Reconstruction

SOUTH
 North and South developed into a vastly different cultures
 South economy relied on cotton and slave labor
 Slavery becomes part of the south’s culture
 Proclaimed states right and Nullification
 The antislavery pressure came to ahead with the election of Lincoln

NORTH
 The North becomes industrial
 Relying on increasing unskilled and immigrant workers
 Growing Abolitionist movement along with other reforms pushed the
slavery to the forefront
 The north was more diverse in population and agriculture and in industry

THE CIVIL WAR 1861-1865
 The South is totally defeated
 Slavery ends
 The infrastructure, economy, culture, social and political life is changed
 Some in the North want to punish the south, other want a more measured
path

RECONSTRUCTION
LINCOLN’S PLAN
 During the war, Lincoln had his plan known as the 10% Plan
 Lincoln hoped to get country back together quickly
 10% of those who voted in 1860 could take an oath of allegiance to the
Union
 Excluded Confederate government, army, naval officials or civilian who
resigned from the US government to join the CSA, they needed a pardon
from the president
 Rejected by congress in 1863 who felt he was too soft on the south

CONGRESSIONAL PLAN
 Wade-Davis Plan
 Confederate states ruled by military government
 At least half of those eligible to vote in 1860 had to take an oath of
allegiance
 Delegates could then be elected to state conventions to repeal secession
and abolish slavery
 The former confederates had to take an “Iron Clad” oath that they did not
voluntary support the CSA
 Readmission would be delayed
 Lincoln pocket vetoed the bill

ANDREW JOHNSON

●Only southern Senator who remained in the Congress

●1864 became Lincoln running mate

●Lincoln assignation rose Johnson to the president

●May 1865, he presented his own plan

●Almost all southerners who took an oath received a pardon and amnesty

●Oath takers elect delegates to state conventions to declare session illegal, repudiate states debt and ratify the 13th amendment

●Disqualified those worth $20,000.00 or more

AFFECT OF THE JOHNSON PLAN

●Economic hardship meant that those old planter class, whom Johnson wanted to excluded now met the threshold of net worth and regained power

●Seven former Confederate States elected Status Quo Antebellum governments many refused to ratify the 13th Amendment

●Many enacted “Black Codes” that while granting certain political rights to former slaves, also restricted their freedom

●Segregation becoming institution

IMPEACHMENT OF JOHNSON

Power to Impeach

●Article One of the Constitution gives the House power to investigate and bring charges,  the Senate acts as Jury, hearing the Houses case, the Chief Justice of the Supreme court acts as Judge

●2/3rds votes in the Senate to remove a president from office

●Not able to present criminal charges

●Along with Johnson, Clinton and Trump (3x) have been impeached

Reasons and Results

●Congress did not like Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan, his delay in funding for the Freedman’s bureau, and fact he was a southern democrat

●Tenure of Office Act 1867, passed over Johnson’s veto, the President had to get Congressional approval to fire a member of the cabinet

●Johnson replaces the Secretary of War in 1868

●11 Charges of impeachment, nine for violation of the Tenure of Office Act, 2 for unmindful of his high

RECONSTRUCTION IN THE SOUTH

●Black and white Republicans:

●Black men constituted 80% of Republican voters
in the South.

•Never held office in proportion to their voting strength.

•Most of those who did hold office were literate and came from the top levels of Black society.

●Because Black voters were a majority in only three southern states, Republicans needed white votes.

•Yeoman farmers from the upland districts (scalawags) and northern transplants (carpetbaggers).

●Maintaining unity was difficult.

●Reforms under the New State Governments:

•New state constitutions included many political and
social reforms.

•All granted political equality, but social equality was
generally ignored.

●Economic Issues and Corruption:

●Southern economy was in ruins.

●Corruption rampant and state debt skyrocketed.

•Corruption became a national problem.

New Working Conditions:

African Americans asserted control over their work by refusing the work conditions of slaves.

Sharecropping became the typical arrangement.

•Often highly exploitative.

Affected by varied racial attitudes among agents,
the Freedmen’s Bureau had a mixed record.

•Freedmen’s Courts created in 1866.

•Bureau disbanded in 1872, signalling northern retreat from Reconstruction.

ELECTION OF 1868 GRANT AS PRESIDENT

●U.S. Grant wins as Johnson does not seek another term

●Grant is honest but many in his cabinet are not, scandals are common (Grantism)

●15th Amendment is passed –ratified in 1870, some in the suffrage movement do not support it

●1872 Amnesty Act allows more ex-confederates to serve in government

●Grant wins second term defeating Horace Greeley 1872

●Civil Rights Act of 1875 passed-prohibited racial discrimination in public accommodation, transportation, places of amusement and juries  

●1883 Supreme Court reject the Civil Rights Act

●Ku Klux Klan rises from the southern Democratic Party to stop advancements of Freedmen,  Ku Klux Klan act of 1871  To act against this newly defined federal crime, the President could suspend habeas corpus, deploy the U.S. military, or use “other means, as he may deem necessary.” Opponents

KU KLUX KLAN

●The Ku Klux Klan Act’s passage followed racial violence and terrorism in South Carolina. It was the third of a series of “Enforcement Acts” meant to protect African American citizens against this widespread extralegal violence. The first two acts, passed in May 1870 and February 1871, aimed to allow the federal government to enforce the 15th Amendment

ELECTION OF 1876 AND END OF RECONSTRUCTION

●Samuel Tilden Democrat of New York, won the popular votes but not enough electoral votes

●Rutherford Hayes Republican, contested the votes in Fl, LA, and SC, since there was corruption in those states

●Congress met in December appointed a committee with five republicans, five democrats and one independent, when the independent resigned he was replaced by a Republican, so the committee chose Hayes

●Democrats protest led to a Compromise- Hayes becomes President and Reconstruction in the South Ends, troops removed

SOUTH AFTER RECONSTRUCTION

●Policy of Segregation took hold

●African Americans  voting rights are restricted by “grandfather clauses”, poll tax and literacy requirements

●Democrats take back the South and vote out the Black Republicans who serve in Congress and the State houses

●Sharecropping and crop line system keep former slaves on former plantations working for former owners not many migrate west or north at this time