Chapter 2.docx

**[Chapter 2]** **[Civil War and Reconstruction]** **[LESSON 2.1]** **[The Immediate Cause of the Civil War ]** **[The Election of 1860 and the Secession of the South]** Abraham Lincoln -- Republican (North) vs. Democrats (divided). Lincoln Wins the Election of 1860 with 39% popular vote. Not...

**[Chapter 2]** **[Civil War and Reconstruction]** **[LESSON 2.1]** **[The Immediate Cause of the Civil War ]** **[The Election of 1860 and the Secession of the South]** Abraham Lincoln -- Republican (North) vs. Democrats (divided). Lincoln Wins the Election of 1860 with 39% popular vote. Not a single Southern state gave its electoral votes to Lincoln. As soon as Lincoln was elected, South Carolina announced its secession from the Union. Six other states slowly followed. Florida was the third state to secede. Meanwhile the Southern states organized themselves into the "Confederate States of America". They drew up their own constitution and elected their own President, Jefferson Davis. Lincoln tried to calm the fears of the white Southerners, pledging not to interfere with slavery where it already existed. He hoped that a show of firmness would avoid bloodshed, but he was equally prepared to go to war if necessary, to bring the Southern states back into the Union. Lincoln's \#1 priority was to preserve the Union. **[Shots Fired at Sumter]** When Lincoln sent food. Supplies to Fort Sumter, a federal fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, Confederate forces fired on the fort on April 12, 1861. Lincoln called on all other states to supply militia to put down the rebellion. Virginia and three other states seceded instead of helped the Union. West Virginia broke off from Virginia and was loyal to the union. The border states of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware also sided with the North. These events sparked the start of the Civil War. The process of **secession** ran from 1860 to 1861. Alabama was the first provisional seat of the Confederate government. It was centrally located in the deep South where secession came early. Once Virginia had voted to secede, the decision was taken to move the seat of the government to the state's capital, Richmond, a much larger, better-served city, with an ironworks and railway connections. **Border States: Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri.** Both sides wanted to win the support of the four slave states which had not yet declared their intentions and which all had divided loyalties. **Maryland**: Maryland's decision was finely balanced as shown by geography and demographics. Half of Maryland's African American population were free and half were slaves. Also, Maryland surrounded the federal capital on three sides, while being itself surrounded by Northern states or the sea. After the Baltimore Riot of April 1861, Lincoln wanted to keep control of Maryland and by this time had chosen to resupply Fort Sumter and called for 75,000 volunteers. He also used his power as commander-in-chief to suspend **habeas corpus** along key routes in Maryland. This enabled the North to imprison key politicians and newspaper editors. Maryland's choice of side was hence made by the federal government. The South could do little to help secessionists in Maryland. **Delaware:** it had not abolished slavery, but about 90% of the black population of Delaware was free. As it was divided in its support, it narrowly voted to stay in the Union in January 1861. **Kentucky:** In Kentucky, where both Lincoln and Jefferson Davis had been born, tried to declare neutrality. Lincoln could not afford to lose Kentucky. He believed losing Kentucky from the Union would be "the same as losing the whole game". He feared that this would also lead to losing all the other three border states. **Missouri:** laid west of Kentucky. Its state legislature voted decisively to stay in the Union. A key reason for these four slave states of the border not joining the Confederacy was the presence of US armed forces. Also, Lincoln had moved more quickly and decisively than Davis did. **[Military Strategies]** The Civil War was fought in three different **theatres**: - east of the Appalachian Mountains (best-known battles) - west of the Appalachian Mountains - at Sea **The campaign at sea**: Lincoln needed to stop the Confederate States' international trade, especially with Britain, the main market for Southern cotton. Closing their ports would be effective but provocative; it would be an action under US, not international law. **Blockading** the Southern ports was the way to go. The North would cut off trade and supplies from a particular state, in order to damage its economy and deplete its resources so much that it is forced into submission. With the blockade in place, 90% of the CSA's trade with Britain stopped. This strategy was named the **Anaconda Plan**, developed by Union general **Winfield Scott**. Diagram Description automatically generated **Major Generals:** **North** **South** ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Ulysses S. Grant --** Union general and later President (1869-1877). When the Civil war broke out, he had retired from the army but rejoined and experienced rapid promotion and battlefield success. Lincoln gave grant overall command of the Union armies, despite the fact that his victories came at the price of high casualties. In the end, he defeated Lee's remaining Southern forces and accepted his surrender at Appomattox in April 1865. **Robert E. Lee --** General Lee was one of Winfield Scott's chief aides in the Mexican War (1846-1848), working alongside future president Ulysses S. Grant. He was loyal to the Union in countering the raid on Harper's Ferry and the secession of Texas. At the outbreak of war, Lee was offered command by both sides. When Virginia seceded, he accepted the command of the Confederate Army. At the end of the war, he was the South's supreme military commander. He had a good record of winning battles, but neither of his offences into Union territory was a success. **\*\*\* Refer to the battles PowerPoint and chart.** **Eastern Theatre --** the Northern strategy in 1861-1862 was similar to the South's: defend when necessary, attack when possible. Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania **Western Theatre** -- the anaconda Plan worked better. The North gained control of the Tennessee, Mississippi, Ohio, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina. **Scorched Earth --** a military strategy of destroying, often by fire, all resources that could be used by an opposing force, including food and shelter, in order to undermine their ability to fight. - General Sheridan - William T. Sherman **Changing approaches of political and military leadership** +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | **North** | **South** | | | | | - Lincoln was formally | - Jefferson Davis was the | | commander-in-chief of the | president and | | federal army as well as head | commander-in-chief. | | of government. | | | | - Unlike Lincoln, Davis could | | - After the attack on Fort | justify his role as military | | Sumter, Lincoln immediately | leader as he led forces in | | called for a blockade of the | battle. | | coastline of the seceded | | | states and requested 75,000 | - All generals had been | | volunteer soldiers to enlist | educated at West Point | | for three months. | military college. | | | | | - Initially, Lincoln appointed | - Generals: | | Winfield Scott as his | | | general-in-chief. Scott, | Robert E. Lee who believed | | however, was 74 years old and | that the only way to achieve | | he retired, handing over | victory was to defeat the | | command to General McClellan. | enemy in direct battle. He | | | concentrated Southern forces | | - All generals had been | on the eastern front and | | educated at West Point | marched them into Northern | | military college. | territory. There was also a | | | logistical benefit as the | | - The North decided to go to | troops lived off Northern | | war against the Southern | farms and therefore used up | | people instead of their army. | Northern resources. Southern | | It would wear down resistance | farmers were able to harvest | | by occupying more and more | the crops, leaving more food | | Southern land, controlling | for the Southern people. | | the CSA's economy and | | | undermining its resistance. | | | The North believed that this | | | would win the war without the | | | risk of fighting too many | | | major battles. | | | | | | - In 1864, Lincoln appointed | | | Ulysses S. Grant as commander | | | of the Union forces. | | | William T. Sherman took | | | charge on the western front. | | | Together they developed a new | | | type of warfare | | | (unconventional & ruthless). | | +===================================+===================================+ | | | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | **North** | **South** | | | | | - **Aim for War: was committed | - **Aim for War: The CSA was | | to the preservation of the | committed to secession**. | | Union**. This meant an | This meant only wanting to | | aggressive course of action | prevent invasion. Its forces | | to retake the South and crush | crossed into the North only | | its forces. | to knock out the Union army. | | | Therefore, occupying enemy | | | territory was not as | | | significant a success to the | | | South as it was for the | | | North. | | | | | | | | | | | | - The CSA suffered shortages of | | | supplies, inflation, | | | transport breakdowns and | | | corruption. | | | | | | - Troops and citizens suffered | | | low morale on the home front. | | | Half of the Southerners | | | actually opposed secession | | | and the creation of the | | | Confederacy. White men in | | | border states had divided | | | loyalties -- few joined the | | | confederate army or just | | | stayed home. | | | | | | - The border states remaining | | | in the Union also meant that | | | much of the South's urban | | | population and industry also | | | remained there. In addition, | | | escaping liberated Southern | | | blacks meant additional labor | | | and troops for the North. | | | | | | - The Confederacy was also | | | divided from within -- there | | | was a conflict between state | | | and Confederate governments. | | | This created the military | | | hindrance that the southern | | | forces were state armies, not | | | CSA armies, so their primary | | | aim was defending the home | | | state. | | | | | | - There were personal | | | differences between Davis's | | | cabinet -- including | | | generals, senators and his | | | own VP. Lee and P.G.T. | | | Beauregard both blamed Davis | | | for defeat. The North too | | | faced internal conflicts. | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ **Advantages of both sides** +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ | **North** | **South** | | | | | - Population: 18.3 M | - Population: 12.2 M | | | | | The 1860 census explained | - Cotton Industry generated | | this growth was helped by a | significant wealth for the | | large immigration from Europe | Southern economy as well as | | and Asia. The imbalance was | slave owners themselves. | | even greater as the four | | | border states decided not to | - No Navy -- the South had to | | leave the Union: their | rely on its own ingenuity or | | combined population was | look to other countries to | | around 2M. | supply ships. | | | | | - Large industrial center for | - Also used similar methods to | | manufacturing -- supplies for | raise money for the war (war | | the army, uniforms, boots, | bonds, taxes, and printed | | food, weapons, artillery, | money), however, failed at | | locomotive engines etc. | raising as much money as the | | | North for many reasons -- the | | - Had a powerful Navy -- all 42 | CSA did not have an Internal | | ships stayed in the Union as | Revenue Bureau nor did the | | did most of its officers. | South have as good credit as | | | the North to support | | - In 1860, the Union had 48,000 | borrowing money. | | km of railway track. 34,000 | | | km of this were in the North | - Had excellent generals | | -- this enabled large numbers | | | of infantry and large amounts | - Troops were highly motivated | | of supplies to travel | to win the war because they | | quickly. | were fighting for "survival | | | of a way of life". | | In 1862, the North formed the | | | United States Military Rail | - Most of the fighting took | | Road (USMRR). | place in Southern region. | | | | | - Superiority of War Finance -- | | | imposed new taxes, sold war | | | bonds on which investment was | | | paid, and circulated paper | | | money which was not backed by | | | gold or silver coins; but the | | | more notes the government | | | prints, the more the value | | | falls, creating inflation. | | | The North first introduced | | | the income tax in 1861. This | | | was done effectively with the | | | 1862 Revenue Act creating a | | | federal Bureau of Internal | | | Revenue to collect all | | | domestic taxes. | | +-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ **Impact of foreign influences: Britain and France** Britain was particularly important because: - they were the leading industrial power of the time - Britain was the main market for America's most valuable product (cotton) - It was the home of many immigrants entering the US - they possessed the world's leading naval power - the only great