A.P. U.S.

History Notes

Chapter 23: The Ordeal of Reconstruction

~ 1865 18
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The Problems of Peace 1. After the war, there were many questions over what to do with the free Blacks, how to reintegrate the outhern states into the !nion, what to do with Jefferson Davis, and who would be in charge of Reconstruction. ". The outhern way of life was ruined, as cro#s and farms were destroyed, the slaves were now free, and the cities were bombed out, but still, some outherners remained defiant. $reedmen %efine $reedom 1. At first, the freed Blacks faced a confusing situation, as many slave owners re&enslaved their slaves over and over again after !nion troo#s left. i. 'ther #lanters resisted emanci#ation through legal means, citing that emanci#ation wasn(t valid until local or state courts declared it. ii. ome slaves loyally stuck to their owners while others let out their #en&u# bitterness in their freedom, #illaging their former masters( land, #ro#erty, and even whi##ing them. ". )ventually, even resisting #lantation owners had to give u# their slaves, and afterwards tens of thousands of Blacks took to the roads to find new work or look for lost loved ones. *. The church became to the focus of the Black community life in the years following the war. +. )manci#ation also meant education for Blacks, but des#ite all the gains Blacks made, they still faced severe discrimination and would have to wait a century before attaining their rights. The $reedman(s Bureau 1. In order to train the unskilled and unlettered freed Blacks, the Freedmans Bureau was set u# on ,arch *, 1-./0 !nion 1eneral Oliver O. Howard headed it. ". The bureau taught about "22,222 Blacks how to read, since most former slaves wanted to narrow the literary ga# between them and 3hites and also read the word of 1od. *. 4owever, it wasn(t as effective as it could have been, as evidenced by the further discrimination of Blacks, and it e5#ired in 1-6" after much criticism by racist 3hites. 8ohnson9 The Tailor President 1. Andrew Johnson came from very #oor and humble beginnings, and he served in :ongress for many years ;he was the only :onfederate :ongressman not to leave :ongress when the rest of the outh seceded<. ". $eared for his re#utation of having a short tem#er and being a great fighter, but he was a dogmatic cham#ion of states( rights and the :onstitution, and he was a Tennessean who never earned the trust of the =orth and never regained the confidence of the outh. Presidential >econstruction 1. ince Abraham Lincoln believed that the outh had never legally withdrawn from the !nion, restoration was to be relatively sim#le9 the southern states could be reintegrated into the !nion if and when they had 12? of its voters #ledge an oath to the !nion and also acknowledge the emanci#ation of the slaves0 it was called the Ten ercent lan. ". The Radical Re!ublicans feared that such a lenient #lan would allow the outherners to re& enslave the newly freed Blacks again, so they rammed the "ade#Davis Bill, a bill that required /2? of the states( voters to take oaths of allegiance and demanded stronger safeguards for emanci#ation than the 12? Plan, through :ongress. i. 4owever, @incoln #ocket&vetoed the bill by letting it e5#ire, and the 12? Plan stayed.

