1. Chapter 12: Reconstruction
The Big Picture: Following the Civil War, Congress implemented a plan to reconstruct the South. After 12 years, and in response to fierce resistance from many white southerners, the federal government declared Reconstruction over.

2. Chapter 12 section 1: Plans for reconstruction
Main Idea: Northern leaders had differing ideas for dealing with the many issues and challenges of restoring the southern states to the Union.

3. The South after the War Property Losses
Challenges for African Americans and the South
Property values drop to half what they were before the war
Many plantations lost workers (20% white male population died; slaves fled)
Transportation systems, esp. railroads were devastated
4 million newly freed slaves
No money, education, or job prospects
Federal government still needed to address what role African Americans would play in politics and what would happen to former Confederate states

4. Wartime Reconstruction
Freedmen’s Bureau
Lincoln’s Reconstruction and Opposition
March 1865: Congress creates the Freedmen’s Bureau: provided help to both black and white southerners
Northern army had seized many plantations during the war and paid former slaves to stay and work
Some former slaves earned enough to buy the land from the government
1862: Lincoln appointed military governors to run the South
Ten Percent Plan: when 10% of a state’s voters to a loyalty oath, they could organize a new state government that banned slavery
Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee rejoined the Union under this plan
Congressional leaders opposed this plan for two reasons: readmitting states should be a Congressional decision and it was too lenient
1864: Wade-Davis Bill: required 51% of voters to pledge loyalty to rejoin the union
Lincoln killed this bill with a pocket veto because he thought it was too harsh

5. Lincoln’s Assassination
Lincoln’s popularity and political skill probably would have made him ultimately victorious in his battle with Congress over Reconstruction if he had survived
April 14, 1865: John Wilkes Booth, a Southerner, shot and killed Lincoln while he was watching a play at Ford’s Theatre
The assassination was part of a larger plot to kill the vice-president and the cabinet, but the other assassins failed
He was later killed in a shoot-out with Union troops
Lincoln’s assassination meant that Southerner Andrew Johnson was now president of the United States and in charge of Reconstruction

6. Johnson and Congress Differ over Reconstruction
Early Relations
Opposition to Johnson’s Plan
Most Republicans thought they could work with Johnson because he believed the South should be punished for treason even though he was a Southerner
But Johnson really wanted to harm the wealthy planter class (he grew up poor), not the entire South
Congress was in recess until Dec , and Johnson felt he had the power to run Reconstruction while they were out of town
Johnson’s Plan included a loyalty oath (no specific %) but added one condition: Southerners with property over $20,000 had to apply for a personal pardon from the President
Republican Congressional leaders Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens were opposed to the plan because it didn’t help former slaves
By the time they came back to DC, all states but Texas had met Johnson’s requirement

7. Chapter 12 Section 2: Congressional reconstruction
Main Idea: Congress took control of Reconstruction as a new, radical branch of the Republican Party was emerging.

8. Reconstruction Under President Johnson
Johnson and Southern State Governments
Black Codes and Southern Defiance
South welcomed Johnson’s approach
Southerners wanted to rebuild government under white control
Johnson also believed that African-Americans should not have a place in Southern government
Most Southerners elected to Congress were former generals or government leaders in the Confederacy
States were required to ratify the 13th Amendment but quickly passed black codes: laws that kept African Americans in slave-like conditions and dependent upon plantations (required to sign year- long contracts, couldn’t own property, couldn’t own guns)
Ku Klux Klan formed to enforce laws and customs through terror

9. Congress Takes Control of Reconstruction
Northern Opposition; Congress fights Back
Johnson versus Congress
Northerners origionally supported Johnson’s plan but quickly became disturbed at what was happening to African Americans in the South
Radical Republicans under Thaddeus Stevens favored tougher requirements for Southern states and wanted economic opportunity and political equality for freed slaves
when they returned from recess, Congress passed a bill extending aid through the Freedmen’ Bureau
Civil Rights Act of 1866: gave African Americans citizenship and equal rights
Johnson vetoes both bills claiming they were unnecessary and unconstitutional
Both bills were passed over his veto and Congress was determined to take control of Reconstruction

10. Radical Reconstruction
Reconstruction Acts
Worried that the Supreme Court would overturn the Civil Rights Act, Congress passed the 14th Amendment: granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the US and granted them equal protection under the law
After wins in the 1866 election, Radical Republicans passed the Reconstruction Acts: divided the South into 5 military districts controlled by a general until the state ratified the 14th Amendment and gave A-A men the right to vote
Johnson’s Impeachment/15th Amendment
Tenure of Office Act required the president to ask Congress to be allowed to fire cabinet members
Johnson refused and fired Stanton, a supporter of Congressional Republicans
Congress votes to impeach him (formally accuse him of a crime)
After a 2 month trial, Johnson is acquitted
1868: Republicans choose U.S. Grant as presidential candidate (wins)
15th Amendment: grants African American men the right to vote (most joined Republican Party)

11. Chapter 12 section 3: republicans in charge
Main Idea: Republican Reconstruction had a significant impact on life in the South.

