The Reconstruction Period

The Social, Economic, and Political rebuilding of the country after the American Civil War

Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House marks the end of the Civil War and the start of Reconstruction

Presidential Reconstruction President Abraham Lincoln (Rep.) President Andrew Johnson (Dem.)

Moderate Plan for Reconstruction The 10 % Plan Easy re-entry of Southern States, the southern states had not really left the union Proclamation of Amnesty/pardon of most ex-Confederates Slow, measured progress, change Passage of the 13 th Amendment No substantial aid to freedmen

The Assassination of President Lincoln April, 14 th, 1865 Ford’s Theatre Washington D.C.

Peterson Boarding House Wash. D.C. Pres. Lincoln dies 7:22 a.m. April 15 th, 1865

Famous Actor John Wilkes Booth

Conspirators

Sec. of State William Seward Vice President Andrew Johnson

“now he belongs to the ages” Sec. of War Edwin Stanton Lincoln dies at the age of 56 on April, 15, 1865

Lincoln’s tomb in Springfield, Illinois

Pres. Andrew Johnson vs. Radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens

The Impeachment of Pres. Andrew Johnson

Johnson is acquitted by a single vote in the Senate

Johnson violates the Tenure of Office Act by firing Sec. of War Edwin Stanton

Congressional Reconstruction The southern states had left the union and should be considered conquered territories (Wade-Davis Bill) Renewed and expanded Freedmen’s Bureau Reconstruction Act of 1867 Support for the 14 th and 15 th Amendments (in addition to the 13 th ) Tenure of Office Act Force Acts Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875

Leading Radical Republicans Benjamin Wade Thaddeus Stevens Charles Sumner

Military Reconstruction Acts of 1867

The election of Grant 1868

Southern Backlash: The Invisible Empire of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

Black Codes State laws throughout the South with the goal of suppressing the freedmen

Sharecropping in the South

The Freedmen’s Bureau Bureau of Freedmen, Refugees and Abandoned Lands

The “Civil War Amendments” 13 th Amendment (1865) Abolition of Slavery 14 th Amendment (1868) Citizenship for the Freedmen and civil rights 15 th Amendment (1870) Black Suffrage

Carpetbaggers Northerners who went South

Scalawags: Southerners who supported reconstruction policies, seen by fellow Southerners as traitors to the Southern cause. Various motives on the part of Southerners. Some supported reconstruction policies in order for personal advancement while others genuinely agreed with the intention of the policies.

Reelection of Pres. Grant

The Grant Scandals Credit Mobilier Whiskey Ring Indian Ring

The results of black suffrage

Sen. Blanche Bruce (Ms.) Sen. Hiram Revels (Ms.)

The disputed Election of 1876

Rutherford B. Hayes (Rep) Samuel Tilden (Dem.)

The Compromise of 1877 The Republicans (Hayes) gain the White House and the Presidency in exchange for the removal of troops from the South and the end of the military districts With the removal of troops the South returns in large part to its Antebellum status, characterized by racism, discrimination and segregation. The conservative White Democrats took control of politics and state governments as the Reconstruction Period ends.

Reasons for the end of Reconstruction Death of Thaddeus Stevens Economic concerns. The “Panic of 1873” Preoccupations with Grant’s scandals Attentions drawn to the Westward movement Reestablishment of Southern Democrats to political power in their states