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*. It became clear that there were now two ty#es of >e#ublicans9 the moderates, who shared the same views as @incoln and the radicals, who believed the outh should be harshly #unished. +. 3hen Andrew 8ohnson took #ower, the radicals thought that he would do what they wanted, but he soon #roved them wrong by basically taking @incoln(s #olicy and issuing his own >econstruction #roclamation9 certain leading :onfederates were disfranchised, the :onfederate debt was re#udiated, and states had to ratify the 1* th Amendment. The Baleful Black :odes 1. In order to control the freed Blacks, many outhern states #assed Blac$ %odes, laws aimed at kee#ing the Black #o#ulation in submission0 some were harsh, others were not as harsh. i. Blacks who ABum#edC their labor contracts, or walked off their Bobs, were subBect to #enalties and fines, and their wages were generally ke#t very low. ii. The codes forbade Blacks from serving on a Bury and some even barred Blacks from renting or leasing land, and Blacks could be #unished for AidlenessC by being subBected to working on a chain gang. ". ,aking a mockery out of the newly won freedom of the Blacks, the Black :odes made many abolitionists wonder if the #rice of the :ivil 3ar was worth it, since Blacks were hardly better after the war than before the war. :ongressional >econstruction 1. In %ecember, 1-./, when many of the outhern states came to be reintegrated into the !nion, among them were former :onfederates and %emocrats, and most >e#ublicans were disgusted to see their former enemies on hand to reclaim seats in :ongress. ". %uring the war, without the %emocrats, the >e#ublicans had #assed legislation that had favored the =orth, such as the &orrill Tariff, the acific Railroad Act, and the Homestead Act, so now, many >e#ublicans didn(t want to give the #ower that they had gained in the war. *. =ortherners now realiDed that the outh would be stronger #olitically than before, since now, Blacks counted for a whole #erson instead of Bust *E/ of one, and >e#ublicans also feared that the =orthern and outhern %emocrats would Boin and take over :ongress and the 3hite 4ouse and institute their Black :odes over the nation, defeating all that the :ivil 3ar gained. +. 'n %ecember ., 1-./, President 8ohnson declared that the outh had satisfied all of the conditions needed, and that the !nion was now restored. 8ohnson :lashes with :ongress 1. 8ohnson re#eatedly vetoed >e#ublican&#assed bills, such as a bill e5tending the life of the $reedman(s Bureau, and he also vetoed the %ivil Ri'hts Bill, which conferred on blacks the #rivilege of American citiDenshi# and struck at the Black :odes. ". As >e#ublicans gained control of :ongress, they overrode 8ohnson(s vetoes by #assing the bills over his veto through a "E* maBority. *. In the ()th Amendment, the >e#ublicans sought to instill the same ideas of the :ivil >ights Bill9 ;1< All Blacks were American citiDens, ;"< If a state denied citiDenshi# to Blacks, then it(s re#resentatives in the )lectoral :ollege were lowered, ;*< $ormer :onfederates could not hold federal or state office, and ;+< The federal debt was guaranteed while the :onfederate one was re#udiated. +. The radicals were disa##ointed that Blacks weren(t given the right to vote, but all >e#ublicans agreed that states wouldn(t be acce#ted back into the !nion unless they ratified the 1+ th Amendment. winging G>ound the :ircle with 8ohnson 1. In 1-.., >e#ublicans would not allow >econstruction to be carried on without the 1+ th Amendment, and as election time a##roached, 8ohnson wanted to lower the amount of >e#ublicans in :ongress, so he began a series of G>ound the :ircle s#eeches. ". 4owever, as he was heckled by the audience, he hurled back insults, gave Agive Gem hellC s#eeches, and generally denounced the radicals, and in the #rocess, he gave >e#ublicans more men in :ongress than they had beforeHthe o##osite of his original intention.

