Reconstruction__1_

  • President Lincoln’s Plan

    • 10% Plan introduced through Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (Dec 8, 1863)

    • Replaced majority rule in South with 'loyal rule'

    • Recognition given once 10% of 1860 election voters took an oath of loyalty

    • Pardon offered to all except highest-ranking Confederate officers

    • No consultation with Congress on Reconstruction

  • Lincoln Governments (1864)

    • Formation of 'Lincoln Governments' in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas

    • Established 'loyal assemblies'

    • These governments were weak and dependent on Northern army for support

  • Wade-Davis Bill (1864)

    • Required 50% of voters to take an 'iron-clad' oath of allegiance

    • Mandatory state constitutional convention before electing officials

    • Included safeguards for freedmen’s liberties

    • Advocated by Senator Benjamin Wade and Congressman Henry Davis

  • Radical Positions on Reconstruction

    • 'Iron-Clad' Oath required swearing they had never aided the rebellion

    • Theories:

      • 'State Suicide' theory by Senator Charles Sumner

      • 'Conquered Provinces' position by Congressman Thaddeus Stevens

    • Lincoln’s confrontation with Wade-Davis Bill led to pocket veto

  • Jefferson Davis Under Arrest

    • Complaints about food conditions in prison

    • Claimed his food issues mirrored those endured by soldiers

  • 13th Amendment (Ratified Dec 1865)

    • Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude (except as punishment for crime)

    • Congress granted power to enforce through legislation

  • Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)

    • Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands established

    • Northern abolitionists assisted freedmen; termed 'carpetbaggers' by Southerners

  • Black Codes

    • Ensured stable labor supply post-emancipation

    • Aimed to restore pre-emancipation race relations

    • Forced many blacks into sharecropping and tenant farming

  • Congress Breaks with the President

    • Southern delegates barred from Congress

    • Joint Committee on Reconstruction created

    • Johnson vetoed Freedmen’s Bureau and Civil Rights Act; Congress overrode both

  • President Andrew Johnson

    • Political stance: Jacksonian Democrat with white supremacist views

    • Did not believe Southern states had legally left the Union

    • Johnson's Reconstruction Plan:

      • Amnesty offered to most but excluded Confederate officers with property over $20,000

      • New constitutions must reject slavery, secession, and state debts

      • Appointed provisional governors to manage constitutional conventions

    • Effects:

      • Disenfranchised some Confederates

      • Pardoned planter aristocrats, helping them return to power

  • Growing Northern Alarm

    • Southern constitutions failed to meet requirements

    • Johnson granted 13,500 special pardons

    • Rise of Southern defiance and implementation of Black Codes

  • 14th Amendment (Ratified Jul 1868)

    • Ensured rights and security of freed populace

    • Penalties for any Southern states denying voting rights to blacks

  • 15th Amendment (Ratified 1870)

    • Prohibited denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude

    • Allowed Congress to enforce this through legislation

  • The Political Crisis of 1877

    • Allegations of corruption in Grant's administration

    • Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction; dissatisfaction among African Americans

    • Decline in Republican influence due to corruption and new Southern strategies

  • Legal Challenges to Amendments

    • The Slaughterhouse Cases (1873): Narrowed the definition of the 14th amendment

    • Bradwell vs. Illinois (1873): Court ruled against woman's right to practice law

    • U.S. vs. Reese (1876): Limited federal protections for voting rights

    • Civil Rights Cases (1883): Declared the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional

  • Federal Enforcement Weaknesses

    • Lack of strong enforcement undermined civil rights protections

    • Rise of discriminatory practices disenfranchising African Americans

  • The Failure of Federal Enforcement

    • Enforcement Acts of 1870 & 1871 aimed at protecting black rights but were insufficient

    • Emergence of white political coalitions like the Redeemers reclaiming power from Republicans

  • Grant Administration Scandals

    • Significant corruption cases like Credit Mobilier and Whiskey Ring

    • Contributed to reputation decline and Republican failure

  • Conclusion

    • The decline of Reconstruction and failure to protect civil rights paved the way for ongoing racial tensions and political strife in the U.S.