Q- Examine critically the principles and legislations that characterised the

radical reconstruction in the 19th century.

Introduction
The years following the American Civil War are termed as the Reconstruction
Era. This period marks the height of scrutiny faced by the Southern rebel states
over questions of slavery and aristocratic systems. Integration of said states and
the accommodation of newly freed black population were the most pressing
issues. Henry W. Grady termed the departures from the old plantation
economies as the New South. There was strong emphasis on the concepts of
equality, freedom and democracy. Eric Foner suggests that the true driving
force of the civil war slavery, which is reflected in the subsequent three
amendments passed during this period, the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments.
There is great debate over the true nature of this period of reconstruction, a
question that will be tackled at the end of this essay.
Lincoln’s plan
On 1st of January 1863, as the Civil War neared its third year, the then
president Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation proclamation. This
document proclaimed that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious
states "are, and henceforward shall be free." While the document was riddled
with hidden contradictions and exemptions, it showed the future holding great
promise for the freedman. Immediately after the end of the Civil War, the 13th
Amendment was passed. This suggested that, neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been
duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction. In essence, slavery was abolished and to be a part of the United
States, all states had to ratify to the same. Alongside, in 1865, the Freedman’s
Bureau was established under Lincoln’s presidency. This singular act was
extremely necessary as it aimed to provide the freedmen a strong foothold in
American society and was to remain functional during the present war of
rebellion, and for one year thereafter. The agenda entailed providing food,
shelter and education to the emancipated population, and it remain functional
till 1870.
Presidential reconstruction
Post the assassination of Lincoln, Andrew Johnson took over office. Johnson
was a moderate democrat from the South and under him started the process of
Presidential Reconstruction. His aim was to rehabilitate southern states and
integrate them swiftly, often at the expense of the freedmen. Ranging from
1866 to 67, he set up provisional all-white governments that closely resembled
the confederate ensemble, confiscated lands were returned to southern
planters and a system of sharecropping began which tied the economically
weak freedmen into modern slavery bonds. He also found himself in conflict
with the republicans over the Freedman’s Bureau when calls were made for re-
establishing the same in 1866 and attempted to veto the same. The extension
was introduced by Illinois senator Lyman Trumbull, under the Civil Rights Act,
wanting to remove the expiration date and extend the Bureau’s privilege to the
entire United States. He also demanded the expansion of the powers of the
military governors to enforce its provision. Johnson claimed that this was an
infringement over individual state rights, gave the federal government
unprecedented power and was economically irresponsible. The Civil Rights Act
also gave important definitions to citizenship and equality before the law.
Johnson’s veto was rejected by the congress and the Act became a law on July
16th, 1866.
Johnson’s view of reconstruction did not reflect the ideals of the Republican’s,
failing to deliver on the promises of the Civil War. While the bureau provided
new avenues for education, under Johnson the land reforms failed and Black
Codes were established across states. These restricted black people’s right to
own property, conduct business, buy and lease land, and move freely through
public spaces. Vagrancy laws became common place and were dictated on the
terms of white individuals. On July 9th, 1868, the 14th Amendment was passed
in congress, a landmark decision in the history of the constitution. After the
Civil Rights Act became law, there was speculation among the congress over
implementation, but the radical republicans took it as a chance to further
constitutional amendments which would solidify the status of freedmen as
citizens. Johnson’s presidential veto was overturned for a second time due to a
republican majority. The amendment has five sections that outlawed states
from enforcing laws that abridged the rights or privileges of any citizen of the
United States, provides equal protection under the law and extends the bill of
rights to everyone.
Radical Reconstruction
In 1867 the Reconstruction Act was passed which marked the beginning of
Radical Reconstruction. Under this the South was divided into five military
districts, each of which was required to form a new government and had to
ratify to the 14th Amendment to be a part of the union.
Johnson lost the 1868 election to republican candidate Ulysses S. Grant. In
1870, the congressional republicans passed the 15th and final Amendment
under this phase of reconstruction, which protected every individual right to
vote despite their race, colour or any previous history of servitude but was only
extended to men. This was also strategic as republicans realised that they could
raise their margins of victory with the aid of the black vote.
Essentially, the nature of the Union changed with reconstruction with more
power being consolidated with the federal government and they went from
being a threat to individual liberty to becoming the custodians of freedom, as
mentioned by Charles Sumner. For a short period, there was an increase in
black participation and their freedoms were stretched. Republicans began to
dominate the south and black individuals even held office, but despite these
laws, states often had a lot of freedom in term of implementation. There was
rampant corruption and increasing hatred for the north amongst the
southerners. Terms like carpetbaggers and scalawags were used to address
individuals who sympathised with republican agendas. This led to the rise of
hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan, that used violence against the black
individuals and their sympathisers. There was little social mobility for the
freedmen as their access to economic systems was rather limited, leading them
back to large plantations where they worked for a less than acceptable wage.
Intimidation by racist groups often discouraged black voters and slowly the
Democratic Party began to reemerge. In 1973, America fell into an economic
depression and supporting a marginalised community became too expensive,
causing republicans to lose interest and faith. With the south landing back into
the hands of the democrats, the narrative changed and the racist element was
celebrated, being called southern redeemers.
During the compromise of 1877, in an informal agreement among the
committee, the democrats demanded an end to military occupation in the
south in return for Hayes win. This agreement marked the end of republican
support towards protection the civil rights of African Americans and
subsequently the end of Reconstruction. The south now had complete control
as the republicans were no longer involved in their politics, thus they re-
established Black Codes and Jim Crow laws.
As mentioned earlier, the nature and effects of this reconstruction are widely
debated. The historiography was initially dominated by a traditional
interpretation where the southerners were seen as redeemers and protectors
of the Southern Decency. Claude Bower’s even referred to the same as a Tragic
Era, claiming racial injustice to the white community. It was believed that
Johnson had attempted to carry out Lincoln’s plan but was derailed by radical
republicans and childlike freedmen.
In 1907, Booker T. Washington notes that African-Americans were the true
victims, claiming them to be oblivious. William A. Dunning and John W. Burgers
placed blame on the northern carpetbaggers and federal government and were
referred to as the Dunning School. Initially only black historians like W. E. B. Du
Bois challenged this idea by placing the African Americans at the centre of
reconstruction, showing them as former slaves and their white supporters as
allies, working towards creating a more egalitarian society, but his works were
essentially ignored.
By the 1930-40s, the revisionist school, led by Charles Beard and Howard Beale,
propagated the idea that reconstruction was an excuse used by Northern
industrialists to further their economic agendas. More contemporary ideas,
however have a drastically different interpretation that resembles Du Bois.
Post-Revisionists like John Hope Franklin and Kenneth Stampp suggest that the
re-evaluation of the First Reconstruction was inspired by the second, the
modern Civil Rights Movement. They claim that most southern elite were
unharmed by the Civil War and, subsequently, the Reconstruction as they
retained most of their land and privileges. Eric Foner attempts to centralise the
black experience and recognises the importance of the federal decisions made
during this era. He calls this period an unfinished American revolution.
There is no doubt that the first Reconstruction was a dramatic failure, unable to
sustain the ideals of the Civil War, but the benefits brought by the same are
undeniable. It gave the reformed union direction and footing to create change
in the future. The freedmen’s bureau provided much needed educational
recourse with the establishing of colleges like Howard and Fiske. It was an
important step in the experience of African Americans. It laid the foundation
for a more egalitarian society, providing possibility for legal recourse and the
creation of a democracy based of racial equality.