Reconstruction Era (1865-1877) Review
Essential Question
What were the various plans to bring Southern states back into the Union and to protect newly-emancipated slaves?
Reconstruction (1865-1877)
Reconstruction is defined as the era during which the U.S. government attempted to rebuild the nation after the Civil War.
Quick Class Discussion:
What were the three goals of the federal government during Reconstruction?
Readmit the seceded Southern states back into the Union.
End slavery and protect newly emancipated slaves.
Rebuild the South after more than four years of fighting.
President Lincoln's Reconstruction Plan
As the Civil War was ending, President Lincoln promised a Reconstruction plan for the Union characterized by "malice towards none and charity for all."
The Constitution, however, did not provide guidelines on how to readmit states to the Union.
Disagreement existed between the President and Congress over the treatment of Southern states.
In Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, he expressed his ideas on how to proceed.
Lincoln favored a plan that would:
Quickly re-admit the Confederate states once only 10% of the voters swore an oath of loyalty.
Require the states to ratify the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery in America.
Radical Republicans’ Response
The “Radical Republicans” in Congress rejected Lincoln’s plan, arguing that it was too lenient on ex-Confederates.
After Lincoln’s assassination, the government lacked a Reconstruction plan.
Radical Republicans favored a more stringent approach that included:
Protections for black Americans.
Requiring 50% of state citizens to swear a loyalty oath.
Banning ex-Confederate leaders from holding government office.
Presidential Reconstruction (1865-1867)
Following Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, Vice President Andrew Johnson initiated his own Reconstruction Plan.
Johnson’s plan was relatively lenient towards Confederate states as he aimed for a quick reunion of the South with the United States.
Timeline of Key Events
1865: Andrew Johnson becomes president.
1865: The Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery, is ratified.
1866: The Civil Rights Act is passed.
1868: The Fourteenth Amendment extends full citizenship to African Americans.
1868: Ulysses S. Grant is elected president.
1870: The Fifteenth Amendment guarantees voting rights to African Americans.
1872: Grant is re-elected.
1873: A financial panic leads to economic depression.
1877: Rutherford B. Hayes is inaugurated as president, marking the end of Reconstruction.
Ex-Confederate states could rejoin the USA upon ratifying the 13th Amendment, which states:
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Presidential Reconstruction’s Shortcomings
Johnson's plan did not enforce protections for former slaves effectively.
Southern states implemented black codes to hinder African Americans from acquiring land, employment, and law protections.
Radical Republicans and the Freedman’s Bureau
Radical Republicans, led by Thaddeus Stevens in Congress, opposed Johnson’s plan, advocating for stronger laws to protect African Americans.
In response to the needs of former slaves, Congress established the Freedman’s Bureau in 1865.
The Bureau provided essential services:
Emergency food, housing, and medical supplies.
Promised "40 acres and a mule," though this promise was largely unfulfilled.
Supervised labor contracts.
Created new schools, which became its most significant legacy.
Education and Black Colleges
The emphasis on education during Reconstruction led to the establishment of black universities, such as Morehouse College in Atlanta.
Former abolitionists and opportunists who moved South were referred to as "carpetbaggers."
Civil Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment
Despite the efforts of the Freedman’s Bureau, Radical Republicans worried that Johnson’s lenient policies could violate the civil rights of blacks.
As a result, Congress drafted the Fourteenth Amendment, which defined former slaves as citizens and guaranteed equal protection under the law to all citizens.
President Johnson’s Opposition
President Johnson believed these new protections alienated Southerners, potentially undermining Reconstruction.
Johnson opposed the Freedman’s Bureau and actively urged states not to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment.
By 1867, moderate and radical Republicans recognized the need to assert control over Reconstruction from the president.
Congressional Reconstruction (1867-1877)
Radical Republicans in Congress initiated their plan, known as Congressional Reconstruction from 1867 to 1877.
Congressional Reconstruction was characterized by strict measures that:
Protected the rights of former slaves.
Prevented Confederate leaders from regaining authority in the South.
Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which:
Divided the South into 5 military zones with U.S. Troops enforcing Reconstruction.
Required ex-Confederate states to grant black men the right to vote at the state level.
Mandated states to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment to ensure black citizenship.
Johnson's Obstruction and Impeachment
President Johnson undermined Congressional Reconstruction by dismissing military generals appointed by Congress to govern Southern military zones.
Johnson violated the Tenure of Office Act when attempting to remove his Secretary of War, who backed Congress’ Reconstruction plan.
This led Radical Republicans to seize the opportunity to impeach the president.
