Reconstruction: 1863-1877

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Reconstruction (1863-1877)

• Took place after the American Civil War to reconstruct the country
• Involved the abolition of slavery and the integration of newly freed African Americans
• Faced sectional issues between the North and South
• Encountered problems with readmitting the 11 states that had seceded
• Mobilized black communities and white allies, bringing the Republican Party to power with Lincoln, and led to a redefinition of the government's responsibilities

Presidential Reconstruction

• Focused on debating the powers of the federal government and presidential power
• Involved a division between Congress and the President on how to reconstruct the broken union
• Abraham Lincoln, sought to end the war quickly and favored a lenient policy towards the Southern states
• Motivated to end the war because of the high death toll
• Lincoln announced the 10% Plan, allowing a state to establish a new government when one-tenth of its prewar voters swore an oath of loyalty, with the goal of weakening the Confederacy
• A state in rebellion against the US federal government could be reintegrated into the Union when 10% of its 1860 vote count had taken an oath of allegiance to the US
• Aimed to shorten the war and gain support for emancipation

Proclamation of Amnesty & Reconstruction

• Offered full pardon and restoration of property (excluding slaves) to white Southerners who swore an oath of allegiance to the US and its laws, including the Emancipation Proclamation
• Angered Radical Republicans who advocated for equal rights for the freedmen and a tougher stance toward the White South
• Was for all southerners, except Confederate army officers and Gov officials

Opposition to Lincoln's Plan

• Congress, led by the Republican Party, reacted to the 10% Plan, deeming it too lenient and sought punishment for the South
• Passed the Wade-Davis Bill to oppose Lincoln's plan

Wade-Davis Bill (1864)

• It required 50% of a southern state's voting population to take a loyalty oath for readmission into the Union
• It excluded anyone who had bore arms against the Union, not just Confederate officers and government officials
• Lincoln vetoed it

Lincoln's Assassination and Johnson's Succession

• Lincoln's assassination occurred on April 9th, 1865
• The war ended on April 14th, 1865
• He was known for being flexible and having an uncanny ability to compromise
• Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's vice-president, succeeded him and differed in his approach

Andrew Johnson's Policies

• Johnson Southern Democrat and former slaveholder, became vice-president as a compromise, hated the slave owning class and did not wish to see their rights extended
• Took a different path from Lincoln and did not support political rights for former slaves
• Appeared to side with Radical Republicans and planned to restore the Union quickly
• Granted amnesty and pardon to all Confederates who pledged loyalty to the Union and support for emancipation in 1865, but excluded major Confederate officials and wealthy landowners
• His reconciliatory approach, led to former Confederate military officers assuming political office in the reforming Southern states

Congressional Outrage and Black Codes

• Congress expressed outrage, fearing a return of the old power structure and questioned the future for African Americans
• Southern states began instituting Black Codes
• After slavery's abolition, former slaves experienced freedom in trivial ways, such as changing their names, altering their attire, and strengthening family bonds
• They left plantations to start new lives, find lost relatives, and refused customary plantation labor

Desire for Land Ownership and Black Codes

• Former slaves wanted to own their own land with minimal white involvement, aiming to control their own fate and seek economic opportunities
• Former slave owners sought to reassert control, favoring a wage system and instituting Black Codes to restrict African Americans' mobility
• Black Codes restricted newly freed slaves, leading to arrests, fines, and jail time for the unemployed, with white men paying fines in exchange for labor
• Black Codes restricted physical movement and instituted AA curfew laws, as well as reasserting slavery

Congressional Reconstruction and the 14th Amendment

• Republicans responded to Black Codes by passing the 14th Amendment in 1866, which granted citizenship rights and equal rights under the law to all American citizens
• Johnson opposed these rights and wanted former slave states restored without slavery and with an influential Democratic Party
• Congress aimed to marginalize former Confederate leaders and elevate the power of freed slaves, placing the South under military rule and extending voting rights to African American men
• Republicans saw this as a way to create a powerful Republican Party in the South and undermine the Democratic Party

Political Shifts and African American Legislators

• Poor southern whites began abandoning the Democratic Party and joining the Republican Party, gaining a political voice they lacked before the Civil War
• African Americans served alongside whites in state legislatures, with South Carolina having an AA majority in its legislature
• African Americans were also elected to Congress
• Demands for education led to expanded public facilities for African Americans in the South

