V

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  • Compromise of 1877: Federal troops withdrawn, ending Reconstruction.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.