The House of Representatives voted 126-47 to charge Johnson with a crime.
After an 11-week trial, the Senate did not reach the needed majority to remove him from office; he fell one vote short.
Johnson successfully argued that he had not committed a “high crime or misdemeanor.”
Ulysses Grant's Presidency
In 1868, Civil War hero Ulysses Grant won the presidency as the Republican candidate.
President Grant (1869-1877) collaborated with Congress to enforce Reconstruction.
By 1870, all ex-Confederate states were readmitted to the United States.
Rights and Changes During Congressional Reconstruction
During this period, African Americans experienced unprecedented rights and opportunities.
The 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870, granting black men the right to vote.
Black political representation began as the first black politicians were elected to various offices.
Increases in literacy and education among African Americans were noted.
Black families were reunited, with marriages legally recognized, and black workers gained the freedom to earn their livelihoods.
Economic Changes in the South
Post-Civil War Reconstruction signified a shift towards a diverse Southern economy with new iron, steel, and textile mills.
The government invested in railroads and repairing the South's infrastructure.
This new industrial economy necessitated hired workers rather than a solely agricultural one.
Failures and Resistance to Reconstruction
Despite the re-admittance of all eleven Southern states into the Union and the constitutional guarantees provided by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments:
The maintenance of Reconstruction was challenged as Democrats gradually regained control of Southern states.
Southern governments actively resisted Reconstruction by enacting more black codes to further disenfranchise black Americans.
Black codes barred African Americans from serving on juries, testifying against whites in court, marrying whites, or owning land.
Black men could be returned to servitude for unpaid debts or crimes.
These discriminatory laws often limited black laborers from securing skilled employment or competing with white workers.
Supreme Court Decisions Affecting Civil Rights
The Supreme Court ruled against several civil rights laws intended to protect African Americans, including:
Slaughterhouse Cases (1873): Most civil rights were classified as state rather than federal rights, thereby unprotected by the Fourteenth Amendment.
U.S. v. Cruikshank (1876): The Fourteenth Amendment was found not to grant the federal government authority to penalize whites who oppressed blacks.
U.S. v. Reese (1876): The ruling determined that the Fifteenth Amendment did not grant voting rights but instead restricted various forms of voter discrimination.
Violence and Intimidation
Southern society saw increased violence and intimidation aimed at maintaining white supremacy.
The Ku Klux Klan was formed during Reconstruction, explicitly to target blacks attempting to vote or challenge white dominance.
Lynching became a prevalent method of instilling fear among black communities.
Shifting Political Power
Southern voters shifted their support from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party, culminating in the gradual erosion of protections for African Americans.
Black codes and KKK activities were effective in suppressing black voting rights.
Federal troops stationed in Southern military zones struggled to safeguard black populations against violence.
Return of the Democratic Party
State governments in the South transitioned from Republican dominance to the Democratic Party over time.
The shift was part of a broader trend, as "Redeemer Democrats" sought to restore control and revert to the pre-war societal structure of the Old South.
Aftermath of Reconstruction
The Civil War ended slavery; however, African Americans faced barriers due to a lack of job training and financial resources for land acquisition.
Consequently, many ex-slaves returned to plantation work under oppressive conditions.
Sharecropping and Economic Entanglement
After slavery, the system of sharecropping, also referred to as tenant farming, emerged:
The sharecropper was allocated land and seed by a landowner. In return, he promised half of the crop to the landowner.
To pay off debts, the sharecropper would guarantee the landowner a larger share of the upcoming year's crop.
As a result, most sharecroppers ended up with little to no earnings after settling their debts, often becoming trapped in a cycle of poverty.
Sharecroppers typically purchased essential supplies on credit from the landowner's store, leading to a perpetual debt cycle.
End of Reconstruction
By the end of 1865, most freedmen ended up working on the same plantations where they had previously been enslaved.
Sharecropping persisted until the 1940s.
By the mid-1870s, Democrats had regained control of most Southern states, leaving federal troops as the only form of protection for African Americans.
Compromise of 1877
During the 1876 election, no candidate (Democrat Tilden or Republican Hayes) secured a majority of the electoral votes.
An agreement known as the Compromise of 1877 was reached, whereby Democrats consented to voting for Hayes as president in exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from the South.
The removal of federal oversight marked the official end of Reconstruction and gave rise to the Jim Crow era, lasting from 1877 to 1954.
Jim Crow Era
As Reconstruction concluded, Jim Crow laws emerged to segregate Southern society and impose restrictions on black voting rights through measures such as poll taxes and literacy tests.