Sara Jackson MacManus
UNIT 8 PART 1
RADICAL RECONSTRUCTION (pg. 406-409)
● “Presidential reconstruction” under Johnson lasted until Dec 1865 when Congress reconvened
○ Congress refused to seat “restored” states, created Joint Committee of Reconst.
■ Congressional or Radical Reconstruction began
The Black Codes (406):
● Events in South drove North to even more radical positions
○ 1865-66 South state legislature passed ​Black Codes​ to give whites control over blacks
■ Arrest of unemployed blacks, blacks couldn't own farms, restricted work options
○ Congress responded to the Black Codes
■ Extended Freedmen’s Bureau, power to nullify work agreements in Black Codes
■ 1866 passed ​Civil Rights Act
● Declared blacks citizens, gave fed govt right to intervene in states to
protect rights of citizens
● Johnson vetoed both bills​, Congress overrode vetoes
The Fourteenth Amendment (406-407):
● 1866 Joint Comm. on Recon. proposed 14th const. amendment
○ Approved by Congress, sent to states for ratification
● Fourteenth Amend. offered first const. definition of citizenship, among other things
○ Everyone born in US and naturalized was a citizen, entitled to const. Protection
■ Gave ​citizenship for blacks
○ Imposed penalties on states that denied suffrage to any male adult (reduced their repr.)
○ Prohibited congress members/federal officials that aided Confederacy to hold office
■ Unless ⅔ states voted to pardon them
● Any state would be readmitted to Union if they passed 14 Amend.
○ Only Tennessee did so, Amendment did not have ¾ states necessary to pass
● Radicals were growing more confident due to several events
○ Race riots in South that victimized Af-Am strengthened their cause
○ 1866 Congressional elections
■ Johnson campaigned for conservatives, did not help his own cause
■ Voters returned majority of Rad. Rep. to Congress
■ Congressional Rep could now enact their plans despite president’s opposition
The Congressional Plan (407-409):
● Radicals passed ​three reconstruction bills​ in 1867, overrode Johnson’s vetoes of them all
○ Established a coherent plan for Reconst., nearly two years after end of war
● Congressional plan created plan for readmittance of states to Union
○ Allowed Tennessee to reenter Union, bc it had passed 14th Amend
○ Rejected Lincoln-Johnson govts of other 10 Confed. states
■ Combined them into 5 military districts, gov by military commander
● Had to register qualified voters (black males and non-rebel whites)
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Created plan for confed. states’ readmittance to Union
■ Registered voters would elect conv for new state const (needed black suffrage)
● Congress had to approve state const
■ Ratify new const, then elect state govts
● Legislature had to ratify 14 Amend
■ Once enough states ratified 14 Amend, Confed states could be restored to Union
● 1868 7 of 10 Confed states fulfilled conditions, readmitted to Union
○ Conserv whites held up readmittance of VA and TX until 1869, and Miss until 1870
■ Congress had added new requirement: ratification of​ 15th Amendment
● Forbade state/fed govt to deny suffrage based on race, color…
● 1867 Congress Radicals passed 2 (unconst?) laws to stop president interfering in their plans
○ Tenure of Office Act​ forbade removal of civil officials w/o consent of Senate
■ Protect job of Radical ally Sec of War Edwin Stanton
○ Command of the Army Act​ forbade pres from issuing military orders
■ Except through comm. general (could not be relieved w/o consent of Senate)
● Congress Rad also stopped S Court from interfering
○ 1866 S Court, in ​Ex Parte Milligan: mil tribunals were unconst if civils courts worked
■ Threatened mil govts Radicals wanted to install in South
○ Rads proposed several bills threatening S Court’s power
■ Deny Court jurisdiction in Recon cases, even threatened to abolish it
● Next 2 years, S Court refused to accept cases regarding Reconst
The Impeachment of the President (409):
● Pres Johnson, Rad believed, was impediment to their plans. 1867 looked for way to impeach him
○ Believed he violated Ten Off. Act by dismissing SoW Stanton ignoring Congress
■ Radicals in House impeached pres and sent trial to Senate
● 1868 ​Johnson’s acquittal
○ Moderate Republicans losing faith in Radical Rep programme
■ Joined Democrats and voted against impeachment
● Radicals dropped impeachment effort
THE SOUTH IN RECONSTRUCTION (pg. 409-414)
● White southerners complain about reconstruction bc of the terrible govts imposed upon them
● Black southerners condemn it bc it failed to guarantee freedmen rights of citizenship
The Reconstruction Government (409-411):
● At first, in South states, ¼ of white males were excluded from voting under congressional plan
○ Produced black majorities among voters in several of the states
○ Govt lifted suffrage restrictions so most white males could vote
■ After this Republicans kept control only w/ support of many South whites
● Southern white Republicans were called​ “Scalawags”:
○ Former Whigs who felt uncomfortable in Dem P
○ Wealthy planters/businessmen interested in econ development of South