power with a land border with the USA -- Canada, a destination for many fugitive slaves. At the start of the war, Britain saw the conflict as being about tariffs. North -- wanted to raise tariffs to protect US manufacturers South -- wanted to encourage trade and commerce with Britain, especially in cotton trade, by keeping tariffs low. \* **Morrill Tariff 1862** -- increased tariffs on all imports from around 14% to around 26%. The British misread this passage as a cause of the conflict rather than a consequence. In 1861, Southern cotton producers burned bales of raw cotton as part of an embargo on its export, hoping to influence Britain to support the CSA in order to regain cotton supplies. This tactic backfired as Britain simply looked elsewhere for replacement supplies. Jefferson Davis's officials failed to persuade Britain to recognize the Confederate States as a sovereign state and provide financial and diplomatic support. Britain: - wouldn't sign any treaties with the CSA and wouldn't send or accept ambassadors. - accepted the US blockade - remained neutral throughout the war -- UK citizens could not join the fight and UK companies would not provide ships. Both Britain and France decided to intervene in 1862 by offering to mediate between both sides. France's emperor Napoleon supported the idea and suggested drawing in Russia. Russia, however, had fought against Britain and France in the *Crimson War 1854-56,* and was not friendly with either country thus refused to intervene. In 1863, Napoleon proposed to help the South, but could not persuade Britain to abandon neutrality. Then, unexpectedly, Russia sent its Baltic Sea fleet to New York and its Pacific fleet to San Francisco. The North welcomed the Russians as an implied warning to France and Britain not to intervene. **The war ends**: Robert E. Lee's army of North Virginia surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Just five days after Lee's surrender, President Lincoln was assassinated by a CSA supporter. ***He was shot from behind in the head and killed. This was the first time an American president had ever been assassinated. John Wilkes Booth a southerner leaped down to the stage and escaped.*** ***He was captured by the Union army and shot dead.*** Lincoln was replaced by his Vice President, Andrew Johnson. Jefferson Davis lived for another 24 years. He was captured and imprisoned for two years and then pardoned by Johnson in 1868. ***Consequences of the war:*** - ***After the war no state ever threatened to secede again. The Union was preserved.*** - ***The federal government became much more powerful. (President)*** - ***The federal government helped the nation's economy by building a national railroad system (North, South, East, West)*** - ***A new National Bank Act, which created a new banking system for the country*** - ***Northern economy boomed and the Southern economy collapsed.*** - ***The North had destroyed all the South's industry and railroads*** - ***600,000 soldiers died during the Civil War*** - ***The lives of AA began to slowly improve. In 1865, the nation votes for the 13^th^ amendment abolishing slavery forever*** ***LESSON 2.2*** ***How great was the immediate impact of the Civil War?*** ***Limitations on civil liberties during the war:*** ***The North treated secession as a rebellion, not a war, individuals fighting for the South were rebels, not soldiers. If captured, they were traitors, not prisoners of war, and thus subject to the laws of the Constitution. Civilians were divided in their attitudes towards the war:*** ***A minority of Northerners (Copperheads) opposed the war. A minority of Southerners supported the Union and opposed secession.*** ***Confederacy:*** - ***Conscription: The South was the first to introduce conscription due to its much smaller population and so more urgent demand to maximize recruitment. In April 1862, the Conscription Act was passed. Conscription involved only white men ages 18-35, with the exemption of teachers and later on plantation owners having 20 or more slaves. In addition, if drafted, men could nominate a substitute to join in their place or pay \$300 not to join.*** ***Union:*** - ***Conscription: The Union passed the Enrolment Act 1863, which also included exemptions and substitutions. This law had much opposition leading to riots and demonstrations. White workers were fearful that once conscripted, emancipated slaves would take their jobs. This fear was reduced by the Union's willingness to recruit freed slaves with the Militia Act 1862 and the Emancipation Proclamation 1863.*** ***Steps to limit liberty in the Union:*** - ***In 1861, Lincoln suspended habeas corpus (a legal provision which limits the time someone can be held by the authorities without being charged). Section 9 of Article 1 of the US Constitution states, "the privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion public safety may require it".*** ***Faced with rebellion, Lincoln suspended it. There were a number of rebellious states in opposition of the war, including Maryland. Some Marylanders had attacked US troops and destroyed railroad tracks and telegraph wires in an attempt to defend their rights against the federal government. Many of these rebels were seen as supporters of the Confederate cause and were imprisoned. In Baltimore, habeas corpus was suspended, and the town was placed under martial law.*** ***One man challenged this -- John Merryman, a Maryland farmer and militia officer who was arrested for training militia men who went on to destroy railroad tracks. He applied to a US court for a writ of habeas corpus. Chief judge Taney (same judge in the Dred Scott Decision) ordered the army to either release Merryman or bring him to court. The army refused, saying that it had suspended habeas corpus on the president's orders. Taney ruled that, under the Constitution, suspending habeas corpus was not the right of the president, but Congress. Lincoln disagreed, arguing that the Constitution did not specify who was responsible for any suspension and ignored Taney's court order. Merryman stayed in jail for several months before being released without a trial.*** ***Lincoln's request to Congress to approve his suspension of habeas corpus did not happen until 1863. Until then, Lincoln continued to act against prisoners' rights.*** ***In September 1862, Lincoln extended his suspensory action across the nation.*** - ***As a result, the Military Commission was created to try soldiers and civilians in support of the Confederacy, without the protection of the Bill of Rights. An estimated 4000 military commissions were held during the war.