Essential Question • How was the nation’s commitment to its founding ideals tested during Reconstruction?
President Lincoln’s Plan  10% Plan *
10% of voters take oath of loyalty
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States must abolish slavery
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Pardon to all but the highest ranking military and civilian Confederate officers.
President Lincoln’s Plan 1864 “Lincoln Governments” formed in LA, TN, AR *
Rejected by Congress
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“loyal assemblies”
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Objections: *
Excessive presidential powers
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No provisions for freedom
Assassination • John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln just a month after inauguration of 2nd term. • Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes new president.
Wade- Davis Bill (1864) Majority of voters to take oath of loyalty Congressional control of reconstruction process Vetoed by Lincoln Senator Benjamin Wade (R-OH)
Lincoln assassinated in 1865
Congressman Henry W. Davis (R-MD)
President Andrew Johnson Jacksonian Democrat. Senator from TN White Supremacist. Agreed with Lincoln that states had never legally left the Union. Should punish the person, not the state
President Johnson’s Plan (10%+) Similar to Lincoln’s plan Presidential pardons for rebels Allows ex-Union members to vote and run for office A former Confederate state could rejoin the Union: had written a new state constitution elected a new state government repealed its act of secession canceled its war debts and ratified the 13th Amendment
13 Amendment th
Ratified in December, 1865. Added to the Constitution End slavery Abolished slavery in the U.S. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)
Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.
Many former northern abolitionists risked their lives to help southern freedmen.
The bureau provided food, clothing, education, and medical care before the end of the war
Post war: Johnson pardoned former Confederates which hurt former slaves gaining land
Called “carpetbaggers” by white southern Democrats.
Carpetbaggers •
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Yankee-hating Southerners called them "carpetbaggers," a term for a piece of luggage travelers often carried. Northerners viewed as fortune hunters who invaded the South to profit from the misfortunes of Southerners.
Freedmen’s Bureau Seen Through Southern Eyes Plenty to eat and nothing to do.
Growing Northern Alarm! Many Southern state constitutions fell short of minimum requirements. Johnson granted 13,500 special pardons. Revival of southern defiance.
BLACK CODES
Black Codes Laws intended to restrict the freedom and opportunities of African Americans
3 Puposes: 1.
Define blacks civil rights
2. Defined a work force by forcing freedmen to sign a 1 yr. labor contract 3. Maintain a social order which limited blacks Forced many blacks to become sharecroppers [tenant farmers].
a system of agriculture in which landowners rent plots of land to workers, who pay for the use of the land in cash, with a share of the crop raised
Caused further debt (debt peonage) for freedmen
Tenancy & the Crop Lien System Furnishing Merchant Loan tools and seed up to 60% interest to tenant farmer to plant spring crop. Farmer also secures food, clothing, and other necessities on credit from merchant until the harvest. Merchant holds “lien” {mortgage} on part of tenant’s
Tenant Farmer Plants crop, harvests in autumn. Turns over up to ½ of crop to land owner as payment of rent. Tenant gives remainder of crop to merchant in payment of debt.
Landowner Rents land to tenant in exchange for ¼ to ½ of tenant farmer’s future crop.
Sharecropping
Slavery is Dead?
Congress Breaks with the President Radical Republican: during and after the Civil War, a member of the Republican Party who believed in and fought for the emancipation of slaves and, later, the equal rights of American blacks
Congress bars Southern Congressional delegates. 2 Presidential Vetoes: February, 1866 President vetoed the Freedmen’s Bureau bill. March, 1866 Johnson vetoed the 1866 Civil Rights Act. Congress passed both bills over Johnson’s vetoes 1st in U. S. history!!
14th Amendment ď‚Ť Ratified in July, 1868. *
Provide a constitutional guarantee of the rights and security of freed people.
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Known as the Equal Protection Clause
ď‚Ť Southern states would be punished for denying the right to vote to black citizens!
The Balance of Power in Congress State
White Citizens
Freedmen
SC
291,000
411,000
MS
353,000
436,000
LA
357,000
350,000
GA
591,000
465,000
AL
596,000
437,000
VA
719,000
533,000
NC
631,000
331,000
Reconstruction Acts of 1867 Military Reconstruction Act *
Restart Reconstruction in the 10 Southern states that refused to ratify the 14th Amendment.
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Divide the 10 “unreconstructed states” into 5 military districts.
Reconstruction Acts of 1867 Command of the Army Act *
The President must issue all Reconstruction orders through the commander of the military.
Tenure of Office Act *
President can’t remove appointed officials without consent of Senate.
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Senate trying to take power away from the president
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Radicals needed other radicals as appointed officials.