○ Isolated farmers, unaffected by slavery, who wanted int imp to end their econ isolation
■ Scalawags believed Rep would be better for economy than Dem
● North white men also leaders for South Rep, called ​“carpetbaggers”​:
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Well-educated, middle-class, doctors, lawyers and teachers…
Many were Union veterans who saw South as more promising than West
■ Settled in South at end of the war
● Most numerous South Rep were black ​freedmen​, w/o political experience
○ Built institutions to learn to exercise their power
■ Af-Am voters held conventions to lay out their future course
○ Black churches gave unity and political confidence to former slaves
○ Played large role in Recon of South
■ Delegates to constitutional conventions
■ Members of Congress and state legislatures
○ White South complained about “Negro rule”, but it did not actually exist
■ Blacks never controlled state legis, rep did not equal pop
● Record of recon govts are mixed. Denounced (unfairly?)for corruption and financial extravagance
○ Officeholders got rich thru graft/bribery and corruption
■ However corruption was not unique to South, also in North
● In South, it continued/increased after Recon ended
■ Due to rapid econ expansion of govt services
○ State budgets expanded quickly and debt increased
■ State expenditures rose due to effort to provide needed services
● Public education, public works…
● Positive and permanent accomplishments
Education (411):
● Recon govts important accomplishment was improving southern education:
○ At first support came from non-South groups (Freedmen's Bureau…) and southern blacks
■ Opposed by south whites, believed education gave blacks “notions of equality”
■ Reformers est network of schools for former slaves by 1870
○ 1870s Recon govts began to build public school system in South
■ Increased attendance to school among blacks and whites
■ Black academies w/ advanced educ started appearing
● Educ system was becoming very ​segregated
○ Early efforts for integration were a failure
■ Federal effort for desegregation was removed from Civil Rights Act
○ When Dem govts replaced Recon Rep govts integration was abandoned
Landownership and Tenancy (411-412):
● Freedmen’s Bureau and some Rep radical’s ambitious goal was to reform land ownership in south
○ By 1865 had settled blacks on substantial amounts of their own land
■ Experiment started collapsing that year
○ Plantation owners were demanding restoration of their property
■ Confiscated land was returned to white owners
■ Few North Rep supported the effort
● Led to ​failure of land distribution​ efforts
● Distribution of landownership changed anyways
○ White ownership declined
■ Some lost land due to debt, taxes or some left to more fertile areas
○ Black ownership increased from almost 0 to 20%
■ Relied on assistance of white-dom financial institutions
● Freedman Bank (failed 1874)
● Many blacks, and whites, did not own their land during Recon era, many lost land as well
○ Some worked on others’ land for simple wages
○ System of ​sharecropping​ developed
■ Blacks became tenants of white landowners
● Worked own plots of land, paying rent or share of crops to landowner
● Sharecropping showed black rejection of gang system
○ Enjoyed physical indep from landlords, worked their own land
○ Tenantry also benefited landlords, did not have to take care of workers
The Crop-Lien System (412-413):
● Postwar years showed econ progress for Af-Ams:
○ Received more material benefits and profits
○ Increase in per capita income
■ White income declined, significant redistribution
● Total ​profits of southern agric were decreasing
○ Due to dislocations in war and reduction in world market for cotton
○ Blacks were working fewer hours than under slavery system
■ Women/child didn’t work on fields, adult men worked shorter days
■ Similar to white working hours
○ Income of blacks did not lift them out of poverty
■ After initial increase, did not go up anymore. Stayed less than whites’
● For southerners, gains from land/income distribution were destroyed by crop-lien system:
○ New system of credit​ emerged after war, centered in local country stores
■ Everyone depended on stores for necessities
■ Farmers did not have steady cash, had to rely on credit from merchants
● Had to give them a lien(claim) on land as collateral for loans
○ Stores had no competition, huge interest rates could be set
■ Farmers could become trapped in cycle of debt
● Burdensome credit system had negative effects in the South
○ Blacks w/ newly acquired land lost it as they fell into debt
■ Some small white landowners as well
○ Southern farmers became reliant on cash crops (mainly cotton)
■ Only chance of escape from debt
■ Southern agr remained undiversified
○ Relentless cotton plantations exhausted soil
○ Crop-lien system impoverished small farmers
■ Also helped decline in South agr econ
The African-American Family in Freedom
● Effort to rebuild families and to protect them from interference
○ Rapid departure of blacks from plantations to find family members
