Reconstruction—1865-1877
A. Essential Questions
- Which branch of government is responsible for readmitting states to the Union?
- How should ex-Confederates be treated?
- How should African-Americans be treated?
- What policies should govern readmission of southern states?
- Goals of Reconstruction
- North: African-Americans—enter Republican Party
- Lincoln: 10% Plan; rebuild South with federal aid
- Lincoln—liberal secessionist view: The South did NOT secede
- Johnson—Lincoln’s Plan—January, 1864 Tennessee, Louisiana, & Arkansas had loyal state governments—Lincoln’s Plan
- Congress: Legislature has the right to readmit southern states since Congress admits all new states
- Wade-Davis Bill: 50% Plan: punish the South, secure freedmen’s rights; pocket vetoes by Lincoln
- Struggle Between Executive & Legislative Branches for control of Reconstruction
- Johnson’s Plan: lenient like Lincoln’s; aimed at keeping wealthy planters out of power
- Johnson Governments: no vote, education or property rights for blacks
- Black Codes: like slave codes before the war—blacks were subordinate to whites, hardly better off than pre-war times
- Congressional Response: Radical Reconstruction “Conquered Province” model
- Led by Sen. Sumner (MA) & Rep Stevens (PA)
- Many whites were disenfranchised; blacks got the right to vote (1870)
- Freedmen’s Bureau re-established, vetoed by Johnson, overridden by Congress
- Civil Rights of 1866: citizenship to black men; not to Native-Americans; all civil rights given to blacks;
- 14th Amendment: no citizen (born in USA or naturalized) could be deprived “of life, liberty, or property without due process of law—applied due process to state governments;
- Elections of 1866--”wave the bloody shirt”—Republicans remind voters that they won the war
- Republicans gain 2/3’s majority of Congress: can override ALL of Johnson’s vetoes
- Legislative Branch in Charge: Radical Reconstruction
- 1st Reconstruction Act of 1867—applies to all states but Tennessee (ratified 14th amendment)
- 10 states divided into 5 military districts—martial law
- New constitutional conventions elected by all males—NOT ex-Confederate
- Readmission depended on accepting 14th amendment
- 1870: 7 states readmitted; federal troops remain in SC. FL, LA
New Reconstruction Laws
- Tenure of Office Act, 1867: Johnson forbidden from dismissing federal officials appointed by Congress
- Johnson tested the law; fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton; thought law was unconstitutional—IT WAS!
- Impeachment of Johnson: high crimes—11 counts against Johnson—2 were regarding behavior toward Congress; 9 were behavior regarding Tenure of Office Act
- Trial: March 5 to May 26, 1867
- Vote: 35-19 (7 Republican & 12 Democrats) 1 vote short of 2/3’s majority
- Sen. Edmund G. Ross ® Kansas cast deciding vote, and ruined political career; received death threats
- Sen. Ross is featured in John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage
- Johnson remained in office, but was very ineffective; Congress would dominate national politics for the remainder of the century, but
- Checks and balances was maintained by Ross’ vote
Election of 1876: Disputed Election
- Hayes (R) vs. Tilden (D)
- Tilden: Popular vote
- Electoral vote: 20 disputed votes
- Electoral commission gave votes to Hayes in return for
Compromise of 1877
- President Hayes withdrew federal troops from the South
- Hayes appointed southern Democrat to Cabinet
- Federal $ given to build railroad from Texas to the West, and to improve southern infrastructure: roads, bridges, rivers
End of Reconstruction
- Redemption: Democrats return to power in the South
- Home Rule: Southerners run state governments without federal interference
- Black Codes: Restrictions on African-Americans
- Jim Crow Laws: Segregation prevails
- 1896: Plessy v. Ferguson: The U. S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation was legal in the South—facilities must be “separate but equal”. Separation, segregation was enforced, but equality was not