Reconstruction

Reconstruction

HS.SS.H2.03: I can explain short and long-term effects of
American conflict.

13th Amendment

●1864 - Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, and
Louisiana all amended their constitutions to free their slaves

●Abolitionists feared that the Emancipation Proclamation
would be invalidated at the end of the war and that the
Southern states would react by re-establishing slavery

●President Lincoln persuaded the Republican-dominated
Congress to prohibit slavery, which they did when the 13th
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was
passed on January 31, 1865

Southern Reconstruction

●With the union preserved, the nation entered a period
known as Reconstruction

●The government attempted to rebuild (and sometimes)
punish the South

●Lincoln did not want to make the South suffer

○Second inaugural address

●He wanted healing for both the Union and Confederate
states

●On April 14, 1865, just five days after the surrender, a
Confederate sympathizer named John Wilkes Booth
assassinated Lincoln as he attended a play at the Ford’s
theatre

Andrew Johnson and the Radical
Republicans

●With Lincoln's death, the presidency fell to Andrew Johnson

●Taking office while Congress was in recess, Johnson pursued his own plan of
reconstruction

○Known as Presidential Reconstruction

○Seen as far too lenient by many in the North

■States had to repeal secession ordinances and ratify the 13th amendment

●Conflict quickly arose between Johnson and the Radical Republicans

○Wanted immediate end of slavery during the war and punishment of the South after

■Former Confederate officers couldn’t hold elected office or vote, divided the South
into military districts, and required 51% swear an oath of allegiance - Radical
Reconstruction

■Upset because Johnson’s plan failed to offer African Americans full citizenship rights

■Believed Congress should oversee Reconstruction

●Republicans came to dominate southern government during Reconstruction
and drafted new state Constitutions which reflected the party’s ideals

○Union army was stationed throughout the South - Northern influence in the South

The 14th Amendment and
Federal Legislation

●In 1866, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, with the
intent of giving citizenship rights to freed slaves

●President Johnson opposed this measure, but congress
was able to override his veto

●Congress then passed the 14th amendment, which
guaranteed that no person regardless of race would be
deprived of life, liberty or property without due process

●It granted blacks the status of citizenship and was
ratified in 1868

Johnson’s Impeachment

●The battle between Johnson and Congress came to a
head in 1868

●Johnson tried to fire Secretary of War Edwin Stanton,
who had been appointed by Lincoln, because he was
closely tied to the Radical Republicans

●This violated the Tenure in Office Act, which limited the
president’s power to hire or fire government officials

●Led by Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, Congress voted
to impeach the president of the U.S.

●On May 16, 1868, the Senate voted to spare Johnson’s
presidency by just one vote

15th Amendment

●The last major piece of Reconstruction legislation was
the 15th Amendment - 1870, under Pres. Ulysses Grant

●It guaranteed no citizen may be denied the right to vote
by the U.S. or any state on the account of race, color, or
servitude

●The amendment had a great impact in the South by
guaranteeing African Americans the right to vote in
elections

African Americans and Reconstruction:
Social Aspects

●The 13th amendment freed the slaves, now the freedmen
had to adjust to life after slavery

●They had no land or money - in order to survive many
turned to sharecropping - farmers rent land and farming
equipment from a landowner to grow crops

●Some sharecroppers tried tenant farming - similar to
sharecropping, but tenants own equipment, animals, and
maybe even nearby housing - rent land

African Americans and Reconstruction:
Social Aspects

●In 1865, Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau to
provide clothing, medical attention, meals, education and
even some land to freed blacks and some poorer whites

●Continued rise of Black Churches in the South - became
centers for African American social and political life

●With the help of the Freedmen’s Bureau, churches, and the
southern African American community established the
first black schools

○Teachers were often African American soldiers who had acquired
some education while in the service - both child and adult students

African Americans and Reconstruction:
Political/Legal Aspects

●African Americans played an important role in southern
politics during Reconstruction

○600 African Americans in Southern state legislatures, few in Congress

●After Johnson took office and before Reconstruction, many
Southern states passed black codes - laws meant to keep
blacks subordinate to whites by restricting their rights

○For instance, blacks could not meet together after sunset, own weapons, or
rent property anywhere but in rural areas

○Black codes, in effect, continued the practice of slavery

●In response to Reconstruction, some whites advocated
violence against freed blacks - Ku Klux Klan

Compromise of 1877 and
the End of Reconstruction

●Because of the bad economy and scandals surrounding
President Grant, the Democrats were hopeful that they could
win the election of 1876

●The election was contested because state officials disputed
the results

●The Compromise of 1877 settled the dispute, the Democrats
agreed to Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) being president
and the Republicans agreed to end Reconstruction

●In addition, Southern states received federal money, more
power to govern themselves, and a promise to withdraw
federal troops