*** ***Steps to limit liberty in the South:*** - ***Like Lincoln, Jefferson Davis argued that the special needs of the war meant limiting civil liberties. Many people were subject to martial law, which was first passed in February 1862.*** - ***There were no Southern military commissions, but there were Habeas Corpus Commissioners employed to decide whether civil prisoners in military prisons should be freed, sent for civilian trial or detained indefinitely. However, Confederacy court and prison records were often incomplete, so it was difficult to get a clear and accurate picture of the imposition of military rule in the South.*** - ***The 1863 Impressment Act gave Confederate armies the power to seize what they needed in terms of supplies, whether of food, fuel, or slaves.*** - ***The 1863 Tax-In-Kind Act enabled state officials to collect 10% of certain crops to help in the war effort.*** - ***Because the South was claiming independence, they saw the North as a separate state and its citizens as foreigners -- In this context, the South took two steps:*** - ***The Aliens Enemies Act of 1861 -- required all Southerners to declare themselves to be Confederacy citizens or leave or face arrest.*** - ***The Sequestration Act of 1861 -- allowed the seizure of the property of absentee Unionists, or property which might be transferred to absentee Unionists, such as via the wills of the deceased.*** - ***Issued internal passports -- travel passes -- to those travelling between the two regions. It also introduced documents for travelling within its own territory.*** ***Emancipation Proclamation:*** ***Since the beginning of the war, the institution of slavery had started to crumble. Northern armies were advancing into slave territory. Slavery was abolished in Washington D.C. Fugitive slaves headed for the capital and for Northern army camps, where they often worked for the army.*** ***By the Summer of 1863, Lincoln had argued publicly for the offer of freedom to slaves in slave states controlled by the rebels. No offer of freedom was made to slaves in the four border states which remained loyal to the Union in 1861. Like the blockade, the proclamation was an attack on the South's economy: if they knew they would be freed, more slaves would run away, and the CSA's war effort would be undermined.*** ***Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862, stating that slaves in rebel states would be free on January 1, 1863. The delay gave slave states the chance to end their rebellion and commit themselves to emancipation. None did so.*** ***Abolition was now the central issue of fighting. The Union recognized the freedom of slaves in the Southern states which were still in rebellion and slaves of "suitable condition" would be accepted to serve in the Union army. The proclamation excluded the border states and West Virginia, which had stayed in the Union.*** ***Responses to the Emancipation Proclamation -*** - ***For the North, the proclamation meant that a war for unity was also now a war for emancipation.*** - ***For the South, a war for independence was now a war in defense of slavery. As the Union armies advanced, the freeing of slaves meant their owners were deprived of a substantial part of their property. In addition, as news spread, the number of escaping slaves increased, making the already acute labor problem even worse.*** - ***A few leaders in the South argued that, to counter Lincoln's proclamation, The CSA armies should start recruiting black soldiers. The proposal never gained support and only tiny numbers were ever put in uniform.*** - ***In the Union, however, 10,000 black men served in the US Navy, and 180,000 in the US Army -- most famously the 54^th^ Massachusetts Regiment.*** - ***Passage of the 13^th^ Amendment -- abolishment of slavery nationwide.*** ***Life in the Confederate States*** Life in the South had become hard for many, especially for those who sat directly in the path of union armies. Even for those communities not directly involved in the fighting, the Civil War affected every aspect of life in the South. 1\. **Social Divisions** -- the biggest, most obvious division was a social one -- 3.5 million people in the South were slaves. According to the 1860 Census, there were also some 130,000 free blacks in the Confederacy. Once the war began, many whites expected slave rebellions. The slaves began to act in a variety of ways against slavery, from resisting their owner's actions on the plantations to walking to enemy lines seeking military protection. Divisions also existed within the white majority, for. example between the plantation owners of the Deep South and the more independent farmers of the Upper south. At the start of the war, most white Southerners supported the move to independence. The plantation owners were the focus of the North's opposition to slave power and were probably keenest to break away in order to maintain the slavery which their wealth was based on. They tended to dominate Confederate politics. Most whites were not plantation owners. Some had only one or two slaves, many had no slaves and were farming alone. Many called this socio-economic division during the civil war: "a rich man's war but a poor man's fight". The 1862 Conscription Act added to the resentment felt by. the poorer majority of people towards the richer minority. (Remember this act exempted ***plantation owners having 20 or more slaves, and if drafted, men could nominate a substitute to join in their place or pay \$300 not to join).*** Many criticized this act as simply the rich looking out for their own. 2\. **Political Divisions** -- The people of the Confederacy were also divided in their loyalty to the Confederacy. There were many Southern Unionists, and every Southern state except South Carolina raised at least one unit in the Northern Army. Most just kept quiet for the duration of the war. Sometimes, Southern blacks fighting for freedom and Southern whites, wanting to maintain the Union, worked together to weaken the CSA's war effort (Richmond Underground). **Confederate Economy** In 1861, the Southern economy was based almost exclusively on agriculture. Plantations typically produced sugar, tobacco, and cotton for sale in the North and. Europe. At this time, the South produced two-thirds of the world's cotton. So, plantations were the main source of wealth in the South. However, the majority of the white population lived in small rural communities, farming cattle, pigs and crops which were traded locally. There were few factories in the South compared to the North. In 1861, there were approximately 110,000 factories in the North, compared with 20,000 in the South. Before the war, most of the South's manufactured goods, including munitions and clothing, were imported from the North and Europe. Following the