Lecture 1- Reconstruction of the Union

Reconstruction of the Union

Introduction

• The primary war goal for Abraham Lincoln and the Union was the restoration of the Union.

• Key question: How to reconstruct the Union after the Civil War?

Challenges of Reconstruction

• Treatment of Confederate Leaders:

  • Should leaders like Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee be considered brothers or traitors?

  • Historically, traitors faced severe punishments (e.g., being hung, drawn, quartered, and beheaded).

• Constitutional Guidance:

  • The Constitution offers no specific guidance on readmitting seceded states.

  • Debate over which branch of government (executive or legislative) should control the process.

• Approaches to Reconstruction:

  • Two main approaches to Reconstruction, each with its own set of goals and priorities. These differing views would ultimately clash and shape the course of Reconstruction.

  • Abraham Lincoln's lenient, conciliatory approach.

  • Radical Republicans' desire to transform the South completely.

Key Questions for Reconstruction

• Control of the South:

  • Who will govern the South?

  • Who will be disenfranchised?

  • Who can be trusted to hold leadership positions?

• Consequences of Secession:

  • What are the penalties for secession?

• Control of the Federal Government:

  • Will the executive or legislative branch dominate?

  • Lincoln's power weakened in 1863-1864, but strengthened by the fall of Atlanta in 1864.

Consequences of Black Emancipation

• Rights of Freedmen:

  • What rights will freedmen and women have?

  • Will they be full citizens, partial citizens, or something else?

  • Discussions included repatriation to Africa or establishing colonies in the Caribbean.

Divergent Paths

• Lincoln's Moderate Position:

  • Focus on preserving and reunifying the Union.

  • Radical Republicans' Vision:

    • Emancipation as the first step.

    • Freedmen's Bureau as the second step.

    • Restructuring Southern society, redistributing land, and guaranteeing rights.

• Lincoln's Perspective:

  • Favored gradual implementation of radical changes after the Union's restoration.

Lincoln's 10% Plan

• Goals:
  * To heal the wounds of the Civil War, promote reconciliation, and secure unalienable rights for all.

• Implementation:

  • Generous terms for surrendering areas.

  • Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (December 1863).

  • When 10% of the 1860 voting population swore an oath to the U.S., the territory could resume representation.

• Loyal Rule:

  • Pardons for most Confederate soldiers (excluding those above the rank of lieutenant).

• Results:

  • Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas had Lincoln governments by 1864.

  • These governments were fragile and dependent on Union troops.

Congressional Opposition

• Radical Republicans:

  • Leaders: Thaddeus Stevens (House) and Charles Sumner (Senate).

• Radical Republican Views:

  • Secession was legal and destroyed statehood.

  • Southern states reverted to unorganized territories.

  • Congress should control Reconstruction, with the power to rebuild and confiscate property.

  • Feared by moderate and conservative Republicans.

Wade-Davis Bill

• Demands:

  • Majority (50% +) of white male citizens must participate in forming a new government.

  • Ironclad oath: swearing they never gave emotional, financial, or material support to the Confederacy.

• Exclusions:

  • Most of the Southern slaveholding class.

  • Anyone who served the Confederacy above the rank of lieutenant or held a civil office.

• Radical Goals:
  * Exclude the slaveholding class from the restoration and rehabilitation of the South because of their belief that this aristocracy subverted the Constitution and the Supreme Court to push their agenda.

  • Prevent them from playing a role in future government.

Congressional Response and Lincoln's Reaction

• Congressional Action:

  • Passage of the Wade-Davis Bill and sent to Abraham Lincoln.

• Presidential Options:

  • Veto, sign, or do nothing (bill becomes law in 10 days).

• Pocket Veto:
  * If Congress sends a bill to the president without the full ten days for consideration, and the president does nothing, it's considered a pocket veto if the term of Congress expires.

  • Lincoln's choice: Pocket vetoed the Wade-Davis Bill.

• Political Uncertainty:

  • The outcome of the election of 1864 and the war remained uncertain.

  • Some Republicans considered replacing Lincoln on the ticket.

Wade-Davis Manifesto

• Criticism:

  • Heavily criticized Lincoln for usurping congressional powers and leniency toward the South.

• Waving the Bloody Shirt:

  • Appealing to emotions by highlighting the casualties of the war and blaming the South and slavery.

  • Claimed Lincoln wasn't doing enough to address the consequences of the war.

