anti-Imperialist League: Figures like Mark Twain opposed imperialism, viewing it as a moral failing and an extension of industrial capitalism.

Industrial and Economic Revolutions

• First Industrial Revolution (Late $18^{th}$ Century): Concentrated in the textile industry with factories built along rivers on the East Coast.
• Market Revolution ($1820s$–$1840s$): A shift in the economy toward factory work, increased production, and government concentration on infrastructure like canals and roads using tariff revenue.
• Second Industrial Revolution (Post-$1850$): Often simply referred to as the Industrial Revolution in American history, leading to full access to national and international markets.

The Progressive Era ($1890$ to $1920$)

• Characteristics: Reformers, largely from the middle class and many being women, sought to use local, state, and national government to pass laws solving societal problems.
• Focus Areas: Suffrage (voting rights for women), urban reform, prison reform, and Temperance (Prohibition).
• Notable Suffragists: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alice Paul.

The Spanish-American War ($1898$)

• Causes: Yellow journalism reporting Spanish atrocities in Cuba (notably stories about General Valeriano Guiler), business interests in Latin America, and the desire for the Panama Canal.
• USS Maine: The ship exploded in Havana Harbor; though likely an accident involving faulty wiring or engine room issues, it triggered a declaration of war.
• The Rough Riders: Theodore Roosevelt commanded this group during the war.
• Outcome: The Treaty of Paris ($1898$) gave the U.S. control of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam.

World War I ($1914$ to $1918$)

• Trigger: The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary.
• U.S. Entry ($1917$): President Woodrow Wilson asked for a declaration of war for several reasons:     * Sinking of the Lusitania and other ships.     * Unrestricted submarine warfare.     * The Zimmerman Telegram (Germany asking Mexico to attack the U.S. in exchange for lost territory).     * Commercial ties and ideological alignment with Britain and France.
• The Home Front: The U.S. passed the Espionage and Sedition Acts to criminalize dissent and rebellion against the government.
• The Great Migration: African Americans moved from the South to Northern cities for industrial job opportunities.
• End of the War: The Treaty of Versailles officially ended the war with Germany. Wilson proposed his "$14$ Points," but the U.S. ultimately did not join the League of Nations.

The Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression

• The $1920s$ Prosperity: Characterized by the assembly line (Henry Ford), increased factory jobs, installment credit, and social unification through radio, sports, and cinema.
• Laissez-Faire Policies: Presidents Harding and Coolidge maintained minimal business regulation.
• The First Red Scare: Followed the Communist revolution in Russia ($1917$). General Mitchell Palmer conducted the Palmer Raids to search for communists.
• The Stock Market Crash ($1929$): Signaled the start of the Great Depression, characterized by high unemployment, bank failures, and over-speculation.
• Herbert Hoover's Response: Hoover believed in "rugged individualism" and self-reliance. He did create the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (a $2,000,000,000$ stimulus plan) to save businesses and banks, but it was largely viewed as insufficient.

The New Deal and World War II

• Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR): Elected to replace Hoover; implemented the New Deal based on "The Three Rs": Relief, Recovery, and Reform.
• Programs: The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) provided jobs (relief), and the Social Security Act provided long-term security (reform).
• Critics:     * Huey Long: Proposed the "Share Our Wealth" plan.     * Francis Townsend: Wanted a $200$ monthly pension for people over $60$.     * Charles Coughlin: Argued FDR did not do enough to break the greed of corporations.
• Interwar Diplomacy: Included the Dawes Plan (lending money to Germany), the Washington Naval Conference (limiting arms), and the Good Neighbor Policy (non-intervention in Latin America).
• World War II ($1939$–$1945$): The U.S. was initially isolationist (America First Committee) but acted as the "Arsenal of Democracy" through Cash and Carry and Lend-Lease. The U.S. entered after Pearl Harbor (December $7$, $1941$).
• Domestic Impact: The War Production Board controlled the economy. Japanese Americans were interned, a move upheld by the Supreme Court in Korematsu v. the United States.
• Post-War: The Cold War followed, featuring the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine, the Space Race, and the occupancy of Japan, South Korea, and Berlin.