outbreak of the war, the people of the South soon experienced economic hardship. The naval blockades by the North quickly had. a devastating effect, as the South's cash crop of raw cotton could not be exported to Britain and manufactured goods could not be imported. The CSA had planned to finance the war through tariffs on imports and taxes on exports, but it was unable to do this because of the Naval blockade. Instead, the CSA government printed money and issued bonds. This led to rapid inflation and prices rises for basic goods. Transportation routes were also put at a halt when the Northern armies took control of river routes and railways. The rail network struggled to transport food and goods without access to. rivers and ports, which caused food shortages in many areas in the South. In 1863, the Confederate government took control of the railroads for military activity, which caused further food shortages. The introduction of a 10% tax on all farm products in 1863 did not seem to greatly affect the lifestyles of the wealthy. Conversely, poor farmers struggled as they found themselves being forced to hand over 10% of their produce. However, by the end of the war, even the rich Southerners were feeling the negative effects. **The Nature of Democracy in the North and the South** **Southern Politics** As a new political structure, the South was still developing its institutions. There were no Confederacy -- wide political parties. For the 1861 presidential elections, there were no party conventions. The first Congress, separately elected in 1861, was broadly supportive of Davis's government. The second Congress, in 1863, contained more who were critical of Confederate policies, but they did not group themselves into a political party. **Northern Politics** In the North, candidates fought as Republicans, Democrats and smaller parties. In 1861-62, after Southern Democrats had left Washington D.C, Republicans quickly passed three acts which strengthened their interests in the North and the West -- - The Morrill Tariff 1861 - The Homestead Act 1862 - The Transcontinental Railroad Act 1862 However, in 1862, when the war was not going so well for the North, the Democrats gained some 25 seats in the House of Representatives, while the Republicans lost the same number. The Republicans only kept control of the House because they allied with a smaller party composed mainly of "War Democrats" who supported the war but disliked Republican economic policies and Lincoln's wartime violations of civil rights. In 1864, the **National Union Party** was formed in an effort to allow Lincoln to run for office and to allow the War Democrats and supporters of smaller parties to vote for him, as the calculation was that they would not vote Republican. Lincoln won in the popular vote and in states won by 22 to 12, giving him a victory in the electoral college. **LESSON 2.3** **What were the aims and outcomes of Reconstruction?** **Reconstruction** is usually what historians refer to as the process by which the Southern states were readmitted into the Union and slavery was prohibited, in the aftermath of the US Civil War. It is characterized as the period from the end of the Civil War in 1865 to the inauguration of President Hayes in 1877. Effects of the War: - The entire Southern region was devastated after the Civil War. Major cities lay in ruins, railroads destroyed, plantations burned to the ground and massive destruction to the infrastructure of the Southern states. - The South had a debt of \$250,000, few businesses and an ill-educated workforce. - Southerners who had invested in CSA war bonds faced financial ruin, as the bonds became worthless once the CSA failed to exist. The abolition of slavery wiped out most of the assets of the South. There were many questions at hand now that the South had to be rebuilt and readmitted into the Union: - How would the seceded states' governments be re-established? - What had caused them to secede and how could further problems be prevented? - Now that the institution of slavery is abolished, what would be the South's main economic activity be? - What would the social system look like? The social status of the slaves? - **Most Importantly - Who would lead Reconstruction?** Northerners or Southerners? The federal government or the states? If it was the federal government, would it be the president or Congress? **Presidential Reconstruction:** During 1863, Lincoln intended to be merciful in victory. Southern states, in his view, should be readmitted to the Union when 10% of their citizens had sworn loyalty, and when they had an education system which would be able to cope with the new freed slaves and constitutions which banned slavery. Beyond that, the states could retain their old powers and status. This became known as **Lincoln's 10% Plan**. The 10% plan was faced by the **Wade-Davis Bill.** This was the first Reconstruction Act written by Congress. It provided for the readmission of states to be 50% instead of 10% and Southerners would be forced to prove that they did not fight willingly against the North (both sides were using conscription to fill their armies). Lincoln vetoed this bill. In March 1865, Lincoln and Congress jointly established the **Freedmen's Bureau** to provide for the immediate needs of those who had been freed from slavery, or would be, upon the surrender of their states. In the short term, this meant providing food, shelter and jobs for the freedmen. On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer while attending a play in a theatre. He died the next day and his Vice President **Andrew Johnson** became president. Johnson was a War Democrat who became Lincoln's running mate at the National Unity ticket for the presidency in 1864. A Tennessean, and the only Southern senator not to follow his state in seceding in 1861, he then became the first military governor appointed under construction. When he suddenly became president, many Republican Congressmen put aside their doubts about his background as a Southern Democrat, and about his apparent alcoholism and consequently bad behavior. They looked forward to working with someone who would continue Lincoln's work. After all, in the presidential campaign, he had declared that "traitors should be punished". In May 1865, Johnson: - pardoned ex-Confederate soldiers and civilians, with exceptions such as major political and military office holders and those with property (land) worth over \$20,000. - did not change voting rights, instead suggesting that Southern states emancipate their freedmen - where possible, returned land. to its pardoned owners. The Southern states then accepted that they, rather than the country as a whole would have to pay the