Edwin Stanton
President Johnson’s I m peachm ent Johnson removed Stanton (Sec. of War) in
February, 1868 without consent of Senate. Violated Tenure of Office Acts
Johnson replaced generals in the field who were more sympathetic to Radical Reconstruction. The House impeached him on February 24 before even drawing up the charges by a vote of 126 – 47!
The Senate Trial
11 week trial with 11 charges. Johnson acquitted 35 to 19 (one short of required 2/3s vote).
The 1868 Presidential Race
1868 Presidential Election
Election of 1868 • Grant (Rep.): 214 • Seymour (Dem.) 80 • Blacks provided margin of victory for Grant – Grant still lost New York and other northern state because black didn’t vote.
Grant Administration Scandals Grant presided over an era of unprecedented growth and corruption. *
Credit Mobilier Scandal.
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Whiskey Ring.
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The “Indian Ring.”
The Election of 1872 Rumors of corruption during Grant’s first term discredit Republicans. Horace Greeley runs as a Democrat/Liberal Republican candidate. Greeley attacked as a fool and a crank. Greeley died on November 29, 1872!
1872 Presidential Election
The Panic of 1873 It raises “the money question.” *
debtors seek inflationary monetary policy by continuing circulation of greenbacks.
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creditors, intellectuals support hard money.
1875 Specie Redemption Act. 1876 Greenback Party formed & makes gains in congressional races The “Crime of ’73’!
Legal Challenges The Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) Bradwell v. IL (1873) U. S. v. Cruickshank (1876) U. S. v. Reese (1876)
Black & White Political Participation
Black Senate & House Delegates
Blacks in Southern Politics Core voters were black veterans. Blacks were politically unprepared. Blacks could register and vote in states since 1867. The 15th Amendment guaranteed federal voting.
15th Amendment Ratified in 1870. Granted black males the right to vote Women’s rights groups were furious that they were not granted the vote!
Segregation • The forced separation of races in public places • Schools, restaurants, transportation, and etc…were all places in which whites and blacks were separated • Court Case: Plessy v. Ferguson – Separate but equal doctrine • Meaning segregation was constitutional
The “I nvisible Empire of the South”
Ku Klux Klan • Established in 1866 • Intimidated blacks to discourage them from voting • Congress outlawed Klan – Many blacks still decided not to vote
Disenf r anchisement of blacks • White politicians tried to disenfranchise (prevent from voting) blacks. – Poll tax: taxed to vote – Literacy tests: must read to vote – Grandfather clause: clause exempted citizens whose ancestors had voted before January 1, 1867 – Jim Crow law: any of the laws legalizing racial segregation of blacks and whites that were enacted in Southern states beginning in the 1880s and enforced through the 1950s • Reconstruction was resented by white southerners
Opposition to Radical Reconstruction
• White southerners • Democrats in North • Liberal Republicans
– Former radicals frustrated by Reconstruction – Believed ideas were misguided – Opposed Grant in 1872 election
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 Crime for any individual to deny full & equal use of public conveyances and public places. Prohibited discrimination in jury selection. Shortcoming lacked a strong enforcement mechanism. No new civil rights act was attempted for 90 years!
Northern Support Wanes “Grantism” & corruption. Panic of 1873 [6-year depression]. Concern over westward expansion and Indian wars. Key monetary issues: *
should the government retire $432m worth of “greenbacks” issued during the Civil War.
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should war bonds be paid back in specie or greenbacks.
By 1876 • Republicans still controlled 3 southern states – South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana
• Federal troops remained in 3 states to protect blacks
1876 Presidential Tickets
Candidates • Tilden (Dem.) – Supported the removal of federal troops from South
• Hayes (Rep.) – Guaranteed black rights in South
1876 Presidential Election
Election Results • Popular vote – Tilden 51% – Hayes 48% – Disputed results in SC, FL, and LA
• Electoral College – Tilden 204 - (20 disputed votes) = 184 – Hayes 165 - (20 disputed votes) = 185
The Political Crisis of 1877
“Corrupt Bargain” Part II?
Electoral Commission • Membership: 15 men – 5 from House of Representatives – 5 from Senate – 5 from Supreme Court • Party Affliation – 7 democrats – 7 Republicans – 1 independent (David Davis) • Davis resigned, replaced by Joseph Bradley, a republican
Cont… • • • •
Commission voted 8 – 7 in favor of Hayes Hayes wins election by 1 vote Hayes decided to remove the troops from the 3 southern states
Hayes Prevails
A Political Crisis: The “Compromise” of 1877
• Ends Reconstruction •
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Hayes received the electoral votes from the three disputed states In return, he agreed to name a Southerner to his cabinet, remove the last remaining federal troops from the South, and give federal aid to Southern railroad construction