CHAPTER 13 Presidential Reconstruction

LINCOLN’S ASSASSINATION  April 14, 1865  Fords Theatre  Our American Cousin (play)  Dies at the Peterson House across the street from Fords Theatre

John Wilkes Booth  Virginian (South)  After the assassination he fled by horse to Maryland

ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON VICE-PRESIDENT AND SECERTARY OF STATE  Vice President – Andrew Johnson  Secretary of State – William Seward stabbed several times in his home – survived

On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer, while the President was attending a play at Ford's Theater. Booth's plan was to destroy the administration by ordering conspirators to assassinate Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward that same night. Seward narrowly survived his wounds, while Johnson escaped attack as his would-be assassin, George Atzerodt, failed to go through with the plan.John Wilkes Booth ConfederateFord's TheaterSecretary of StateWilliam H. SewardGeorge Atzerodt

BOOTH’S ARREST  Secretary of War – Edwin Stanton ordered the arrest of John Wilkes Booth  8 conspirators were convicted  4 were sentenced to hang

Mary Todd Lincoln  Son (William) dies (typhoid fever) in 1862 at White House  Husband (Abraham) dies in 1865  Son (Thomas) dies (Tuberculosis)1871  Mary Todd Lincoln was unstable after the death of her husband  Robert (son) had his mother placed in a mental hospital in 1875

Reconstruction (to rebuild the South)   Union restoring relations with the Confederate States after the defeat

RECONSTRUCTION PROBLEMS North Limited damage to the farms and industries South Needed to rebuild cities and railroads (infrastructures)

Difficult questions for the political leaders on Reconstruction  How should the 11 states be readmitted?  Should Confederate leaders be punished?  Rights of the 4 million slaves?  How do we rebuild the South?

Other Problems  Most Southern whites refuse to accept blacks as equals!

Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction Lincoln’s plan during while he was Lincoln’s plan during while he was President during the Civil War  Pardon the Southerners  10% of the state voters need to accept the new state constitutions

President Andrew Johnson’s Plan for Reconstruction  Pardon all Southern whites except the Confederate leaders  13 th Amendment is ratified (passed) Abolished slavery in December, 1865

Black Codes (Slavery without chains)  Series of laws  Forced blacks to sign a labor contract requiring them to work at a job for one year  Permitted employers to use physical force  Allowed states to jail unemployed blacks

Violence Against Blacks  Secret white terrorist organization  Ku Klux Klan started in South (Tennessee)  Targeted the Blacks, Catholics, Jews

Civil Rights Act  Guaranteed legal rights of former slaves

13 th Amendment (Reconstruction Amendment)  13 th Amendment is ratified (passed) Abolished slavery in December, 1865

14 th Amendment (Reconstruction Amendment)  Gave citizenship to blacks in 1868  States needed to pass 14 th Amendment before they could be readmitted to the union

15 th Amendment (Reconstruction Amendment)  Voting rights for Blacks in 1870

Tenure of Office Act  Prohibited the President from firing Cabinet members without Senate approval  President Johnson wanted to replace Edwin Stanton with a new secretary of war.

Impeachment of President Andrew Johnson  Accused of standing in the way of the Reconstruction  House of Representatives felt there was enough evidence to try the case  Senate voted 35 to 19 to impeach – (1 vote shy of impeachment)  2/3 rd majority is needed to impeach

Republicans  Won control of every new state government after the Civil War

Carpetbaggers  Former Union soldiers attracted to the south because of the economic opportunities  Bought land in the south  Worked for the government, as teachers, and missionary work

Scalawags  Poor whites who lived in the hilly areas of the south.  Resented the plantation owners  They looked to the new state governments for an education and jobs

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