Lincoln's Reelection and the Fall of Atlanta

• Atlanta's Fall:

  • Secured Lincoln's popularity and reelection.

  • Boosted morale in the North.

• Sherman's March:

  • Devastated the South through total war tactics.

  • Weakened Southern morale, combined with the Emancipation Proclamation.

Lincoln vs. Radical Republicans

• Lincoln's 10% Plan:

  • Offered an easy way for Southern states to rejoin the Union and end the war.

  • Aimed to avoid cornering the South, which might lead to more bloodshed.

  • Focus on economic recovery and rebuilding of the Union.

• Radical Republicans' Goals:

  • Long-term economic, political, and racial transformation of the South.

Presidential Power

• Lincoln's Popularity:
  * His ability to capture the public's imagination gave him the power to guide Reconstruction.

• Gilded Age Presidents:
  * Presidents after Lincoln lacked his popularity, causing power to shift to Congress.

Thirteenth Amendment

• Passage:

  • Passed in January 1865, formally ending slavery in the United States.

  • Prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude.

• Federal Supremacy:

  • Amended the Constitution to ensure the federal government could ban slavery in all territories.

  • Overturned the Dred Scott case.

• Scope:

  • Ended slavery in states not covered by the Emancipation Proclamation (e.g., Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland).

Freedmen's Bureau

• Establishment:

  • Created to assist freedmen in their transition from slavery to freedom.

• Activities:

  • Provided education, built schools and colleges, supplied food and medical services.

  • Managed confiscated lands and negotiated labor contracts.

• Constitutional Issues:

  • Debate over the federal government's right to confiscate and redistribute land.

  • Concerns about the government's social welfare obligations.

• Challenges:

  • Hindered by opportunists (carpetbaggers) who sought to profit from the situation.

  • Did a disservice to abolitionists who genuinely sought to ensure the rights of freedmen moving forward in Southern society.

Lincoln's Assassination and Andrew Johnson's Presidency

• Lincoln's Death:

  • Assassinated on April 15, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth.

  • Lincoln did not live to see the full impact of his efforts.

• Andrew Johnson:

  • Became the 17th President.

  • A Senator from Tennessee who remained with the Union.

  • A Jacksonian Democrat with limited government views.

• Johnson's Character
  * Possibly the most racist man to ever reside in the White House, especially skeptical of the potential success of freedmen, as he had decidedly biased perceptions of them.

Johnson's Initial Stance

• Early Statements:

  • Initially critical of the planter class in Tennessee.

  • Advocated for punishing traitors.

• Inconsistent Views:

  • Believed in limited government and states' rights.

  • Did not support expansive federal intervention in Reconstruction.

Johnson's Racism and Policies

• Racist Beliefs:
  * His State of the Union address expressed doubts about the success of endeavors under black leadership.

• Reelection Campaign**
  * Appealed to border states by choosing Johnson as his vice president.

• Control:

  • Assumed sole control of Reconstruction while Congress was out of session.

• Pardon Policy:

  • Seemed stern initially, requiring an oath for amnesty and barring high-ranking officials and wealthy Southerners.

• Johnson's Actions:
  * As president, appointed governors of former Confederate states, convening constitutional conventions with conditions to abolish slavery and declare secession invalid.
  * The right to vote in the elections were limited to those who had taken an oath of amnesty and who had suffrage rights on the day their states seceded.

• Unexpected Leniency:
  * Confederates are being awarded wholesale pardons, and many high level officials are returning to Congress after being elected.

  • Failed to disenfranchise Confederate leaders.

  • Issued wholesale pardons.

  • Allowed Confederate leaders to win elections.

  • Unclear why he was so lenient.

Congressional Opposition Resurfaces

• Declaration:

  • Declared Reconstruction over in December 1865, as former Confederates returned to Congress.

• Increased Representation:

  • Southern states gained representation due to freedmen being counted as full persons.
    Not only were their more prominent Confederates, but also a larger number of them.

• Black Codes:

  • State conventions replaced "slave" with "freedman" in discriminatory laws.

  • Radical Republicans viewed this as a new form of slavery.

• Exclusion:

  • Congress locked out Southern officials to challenge Johnson's control.

Congressional Reconstruction

• Constitutional Power:

  • Congress asserted its role in admitting states and guaranteeing a republican form of government.

• Radical Republican Goals:

  • Ensure black suffrage and democratize the South.

