The Ordeal of Reconstruction 5.7

Reconstruction The process of restoring the Union and rebuilding the social, political, and economic structure of the South.

The Problems of Peace After the war there were many questions: what to do with the free Blacks how to reintegrate the Southern states into the Union what to do with Jefferson Davis and other Confederate leaders. who would be in charge of Reconstruction?

Different South The Southern way of life had been ruined crops and farms were destroyed the slaves had been freed the cities were burnt down and many Southerners remained defiant to the Union

The Freedman’s Bureau March 1865 The Freedman’s Bureau is established with the purpose of training the unskilled and uneducated freed Blacks The Freedmen’s Bureau taught about 200,000 Blacks how to read  and write as well as vital job skills

Lincoln’s Plan 10% Plan Abraham Lincoln believed that the South had never legally withdrawn from the Union, and he wanted to restore the Union as quickly, and painlessly as possible. Under Lincoln’s “10 percent plan”: the southern states could be reintegrated into the Union, if and when, 10% of its eligible voters voted to rejoin the United States. Lincoln’s plan was obviously very forgiving to the South.

The Radicals Challenge Lincoln The Radical Republicans (led by Thaddeus Stevens) felt that the south should face harsh punishment for causing the Civil War. feared that the leniency of Lincoln’s 10 % Plan would allow the Southerners to re-enslave the newly freed Blacks Wanted to completely change the social structure of the South before the former Confederate states were allowed to rejoin the Union.

The Wade-Davis Bill In opposition to Lincoln’s 10% plan, the Radical Republicans forced the Wade Davis Bill through Congress required 50% of the states’ voters to approve rejoining the Union before that state could be readmitted. They knew 50% was a number that would be nearly impossible to achieve in most of the Southern States. Lincoln responded with a pocket-veto of the Wade-Davis Bill The 10% Plan remained

Johnson Stays with Lincoln After Lincoln was assassinated the 10% Plan’s future was in question. When Lincoln’s Vice President, Andrew Johnson, was sworn into office, Johnson decided to continue with Lincoln’s original plan This created severe political tension between President Johnson and the Radical Republicans in Congress.

Johnson: The Tailor President Andrew Johnson (Democrat) The only Confederate state congressman not to leave Congress when the rest of the South seceded. Chosen by Lincoln as his Vice President during the 1864 campaign to try and draw some support from Northern Democrats.

Johnson’s Reconstruction Proclamation Confederate leaders were disfranchised (right to vote removed) the Confederate war debt would be repudiated, or assumed by the Union upon each states re-entrance to the United States The states had to ratify the 13th Amendment before they could be readmitted

Johnson Clashes With Congress President Johnson clashed with Radical Republicans, because he repeatedly vetoed Republican-passed bills Examples of Johnson’s vetoes: a Bill that would renew the charter of the Freedman’s Bureau because the people of the South didn’t like it (Johnson was a Southerner) the Civil Rights Bill, which would have given freed blacks American citizenship

New Amendment Because Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Bill, Congress passed the 14th Amendment and sent it to the State legislatures for ratification. 14th Amendment all Blacks would be granted American citizenship former Confederates leaders could not hold federal or state public office

More Rights to Former Slaves The Reconstruction Act of 1867 Divided the South into five military districts Disenfranchised thousands of former Confederate leaders All states had to approve the 14th Amendment, giving freedmen full American citizenship and civil rights

Disenfranchising Freedmen Although is was assumed, the 14th Amendment was not explicit enough about granting the right to vote. Southern states started to pass state laws that would prevent Freedmen from voting, so Congress was forced to pass another amendment. The 15th Amendment (1869) - gave African Americans their right to vote

Black Representatives Southerners also hated “scalawags” - Democrats who joined the Republican Party after the war to retain their seat in Congress. “carpetbaggers” - Northerners accused moving south for political and financial gain. Because the Confederate leaders were barred from participating in Government, this created a lot of open positions. Many Northerner moved south to get government jobs that they would have otherwise had no chance of receiving in the North.

Suppressing the New Civil Rights Ku Klux Klan - a white supremacist group that used terrorism and violence to scare Freedmen into not voting or seeking jobs. The “Black Codes” – state laws passed by most Southern states that led to a system of legal segregation in the South

Dirty Politics Southern Democrats used two practices to exclude African Americans from voting Gerrymandering Changed voting districts to counteract African American votes Poll Taxes Made all voters pay a tax before voting (Most African Americans could not afford to vote) Literacy tests – African Americans had to pass an extremely difficult test to prove that they could read and write before they were able to vote.

Gerrymandering

Sharecropping Sharecropping – a farming system where African American farmers would rent land to farm and then have to pay a portion of their profits to the land owner This system prevented African Americans from owning land in the south and kept them in perpetual poverty.

Sharecropping Cycle of Poverty

Johnson Walks the Impeachment Plank Radical Republicans were angry with President Johnson over his repeated vetoing of their Bills In 1867, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act which made it illegal for the President to fire a cabinet member without the approval of Senate Johnson violated the law when he fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton The Radical Republicans in the House of Representatives pressed charges against President Johnson.

The Verdict In an impeachment trial, the charges are pressed by the House of Reps, but it is up to the Senate to actually convict the President of the crime. The Senate acquits him of the charges by one vote.