22 The Ordeal of Reconstruction_ 1865-1877

Ch. 22 Ordeal of Reconstruction, 1865-1877 Theme: Johnson’s political blunders and Southern white recalcitrance led to the imposition of congressional military Reconstruction on the South. Reconstruction did address difficult issues of reform and racial justice in the South and achieved some successes, but was ultimately abandoned, leaving a deep legacy of racial and sectional bitterness. Theme: During Reconstruction, the Constitution was strengthened with the Fourteenth (citizenship and equal protection of the laws) and Fifteenth black voting rights) Amendments, but it was also tested with the conflicts between the President and Congress that culminated in a n impeachment process. Theme: Southern resistance to Reconstruction began immediately with the sending of ex-rebels to be seated in Congress and continued with the creation of violently oppressive groups like the Ku Klux Kan. Although forced to make some concessions, Southern “ Redeemers” successfully outlasted the Congressional Reconstruction efforts.

I. Conditions after the Civil War A.

The country was a singular nation now. 1. 2.

B.

New political and economic centers— all in north/west Stronger federal government

Rebuilding the South 1. 2. 3.

Economic ruins Impact of Emancipation on southern life Federal Intervention a. b. c.

C.

Scalawags/Carpetbaggers 13th Amendment Freedman’s Bureau

Republicans lead the North 1. 2. 3.

President Johnson is new leader Stronger alliance between business and govt. Motivated by racism (of black free man) and revenge (of Democrats)

II. Presidential Reconstruction: A Moderate Approach A.

Lincoln’s 10% Plan 1. 2.

10% of voters in 1860 election, obey emancipation, and state. Response of GOP: Wade Davis Bill, 1866 a.

b. c.

B.

50%, Iron-clad Oath, constitutional convention, and Feds OK otherwise “conquered provinces” Revealed differences between Congress and Johnson Also revealed early split in GOP

Johnson’s Plan 1. 2. 3.

Similar to Lincoln Disenfranchised some whites, pardons others, and state conventions with 13th. Veto Freedman Bureau, 1866

III. Congressional Reconstruction A.

GOP Resentment to White Supremacy 1. 2. 3.

B.

Ex-Confeds in Congress! Black Codes KKK violence

Civil Rights Bill, 1866 (Transition from Presidential to Congressional Recon.) 1. 2. 3. 4.

Response to Johnson’s Reconstruction Black citizenship and destroy BC Became 14th Amendment, 1866 1866 Midterm elections -2/3 GOP a. b.

5. 6.

C.

Military Reconstruction Act, 1867 Reconstruction Act, 1867 (“5, 14th, Full”)

Johnson is Impeached, 1867 1.

Office of Tenure Act a.

2.

D.

T. Stevens and Ch. Sumner Moderates in majority

15th 1. 2.

Edwin Stanton, Sec War

Purchase of Alaska, 1867

Amendment, 1869 No Women! Intimidation and loopholes

Impeachment Trial by Theodore R. Davis in Harpers Weekly

Interesting note: Johnson did not attend but did win election as a Senator in 1874 and made an emotional return to the Senate as junior Senator from Tennessee.

IV. End of Reconstruction A. B.

Civil Rights Act, 1875 National Concerns 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

C. Thomas Nast, Harpers Weekly, 1876.The disputed presidential election returns from FL, SC, and LA are represented by the new Sport of football, introduced in 1876 By the Ivy League. Until 1881, the Ball was not passed!

Compromise 1877 1. 2.

D.

Panic of 1873 Women’s Rights Political corruption Gilded Age Purchase of Alaska

1870 ex-Confederacy back Hayes (GOP) v. Tilden (Demo)

Impact 1. 2. 3.

Decline of Ex branch Rise of Solid South “Invisible Empire of the South”: State Governments a. b. c.

Infringement of privileges Jim Crow Laws Lynchings

Putting Things in Order (Put the following events in correct order by numbering them 1 to 5) 1. ____ Constitution is amended to guarantee former slaves the right to vote 2. ____ Lincoln announces a plan to rapidly restore southern states to the Union 3. ____ Northern troops are finally withdrawn from the South, and Southern state governments are re-constituted without federal constraint 4. ____ An unpopular antiradical president escapes conviction and removal from office by one vote 5. ____ Johnson’s attempt to restore the South to the Union is overturned because of congressional hostility to ex-Confederates and southern passage of the Black Codes

Answers 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

4 1 5 3 2