Reconstruction Act of 1867 and Impeachment

• Divided the South into 5 military districts subject to marial law
• Required Southern states to call new constitutional conventions elected by universal manhood suffrage
• Required those states to draft new constitutions, guarantee AA voting rights & ratify the 14th Amendment and = eligible for readmission to the Union.
• Congress passed laws to limit Johnson's power, such as the Tenure of Office Act
• Johnson opposed radical reconstruction and was impeached by the House, but the Senate did not accept it

15th Amendment and Johnson's Impeachment

• Congress passed the 15th Amendment, preventing states and the federal government from denying the vote based on race or former servitude
• Johnson violated the Tenure of Office Act, leading to his impeachment by the House of Representatives on February 24, 1868
• Johnson was acquitted on May 16 because a sufficient minority voted for acquittal
• Radical Republicans: congressmen who favored the abolition of slavery from the beginning of the civil war & advocated for harsh treatment of the defeated South.

New South

• This followed some of problems remaining after the 1st reconstruction

Redeemers

• They were the southern wing of the Democratic Party that sought to regain political power and enforce white supremacy
• They aimed to oust the Radical Republicans
• Were traditionally South people who were determined to make things right, but also own most land, largest plantations, number of slaves, former leaders of confederate states of America, southern DEM party
• Saw an atrocity in the reconstruction by elevating AA
• Knew they couldn't reinstitute slavery, but wanted to restore economic & political power, with overthrow of REP-led government

Appeals to Poor Whites and the KKK

• They pushed to give more former confederates the right to vote and made appeals to poor whites on the basis of white racial supremacy, who used violence or threat to undermine REP Party in the south.
• They pressured the poor whites to return to the DEM Party and have all sorts of means to prevent AA from voting
• The most effective & influential secret society of the South, the KKK, 1st appeared in Tennessee in 1866 & begins as social club for former confederates

KKK Activities and Federal Response

• The KKK, led by Democratic Party leaders, wore white hoods, terrorized Republican leaders, and killed hundreds of Republicans (mostly AA)
• Reacted to the KKK w/ Enforcement Acts (1870-1871, ~anti-KKK acts). They authorized the president to deploy military force in the south to prevent KKK from depriving AA from the right to vote
• In 1870 By all of their activities have succeeded to break 4 REP gov, but violence a/ AA didn't end, then a new REP president: Ulysses S. Grant reacted w deployment of military
• The last time the north intervened in the affairs of the south was reconstruction
• The survival of the new southern wing of the Republican Party was only achieved through to efforts of the northern wing of REP Party & determination of fed gov for support
• Northern White never supported giving AA new rights

Retreat from Reconstruction and Compromise of 1877

• The 1873 worst eco depression, occupy north to own eco pb
• In 1874 elections the REP lost control of House of Representatives = DEM party now in charge
• Southern DEM (redeemers) were determined to reassure their power & control over southern states by political means & terrors

Election of 1876 and the End of Reconstruction

• Another group = Red Shirts: intimidate AA voted into voting for the DEM or not at all
• By 1875, of 4 southern REP states failed
• The reconstruction officially ends w/ the Compromise of 1877, since elections of 1876: close between REP & DEM
• New president = Rutherford B. Hayes = REP candidate who beat the DEM (by 1 elector)
• Democrats refuse to let process go forward

Jim Crow South:

• Emerged in the second half of the 1800s, and was primarily concerned with the restriction of AA political power
• The initial process used by Redeemers was to lean them away from the political party by use of terrorism
• In the 1800s to the early 1900s AA were being taken from the whites to vote away

Obstacles to Voting, Laws and Activism:

• Both the 14th and 15th amendments were put in place to prevent the South from discriminating against race
• Laws were then installed to circumvent those amendments
• 14th amendment = states could not discriminate on basis of race, and 15th amendment = individual could not keep someone from voting on basis of race
• Ways that the South skirted these amendments
  • Installing poll tax, which means that they had to pay to vote
  • Literacy tests ensured that each person had to prove that were literate
• There were many reasons that whites sought control of the government, including racism, power, and a struggle over civil rights

Segregation

• Segregation laws (southern AA & whites could not sue the same facilities)
• Some southern segregation elevated elevators
• Jim Crow Laws sought to reinforce the concept of "Separate but Equal," which claimed that facilities were equal, but distinct.
• Court overruled states and allowed states to pass the laws when courts deemed there to be quality.

The Dawes Act:

• broke up the reservations to put more people into the labor system to assimilate people to be in the labor system
• families were given a little farm to push them to farm with the hope of civilization