12. Republican Government Brings Change to the South
Scalawags and Carpetbaggers
African Americans and New State Government
Military Reconstruction changes Southern politics:
Scalawags: white Southerners who join the Republican Party and cooperate; seen as traitors to fellow white Southerners
Tended to be poor whites who opposed secession and the war and hoped to gain more political power
Carpetbaggers: northern Republicans who moved south to reconstruct the South (also hated by most white Southerners)
Scalawags, carpetbaggers, and freedmen joined together to run state governments
African Americans were the largest group of Republican voters in the South; 700 served in state legislatures and 16 served in Congress
New state governments provided social services (more schools; hospitals, railroads, and repealed black codes)

13. Life after Slavery for African Americans
Seeking Economic Opportunity
Education and Religion
African American families worked to reunite with loved ones
Some moved to urban areas looking for jobs (pop. doubled in 10 cities)—small numbers moved North or West
Most remained on their former plantations working for their former masters
By ,000 African Americans were enrolled in school
The Freedmen’s Bureau started over 4,000 schools
African Americans also started their own churches, which often became the center of the community
Some of these churches started schools (i.e. Morehouse College)
They also created clubs, fire companies, and aid societies

14. Reconstruction and Land Ownership
Some Radical Republicans wanted to seize Southern land and give it to former slaves (Southern Homestead Act: gave gov’t owned land to slaves, but was repealed because former slaves lacked seed/tools only 4,000 families got land)many whites refused to sell land
Two farming systems emerged: sharecropping: owners provide land, tools, and seed, the resulting crop is shared with the farmers; OR tenant farming: owner rents land for a fixed price, farmer is responsible for all materials and ‘owns’ resulting crop and can choose what to plant
Most were sharecroppers; all ended up in poverty and in debt because they had to borrow money to meet needs before the harvest of the crops
Collapse of cotton prices and overproduction also hurt farmers
Industry grew in the South during Reconstruction, but African Americans were excluded from factory jobs and workers made lower wages than up North and were indebted to company stores

15. Chapter 12 section 4: Reconstruction collapses
Main Idea: A variety of events and forces led to the end of Reconstruction, which left a mixed legacy for the nation.

16. Problems with Reconstruction
Terrorist groups in the South
Support for Reconstruction Declines
Ku Klux Klan most active of several different terrorist organizations
They included planters, merchants, and poor white farmers and laborers
Common goal: undo advances and restore old political and social order
Main target: African American leaders but they also attacked men and women working with the Freedmen’s Bureau
Enforcement Acts: (1870/1871) heavy penalties including jail for preventing people from voting
KKK power and influence did decline as a result of these laws
White Southerners claim Enforcement Acts restrict individual rights
Northerners were frustrated with the continued need to post troops in the South
Taxes increased and states were deeply in debt
Democrats won control of Congress in 1874
A 5-year depression beginning in also weakened support for Reconstruction

17. The End of Reconstruction
“Redeeming” the South
The Election of 1876
Supreme Court weakens Reconstruction: Slaughterhouse Cases: most civil rights are under state control, 14th Amendment doesn’t apply
Terror against Southern Republicans became more brutal and bold; federal gov’t did little to help
Democrats, calling themselves Redeemers, began to take control of Southern states
(R) Rutherford B. Hayes vs. (D) Samuel Tilden
Tilden one vote shy of majority in Electoral College (20 votes in dispute-19 from South)
Both sides made charges of voter fraud; Tilden supporters threatened to go to war over the outcome
Compromise of 1877: Hayes given the 20 disputed votes becomes president; in return all federal troops were withdrawn from the South ending Reconstruction

18. Reconstruction’s Legacy
14th and 15th Amendment have profound effects for African Americans in South and North
15th Amendment increases calls for women to gain right to vote
Industrialization and economic change in the South leads to the rise of the New South
Supreme Court decisions weaken 14th & 15th Amendments and allow white Southern Democrats to control lives of African Americans
Southerners deeply resent federal intervention
South becomes so strongly Democratic, it becomes known as the Solid South, Republicans cannot make gains until the 1970s