■ Marriages became sanctified by church and law, ads in newspapers for family…
○ Black families moved to small cabins in countryside, w/ more privacy
○ Gender roles in families were similar to those in white families
■ Women and children stopped working in fields (badge of slavery)
● Restricted to domestic tasks
● Some blacks refused to let wives work as servants for whites
● Domesticity was hard to sustain in the former slaves’ poverty, ​changing gender roles
○ Econ need made many black women engage in income-producing jobs
■ Including those they resisted bc reminded of slavery
○ By end of Recon 50% of 16+ women were working for wages
■ Most of them were married
THE ABANDONMENT OF RECONSTRUCTION (pg. 416-421)
● North preoccupied w/ own problems, Recon efforts slowed
● Democrats “redeemed” govts of confederate states
The Southern States “Redeemed” (416):
● States where whites were majority overthrowing Rep govts was easy
○ 1872 most South whites had suffrage, majority of electorate
● If blacks were majority/equal whites used violence and intimidation to undermine Recon regimes
○ Secret societies used terrorism to stop blacks from voting/exercising citizenship
○ Paramilitary org policed elections, forced whites to vote for Dem party
● 1866 ​Ku Klux Klan​ was largest of these orgs
○ Absorbed many of the smaller terrorist orgs
○ Rituals, costumes, mystery to terrify its victims
■ “Midnight riders” created terror in black communities in South
● South whites considered these terrorist orgs patriotic societies
○ Together served as a military force against Northern rule
○ Worked to advance interests of those who gained from white supremacy
■ Mainly planters and South Dem Party
○ Used econ pressure against blacks
■ Planters did not rent land to blacks, no credit, no work...
The Ku Klux Klan Acts (416-417):
● Rep Congress tried to stop white repression. 1870-71 passed​ Enforcement Acts
○ Prohibited discrimination against voters based on race
○ Gave fed govt power to supersede state courts and prosecute violations of law
■ For first time, federal district attorneys could take action against white repression
○ Authorized use of military to protect civil rights and to suspend habeas corpus
■ 1871 Pres Grant sent fed troops to SC, declared “state of lawlessness”
● Klan members were arrested, some were convicted and sent to jail
● Enforcement Acts, although rarely used severely, were effective in weakening the KKK
○ 1872 ​decline of the KKK​ was beginning
Waning Northern Commitment (417):
● KKK Acts mark peak of Recon commitment by Reps, soon South blacks lost support from North
○ After 1870 15th amendment many people believed campaign for blacks was over
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Former Republican radicals started calling themselves Liberals
■ Cooperated w/ Dem and denounced black/carpetbag misgovt
■ Many South Rep whites joined Liberals, eventually moved into Dem Party
● Panic of 1837 undermined support for Reconstruction, due to​ impact of Social Darwinism
○ Econ crisis North industry to find reason for poverty and instability
■ Social Darwinism: people who failed did so due to their own “unfitness”
● Unemployed vagrants and poor blacks were seen as irredeemable misfits
○ Social Darwinism encouraged critique of govt intervention in social/econ life
■ Weakened commitment to Recon programme
■ Support for land redistribution and fed funds to aid freemen waned after 1873
● State/local govts also short on funds, cut back on social services to
former slaves
● 1874 congress elections Dem won House of Rep
○ Grant made use of force to support Rep regimes in South
○ By 1876 only 3 Rep states remained in South
■ 1876 Dem won state elections (w/ terrorist tactics)
■ Rep challenge results, claimed victory
● Remained in office solely bc of presence of fed troops
The Compromise of 1877 (417-420):
● Rep leaders nominated ​Rutherford B. Hayes
○ Might entice Liberals and reunite Rep party
● Dem nominated ​Samuel J. Tilden
● Few differences b/w nominees, both conservatives committed to moderate reform
○ Election produced apparent Dem victory. Tilden gout South and some North states
■ Disputed returns from several states put election in doubt
■ Hayes could win w/ the 20 disputed votes
● Const established no method to determine validity of disputed returns
○ Decision clearly lay w/ Congress, method was not clear
● Jan 1877 Congress created​ special electoral commission​ to judge disputed votes
○ Five senators, five representatives and 5 S Court justices
■ Congressional delegation was 5 Dem and 5 Rep
■ Court would be 2 Dem, 2 Rep and 1 independent
● The independent sympathized w/ Rep party
○ Commission voted all 8 to 7 for Hayes
■ Hayes got all disputed votes, won the election
● Several compromises b/w the parties allowed solution to deadlock to be carried out
○ Dem filibuster threatened to derail commission’s report, Rep Senate leaders met w/ South
Dem to work out compromise that Dem would allow Hayes to be elected
■ Traditional account says agreement was reached at Wormley meeting
