Reconstruction

I. The “Unfinished” Revolution

A. Was Reconstruction Revolutionary? 1. No - whites kept most property; caste system maintained 2. Yes - Constitutional changes; emancipation; groundwork for the future

B. Contemporary Views 1. Lincoln - states had never left - quick as possible 2. Radicals - “foreign” territory - great, historic opportunity

C. Challenge of the Aftermath 1. Loss of manpower K; ¼ of military-age Southerners 2. Total War 3. Problem of “freedom” - freed people nowhere to go

Competing Plans for Reconstructing the South

A. Presidential Pardons for most 2. Oath-takers could vote - elites back in power 3. Ratification of 13 th Amendment

4. Black Codes - economic rationale - maintain hierarchy - tolerated by moderates

B. Congressional / Radical Reconstruction 1. Waving the “bloody shirt” From the beginning of our history the country has been afflicted with compromise. It is by compromise that human rights have been abandoned. - Charles Sumner

2. Expansion of Federal Power - Civil Rights Act of Freedmen’s Bureau th Amendment 1866 Dual Citizenship

Review Sessions for Final Exam Thursday April 26, 3:30 P.M. - HUMB 360 Friday April 27, 1:00 - ? Picklefish Monday April 30, 7:30 P.M. - HUMB 360 & by appointment

III. Reconstruction and Constitutional Crisis

A. Andrew Johnson 1. Inferiority complex 2. Opposition to reform 3. Struggle with Congress - Tenure of Office Act

B. Congress takes control 1. Southern military districts

2. Redefined voting rights 3. Ratification of 14 th Amendment Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States…

IV. Reform and Its Limits

A. Land distribution 1. “40 acres and a mule” - Sherman’s order , 20% freed land owners 2. Opposition to land re-distribution

3. Rise of sharecropping : 10% own 60% of land - white and black sharecroppers

B. Racial Radicalism 1. Terrorism - Ku Klux Klan lynching 2. Stereotypes - violent - sexual - commercial

C. Politics 1. Voting rights - 15 th Amendment “Party of Lincoln” Redemption

D. Constitutional changes 1. Amendments - 13 th th th Basis of “3 rd ” American Revolution - Civil Rights, 1950s-60s

E. Social Relations 1. White men - “extra” legal caste system 2. Class antagonism - Populism 1880s+ - Tom Watson

3. Black men - legally free - “manhood” = own land; marry; protect family; military service - antagonism reflects psychological shift

4. White women - “pedestal to politics” - construction of the Lost Cause Myth

5. Black women - “Aren’t I a Woman?” Sojourner Truth - double burden 19 th century ideals conflicted with economic reality Church; education

V. End of the Experiment 1. Westward Expansion Little Big Horn - Plains Culture Republican corruption - Crèdit Mobilier Whiskey Ring 1875

3. Northern Democrats rebound - immigration - labor movement 4. Election of 1876