1. The American People, Chapter 16 Notes The Union Reconstructed

2. Key Challenges Facing Americans after the Civil War Legal status of former Confederate states Lincoln: States had never officially left, so president as commander in chief had authority to decide terms. Congress: Rebelling states had broken ties and reverted to pre-statehood status. Congress Constitutionally authorized to admit new states. Bigger issue: President had assumed larger authority, different branches were struggling to determine new balance.

3. Key Challenges Facing Americans after the Civil War Southern industry and society devastated by war, while Northern industry more developed and stronger than ever. Four million black freedmen redefining place in Southern society

4. Hopes and Goals among the Freedmen Exercising newfound freedom of mobility, getting away from the plantation Legalize marriage, as slave marriages were not recognized and could be dissolved by sale of a spouse Choice of last names to reflect free status

5. Hopes and Goals among the Freedmen Abandonment of airs masks and expressions of humility to placate whites Education Most important: Acquisition of own land

6. Forty Acres and a Mule Some Union generals had placed liberated slaves in charge of confiscated and abandoned lands Blacks had worked 40-acre plots in the Sea Islands off coast of S.C. and in Georgia for years Control of land key to control of destiny. Without it, no real freedom existed because whites controlled ability to survive.

7. The White South’s Fearful Response Whites experience loss of property, even emotional bonds with former slaves Fear of rape, revenge, intermarriage (miscegenation) Violence by black soldiers against whites extremely rare

8. The White South’s Fearful Response “Black codes” established by state legislatures immediately after war to limit the new rights of freedmen Testimony against whites, interracial marriage, right to bear arms, right of assembly and more severely restricted Regulation of labor in the black codes intended to restore plantation-based society Kentucky newspaper: “The tune…will not be ‘forty acres and a mule,’ but … ‘work nigger or starve.’”

9. National Reconstruction: The Presidential Plan Vice President Andrew Johnson, Tennessee Unionist Democrat, assumes office of president following Lincoln’s assassination, April 14, 1865 Continues Lincoln’s policy of leniency toward South and presidential authority over Reconstruction

10. National Reconstruction: The Presidential Plan Pardons most former Confederates For “restoration of all rights of property” Readmission to Union requires ratification of 13th Amendment, which abolishes slavery, voids secession, repudiates Confederate debts

11. National Reconstruction: The Presidential Plan All southern states readmitted and send delegates to Congress by end of 1865 No provision for black suffrage; very little for civil rights, schooling, economic protection for freedmen

12. Congressional Reconstruction (The Republicans Strike Back!) Congressman Thaddeus Stevens and Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts take control, labeled “radicals” Congress refuses to seat new members of Congress from old Confederate states Joint Committee on Reconstruction investigates appalling treatment of freedmen.

13. Congressional Reconstruction (The Republicans Strike Back!) Congress passes civil rights bills to protect black rights and preserve Freemen’s Bureau, 1866 Johnson vetoes both bills, but Congress overrides vetoes, passes version of bills with weakened enforcement Union army drags feet, fails to protect blacks in 1866 race riot in Memphis, TN

14. Fourteenth Amendment Congress passes Fourteenth Amendment, 1866 (ratified by 3/4 of states by 1868) Officially made blacks citizens of the U.S. Federal government protected civil rights of all citizens from violations by states for the first time (Previously, only federal government had to abide by the Bill of Rights)

15. Fourteenth Amendment Made black males eligible to vote by counting them as whole persons Ends 3/5 compromise of original Constitution Provision made to punish states that deny the right to vote by reducing their representation in Congress Ironically, without enforcement of right to vote, white Southerners exclude blacks but gain even more power in Congress

16. Fourteenth Amendment Some consequences for former Confederates Amendment central issue in 1866 Congressional elections, Republicans gain overwhelming majority

17. Reconstruction Acts South divided into five military districts Commanders have broad power to maintain order and protect civil and property rights New process for readmitting a state – New state constitutions for South

18. Reconstruction Acts Black men would participate in conventions, unreconstructed rebels would not State constitutions must guarantee black male suffrage, elections would follow Finally, states readmitted to Union after ratifying 14th Amendment

19. Reconstruction Acts Johnson vetoes the acts, but overridden by Congress again Johnson impeached by the House, survives by one vote in Senate trial Shows moderate Republicans, less committed to civil rights, have upper hand