  • Confiscate and redistribute land.

  • Advocate for an activist government committed to racial equality.

• Moderate Concerns:

  • Less comfortable with land confiscation and an activist government.

  • Many held racial biases despite opposing slavery.

  • Motivated by anger toward Johnson.

Congressional Actions and Johnson's Response

• Compromise Attempt:

  • Congress sought minor changes to Johnson's plan:

  • Extend the Freedmen's Bureau for another year.

  • Pass a civil rights bill to counteract black codes.

• Johnson's Vetoes:

  • Vetoed both bills and denounced any changes to his plan.

  • Claimed Reconstruction was already over.

• Congressional Override:

  • Congress quickly overrode Johnson's vetoes.

  • Newspapers reported anti-freedmen violence in the South.

Constitutional Crisis

• Duking it Out:
  * The newspapers are reporting on the daily accounts of anti-Freedman violence that is currently overrunning the South, therefore, forcing the conservative and moderates view that Johnson is indeed the obstacle.

• End of Collaboration:

  • Any hope of Johnson cooperating with Republicans was dead.

• Result:

  • Motivated Republicans to seize control of Reconstruction and pass constitutional amendments.

Fourteenth Amendment

• Passage:

  • Proposed in 1866, ratified in 1868.

• Key Provisions:

  • Citizenship for freedmen.

  • Prohibition of states from infringing on constitutional privileges and immunities.

  • Guarantee of life, liberty, and property without due process and equal protection under the laws.

• Other Elements:

  • Barred Confederate leaders from holding state office.

  • Required two-thirds vote to overturn disenfranchisement.

  • Invalidated Confederate debt.

  • Guaranteed Union war debt.

  • Defined voters as male and 21 years old.

• Johnson's Opposition:

  • Campained against it, but Republicans won a two-thirds majority in both houses in 1866.

Radical Reconstruction

• Seize of Control:
  * After Johnson opposes the 14th amendment, resistance in the South continues, resulting an additional Republicans being elected, which results the radical Republicans to seize control of Reconstruction.

  • Implemented through a series of Reconstruction Acts starting in March 1867.

  • Divided the South into five military districts under Union generals.

  • Radical Republicans would force Reconstruction onto the South.

• Key Measures:

  • Guarantee suffrage of freedmen for state conventions.

  • Required states to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment and create new constitutions.

  • Enforced voter registration and adoption of constitutions.

  • Administered oaths against white citizens.

Military Districts

• Generals:

  • Texas and Louisiana: General Sheridan.

  • And other generals with specific regions.

• Troop Levels:

  • One million Union forces enforcing Reconstruction across the South.

  • Even with many troops, enforcing the law across the South proved difficult.

  • A very recalcitrant South that has no interest in enforcing reconstruction made the matter extraordinarily difficult.

Constitutional Crisis Deepens

• Conflict in Government:

  • Two sides of the government at odds over Reconstruction.

• Republican Actions:

  • Used a two-thirds majority to override Johnson's vetoes.

  • Passed controversial bills to limit Johnson's power:

  • Required military orders to go through the General of the Army (Ulysses S. Grant).

  • Passed the Tenure of Office Act, requiring senatorial approval for dismissals.

  • Two violations of the constitution by congress:
    1) Violating the executives commander in chief and military powers,
    2)Violates the executive branch customary control over the dismissal of those that serve directly at his pleasure.

Johnson's Resistance

• Circumvention:

  • Issued orders through other military commanders.

  • Removed and relocated army officers enforcing congressional orders.

  • Transferred powers to civilian officials.

• Attempted Dismissal:

  • Tried to remove Secretary of War Stanton.

  • Led to calls for impeachment.
    *

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

• Charges:

  • House drew up articles of impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors.

• Senate Trial:

  • Senate rejected the impeachment by one vote.

  • Johnson was not convicted but was politically crippled.

  • Now apart of a very dubious club in American presidential history of a president that has been impeached but not convicted.

Election of 1868

• Candidates:

  • Republican: Ulysses S. Grant.

  • Democrat: Horatio Seymour.

• Outcome:

  • Grant easily won on a platform of congressional reconstruction and freedman's suffrage.

Ulysses S. Grant Presidency

• Military Genius:
  * Extremely talented in fighting wars but was otherwise not able to do other roles very well.

  • Trust

    • Grant is going to trust his friends blindly, to which some will take advantage and abuse.

