Reconstruction (1867-1877) Notes

Presidential Reconstruction and Johnson's Vetoes (1865–1867)

• Andrew Johnson: Southern-born former Democrat; became President after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
• Johnson vetoed two key Republican-backed measures: the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the renewal of the Freedman’s Bureau Bill.
• Johnson's justification for the vetoes:
  • Southern states had not voted on the measures.
  • The Freedman’s Bureau was a wartime measure and the war was over.
• Context: These vetoes reflected the broader clash between Johnson’s lenient approach to Reconstruction and the Republican-led push for federal protections and reforms in the South.

The Freedman’s Bureau: Aid, Education, and Context

• The Freedman’s Bureau provided aid in the defeated South to the poor, regardless of race (African American or white).
• It established free schools, facilitated reading, and provided essentials like food; it also helped with labor contracts.
• Educational context: At the start of the war, only about 1 in 8 whites could read, and there was no publicly supported education system.
• Irony noted: Johnson, who grew up poor and uneducated in the South, would have benefited from such an agency.
• Visual note: A photograph or illustration labeled as a Freedman’s Bureau School appears in the materials.

Congressional Response: Override, Impeachment, and Process

• Congress overrides Johnson’s two vetoes.
• The House of Representatives impeaches Johnson (to impeach means to accuse him of wrongdoing).
• The Senate tries the case; Johnson is found not guilty by a single vote.
• Reason for acquittal cited in material: Johnson promised not to obstruct Congressional Reconstruction.
• Significance: This impeachment episode weakens Johnson's ability to block Congressional efforts to reconstruct the South.

Military Reconstruction Act of 1867 and State Requirements

• Congress passes the Military Reconstruction Act of 1867.
• Requirements for each former Confederate state:
  • Certify loyal voters.
  • Elect delegates to draft a new state constitution.
  • Hold a vote to adopt the new constitution.
  • Hold elections in which only certified loyal voters vote and elect state officeholders.
• Constitutional prerequisites tied to amendments:
  • Each state had already ratified the $13^{ ext{th}}$ Amendment ($13^{ ext{th}}$ Amendment, 1865).
  • Each state must now pass the $14^{ ext{th}}$ Amendment ($14^{ ext{th}}$ Amendment, 1868).
  • If a state delays, it must also approve the $15^{ ext{th}}$ Amendment ($15^{ ext{th}}$ Amendment, 1870).

The 14th Amendment: Citizenship, Due Process, and Rights

• The $14^{ ext{th}}$ Amendment defines citizenship and restricts states from depriving life, liberty, or property without due process.
• It states that high-ranking ex-Confederates in civilian or military offices cannot vote until Congress restores that right.
• The Amnesty Act of 1872 (noted here) would restore the rights of many ex-Confederates, which would likely increase white voter turnout and shift electoral support toward the Democrats.
• Significance: This set of clauses ties citizenship to due process and creates conditions under which Reconstruction policy could be moderated by Congress and later restored for certain groups.

Representation, Voting, and Redistribution of Power

• States that barred African American men from voting risk losing a proportionate share of representation:
  • If African Americans constitute $rac{1}{4}$ of a state's population, the state would lose $rac{1}{4}$ of its House representatives and Electoral College votes.
• Northern states:
  • Often did not have substantial African American populations, so they did not lose representation.
  • Some Northern states did not want African Americans to vote, reflecting regional political tensions.

Supreme Court and the End of Congressional Reconstruction

• The United States Supreme Court becomes a central arbiter in ending Congressional Reconstruction.
• Major cases and implications are highlighted in subsequent sections:
  • The Court's rulings limit federal protections in various ways, shaping the post-Reconstruction era.

Civil Rights Legislation and Supreme Court Rulings

• Civil Rights Act of 1875: The Supreme Court ruled this act unconstitutional in the Civil Rights Cases of 1883, limiting federal enforcement against discrimination in public accommodations.
• Civil Rights Act of 1875: Declared unconstitutional by the Court.
• Civil Rights Cases of 1883: Court held that individuals could discriminate; federal protection against discrimination in private venues was narrowed.

Slaughter-House Cases and Federal vs State Rights

• Slaughter-House Case (1873) held that the National Government can protect only those rights it grants; rights protected by the states are outside federal protection unless Congress acts.
• This decision emphasized that many civil rights and liberties originated from state governments, not the federal government, thereby reducing federal oversight over many individual rights.
• Consequence: Property, freedom, and rights could be undermined if states chose to restrict them, illustrating the federalist tension during Reconstruction and after.

U.S. v. Reese and the Limits of the 15th Amendment

• U.S. v. Reese (1875) ruled that the $15^{ ext{th}}$ Amendment does not guarantee an African American man the right to vote in every circumstance.
• Resulting tactics in the South to suppress Black voting:
  • Poll taxes
  • Literacy tests
  • White primaries (restricting party primary participation to whites)
  • One-party gerrymandering and limited general elections with minimal choices for voters (often a single candidate per office)
• These mechanisms effectively disenfranchised many Black voters despite the amendments.

Plessy v. Ferguson and the Jim Crow Era

• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) upheld state laws requiring separate but equal facilities for different races.
• States enacted laws that mandated segregation in water fountains, waiting areas, train cars, schools, etc.
• The facilities for whites were typically superior; this formalized racial segregation under the term "Jim Crow".
• The Plessy decision remained the law of the land until overturned by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

Terror and Suppression: The Ku Klux Klan

• Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and other terror groups terrorized and murdered African Americans who challenged whites or attempted to vote or register to vote.
• The KKK's violence undermined Reconstruction-era protections and contributed to the rollback of Civil Rights advances.

The KKK’s Impact and the End of Reconstruction

• A historian, Allen Trelease, argued that the KKK was the main reason Reconstruction ended by undermining protections and intimidating Black and allied white voters.

The Compromise of 1877: End of Congressional Reconstruction

• The Compromise of 1877 marks the official end of Congressional Reconstruction and the return of white Democrats to power throughout the South, along with the rollback of rights and freedoms for African Americans.
• It resolved the disputed Presidential Election of 1876 in favor of Republican Rutherford B. Hayes.

The Presidential Election of 1876: Disputed Votes and Turnout

• Democratic Presidential Candidate Samuel Tilden won the majority of the popular vote but fell one vote short in the Electoral College.
• Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was likewise short by 15 electoral votes.
• A Committee of 15 Congressmen and Senators decided how to award the disputed votes: all 19 disputed votes would go to Hayes.

The Terms of the Compromise and Its Aftermath

• To gain Democratic agreement, the Compromise of 1877 stipulated:
  • Rutherford B. Hayes would be President.
  • All U.S. Army troops in the South would be withdrawn, ending federal enforcement of Reconstruction in practice.
  • Republicans (including white and African American Republicans) would be exposed to local terror and political risk in the absence of federal troops.
  • Democrats would gain influence by appointing the Postmaster General, who could appoint hundreds of people to office.
  • The South would receive federal money invested in rebuilding after the war.
• Consequences: Reconstruction effectively ends, and southern white Democratic control consolidates, leading to the rollback of many civil rights protections for African Americans.