Reconstruction

  • Status of Confederate leaders after the war

    • Jefferson Davis and other leaders were jailed but were eventually released

    • Johnson pardoned them in 1868

    • Some were paroled and allowed to return home

    • Temporarily lost rights as US citizens 

  • Economy of postwar South

    • Cities, transportation, and agriculture were destroyed

    • Infrastructure damage with many properties and buildings destroyed during the war

    • The South lost billions of dollars

  • Union League

    • This was an activist group meant to promote loyalty to the Union and protect the rights of freed slaves

    • Represented black grievances by building back churches and schools

    • Helped more African Americans register to vote

    • Recruited militias to protect black communities from white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan

  • Life after Emancipation for former slaves

    • They were given legal freedom with limited rights

    • They had low-paying jobs

    • They were given citizenship and voting rights

    • They were given food, clothing and educationion by the Freedman’s Bureau

    • Schools and churches were established for the lives of African Americans

    • Many of them learned how to read

  • Purchase of Alaska

    • Also known as “Seward’s Folly”

    • Secretary of State William Seward purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867

    • He purchased Alaska for natural resources like furs, fish, gold, oil and gas

    • This helped America expand its land more

    • Many believed this was a frozen wasteland with little to no value

  • Johnson’s impeachment

    • He was impeached for violating the Tenure of Office Act

    • This Act stated that the Senate had to consent before the president could remove his appointees from office

    • Johnson violated this law when he removed Edwin M. Stanton from office early in 1868 without approval from the senate

    • He also was impeached on 2 additional articles concerning Johnson’s verbal attacks on Congress

    • He was acquitted by the Senate because he indicated that he would stop obstructing the Republican policies if he could stay in office

  • Freedman’s Bureau

    • Welfare agency intended to provide food, clothing, medical care, and education to former slaves and white refugees

    • Passed on March 3, 1865, by congress

    • Through this, an estimated 200,000 blacks learned how to read

    • President Johnson tried to kill this because he agreed with white supremacists

    • Expired in 1872

  • 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments

    • 13th Amendment

      • Ratified on December 6, 1865

      • Abolished slavery across the US in states where slavery remained legal during the war

      • It prohibited forced labor unless one has been convicted of a crime

    • 14th Amendment

      • Ratified in 1868

      • This was about whether or not black people should have citizenship in America

      • Declared that everyone born in America regardless of color be granted citizenship.

      • States that everyone born or naturalized in the US needs to be granted American citizenship

    • 15th Amendment

      • Ratified in 1870

      • Granted African Americans the right to vote

      • States that no citizen shall be denied the right to vote based on race

      • Many people in former Confederate states were trying to suppress African American voting rights 

  • Why was Johnson Lincoln’s 2nd term VP?

    • He wanted to appeal to both northern and southern states

    • To do this he chose a Democrat who supported the Union and they renamed their party for the time, the National Union Party

  • Black Codes

    • This was a set of laws passed by Andrew Johnson and southern states to regulate the affairs of former slaves and their families

    • Missippi was the first to pass one of these laws in November 1865 and then other states followed

    • This prevented blacks from serving on a jury or owning land

    • This brought the question of whether blacks were really free and if the North had won the war

  • What was Johnson like?

    • Came from the poorest background

    • Lincoln chose him because he needed to get Democrats’ support

    • Unpolished, unpopular, & tough to deal with

    • Often agreed with white supremacists

    • Congress didn’t like working with him

  • Southern attitudes after losing the war

    • Embarrassed after loosing the war

    • Opposed Reconstruction policies

    • Resisted efforts to extend rights to former slaves

    • Many white landowners had to rebuild their wealth

    • Wanted to restore white supremacy 

  • Roles of African American women after the war

    • Women’s Loyal League was established

    • Many women’s rights activists suspended their own demands to work for the cause of black emancipation

    • Many African American women traveled long distances to reunite with family

    • Limited opportunities for jobs

    • Many women started taking part in education by becoming teachers

    • Many were nurses

    • They gathered 400,000 petitions asking Congress to pass an amendment to prohibit slavery

  • Thaddeus Stevens

    • A leading figure of Radical Republicans

    • He advocated for the 13th Amendment and the abolition of slavery

    • Supported the 14th and 15th amendments

    • Proposed giving land taken from the confederates to freedmen

    • Accused Andrew Johnson of violating the Tenure of Office Act leading to Johnson’s impeachment

  • Scalawags

    • White southerners who supported the black cause, mostly former Unionists and Whigs

  • Carpetbaggers

    • White northerners who went south to seek personal profit and power

  • Democrats v Republicans

    • Democrats

      • Opposed Reconstruction policies

      • Supported white supremacy

      • Supported restricting the freedom of the freedmen

      • Supported states’ rights and opposed the federal government

      • Supported return to the racial and social hierarchy pre-war

    • Republicans

      • Advocated for civil rights, freedom and liberty

      • Divided the south into 5 military districts to protect freedmen from white opression

      • Advocated for the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to grant former slaves human rights

  • Radical Republicans

    • Demanded harsh penalties for the south and former confederates

    • They pushed for the rights of freedmen

    • Redisrtibuted land from former confederates to freedmen

    • Supported building schools and other building to institute freedom for African Americans

  • Hiram Revels

    • He took Jefferson Davis’ former senate seat

    • Represented change as he replaced a confederate leader

    • Focused on reconciling states and civil rights

  • Veto/Pocket Veto/Override

    • Veto

      • Presidents power to reject a bill passed by Congress

      • When vetoed it is sent back to Congress with president's objections

    • Pocket Veto

      •  When a president takes no action on a bill passed by Congress and Congress adjourns within 10 days

      • This bill does not become law and the pocket veto can’t be overridden

      • Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, making the bill law despite the President's objection

    • Congress passed Civil Rights Bill – in March 1866 – citizenship to African Americans & attacked Black Codes – Johnson vetoed but Congress overrode it

  • Sharecropping

    • Plantation owners sought labor to replace enslaved people and freed African Americans and poor whites sought means of survival and work

    • A landowner would allow a tenant (sharecropper) to farm a portion of their land.

    • In return, the sharecropper agreed to give a share of the harvest (typically one-third to one-half) to the landowner as rent.