RIVAL PLANS FOR RECONSTRUCTION Chapter 12 Section 1

How will Southern States Rejoin the Union Should Confederate leaders be tried for treason or should they be pardoned so the nation can heal as quickly as possible? How should southern representatives be allowed back into Congress? Constitution did not give direction on this issue Whose job was it to decide? President or Congress? Many thought the South should have to meet certain stipulations before being allowed to return

How Will Southern Economy Be Rebuilt? See description on P. 403 Gen. Sherman proposed “Forty Acres and a Mule” – give abandoned farm land to former slaves Southern landowners rejected this idea Some northerners thought this might violate Constitution

What Rights Will African Americans Have? 13 th Amendment freed slaves but it did not give them full citizenship Former slaves wanted voting rights and access to education Many Republicans supported extending full citizenship rights, but most in the South opposed the idea

Ten Percent Plan Offers Leniency 1863 – issues Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (known as the Ten Percent Plan) As soon as ten percent of a state’s voters took a loyalty oath to the Union, the state could set up a new government If the state’s constitution abolished slavery and provided for education for African Americans, the state would regain representation in Congress Also made concessions to southern whites – granted pardons to former Confederates, considered compensating them for lost property Lincoln wanted Union reunited as quickly as possible

Radicals Oppose the Ten Percent Plan some within Lincoln’s party did not like his plan “Radical Republicans” led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner, wanted Congress to punish Confederates for the crimes they had committed Advocated full citizenship for African Americans, including the right to vote Supported Sherman’s plan to confiscate land and give farms to freedmen Congress passed the Wade-Davis Bill in 1864 Required that a majority of a state’s prewar voters swear loyalty to the Union before they could come back in President Lincoln destroyed this plan with a “pocket veto” – withholding signature past 10-days

Government Aids Freedmen Freedmen’s Bureau – created to provide food, clothing, healthcare, and education for both black and white refugees in the South Helped reunite families Represented African Americans in court Continued until 1872

Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan Lincoln’s assassination made Andrew Johnson president Johnson seeks to restore the Union wanted to do so as quickly as possible offered pardons and the restoration of land to almost any Confederate who swore allegiance to the Union and the Constitution Required each state to ratify the 13 th Amend. Johnson still expected the United States to have a “government for white men” Did not want African Americans to have the vote Favored states’ rights

Southerners Aim to Restore Old Ways Many states tried to restore things to the way they were before the war. All states instituted black codes – laws that sought to limit the rights of African Americans and keep them landless Required them to work in limited occupations Some prohibited owning land Vagrancy laws White southerners used violence and intimidation to enforce the black codes

Congress Fights Back Congress refused to let southerners to take their seats 1866 – political situation got worse President Johnson accused Radicals of trying to “Africanize the southern half of the country” Congress tried to overturn the black codes by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866 Created federal guarantees of civil rights and superseded any state laws that limited them Johnson used his veto power to block the law Johnson was now openly defying Congress

Radical Reconstruction Begins Radicals in Congress spent nearly a year designing a new Reconstruction program Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment Guaranteed equality under the law for all citizens Any state that banned blacks from voting would lose number of seats in Congress Barred leading Confederate officials from holding federal or state offices Congress passed legislation over Johnson’s veto with the ratification of the Military Reconstruction Act of 1867

(continued) Act divided the 10 southern states that had yet to be readmitted into the Union in five military districts governed by former Union generals Once the state ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, it could reenter the Union

Congress Impeaches the President Crisis in 1867 – to limit the President’s power, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act President needed Senate approval to remove certain officials from office House of Representatives voted to impeach Johnson for trying to fire Stanton (Sec of War) Had trial in Senate Radicals failed to remove Johnson from office by one vote

The Fifteenth Amendment Extends Suffrage 1868 – Republican candidate, Ulysses S. Grant was elected President 1869 – Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment – forbidding any state from denying suffrage on the basis of race, color, or previous condition of servitude Both 14 th and 15 th Amendments were ratified in 1870