1. “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.
Abraham Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Speech, March 4, 1865

2. The Reconstruction Era
Ruins seen from the capitol, Columbia, S.C., 1865

3. Reconstruction
Reconstruction ( ) – period during which the United States began to rebuild after the Civil War and included the process by which the federal government readmitted former Confederate states.

4. After the War South lay in ruins
Nearly 4 million freed slaves needed food, clothing, & jobs
Lincoln planned for Reconstruction, the rebuilding of the South
Ruins seen from the Circular Church, Charleston, S.C.

5. Lincoln’s Ten-Percent Plan
1. General amnesty, or pardon, would be granted to all Southerners who would take an oath of loyalty to the U.S.
2. When 10% of the number of voters who had participated in the 1860 election had taken the oath within a particular state, then that state could launch a new state government and elect representatives to Congress
Excluded from this oath were former Confederate officials, Officers, and judges
3. Pledge to obey all federal laws pertaining to slavery

6. Lincoln’s Plan Angers Radicals
Radical Republicans led by Charles Sumner & Thaddeus Stevens opposed Lincoln’s Ten Percent plan
Thought Lincoln’s plan was too lenient
Did not want to reconcile with the South – wanted to “revolutionize Southern institutions, habits, & manners”

7. Radical Republicans Plan
The Radical Republicans had 3 main goals:
1. prevent the leaders of the Confederacy from returning to power after the War
2. Wanted the Republican Party to become a powerful institution in the South
3. Wanted the federal government to help African Americans achieve political equality by guaranteeing their right to vote

8. Radicals and Moderates Compromise
Moderate Republicans thought Lincoln’s plan was too lenient BUT also that the Radical Republicans were to radical with African American voting rights
In the summer of 1864 the Republicans compromised and came up with a plan called the Wade-Davis Plan

9. Wade-Davis Bill
 Required the majority of the adult white men in former Confederate states to take the Ironclad Oath of allegiance to the Union
The state could then hold a constitutional convention to create a new government
The people chosen to attend the convention must take the Ironclad Oath – saying that they had never fought against the Union or supported the Confederacy

10. Wade-Davis Bill Also, each state’s convention would have to:
1. abolish slavery
2. reject all debts the state had acquired as part of the Confederacy
3. and deprive all former Confederate government officials and military officers of the right to vote or hold office
Lincoln blocked the bill with a pocket veto
He agreed with some of the goals BUT felt that harsh treatment of the South would be counterproductive

12. Freedman’s Bureau
Lincoln realized the South was already in chaos with the devastation of war and the collapse of the Southern economy
Thousands of people were unemployed, homeless, and hungry
Thousands of freed slaves “freedmen” needed help
Many were following Union troop, especially on Sherman’s March to the Sea

13. Freedman’s Bureau Created by Congress and established March 1865
Helped the 4 million slaves freed after the war
Negotiated labor contracts with planters, specifying pay and hours of work
Worked to educate freedmen
-Provided housing for schools, trained and paid teachers

14. Reconstruction Plan of President Andrew Johnson
Vice President to Lincoln – became President after Lincoln’s assassination
Democrat from TN that had remained loyal to the Union
Like Lincoln, believed in a moderate Reconstruction plan

15. Johnson’s Plan
1. Offered a pardon for all former citizens of the Confederacy who took an oath of loyalty and to return their property – like Lincoln, excluded former Confederate officials and officers
However, they could apply for individual pardons from the President
2. Required states to ratify 13th Amendment abolishing slavery
3. After these issues were met, states then could organize new governments and elect Congress members

16. Responses Johnson’s Plan
Confederate states met Johnson’s demands
Radical and Moderate Republicans in Congress outraged because African Americans were not allowed to vote & former Confederate Leaders were elected to Congress

18. The Black Codes
After the war, most southern states quickly ratified the 13th Amendment as forced by the Reconstruction plan but….
The new Southern legislators passed Black Codes, which limited the rights of African Americans in the South
Under Johnson’s policies of Reconstruction, nearly all the southern states would enact their own black codes in 1865 and 1866

19. The Black Codes These codes greatly angered congressional Republicans
These codes varied from state to state, but all intended to keep African Americans in a condition similar to slavery
Many states required blacks to sign yearly labor contracts - if they refused, they risked being arrested as beggars and fined or forced into unpaid labor

21. The 14th Amendment
Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S.
Declared that no state could deprive any person of life, liberty, or property “without due process of law”
Also declared that no state could deny any person “equal protection of the law”

22. Military Reconstruction Act of 1867
Essentially nullified Johnson’s programs for reconstruction
Divided the south into 5 military districts
Each district was placed under Union general leadership to maintain peace and “protect the rights of persons and property”