Confederacy's war debt. They also accepted the 13^th^ amendment. In the elections of 1865, it became clear that the old Southern planter aristocracy remained. The former Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens was released from prison and only a month later was nominated for the US Senate in Georgia. A series of similar results suggested that the South was unrepentant, and the planters were still in control. Congressional Republicans immediately refused to acknowledge the newly elected senators and representatives from the South. Over the next few months, Congress prepared legislation to extend the mandate of the Freedmen Bureau. This was passed in 1866, but Johnson vetoed it. This was on the grounds that the bureau was a military institution, and that the military should not be able to overrule the (state run) civil courts. In March, Johnson vetoed Congress's Civil Rights Bill, which aimed to protect and enfranchise freedmen, this time on the grounds that it could not be constitutional to change the law so fundamentally when the South had not been allowed to sit in Congress which had passed it. This time, Congress was able to **override the veto** and in April 1866, the bill became law. Johnson, however, still controlled the federal government and the army, and was able to frustrate any attempt to enforce the new act. **Radical Reconstruction** Charles Sumner, a Massachusetts Senator, suggested that in leaving the Union the Southern states had lost their identities. He called this "state suicide". They should be treated as not-yet-organized territories and be readmitted to the Union with different boundaries and under different names. He argued that the South needed to be radically changed in order to prevent it from rebelling again. In the House, the leading voice for radical change was Pennsylvanian Thaddeus Stevens. His politics were similar to Sumner, although Stevens concentrated more on the issue of slavery and was viewed to be more vindictive than Sumner. Under Johnson, it became clear that their views were so different from the President's that they were not really in the same party. The Congress which met in 1867 was different from earlier ones for four major reasons: - It had a clear Radical majority, sufficient to override presidential vetoes. It could therefore pass whatever laws it liked, whether Johnson approved it or not. - Benjamin Wade who was the Senate's new leader gained his position largely because he was seen as a champion of the 14^th^ Amendment, and therefore as a Radical. Thaddeus Stevens led the House. This meant both chambers of Congress had Radical leadership. - the new Congress had a mandate to oppose President Johnson. - Johnson was now firmly identified with the Southern aristocracy and the former Confederate leaders. The **Military Reconstruction Act** of March 1867 divided the South into five districts. Each had a military governor, in which Radical Reconstruction could be carried out. This meant that the terms of the Wade-Davis Bill were effectively implemented. It meant too that there was real pressure for full civil rights, including the right to vote for African Americans. The Radical Republicans had a majority in Congress, but their unity was by no means guaranteed. In the House, some thought that the Representative Stevens was going too far, both in his general behavior and in his pushing of rights for African Americans. Many Republicans were uncomfortable with this. Meanwhile in the Senate, Wade seemed overbearing, and, while the Radicals clearly had no love for Johnson, some did not much like Wade either. **The Impeachment of President Johnson** Johnson's term as president was due to expire in March 1869. In February and March 1868, a committee of the House led by Stevens voted to impeach him. A two-thirds vote against Johnson (36 senators) would be enough to remove him from office. But what was the point to remove him so close to his closing date in office? Why not wait? - A show of Radical strength might have had an effect on the 1868 elections. - Johnson would be humiliated - Congress could devote its time to finishing the job in the South, with a cooperative president not disrupting the role of the military governors. - In the absence of a vice president, Senator Wade would assume the presidency. The bill prohibited the president from removing officials confirmed by the Senate without senatorial approval and was designed to shield members of Johnson's Cabinet like Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, who had been a leading Republican radical in the Lincoln administration. In the fall of 1867, President Johnson attempted to test the constitutionality of the act by replacing Stanton with General [Ulysses S. Grant](https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/ulysses-s-grant). However, the U.S. [Supreme Court](https://www.history.com/topics/supreme-court-facts) refused to rule on the case, and Grant turned the office back to Stanton after the Senate passed a measure in protest of the dismissal. On February 21, 1868, Johnson decided to rid himself of Stanton once and for all and appointed General Lorenzo Thomas, an individual far less favorable to the Congress than Grant, as secretary of war. Stanton refused to yield, barricading himself in his office, and the House of Representatives, which had already discussed impeachment after Johnson's first dismissal of Stanton, initiated formal impeachment proceedings against the president. On February 24, Johnson was impeached, and on March 13 his impeachment trial began in the Senate under the direction of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice [Salmon P. Chase](https://www.history.com/topics/salmon-p-chase). The trial ended on May 26 with Johnson's opponents narrowly failing to achieve the two-thirds majority necessary to convict him. **Reasons for and the passage of the 13^th^, 14^th^ and 15^th^ Amendments** **[The 13^th^ Amendment]** - Banned slavey throughout the entire US - Proposed in Congress in 1864 - A change to the constitution was essential to prevent individual states passing their own laws. - It was under Andrew Johnson's administration that the 13^th^ Amendment was accepted and demanded that ratification of this amendment needed to be part of the deal for states wishing to return to the Union. - By the end of 1865, the amendment had become law. **[The 14^th^ Amendment]** - Intended to give black people equality under the law with white people. - Came about from the frustrations of Congressional Radicals at President Johnson's support for the Southern courts. These courts allowed discriminatory laws -- the Black codes -- to be enforced in the South. This amendment would destroy the