Reconstruction

HST 210: The US Experience

Reformers
Freedman's Bureau

March 3, 1865 
Three goals:
    1. land
    2. education
    3. labor
-to help both black and white refugees of the war
- provided rations and medical supplies
-they helped negotiate labor contracts
-establish black schools in the south
-problems: lack of manpower: 1:10,000-20,000,corruption
Radical Reconstruction
Radical Reconstruction
• mostly northern Republicans 
• fighting for black equality
• attempted to get Johnson impeached 
• wanted to get African Americans land, 
• were instrumental in passing the 14th and 15th
amendments. 
• introduced Civil Rights Legislation
Radical Reconstruction
Military Reconstruction Act
• passed by Congress in March of 1867 
• divided the south into 5 military districts, each under the
command of a union general 
• the northern generals were supposed to maintain order and
protect the civil rights of “all persons” 
• these states were forced to adopt constitutions that
guaranteed black men the right to vote, and eliminate many
ex-Confederates from voting 
• congress would agree to readmit these states to the union if
they agreed to ratify the 14th amendmen
•  in 1868 North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama,
Louisiana, and Arkansas all met the requirements and were
readmitted to the union
Republican Party in the South
Republicans in the south formed state governments

The Republican party included:

1. African Americans
   2.  Scalawags

   3.  Carpetbaggers
       
14th Amendment
• defined citizenship as a basic right
• every person born in the United States and subject to its
jurisdiction was declared a citizen.
• forced states to adhere to the Bill of Rights
• passed congress in June 1866, and was then sent to states
for ratification
• Johnson tried to block the 14th amendment
• congressional elections of 1866 were a clear victory for the
Republicans
• many northerners felt Johnson’s vision of Reconstruction
was only helping traitors and rebels
• all southern states except Tennessee rejected the 14th
amendment
15th Amendment
• 15th amendment gave African American men the vote
• forbade states from denying the vote based on “race, or
previous conditions of servitude”
• left states with the clear option of denying the vote based on
other grounds
• the north to continue to deny the vote to women, Chinese
immigrants, illiterates, and those too poor to pay taxes
Resistors
Presidential Reconstruction
• Andrew Johnson was sworn in as president after Lincoln
assassinated on April 14, 1865
• In the summer of 1865, Johnson began his plan of reconciliation:
         1.  He insisted states revoke their declarations of secession
         2.  Each state had to ratify the 13th amendment, which abolished
slavery in December 1865 
• Johnson offered amnesty and a return of nearly all property (except
slaves) to all southerners who took an oath of allegiance to the
union.  
• some southerners were excluded from amnesty:
            1.  high-ranking Confederate military officers
            2.  people with taxable property of more than $20.00 
• they could petition Johnson personally for amnesty 
• At this stage, it appeared the planter class would be removed from
power
Counter Revolution of the Planters
• former slaveowners united under the Democratic party
• were called Redeemers
•  felt the union would only be rebuilt when southerners could
control their own affairs
•  1865, delegates from the southern states met to create new
state constitutions that eliminated slavery and invalidated
secession.
• after ratification states could elect new governments
• disenfranchised black voters
• elected old guard to office
Black Codes
• 1865-1866
• former planters wanted to restore the order of the old south 
• created legal codes that attempted to keep African
Americans subordinate to whites
• the first set was in Mississippi
• in many states it was illegal for black people to own guns, to
have alcohol, to gather in large groups, or to be on the
streets at a late hour
• interracial marriage was outlawed.
• black codes were intended to create a labor system that
practically recreated slavery.
Ku Klux Klan
• 1865 6 ex-Confederate soldiers formed the KKK
• at first it was social club, but within a year it began to have
racist overtone
• violently opposed to suffrage for African Americans
• Klan Goals:
    1. prevent black vote
    2. maintain white supremacy
    3. destroy the local Reconstruction governments
• during Reconstruction the Klan claimed over ½ million
• all members were sworn to secrecy
• Klansman came from all walks of life
• often the most “respected” members of the community were
members including doctors, lawyers, preachers, sheriffs,
and state representatives
• Klansmen were frequently protected from prosecution
Ku Klux Klan cont...
• 1868 there were 336 reported cases of attempted murder of
blacks by the Klan
• carried out 100s of whippings against free blacks
• 1870, congress reported on Klan violence that produced 13
volumes detailing 5,000 cases of lynchings, beatings, and
floggings
• 1871 Klan Act was passed that ordered it to disband
• 1875 the congress passed the Civil Rights Act which
outlawed segregation in public places
• However, when the Democratic party resumed control in
1875 white supremacy was harshly restored
• KKK would experience a revival in the early 20th century
Reconstruction and Former Slaves
• planters reluctant to inform Af Am that slavery was over
• former slaves immediately began to define their freedom
    1. looked for family members
    2. found jobs
    3. tried to get land
    4. formed new identities
    5. migration: over 25,000 blacks move to Kansas
• however, many were cautious recognizing that whites would
be extremely hostile
• 1495 black officer holders during Reconstruction
Black Labor: Sharecropping
• one of the failures of Reconstruction was that it redistributed
little land or money
• Af Am rented the land they worked on
•  the dominant form of agriculture was sharecropping
• sharecropping was the payment for rent and supplies in part
of the crop instead of cash
• in most agreements sharecroppers had to give up between
½ and 2/3 of their crop to the landlord
• sharecroppers received seed, fertilizer, tools, food, and
clothing
• -by 1880, only 2-5% of African Americans were independent
landowners
Black Land Ownership
• all blacks struggled to make the money to buy their own land
• -planters often made agreements among themselves not to
sell land to African Americans, or to drive the price up.
• some planters even used the KKK to intimidate black
planters who wanted to buy land
• black farmers were also driven deep into debt
• problems securing loans so the owners of local stores lent
African Americans what they needed on credit
• because the interest rates were so high, African Americans
were often trapped in a spiral of debt with the local
merchants
Collapse of Reconstruction
by the 1870s the north’s commitment to giving blacks a fair
shake in the south was disintegrating

1.  Economic Distress
2.  Equality and freedoms in the south a hopeless mission
3.  lack of presidential commitment from President Grant
4.  increasing southern commitment to white supremacy- 

Compromise of 1877: Democrats agree to allow Rutherford

Hayes into the presidency if he agrees to support southern
Democrats and their efforts to disenfranchise and abuse blacks