● Hayes would withdraw fed troops from South
● Would end last Rep govts in South
● Compromise of 1877 ​was actually more complex, agreement reached before Wormley meeting
○ Withdrawal of troops (Wormley), but hayes had always supported this
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Appointment of a Southerner to Hayes cabinet, control of federal patronage in their areas,
generous int imp, fed aid for Pacific and Texas RR
■ South Dem supported industrialization, knew Rep’s support of business would be
good for the South
● Hayes’s inaugural speech/actions led to claims that he was paying off South for his election
○ Tried to counter charges by creating image of stern public rectitude
■ Election create such bitterness, nothing could stop the critics
● Rep party hoped to create “new Rep Party” in the South
○ Drawn from Whiggish conservative white groups, modest acceptance of Af-Am rights
○ Republican failure in the South​ followed, despite support of Rep econ policies in South
■ Resentment of Recon made support for Rep impossible in South
■ Withdrawal of fed troops showed that govt was giving up on controlling South
● Haf given up on improving blacks’ place in South
The Legacies of Reconstruction (420-421):
● Recon made some contributions to improve blacks’ equality and standing
○ However, largely a failure in its effort to solve problem of race
■ Experience discouraged white Am from trying again
● Failed mainly due to​ ideological limits​, conservative obstacles deeply embedded in the nation:
○ Veneration of the const limited leaders’ willingness to infringe on states/individual rights
○ Respect for private property/free enterprise stopped econ redistribution
○ Belief that Af-Am were inherently inferior
■ Based on these limits, Recon was surprisingly successful
● Af-Am were proud of the gains
○ 14-15 Amend were great charters of freedom, basis for civil rights mvmnt
THE NEW SOUTH (pg. 421-430)
● Comp of 1877 failed to est South Rep Party
○ Dem Party only viable party for South whites
○ Was successful in several other aspects
The “Redeemers” (421):
● 1877 all Confed states had been “redeemed” by white Dem, starting the​ “Bourbon Rule”
○ Political power was more restricted than ever
■ Limited to a powerful, conserv oligarchy
● Known as “Redeemers” or “Bourbons”
● Post-Recon ruling class in the South was a new ruling class
○ Some states remained the same
■ Old planter elite remained in power
○ In most states Redeemers were completely now to power
■ Merchants, industrialists, RR developers, financiers, former planters
● Some north immigrants, some ambitious south whites from lower class
■ Commitment to “home rule”, social conservatism, econ development
● Bourbon govts were all similar
○ Most suffered from huge amounts of corruption
○ Dem lowered taxes, spending and state services
■ Eliminated or reduced system of public schools in their state
● Late 1870s dissenting groups towards Bourbons emerged
○ Protested cuts in state services, denounced Redeemers’ commitment to pay off debts
■ VA ​Readjusters​ demanded revision of debt payment to have $ for state services
● Won control of state legislature, governorship and seats in Senate
■ Other states mvmnts demanded dollar bills, debt relief and econ reforms
○ Consisted of low-class whites and some blacks
○ By mid-1880s conserv southerners destroyed the mvmnts
Industrialization and the New South (2421-424):
● White south leaders in post-war era wanted South to have new industrial econ:
○ Believed South had lost war bc it couldn’t compete w/ North manufacturing capacity
■ A “New South” must be built, white supremacy must remain
■ Henry Grady,​ newspaper editor, advocated important changes in southern
values
● Promoted virtues of industrialization by promoting thrift, industry and progress
○ Pre-war south had denounced these qualities in Northern society
○ Even fervent advocates didn’t break completely from southern past
■ Evident in literature’s nostalgic/romantic portraits of Old South and “Lost Cause”
● Chandler Harris ​Uncle Remus portrayed harmonious slave society
● Nelson Page praised old VA aristocracy
■ Growing popularity of minstrel shows
○ White leaders faced new South while partly still rooted in the past
● New South enthusiasts expanded southern industry dramatically, important part of region's econ
○ Large growth in textile manufacturing
■ Textile factories appeared in South due to water power, steady cheap labor, low
taxes and accommodating conserv govts
○ Tobacco-pressing industry became important thanks to James Duke of NC
■ American Tobacco Company est monopoly over industry
○ In lower South iron and steel industries grew rapidly
● Substantial increase in ​railroad development​ also in south
○ 1880-90 trackage doubled
○ 1886 changed width of its tracks to integrate its RR w/ those of the North
● South industry developed w/ strict limits, effects of industrialization were not as large as in North
○ Region simply regained industry that it lost during and after the war
■ Same % (10%) of national manufacturing before war and after “New South” ind.
