Reconstruction

1. Reconstruction defined

   1. Period of occupation of South and Federal administration of state government, 1865-1877

   2. Two phases

      1. Presidential reconstruction 1865-1867

         1. Reconstruction led by President Andrew Johnson

         2. States readmitted after revoking secession, ratifying the 13th Amendment

         3. Offered broad pardons

         4. Republicans unhappy with Johnson, seen as too pro-Southern

         5. Allows for formation of conservative governments that passed Black Codes

            1. used to restrict the rights of ex-slaves and enforce the dominance of the white planter class

            2. included vagrancy laws, that were used to force freedmen to return to the plantations

         6. Johnson vetoes Civil Rights Bill of 1866 - authorized Federal enforcement of Freedman rights

         7. Congress responds by sending the 14th Amendment to the states for ratification

            1. declared equal citizenship for all born in the U.S.

            2. reduced representation in Congress for states that denied the vote to all male citizens 21 and over

            3. denied Confederate officers the right to hold office

            4. Made all claims for Confederate debts null and void

            5. Ratified July, 1868

         8. Republicans crush Democrats in 1866 election

      2. Radical Reconstruction - 1867-1877

         1. dominated by Congress

         2. South treated as conquered territory

         3. Demanded destruction of the old Southern ruling class

         4. Overrides veto of Civil Rights Bill of 1866 - first time in US history

         5. Protection of rights of Blacks a requirement for readmission - states would have to pass the 14th Amendment to be readmitted

         6. Press to redistribute land to Freedman

         7. Federal help for education

         8. 15th Amendment

            1. Prohibited denial of voting rights on the basis of race, color, or having formerly been a slave

            2. Ratified March, 1870

         9. State level

            1. Repeal of Black Codes

            2. Invest in social and economic infrastructure

         10. National level peters out in 1870s

         11. State level peters out as states readmitted - ending of military occupation means end of protection of Black rights

         12. Anger with Johnson leads to impeachment, 1868 - Johnson acquitted by one vote

      3. Ended by election of 1876

         1. Outcome of election between Rutherford  B. Hayes (R) and Samuel Tilden (D) disputed

         2. Compromise of 1877 - Hayes agrees to end remnants of Reconstruction in return for support of Southern Democrats

2. Social Revolution from Reconstruction

   1. Freedman's Bureau

      1. Founded at war's end

      2. Meant to ease transition to freedom 

      3. Very little advance planning

      4. Redistribution of land - but often lost after readmission

      5. More success founding schools

      6. Phased out by 1869

   2. Land

      1. Freedman needed land but Republicans too concerned about private property to do much about it

      2. Many forced to become sharecroppers

         1. Landowner advanced seeds, fertilizer, tools and clothes to the sharecropper

         2. In exchange, could farm a plot of land, but landowner got a share and told them what to plant

         3. sharecropper had to pay off the initially loan out of harvest proceeds which was usually impossible

         4. Found themselves in debt peonage - permanently tied to the land because they could never pay off their debts

   3. Violence

      1. Ku Klux Klan founded in 1865

      2. Widespread violence against Freedmen

      3. Mississippi Plan

         1. In the state election of 1875, Democrats in Mississippi used violence to intimidate back communities

         2. Further used violence to prevent Republicans (usually Blacks) from registering

         3. On election day, used guns and clubs to chase Blacks away from the polling stations

         4. This victory, and similar events in other state became known as "redemption" - the return of white Democrats to power in the South.

      4. Force Acts (1870-71) gave President power to use military against paramilitary groups and enforce voting rights

      5. Grant did not full use this power, enabling gradual elimination of most Black political power

   4. Arrival of Jim Crow

      1. Post-Reconstruction see upsurge in lynchings

      2. White supremacy becomes the mainstay of Southern politics

      3. Steady disenfranchisement of Blacks from 1870s to 1890

      4. Between 1890 and 1910, formal disenfranchisement meant very few Southern Blacks could vote

      5. A conservative Supreme Court makes it easy for process to continue

   5. Exodusters
      1. Many freedmen moved moved west to escape sharecropping and the Black Codes of the South
      2. Usually migrated in large groups
      3. The biggest of these were the Exodusters - 6000 people who moved from the South to Kansas in 1879

   6. Women's suffrage

      1. A number of women who had been active in anti-slavery work before the war begin to focus on women's suffrage

      2. That the 14th amendment guaranteed voting rights for all male citizens and excluded women sparked activism

      3. However, there was little political support for women's suffrage, regardless of race, among the major political parties

      4. The issue of whether reformers should focus first on ensuring black male suffrage or push for immediately for broad voting rights for all, including women, split the reformist and suffragist movements

         1. The American Woman's Suffrage Association focused on ensuring male black voting rights first

         2. The National Woman Suffrage Association (1869) took the broader approach

         3. Mary Ann Shadd Cary

            1. A black woman who initially joined the NWSA

            2. putt off by racists sentiments of some the white leaders of the NWSA, formed Colored Woman's Progressive Franchise Association (1871)

            3. advocated for divorce reform, led a group of women who attempted to register to vote in Washington DC (1869)

   7. Memories of Reconstruction

      1. Two novels exemplify the contrasting views of Reconstruction

      2. A Fool's Errand - Albion Torgee, 1879

         1. Describes the futile efforts of a a northern veteran trying to fulfill human goals in the face violence, threats and intimidation

         2. also depicts loyal Southerners ashamed of the Klan and the violence

      3. The Clansman - Thomas Dixon, Jr., 1905

         1. depicts the Radical Republicans as vengeful and crazed, seeking to impose corrupt carpetbagger and black rule over a helpless South

         2. In this novel, a noble and brave Klan saves the South from this fate