23. Military Reconstruction Act of 1867
New elections were held to design new constitutions acceptable to Congress
These new state constitutions had to give the right to vote to all adult male citizens, regardless of race
Had to ratify the 14th Amendment after drafting new state constitutions

25. Johnson’s Troubled Presidency
The Republicans wanted Johnson out Office, so they sought to impeach him
Impeach: To formally charge with misconduct in office

26. Johnson’s Troubled Presidency
Congress passed 2 new laws to avoid any Presidential vetoes or refusal to enforce the laws they passed
1.) Command of the Army Act
2.) Tenure of the Office Act
Command of the Army Act – all orders from the President to go through the headquarters of the general of the Army (Grant’s headquarters)
Tenure of Office Act - cabinet members could not be removed “during the term of the president by whom they may have been appointed”

27. Johnson’s Troubled Presidency
Johnson fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to challenge the Tenure of Office Act
The House of Representatives voted to impeach Johnson
He was tried in the Senate and vote was 35 to 19 (one vote short of the 2/3 majority needed to remove him from office)
Staying in office till the Election of 1868

28. Reconstruction Under Grant
18th President - served two terms from March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1877.
Grant presided over the last half of Reconstruction
Supported amnesty for Confederate leaders and protection for the civil rights of African-Americans

29. The 15th Amendment
Recognizing the importance of African American suffrage, the Republican run Congress passed the 15th Amendment
Declared that the right to vote “shall not be denied on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”

30. Reconstruction Under Grant
He favored a limited number of troops to be stationed in the South to protect rights of Southern blacks, and suppress the violence against African Americans
In 1869 and 1871, Grant signed bills promoting voting rights and prosecuting Klan leaders

31. Politics in Post War South
Republican Party in the South relied on 3 groups during reconstruction
1. African Americans (15th Amendment)
2. Scalawags
3. Carpetbaggers

32. African Americans Enter Politics
15th Amendment gave African Americans the right to vote
Went from enslaved workers to legislators and administrators on nearly all levels of government
14 elected to the House of Representatives and 2 to the Senate
90% of blacks supported Republicans

33. Scalawags
White Southerners who worked with the Republicans and supported Reconstruction
Very diverse group of people
Many were owners of small farms who didn’t want the wealthy planters to regain power
Others were businessmen who favored Republican plans for developing the South’s economy

34. Carpetbaggers Large #s of Northerners traveled to the South
Southerners called these newcomers “carpetbaggers” because they arrived with belongings in suitcases made of a carpet fabric
Many viewed the carpetbaggers as intruders seeking to exploit the South’s postwar turmoil for their own gain

36. The Collapse of Reconstruction
Anti-Black Violence
Grant’s Troubled End
Election of 1876
Compromise of 1877

38. Anti-Black Violence
Angry with Republican reconstruction, many white Southerners organized secret societies to undermine Republican rule
Goal was to prevent African Americans from voting and supporting the Republicans
Largest of these secret groups was the Ku Klux Klan

40. Anti-Black Violence Ku Klux Klan
Established in 1866 by former Confederate soldiers in TN
Wore hooded robes and rode in bands at night terrorizing African Americans and carpetbaggers
President Grant passed Enforcement Acts in 1870 and 1871 to try and stop the Klan violence
The KKK continued on to do its works as it could

43. Grants Troubled Administration
Despites Grants actions on the KKK, he was not a forceful President and the Republican Party began to divide
A series of scandals damaged his administration
An economic panic known as the Panic of 1873, started due to a series of bad railroad investments forcing a powerful banking firm into bankruptcy
This set off a depression that lasted until almost the end of the decade

44. Election of 1876
The rising power of the Democrats made enforcing Reconstruction more difficult
Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) vs. Samuel Tilden (Democrat)
Tilden won the popular vote, Hayes won the electoral college
South was upset and disputed the election

45. Election of 1876
Compromise of 1877 – agreement to settle the disputed election
Hayes (Republican) = president
Republicans would end military occupation of the South
White Democrats took control of southern state governments

46. Reconstruction Ends
Reconstruction came to and end with the removal of the federal troops and the collapse of Republican rule in the South
After Reconstruction, Southerners hoped for an industrial economy to emerge in the South – “New South”
Despite its industrial growth, new industries and railroads, the South changed very little in some ways

47. Reconstruction Ends
For African Americans the end of Reconstruction meant a return of the “old South”
Many returned to the plantations owned by whites either working for low wages or becoming tenant farmers – paying rent for the land they farmed
Because they could not afford their own land, many tenant farmers became sharecroppers

48. Reconstruction Ends
Sharecropping - is a system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on the land
Although it allowed African Americans to control their work for the first time in their lives, they rarely had enough crops left over to sell to allow them to ever buy their own land
The Civil War ended slavery, but Reconstruction’s failure left many African Americans, and many poor whites, trapped in economic turmoil that was beyond their control