○ Region’s per capita income increased
■ Still less than half than in the North, lower than before the war
○ Most of the capital in the developing regions came from the North
■ Developing a colonial econ
● South industry growth required substantial work force for the first time
○ Many of the​ factory workers​ were women
■ Male casualties in civil war left many unmarried women
■ Some hired entire families
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Hours were very long, and wages were lower than in North
■ Attracted many companies from North
○ Life in​ mill towns ​was rigidly controlled by owners of factories
■ Suppressed protest or union organizations
○ Company stores sold goods at high prices and gave credit w/ exorbitant interest
■ Mill owners ensured no competitors could appear
○ Strong sense of community and solidarity appeared among workers in mill towns
● Some industries offered no opportunities to Af-Ams while others did
○ Mill towns had mix of black and white cultures
■ Determined white leaders to maintain white supremacy
● Industry sometimes used ​“Convict-lease” system​ for their work force
○ South states leased criminals to private interests as supply of cheap labor
■ Convicts suffered brutal treatment
■ No wages (leasing fees went to the states, not the workers)
■ Denied employment in RR and other projects to free labor force
Tenant and Sharecroppers (424-425):
● South still remained primarily agrarian. Econ reality was impoverished state of agriculture
○ 1870-80s saw increase in several trends from immediate postwar years
■ Imposition of systems of tenantry and debt peonage
● Tenants: 30% of farmers during Recon, 70% by 1900
● Due to crop-lien system (farmers would fall into debt)
■ Reliance on a few cash crops, rather than diverse agr system
■ Increasing absentee ownership of valuable farmlands
● Several forms of​ tenantry
○ Some farmers, who owned tools etc/could buy them paid annual cash rent for land
○ Most farmers, w/ no money or tools, were supplied by landlords w/ house, tools, seed
■ In return farmers paid landlord large share of their annual crop. Sharecropping
■ Seldom left any for poor farmers to sell, fell into debt through crop-lien system
○ Crop-lien system led to​ transformation of backcountry​ in South
■ Subsistence agr had been the norm for these independent farmers
■ Debt grew, had to grow cash crops instead of food crops to pay off loans
● Transformation of backcountry due to other factors as well
○ Many backcountry residents survived by raising livestock that roamed freely
○ 1870s comm agr appeared, “fence laws” were passed, which were largely protested
■ Forced farmers to fence in animals
■ Open range did not survive spread of commercial agriculture
○ Opportunities of self-sufficiency declining, opportunity for comm profit remained low
■ Backcountry people supporters of populist protest 1880-90s
Africans Americans and the New South (425-426):
● Many Af-Am were attracted to progress and self-improvement in New South
○ A ​black middle class ​was formed, was econ inferior to white mid class, but significant
■ Former slaves who acquired property, est small business or entered professions
■ Some got fairly rich by est banks or insurance companies for blacks
● Maggie Lena, St. Luke’s Penny Savings Bank 1903 Richmond VA
● Rising groups of blacks believed education was vital for their future
○ Expanded network of black colleges and institutes from Recon era
○ Leader of this mvmnt was ​Booker T. Washington
■ Born slave, out of poverty after graduating Hampton Institute
● Washington’s message said blacks should adopt standards of white middle class
○ An industrial education, est footing in agr and trades, improve speech and dress…
■ Only way to win white respect, necessary for social gains
■ Concentrate on self-improvement instead of political rights and prep for equality
○ 1985 gave ​The Atlanta Compromise​ speech
■ If blacks wanted citizenship/political rights they had to prove they were prepared
■ Had to do this through struggle for economic gains
○ Introduced self-advancement through self-improvement to new generation
■ Message was illicit promise that blacks would not challenge segregation system
The Birth of Jim Crow (427-430):
● Few south whites ever accepted black equality
○ Political rights blacks had gained was due to federal support, which vanished after 1877
■ Fed troop withdrew, Congress lost interest
○ Supreme Court rid 14/15th Amend of their effectiveness in 1833 civils rights case
■ Ruled private orgs, just not state govts, could racially discriminate
● S Court also validated state legis that institutionalized segregation
○ Plessy v Ferguson 1896: separate accommodations based on race obeyed equal rights, if
the accommodations were equal
■ Legal basis of segregated schools
○ Cumming v County Board of Education 1899: laws est separate schools for whites were
valid, even if no equal schools were available for blacks
● White south worked to strengthen supremacy and segregation
○ Blacks lost suffrage in many states after end of Recon
■ Some ended immediately
■ Other states allowed it longer bc wanted to control black voters
● To stop poor white farmers’ attempts to control Dem Party
○ 1890s disfranchisement became much stricter
■ Small white farmers demanded complete black disfran.