• Weaknesses:
  * Was never formally committed to military rule in the South.
  * Saw his friends blindly, which means that the Grant administration has one of the most corrupt that America has ever had during the Gilded Age.

• Troop Levels:

  • Troops in the South decreased from one million to 57,000 within a year.

    • This meant in 1870 only 57,000 troops in the South being charged with enforcing the fourteenth and fifteenth amendment.

  • By 1874 you only had less than 4000 troops in the South, and as a result failed the reconstruction of the grant presidency

Fifteenth Amendment

• Passage:

  • Proposed in 1869, ratified in 1870.

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

• Limitations:

  • States could still use other criteria to deny voting rights (literacy tests, grandfather clauses, poll taxes).

End of Reconstruction?

• Northern Sentiment:

  • Many in the North believed Reconstruction was complete with the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment.

  • Famous headline: "Let us have done with Reconstruction."

• Abolitionist Concerns:

  • Worried about unfinished business and the lack of social and economic equality.

Failure of Economic Independence

• The Economic Depression of 1873 distraits people by creating economic hardships

• Key Shortcomings:
  * Radical Reconstruction really only lasted a few years because as troops started to disappear there was no mechanism to address the political, social, and the economic sources of inequality.

  • Reconstruction did not redistribute land or provide economic independence to freedmen.

  • Did not change the Southern social structure.

Consequences

• Left at Mercy:

  • Freedmen were left at the mercy of former masters.

  • Lack of land and skills left them economically vulnerable.

• Reversed Gains:

  • Reconstruction was quickly reversed.

  • New issues captured the attention of the North.

  • Redeemer Democrats ousted Republicans.

  • Crafted the narrative of "Negro domination" to undermine Reconstruction. (Not the case)
    Texas removed the state constables by black and well white men and has a department of public safety to this day.

Election of 1872 and Amnesty Act

• Grant runs a second term and wins due to his war reputation, but really because almost a million troops left the South.

• Amnesty Act (1872):
  * Pardoned most Confederates, leaving only about 500 unable to participate politically. The majority of disenfranchisements happened by the 14th amendment by 1874.

• Democratic Gains:
  In 1872, the fourth state governments were in democratic hands. 1876 eight of the southern governments are in democratic hands.

  • The democrats highlighted the failures of Reconstruction to use public opinion, to reverse the republican rule and to really wear people out. America gets distracted with immigration , urbanization, industrialization, and westward expansion.

Election of 1876 and the Compromise of 1877

• Candidates:

  • Republican: Rutherford B. Hayes.

  • Democrat: Samuel Tilden.

• Disputed Election:

  • The very controversial election, due to the extremely tight election in which they have to dispute to see what candidate wins because they're alleging fraud on both sides.

  • Three states (Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina) with Republican governments declared for Hayes.

• Fraud Allegations:
  * Republican: engaging the election into fraud
  * Democrat: engaged in a fraud election

  * There were allegations against fraud in a lot of states, but the allegations are important in those 3 states to see who exactly wins the presidential seat.   
  

• Compromise of 1877:

  • Democrats accepted Hayes as president, which means that the democrats are dropping their challenge because it always going to be voted with party lines, 8 republicans and 7 democrats consistently, the reason is nonnegotiable. Therefore they decide to extract the removal of the last 4000 troops from the South, and get more federal aid for internal improvements for the roads, railroads, bridges.

  • In return, Republicans removed the last federal troops from the South.
    Reconstruction is over.

Accomplishments and Failures of Reconstruction

• Accomplishments:

  • Increased federal power.

  • Set a precedent for federal intervention in states.

  • Enacted the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments.

• Failures:

  • Did not resolve social or economic inequalities.

  • Did not equip freedmen with economic, political, or social equality.

  • Reconstruction really failed due to The moment that the federal troops left they were forced into being more difficult now.

• Legacy of Failure
  * When you look go and look at the industrialization, and you expand you see everything else the freedmen are left the the mercy of the white Southerners who at they pointcredibly angry who resentful and embittered. Therefore Reconstruction is seen as a legacy of failure.

• America will get distracted and stop paying attention until they look at the civil rights issues 1946 only to find that there was almost 60 years of gym crow with a lot of failure to protect. That's freeton.

Conclusion

• Reconstruction had limited success.

• Freedmen were left at the mercy of white Southerners.

• The North became distracted by other issues.

• Jim Crow and segregationist policies emerged.