20. What Congress Did Not Do Imprison Confederate leaders (with exception of Jefferson Davis) Insist on long probation before readmission for Confederate states Reorganize southern local governments Mandate national program of education for ex- slaves

21. What Congress Did Not Do Confiscate land and redistribute to freedmen Prevent Johnson from taking land away from freedmen who had gained it during war Provide economic help to black citizens (except indirectly)

22. What Congress Did Do Granted blacks citizenship and the right to vote

23. Women and the Reconstruction Amendments Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony advocate for 13th Amendment Shocked when 15th Amendment excludes women from right to vote Frederick Douglas supported women’s rights but pleas that this was “the Negro’s hour”

24. Women and the Reconstruction Amendments Suffragists such as Lucy Stone agree with Douglas Stanton and Anthony campaign against 15th Amendment on principle that all citizens should vote

25. The Freedmen’s Bureau Issued emergency food rations Clothed and sheltered homeless victims of the war Established medical and hospital facilities Provided funds to relocate thousands of freedmen and white refugees

26. The Freedmen’s Bureau Helped African Americans search for relatives and get legally married Helped freedmen get fair trials Established schools staffed by blacks and idealistic northerners Served as employment agency, ultimately “re-enslaving” freedmen as landless fieldworkers

27. Economic Freedom by Degrees Contact labor Freedmen worked for white landowners for meager wages – no land of own Sharecropping Freedmen worked a certain plot of land for white landowners and could keep half of the harvest, but spent most to buy goods from landlord’s store

28. Tenant farming Much like sharecropping, but freedmen rented the land Agreed to sell harvest to landlord rather than giving half of the harvest Still heavily dependent on debt to buy goods from landlord Poor whites faced similar conditions; many turned to white supremacist ideology

29. Black Self-Help Institutions Black churches held together social fabric of community; ministers provided community leadership Desire for education strong among freedmen Unmarried white northern women were first teachers; sought to convert blacks to Congregationalism, white moral values

30. Black Self-Help Institutions Successes tempered with frustration over limited resources, local opposition, absenteeism for fieldwork Need for black teachers and preachers who better understood their communities led to founding of black universities Opposition to black education led some black leaders to advocate emigration

31. Reconstruction in the States: Republican Rule In wake of Congress’s Reconstruction Acts, Republicans dominate state constitutional conventions in fall of 1867

32. The Republican Coalition in the South Bankers, industrialists and others interested in economic growth Northern Republican capitalists keen to invest in land, railroads and new industries Union veterans seeking warmer climate Missionaries and teachers in Freedmen’s Bureau schools

33. Black Politicians Often well-educated preachers, teachers, and soldiers from the north Often self-educated tradesmen or representatives of the small landed class of southern blacks In S.C., only 15 % owned no property at all Black politicians more interested in gaining access to government and education than land redistribution

34. Accomplishments in the States Universal male suffrage in all states Republican governments financially and physically reconstructed the South: Built infrastructure of roads, bridges, harbors, railroads, hospitals, asylums, etc. Created state supported system of (segregated) schools

35. Weaknesses of Republican Rule Corruption of “carpetbaggers” and “scalawags” – present, but not necessarily excessive Tax rates and state debts increased Class tensions, divisions among blacks weakened Republicans in Louisiana and S.C.

36. Violence and “Redemption” Campaign of terror restores Democratic rule in N.C (1870), Mississippi (1875) President Grant (R) gets Force Acts from Congress to protect voting rights and crack down on KKK Grant abandons cause when advised support for blacks will hurt GOP in Ohio elections, 1875

37. Reconstruction, Northern Style With Grant, Republicans shift from party of moral reform to one of material interest, economic growth Organized labor asserts itself as industry expands Republicans subsidize railroads while abandoning Freedman’s Bureau Corruption pervades politics in New York (Boss Tweed) Congress (Crédit Mobilier), and Grant Administration

38. Election of 1876 Republican Rutherford B. Hayes ekes out Electoral College victory Democrat Samuel J. Tilden wins the popular vote Votes disputed in Florida, Louisiana and S.C. Stage set for showdown – another civil war?

39. The Compromise of 1877 Hayes selected by Electoral College Orders last federal troops out of the South Supports economic and railway development in the South Appoints former Confederate general to his cabinet, lets southerners handle race relations themselves