● Bc of race and bc black vote used against them by Bourbons
■ Conservative elite began supporting as well
● Feared union b/w poor whites and blacks
● South states had to somehow evade 15th Amend to ​disfranchise black males
○ Poll tax or property requirements to vote
■ Few blacks were prosperous enough
○ Literacy test, required demonstration of ability to read and interpret Constitution
■ Af-Am had difficulty passing difficult tests (unequal difficulty based on race)
■ Also affected poor whites
● Decreased both white and black voting
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● White elite didn’t care about lack of poor white voting in many areas
■ Some states passed grandfather laws to allow poor whites to vote
● Men could vote if their ancestors had voted before Recon
● Descendants of slaves could not vote
S Court also was compliant when it came to disfranchisement
○ Validated literacy test in 1898 ​Williams v Mississippi
■ Generally admitted states to set own suffrage standards
○ However, it eventually voided grandfather laws
This network of state laws, known as ​Jim Crow Laws,​ institutionalized system of segregation
○ Blacks could not use same seats as whites, diff train cars, W.T… Restricted access to
many places, including hospitals
■ Social practices had been widespread before confirmed by Jim Crow
○ Stripped blacks of social, econ and political gains from Recon era
○ Means for whites to preserve control of social relations b/w races
■ Especially in cities, supremacy maintained by law in urban areas
■ In rural areas, supremacy maintained by custom
White supremacy also est through increase in violence in 1890s
○ Worst of the violence, ​lynchings​, were done w/ little fault by the victim
■ Reached appalling numbers, 187 per year
Most celebrated lynchings occurred in cities w/ well-organized mobs controlling them
○ Seized black prisoners and hung them publicly, were relatively rare
■ Attracted large audiences from surrounding regions
○ Most common were lynchings by small vigilante groups, less predictable or visible
■ Performed by family of “victim” of a black’s crime
■ Seen as legitimate law enforcement
○ Whites controlled blacks through terror inspired by lynchings
■ Many victims were outsiders, blacks who threatened normal race relations
■ Black men who made supposed sexual advances on white women
● Fear that white women would reciprocate to their sexuality was an
important belief in segregation system
■ Denied protection of law or chance to prove innocence
Lynchings shocked many whites, large anti-lynching mvmnts started
○ 1892 Ida Wells started international anti-lynching mvmt
■ Gathered strength, attracted support in both white and south
● Support in particular from white women
■ Goal was fed anti-lynching law
● Would allow fed govt to punish those responsible
White opposition was an exception to white support of oppression of Af-Am
○ Shared commitment to white supremacy created ​white unity
■ Diluted class animosities b/w poor whites and Bourbons in South
○ Distracted people from social inequalities of both blacks and whites
■ White supremacy also a burden for poor whites
CRASH COURSE 20
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Civil War 1861-1865 (basically Lincoln’s Presidency)
○ Union (the North) vs Confederate States of America (the South)
○ Not all slave states were part of the Confederacy
■ These border states b/w North and South were very important for the Union
The main cause of the Civil War was slavery
○ Many people believe it was about larger issues of fed vs state etc
■ Confed govt passed first conscription act, levied national taxes, national currency
and had a large govt bureaucracy
■ Lincoln at first downplayed slavery as the cause, said it was preserving the Union
○ War was also partly about religion
■ North wanted to extend Christianity and Am democracy around the world
■ South wanted to improve holiness of the US
○ Many soldiers went to war for smaller, more personal reasons
○ For North, Union, religion and slavery were main rationale for war
Union won the war, due to its many advantages
○ North had many more people
■ Large pop in SOuth was black, did not support South either
○ North manufactured most of the American goods (90%)
■ Made more textiles, shoes, boots, iron, firearms…
○ North had 20,000 miles of RR, while South had only 10,000
■ Allowed the army to move around more easily, enlisted double that of the South
○ Northern agr was more productive
■ Took advantage of mechanization, South did not
South’s only advantage was better military leaders
○ Tactically famous generals of Civil War were all Southern
■ Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Jeb Stuart….
