Reconstruction

  • 1865-1877
  • Had to solve two questions
  • How to bring the traitorous South back after the war
  • What to do about African Americans
  • Lincoln’s idea was to send them back to Africa
  • “If not slaves then what?”
  • Andrew Johnson: president 1865-1869
    • Says Welcome Back to the south. White south has little to no punishment
    • African Americans will figure it out. Had no policy
  • 1866: Black Codes
    • Set of laws passed by the Southern states
    • Tried to perpetuate slavery under different names
    • Congress creates a law that declares Black Codes unlawful
    • Andrew Johnson fought to keep Black Codes - vetoed law
    • Overturned Johnson’s veto and overtrew Black Codes with the two-thirds option
  • Two-Thirds Option: If the House and the Senate can have 2/3 of their population agree, a law can be passed without the President. Veto override
  • Freedman’s Bureau
    • what?
    • 1865
    • Government-created organization meant to provide food and clothing to African Americans
    • Really provided minimal assistance
    • Provided schools for 150K black kids
    • Thought about redistributing land
    • 1866: the government had to reauthorize the Bureau
    • \
    • Johnson vetoes the approval and Congress uses the two-thirds option again
  • Late 1866: TURNING POINT. People figure they can do reconstruction without Johnson
    • 1868: Johnson was impeached + 1 vote away from being removed from office
  • Radical Republicans
    • Political party formed in opposition to Johnson
    • Brought about a lot of change in a short amount of time
    • Goals:
    • Punish White South
    • Help African Americans
  • 1867: put the South under military rule (treated like a conquered nation)
    • Viewed as 5 military zones
    • South couldn’t have representation in Congress
  • 1868: 14th amendment - Citizen’s Law. African Americans are now full, legal citizens.
  • 1870: 15th amendment - African American men can vote
  • 1869: Ulysses S Grant (ally of radical republicans) becomes president
  • For the Southern states to come back, they had to ratify either the 14th or the 15th amendment. All states came back 1868 or 69
    • 600 black men were elected in politics in 11 southern states
  • Rise of the Ku Klux Klan
    • Murder and intimidation
    • Goal: scare blacks into not voting so white people tale control again
  • 1871: Ku Klux Klan Act: authorized army to use whatever means necessary to put down the Klan

How Reconstruction Falls Apart

  • 1873: Recession (The Panic of 1873)
  • Radical Republicans started to move their focus from preserving rights of African Americans to revamping the economy
  • Grant’s cabinet was very corrupt - Grant had to deal with the fallout of their scandals, so he had less time to do anything
  • 1875: In Mississippi, white southerners forcefully removed their elected governor and implemented a new government.
    • For the first time, the army / government didn’t respond
    • Signal that there would be no more fighting for African Americans
    • Unofficial end to Reconstruction
  • 1876: Presidential Election
    • Three states had an irregularity - not clear winner in electoral college
    • Government set up a committee to decide the president
    • Mix of republicans and democrats
    • Result: Compromise of 1877
  • Compromise of 1877
    • Republican candidate would be the next president
    • The army had to leave the South immediately
    • Cannot enforce the KKK Act
    • Official end of reconstruction