possibility of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 being found unconstitutional. - Now that black people were no longer slaves, they counted as whole persons, with 4 million freed slaves, the population of the South., and its right to representation in Congress, went up to 1.6 million. This meant that Southern voters would gain 15 seats in Congress at the expense of Northern voters. Part of the point of the 14^th^ amendment was to ensure that those Southern voters included the freedmen. **[The 15^th^ Amendment ]** - gave the right to vote to all male citizens regardless of race, color or having been a slave. Only a crime. could stop someone from voting. - the 15^th^ Amendment was seen as a way to consolidate the gains of the 14^th^, and to prevent Radical worries about what might happen with a Congress less willing to enforce the 14^th^. - Even though the 15^th^ Amendment gave African Americans the right to vote, many Southern states created other ways to circumvent the law (imposing literacy tests, poll taxes and passing the grandfather clause). - In its first 100 years, the main effect was in guaranteeing African Americans the right to vote in the North. **LESSON 2.4** **How Successful was Reconstruction?** **The changing position of ex-slaves** - The first problem faced by freedmen was immediate and economic. They were now legally free, but also unemployed and homeless. Many of these ex-slaves had no other choice but to live on the same plantations as they had before and work for the same masters. The most visible change was in the distribution of freedmen's houses and working areas, as African Americans chose where and with whom they lived and worked. The other change was less immediately visible -- freedmen worked shorter hours. **The new Southern economic model** - The economy of the South had been shattered, not just by war but also by emancipation. Before emancipation, the value of the South had not been in land, but in the workforce. Value was held in the slaves themselves and mortgages were secured against them. So, the banking system of the South was ruined by the sudden declaration that the banks no longer had collateral. - The market for cotton was no longer cornered by the South. The Civil War disrupted cotton production, distribution and export to England, and Indian cotton took its place. - **Sharecropping** was the only solution to the immediate economic problem. Former slaves had no land, tools, seeds or capital. Without cash in hand or crops to sell, ex-slaves agreed to rent land from their landowners by sharing their crops as a form of payment instead of money. They lacked the education needed to read or understand the contracts they were signing and were exploited. This left them with very little hope of saving money to escape the system. - An alternative model was suggested by the **Southern Homestead Act of 1866,** available land in the South would be redistributed to those who needed it -- mostly freedmen, although some white farmers benefited too. General Sherman, the Union General in charge of the South, promised "40 acres and a mule" to emancipated slaves. Nobody received 40 acres or even a mule. Around 1000 freed farmers received some land, but in some cases, this was rapidly extorted away by white southerners who still owned tools and seed. **Achievements of the Freedmen's Bureau** - Dealt with the basic needs of newly freed slaves- clothing, food relief, advice about what to do next, and reassurance that news of freedom was true. The bureau also assisted freedmen in getting married or moving around. Marriages occurred in large numbers, and around 10,000 families relocated. The bureau also provided some medical relief and played a humanitarian role for all the poor people living in the South. - Along with the American Missionary Association, the Bureau promoted education of freedmen. Perhaps 200,000 people learned to read in the years immediately following the Civil War. They set up universities and schools, including the prestigious Howard University in Washington DC. - Another important goal of the Bureau was to enable freedmen to help themselves politically. "Black" Reconstruction as it was called was ultimately a failure in political terms. No Black governors were elected. Only 2 black senators and 15 black House of Representatives took office. Despite all the efforts of the Freedmen's Bureau, African American progress was repeatedly knocked down by Southern whites. **Responses of the White South** In 1867, Radical Republicans were mostly successful in excluding the planter aristocracy from control of Southern governments. Active politicians therefore comprised of poor Southerners (white and black) and Northerners coming to the south either to provide governmental assistance or for their own profit. These Northerners were known as **Carpetbaggers**. Some came because the South represented a land of opportunity. Another group known as **Scalawags,** a derogatory term for Southerners who supported Reconstruction were disliked by aristocratic Southerners. Scalawags were often former opponents of slavery, secession and the war. They joined the Republican Party in order to serve in Southern governments after the war. However, as Southerners, some were not allowed to serve in any official capacity at first. **The Black Codes** As the Civil War came to a close, southern states began to pass a series of discriminatory state laws collectively known as **black codes**. While the laws varied in both content and severity from state to state--- - some laws actually granted freed people the right to marry or testify in court--- these codes were designed to maintain the social and economic structure of racial slavery in the absence of the "peculiar institution." - The laws codified **white supremacy** by restricting the civic participation of freed people; the codes deprived them of the right to vote, - the right to serve on juries, - the right to own or carry weapons, - in some cases, even the right to rent or lease land. - In Florida, it was illegal to disrespect a white employer - In South Carolina, the death penalty could be enforced for stealing cotton - Had to prove you were employed or risk being arrested **Ku Klux Klan** The KKK was originally an economic organization devoted to furthering the white cause. However, after the Civil War, it quickly became a viciously racist secret society which used violence and intimidation to restrict the progress made by African Americans. By 1869, the KKK was a fully fledged criminal organization headed by Nathan Bedford Forrest, former Confederate general and first KKK "grand wizard". There were operations ranging from racketeering to lynching -- public hangings. In