Was the actual result of the war the only possible conclusion:
Several thought paths on the possible outcome of the War. Southern thinking:
○ Confed had to build nation from scratch, states were committed to their own autonomy
■ Issue of overcoming class conflicts
● Ruling class usually did not fight in the war
○ Based solely on fighting the war, Union’s inevitable victory is not so clear
■ Confed just had to outlast the North
■ War of attrition would wear down Northern resolve
○ War of attrition had several problems
■ North had more resources, would last a long time
● South had fewer, would crumble before the North
Northern thinking:
○ Gen Ulysses Grant was willing to sustain large casualties to wear his enemy down
■ Determination to destroy enemy made him modern/successful Union general
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Grant’s brutal strategy and North’s vast resources points to obvious outcome of war
■ Also shows reasons to be cautious about this conclusion
○ Took 3 years for Union to adopt Grant’s strategy
■ Lost many battles in the first years of the war
● Could lose motivation for war
○ Some believe North had better motivation, God and slavery
■ However most poor enlistees cared little about this
● In fact, free blacks might compete w/ them for jobs
■ South believed they were fighting for the freedom, not to protect slavery
Motivation is based on victory, several turning points led to outcome of the war
○ July 1863 saw 2 most important Union victories of the War
■ In West, Grant captured Vicksburg, MS
● Along w/ New Orleans, now controlled Mississippi River
■ Grant focused on East, Battle of Gettysburg, PA
● Gen Lee’s biggest offensive in North, Union victory
■ These 2 battles shifted the tide in Union’s favor
○ August 1864 saw another turning point, ensure Union victory
■ Gen Sherman of Union took Atlanta
■ Important politically, allowed Lincoln to win election 1864
● War was unpopular, capture of Atlanta changed public opinion of war
and Lincoln
Outcome of the war was ensured by both military and political victories
CRASH COURSE 22
● After Civil War ended, US had to reintegrate slave population and rebellious population
into country
○ Harder after Lincoln was killed and Andrew Johnson
○ Lincoln’s post-war idea: reunion and reconciliation
○ Johnson’s post-war idea: “South never had a right to secede in the first place
○ Johnson was Southerner
■ Resented all elites in South who had ignored him
■ Was racist, didn’t want blacks to have a role in Reconstruction
● Period of Presidential Reconstruction (1865-1867)
○ Johnson appointed provisional governors
■ ordered them to call state conventions to establish new all white
governments.
● For slaves, Fiske and Howard universities were established
○ Also est primary and secondary schools
■ Organized by The Freedman’s Bureau
● Land ownership was equal to freedom
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○ Former slaves thought that Union Army would offer them land, didn’t happen
■ Instead, Johnson returned all land to its former owners
Same ppl of South remained after the war, and sharecropping replaced slavery
○ Landowners would provide sharecroppers w/ housing, tools & seed to grow
■ Sharecroppers received a share of their crop (usually between ⅓ and ½)
○ Free blacks controlled their work, plantation owners got steady workforce
■ Blacks couldn’t leave (little opportunity to save money & make
investments)
○ Poor whites began sharecropping in 1860
■ Most sharecroppers were white by Great Depression
○ Sharecropping was opposite of Jefferson’s ideal (small, independent farmers)
Republicans in Congress weren’t happy that reconstructed South looked like pre-Civil
War South
○ They took lead in reconstruction after 1867, Radical Republicans
○ Radical Republican “Tommy Lee Jones” Stephens wanted to take away land from
southern planters and give it to former slaves
○ Civil Rights Bill named ppl born in US citizens and established nationwide
equality before the law regardless of race
■ Johnson vetoed law
■ Congress overrode Presidential veto, making Civil Rights Act a law
○ 14th Amendment was made by the Rep Radicals
■ Defines citizenship, guarantees equal protection, extends Bill of Rights to
all states
1867 Congress passed Reconstruction Act to allow Confed states back into Union
○ Divided South into 5 military districts
○ Required creation of new gov’t that included participation of black men
○ Gov’ts had to ratify 14th amendment in order to get back into the Union
Republican Ulysses S. Grant won presidential election of 1868
○ Congressional Republicans pushed 15th Amendment
■ Prohibited states from denying men the right to vote based on race (but not
anything else)
■ South used exceptions as excuses to deny black men the right to vote
Most blacks were Republicans, got govt positions
○ Blacks were shown as corrupt in the media
■ Blacks in Congress were not actually corrupt
○ 1872 Pinckney B. S. Pinchback became first black governor in Louisiana
Republican gov’ts had few successes in South
○ Started the system of education/schools
■ Were very segregated
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○ Developed gov’t where blacks and whites could vote
■ Republican gov’ts eventually FAILED in the South
Reconstruction ended due to several reasons
○ Schools and road repair cost money
■ Led to increased taxes, upset citizens and led to bitterness against govt
○ White southerner unable to accept Af-Ams exercising basic civil rights, holding
office, or voting
○ Violence towards Republicans
■ 1866, Klu Klux Klan, terrorist organization was created
● Targeted black or white Republicans to keep them from voting
● Massacre at Colfax, Louisiana, KKK murdered hundreds of
Former slaves
■ Less black men voted due to fear of violence
● White Democrats could take over state gov’ts in South
● New Democrats of South called themselves “Redeemers”
1873 econ depression started
○ Northerners lacked motivation to fight for rights of southern blacks
■ Didn’t have enough money to
○ 1876 supporters of Reconstruction were in full retreat
■ Democrats were taking over
In 18756 lection, Samuel Tilden was Democrat candidate and Rutherford B. Hayes was
Republican candidate
○ More Republicans in Congress
■ Rutherford B. Hayes won after deadlock and disputed votes
○ Bargain of 1877 allowed Hayes to be elected
■ Ceded control of South to Democrats
■ Built a transcontinental railroad through Texas
■ Event that finally ended Reconstruction
White Democrats in South began restricting freedom of blacks
○ Passing Jim Crow laws
In the end, blacks were given many rights including voting and citizenship
Post-Civil War US still didn’t give free blacks what they wanted
○ No own property and no independence.