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>e#ublican Princi#les and Programs 1. =ow, the >e#ublicans had a veto&#roof :ongress and nearly unlimited control over >econstruction, but moderates and radicals still couldn(t agree. i. In the enate, the leader of the radicals was %harles *umner, long since recovered from his caning, and in the 4ouse, the radical leader was Thaddeus *tevens, an old, sour man who was an unswerving friend of the Blacks. ". The radicals wanted to kee# the outh out of the !nion as long as #ossible and totally change its economy, and the moderates a quicker >econstruction, and what ha##ened was a com#romise between the two e5tremes. >econstruction by word 1. The Reconstruction Act of ,arch ", 1-.6 divided the outh into five military Dones, tem#orarily disfranchised tens of thousands of former :onfederates, and laid down new guidelines for the readmission of states ;8ohnson had announced the !nion restored, but :ongress had not yet formally agreed on this<. i. All states had to a##rove the 1+th Amendment, making all Blacks citiDens. ii. All states had to guarantee full suffrage of all male former slaves. ". The (+th Amendment, #assed by :ongress in 1-.I, gave Blacks their right to vote. *. In the case Ex parte Milligan ;1-..<, the u#reme :ourt ruled that military tribunals could not try civilians, even during wartime, if there were civil courts available. +. By 1-62, all of the states had com#lied with the standards of >econstruction, and in 1-66, the last of the states were given their home rule back, and >econstruction ended. =o 3omen 7oters 1. 3omen suffrage advocates were disa##ointed by the 1* th, 1+th, and 1/th Amendments, since they didn(t give women full suffrage. i. After all, women had gathered #etitions and had hel#ed Blacks gain their rights. ii. $rederick %ouglass believed in the women(s movement but believed that it was now Athe =egro(s hour.C ". As a result, women advocates like ,li-abeth %ad. *tanton and *usan B. Anthon. cam#aigned against the 1+th and 1/th AmendmentsHAmendments that inserted the word male into the :onstitution for the first time ever. The >ealities of >adical >econstruction in the outh 1. Blacks began to organiDe #olitically, and their main vehicle was the /nion Lea'ue. i. It became a network of #olitical clubs that educated members in their civic duties and cam#aigned for >e#ublican candidates, and later even built Black churches and schools, re#resented Black grievances, and recruited militias to #rotect Blacks. ". Black women attended the #arades and rallies of Black communities. *. Black men also began to hold #olitical offices, as men like Hiram Revels and Blanche 0. Bruce served in :ongress ;they re#resented ,ississi##i<. +. outhern 3hites hated seeing their former slaves now ranking above them, and they also hated Ascalawa's,C outherners who were accused of #lundering outhern treasuries and selling out the outherners, and Acar!etba''ers,C =ortherners accused of sleaDily seeking #ower and #rofit in a now&desolate outh. /. =ote that outhern governments were somewhat corru#ted during these times. The Ju Jlu5 Jlan 1. )5tremely racist 3hites who hated the Blacks founded the AInvisible )m#ire of the outh,C or 0u 0lu1 0lan, in Tennessee in 1-..Han organiDation that scared Blacks into not voting or not seeking Bobs, etcK and often resorted to violence against the Blacks in addition to terror. ". This illegal grou# undermined much of what abolitionists sought to do. 8ohnson 3alks the Im#eachment Plank 1. >adicals were angry with President 8ohnson, and they decided to try to get rid of him.

". In 1-.6, :ongress #assed the Tenure of Office Act, which #rovided that the #resident had to secure the consent of the enate before removing his a##ointees once they had been a##roved by the enate ;one reason was to kee# ,dwin &. *tanton, a >e#ublican s#y, in office<. *. 4owever, when 8ohnson dismissed tanton early in 1-.-, the >e#ublicans im#eached him. F7I. A =ot&1uilty 7erdict for 8ohnson 1. 8ohnson was not allowed to testify by his lawyers, who argued that the Tenure of 'ffice Act was unconstitutional and 8ohnson was acting under the :onstitution, not the law. ". 'n ,ay 1., 1-.-, 8ohnson was acquitted of all charges by a single vote, as seven >e#ublican senators with consciences voted Anot&guiltyC ;interestingly, those seven never secured a #olitical office against afterwards<. *. %ie&hard radicals were infuriated by the acquittal, but many #oliticians feared establishing a #recedence of removing the #resident through im#eachment. F7II. The Purchase of Alaska 1. In 1-.6, ecretary of tate "illiam H. *eward bought Alaska from >ussia to the !nited tates for L6." million, but most of the #ublic Beered his act as A eward(s $olly.C i. 'nly later, when oil and gold were discovered, did Alaska #rove to be a huge bargain. F7III. The 4eritage of >econstruction 1. ,any outherners regarded >econstruction as worse than the war itself, as they resented the u#ending of their social and racial system. ". The >e#ublicans, though with good intentions, failed to im#rove the outh, and the fate of Blacks would remain bad for almost another century before the :ivil >ights movement of the 1I/2s and 1I.2s secured Black #rivileges.