this respect, life became extremely dangerous for African Americans. Previously, no one would have injured or killed another man's slave -- that was his property. However, at this time the violent impulses of white society were unleashed. **Ulysses S. Grant's Reconstruction Policies** Grant's first task was to promote the passage and implementation of the 15^th^ Amendment -- this was particularly important to the Radical Republicans as their majorities and mandates were declining, and this consolidated the gains of the other Reconstruction Amendments. In the South, it was becoming very clear that things were going wrong for Reconstruction, and all the progress achieved by the Freedmen's Bureau was already being undone. The Black Codes were still in force and the Southern governments were becoming more Democratic. Grant's administration had to use military and legislative power to crack down on violent groups such as the KKK. Grant also passed the **Force Acts** to enforce portions of the 14^th^ and 15^th^ Amendments. Force Acts were pieces of legislation designed to help Congress and the President to enforce another act, typically part of a constitutional amendment. The Force Act of 1870, for example, (also known as the KKK Act) was designed to enforce the 15^th^ Amendment's section about **suffrage**. List of Grant's accomplishments: - Force Acts of 1870-71 - Opposition to high-profile violent anti-black groups (KKK). This included military action up until 1872. - Freedmen's Bureau was allowed to lapse in 1872 - Amnesty Act 1872 -- allowed all former Confederates to serve in politics and hold office - Intervention to support Republican candidates to ensure that there was no corruption taking place in the electoral process in 1872. - In 1873, this intervention led to the **Colfax Massacre** in Louisiana -- the biggest incident of violence in the Reconstruction period. Nearly 300 African Americans were killed in a struggle between black Republicans and white former Confederates who were trying to gain control of local politics. Grant's federal prosecutors brought charges against the white perpetrators, but their convictions were overturned by the Supreme Court as being unconstitutional in *United States v. Cruickshank* (one of the accused) in 1876. - 1875 Civil Rights Act, which Grant did not enforce. - Refusal to send troops to prevent the Red Shirts (another violent white supremacist group) from barring African American participation in elections in Mississippi in 1875. **Civil Rights Act of 1875** The most significant piece of legislation passed during Grant's time might have been the Civil Rights Act of 1875. This bill was originally drafted by Sumner a year earlier but was passed in tribute to President Grant. This Civil Rights Act was intended to outlaw segregation, which was beginning to appear in the South. Grant did not attempt to enforce this act at all. He was aware that the Civil Rights Act was unpopular and was perhaps thinking about his chances of re-election for a third term in 1876. He doubted his ability to enforce it and did not think that it was a priority as there was the more urgent issue of racial violence in the South. **The End of Reconstruction** The Southerners battling against the Radical Reconstruction governments called themselves **Redeemers** -- the name had strong religious associations and showed that they wished to be seen as putting right the wrong which had been done to the South. To the Redeemers, the insults against the good reputation of the South and the attack on its character and institutions, could be portrayed as worse than slavery. Things were changing: - The election of 1872 showed that the Republican Party was no longer united. - The mid-term elections of 1874 showed that the Democrats were now able to challenge on a national level - Radicalism had lost its attraction, and there was no desire in the North to start up again. The North wanted to put the years of conflict behind it. - The North was distracted by the Westward Expansion, the financial panic of 1873 and even the emergence of Major League Baseball. - Violence had clearly shown that the 15^th^ Amendment was ineffective. The North did little to attack this violence. *United States v. Cruickshank* showed this. - There was no more desire to send white soldiers to enforce black rights. - In the South by 1876 there were Redeemer governments in all states, except Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana. **The Election Compromise of 1877 --** Candidates: Rutherford B. Hayes (Rep.) v Samuel J. Tilden (Dem) +-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+ | | Rutherford B. | Samuel J. | Undetermined | | | Hayes | Tilden | | +=================+=================+=================+=================+ | Electoral | 165 | 184 | 20 | | College votes | | | | +-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+ | Sates Won | 18 | 17 | 3 (Fl, LA, SC ) | | | | | | | | | | Plus 1 disputed | | | | | vote in Oregon | +-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+ Tilden appeared to have won. He only needed to win one more vote, and therefore one state, to win the election. However, in each case there were allegations of violence directed at black Republican voters and fraud. This was notable in South Carolina, where more ballots were cast than there were eligible voters. The elections were not free, and the count was not fair. In each of the three states, the Republican electoral commissions awarded the votes to Hayes. This meant that the election was a tie and depended on the disputed vote in Oregon. A compromise was therefore found. Hayes promised to withdraw federal troops from the South and to appoint a Southerner to the cabinet, and to move funds to improve the railroads in the South. The removal of the federal soldiers from the streets and from statehouse offices signaled the end of the Republican Party's commitment to protecting the civil and political rights of African Americans and marked a major political turning point in American history: it ended Reconstruction.  Another important part of the Compromise of 1877 was that Republicans agreed to home-rule in the South. Home-rule meant that the Republican Party would refrain from interfering in the South's local affairs, and that white Democrats, many of them racist, would rule. Southern Democrats, for their part, pledged that they would "recognize the civil and political equality of blacks." They did not subsequently carry through on this promise but instead disfranchised black men from voting and imposed [Jim Crow segregation](https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/the-gilded-age/south-after-civil-war/v/jim-crow-part-1) across the South.