CRASH COURSE 23
● Am industry after Civil War increased dramatically
○ C War improved finance through uniform currency
○ Industry bc gave contracts to arms and clothing manuf
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■ Also telegraph and transcontinental RR thru Pacific Railway Act 1862
Economic growth due to demography, geography and law
○ Geography: had necessary resources to boost econ
■ Water, coal, iron, oil, lots of grain
● Helped increase population
○ Demography: huge increase in population
■ Large amounts of immigration
■ Went to cities, shift from agrarian rural econ to industrial urban one
● NYC: fin and comm center, Great Lakes: industrial center…
○ Law: Constitution’s Commerce Clause made US single area of commerce
■ Similar to a large customs union
■ S Court interpretation of laws saw very business-friendly
■ Const protects patents
● Caused invention and innovation
■ Govt helped econ growth
● High tariffs, land grants to RR, NA on reservations
Foreigners also spurred econ growth
○ Invested in the econ
■ More profitable than European economies
Changes caused by econ growth were huge
○ 1880 majority workforce worked non-agr jobs, 1890 ⅔ worked for wages, 1913 ⅓
of the world’s industrial output was American
RR key to Am industrial success
○ Increased commerce and integrated the diff markets
■ Allowed national brands to emerge
○ Created time zones, and standardized time
○ RR were first modern corporations
■ Companies were big, many workers throughout whole country
■ Methods of organization were needed
● Diff levels of supervising
■ First publicly-traded organizations
○ Sold shares to raise capital for tracks and stations
■ Bought and sold by the public
● RR created first captains of industry (large capitalists:Vanderbilt,
Carnegie, Stanford
○ Symbol for relation b/w govt and industry
■ Transcontinental RR built w/ fed grants, govt sponsored bond issues,
congress legislation
Industrial capitalists both heroes and villains, captains of industry vs robber barons
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○ Often from poor backgrounds, made themselves wealthy, unscrupulous methods
■ Drove competitors out of business, cared little about workers
○ First captain of industry was Cornelius Vanderbilt
■ Fortune thru transport, ferries and RR
○ Most famous was John D. Rockefeller
■ Started working for Cleveland merchant, became richest man in world
■ Bought up all his rival companies
● 1880s controlled 90% of oil business
Innovation in organization of industries
○ Capitalists formed trusts to control prices and limit competition
■ Allowed prices to stay high
○ Vertical integration
■ Firms bought up all aspects of production process
● Ex bought raw materials to production to transport to distribution
○ Horizontal integration
■ Big firms bought up small ones
● Ex: Rockefeller’s Standard Oil
Benefits of econ growth never really reached workers
○ Prices dropped due to competition
■ Raised standard of living for workers
○ Growing pop and immigration led to job insecurity
○ Booms and busts caused depressions in 1870s and 1890s
■ Hit the working poor the hardest
○ Worked long hours, no pension or injury compensation
■ US had highest injury rate per year
National Unions were created
○ First national union was Knights of Labor created in 1870 by Terence Powderly
■ Became very popular, admitted blacks, women and unskilled workers
■ Ruined by Haymarket Riot in 1886
● Rioters started a lot violence
● People associated KoL w/ this violence
■ By 1902 ceased to exist
○ American Federation of Labor created 1886 by Samuel Gompers
■ More moderate than anarchist and socialist workers
● Focused on pay, hours and safety
■ Also became v popular, especially among iron and steel workers
Social Darwinism was another innovation of the era
○ Argued people were poor because of their own faults and weaknesses
■ Big companies were big because they were fitter
○ Argued govt shouldn’t pass laws to protect poor or regulate business
● Unions continued to fight for better conditions, sometimes w/ violence
○ Many workers were part of these unions
○ Unions wanted US to picture freedom more broadly
■ Unequal econ system lessened freedom, as Am became more prosperous
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