Module 10 Study Guide: Reconstruction and the 14th and 15th Amendments

The Fourteenth (14th) Amendment

• Definition and Citizenship: This amendment established that all persons born within the United States are officially citizens of the nation. This status applies regardless of an individual's race.

• Equal Protection: It mandated that all such citizens were entitled to equal protection under the law.

• Restrictions on Confederate Leaders: The amendment dictated that most leaders of the Confederacy were barred from holding seats in federal or state offices. These individuals could only regain eligibility through a $2/3$ vote by Congress.

• Voting Rights Enforcement: If a state government prevented a man from exercising his right to vote, that state would be penalized by losing a corresponding seat in Congress.

• Shift in Sovereignty: The passing of this amendment significantly shifted power away from individual states and transformed these rights into a federal issue. Because of this, states no longer held the authority to individually vote on the legality or allowance of slavery.

The Fifteenth (15th) Amendment

• Voting Protections: This amendment declared that no citizen can be kept from voting based on their race, color, or previous condition of servitude (slavery).

• Impact in the North: While often discussed in the context of the South, this amendment also affected Northern states that previously did not allow African Americans to vote.

• Southern Resistance and Federal Response: Southern governments frequently refused to recognize or carry out the mandates of this amendment. Tactics included the use of violence to prevent African Americans from reaching the polls. In response, Congress passed the Enforcement Act of $1870$, which empowered the federal government to punish those who attempted to prevent African American citizens from voting.

Andrew Johnson’s Impeachment

• Conflict over Reconstruction: President Andrew Johnson vetoed the Reconstruction Act of $1867$ because he believed the act was in direct conflict with the U.S. Constitution.

• Overriding the Veto: While Congress successfully overrode Johnson's veto, the President continued to resist by removing military officers who were assigned to enforce the provisions of the Reconstruction Act.

• The Tenure of Office Act: In an effort to limit the President's power, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act. This law stated that the president could not remove cabinet officers who had been appointed by the president without legislative approval.

• The Impeachment Trial: Defying the new law, President Johnson fired Secretary of War Stanton. Following this action, the House of Representatives voted to impeach him. To successfully impeach and remove the President, the House needed a $2/3$ majority vote. The effort failed by a single vote, with the final tally reaching $32$ to $19$.

The Freedmen's Bureau

• Primary Mission: The bureau was established to assist former slaves and poor whites living in the South by providing essential resources such as food and clothing.

• Infrastructure and Services: The bureau was responsible for setting up a massive infrastructure for social and educational advancement, including:

  • $40$ hospitals.

  • $4,000$ schools.

  • $61$ industrial institutes.

  • $74$ teacher-training centers.

• Obstacles to Success: The bureau faced significant difficulties in achieving its goals due to a severe lack of funding and a shortage of workers. Furthermore, it faced opposition from hostile politicians who were ideologically opposed to the organization.

• Civil Rights Act of 1866: The work of the bureau led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of $1866$. This act granted African Americans citizenship and legally forbade states from passing discriminatory laws against them.

Black Codes

• Definition: These were discriminatory laws specifically targeted at African Americans to limit their freedoms and maintain a social hierarchy.

• Specific Legal Prohibitions:

  • African Americans were prohibited from carrying firearms.

  • They were barred from serving on juries.

  • They were prevented from testifying in court against white individuals.

  • They were prohibited from marrying white individuals.

  • Travel was restricted, as they were often forbidden from traveling without specific permits.

• Social and Economic Suppression: The codes also prevented African Americans from owning land. In many cases, violence was employed as a tool to prevent them from advancing within society.

Reconstruction Acts of 1867

• Military Supervision: These acts divided the former Confederate states into $5$ distinct military districts. Each of these districts was overseen by a Union general.

• Constitutional Conventions: Voters, a group that now included African Americans, were tasked with electing delegates to draft new state constitutions.

• Re-entry Requirements: For a Southern state to be readmitted to the Union, it had to meet two primary criteria:

  1. The new state constitution had to ensure that African American men were granted the right to vote.

  2. The state legislature had to ratify (approve) the Fourteenth (14th) Amendment.

"40 Acres and a Mule"

• The Promise: Shortly before the conclusion of the Civil War, General Sherman promised the $40,000$ freed slaves who followed his army that they would receive $40$ acres of land and a mule for each person.

• Settlement and Reversal: Approximately $40,000$ freed African Americans settled on roughly $400,000$ acres of land located in Georgia and South Carolina. However, in $1865$, President Andrew Johnson ordered that this land be returned to the original white landowners.

• Southern Homestead Act of 1866: Because many freed African Americans believed they deserved the land they had worked so hard on, Congress passed the Southern Homestead Act of $1866$. This legislation set aside $44$ million acres of land in the South specifically for freed slaves.

Sharecropping and Tenant Farming

• The Sharecropping System: Under this system, landowners would divide their land and assign a few acres to a worker (either a freed slave or a poor white person). The landowner also provided the necessary seeds and tools.

• Harvest and Payment: At the end of the harvest, the worker was required to give half ($1/2$) of his crop to the landowner. This "share" served as payment for the use of the land and tools, ending the arrangement for that year.

• Transition to Tenant Farming: Sharecropping led to tenant farming, where croppers would rent land from planters for cash. Under this arrangement, the farmers could keep their entire harvest.

• The Debt Cycle: These systems were largely unsuccessful for the laborers. Tenant farmers often had to buy supplies on credit (debt), which proved extremely difficult to pay back. This created a constant cycle of debt that trapped many black farmers, making the experience feel similar to the conditions of slavery.

Hiram Revels

• Historic Election: In $1870$, Hiram Revels was elected to represent Mississippi in the U.S. Senate, making him the first African American ever elected to that body.

• Political Context: At this time, African American officeholders were very few in number.

• Military Service and Leadership: During the Civil War, Revels helped organize $2$ African American regiments for the North. He served as a chaplain in the Army and participated in the Battle of Vicksburg.

The Compromise of 1877

• Troop Withdrawal: The compromise involved the withdrawal of federal troops from Louisiana and South Carolina. Republicans maintained control over only $2/3$ of the region following this.

• Democratic Demands (North): Democrats in the North demanded federal funding to construct a railroad stretching from Texas to the West Coast. They also sought federal money to improve Southern harbors, rivers, and bridges.

• Cabinet Appointment: Part of the agreement required Rutherford B. Hayes to appoint a conservative Southerner to his presidential cabinet.

• End of Reconstruction: The implementation of this compromise effectively signaled the end of the Reconstruction era in the Southern United States.