Reconstruction Era Notes

Reconstruction Era (1865-1877)

• Period after the Civil War focused on reuniting the U.S.
• Marked by conflict among Southern groups, federal government branches, and between the federal government and former Confederate states.

Key Players and Conflicts

• South:
  • Planters: Economically and politically dominant minority.
  • Freedmen: 3.5-4 million seeking legal/political equality and land.
  • Yeomen: Independent farmers wanting political voice and economic recovery.
• Federal Government:
  • Republican Party: Dominated by Radical Republicans advocating for freedmen's equality.
  • President vs. Congress: Conflict over Reconstruction terms. Andrew Johnson's lenient plan faced Congressional opposition.

Reconstruction Act of 1867

• Passed over Johnson's veto, imposing Radical Republican plan on the South.
• Universal male suffrage (except for high-ranking Confederates).
• Required new state constitutions to guarantee suffrage and ratify the 14th Amendment.
• 14th Amendment: U.S. citizenship and equal protection under the law.

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

• Impeached by the House in 1868 for obstructing Reconstruction.
• Acquitted by the Senate, but agreed to cease obstructing Reconstruction.

Ulysses S. Grant's Presidency

• Elected in 1868, supported by freedmen's votes.
• 15th Amendment (1870): Prohibited denying voting rights based on race.

Reconstruction in the South

• Republican governments formed with black enfranchisement.
• New state constitutions ensured equality before the law, social services, and public schools.
• No land redistribution occurred.

Planter Resistance

• Planters opposed Reconstruction, decrying "Black Domination" and corruption.
• Carpetbaggers (northerners) and Scalawags (Southern Republicans) were criticized.
• Ku Klux Klan used violence to suppress Republican voters.
• Enforcement Acts (1870-1): Federal response to Klan violence, temporarily crippling them.

Economic Issues

• Sharecropping emerged as a compromise between planters and freedmen but led to economic problems.

Decline of Reconstruction

• Northern support waned; focus shifted to westward expansion and economic issues.
• Federal intervention decreased; Republican governments fell to Redeemers (white supremacist Democrats).
• Compromise of 1877: Federal troops withdrawn, ending Reconstruction.

Amendments

• 13th Amendment: Abolished slavery.
• 14th Amendment: U.S. Citizenship and equal protection.
• 15th Amendment: Voting rights regardless of race.