A PEOPLE & A
NATION
EIGHTH EDITION
Norton • Katzman • Blight •
Chudacoff • Paterson • Tuttle •
Escott • Bailey • Logevall
Chapter 16:
Reconstruction:
An Unfinished
Revolution,
1865–1877
Ch.16: Reconstruction, 1865–1877
• Dramatic social/political/legal changes
• President & Congress clash over process
and nature of Reconstruction
• New amendments to the Constitution
• Yet, key developments block full potential
of Reconstruction
• Return of Democratic control to South,
emergence of KKK, failure to redistribute
land, & eventual northern indifference
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I. Lincoln’s 10% Plan (1863)
• Debate on restoring Union begin during war
• Fearing guerrilla war after South’s defeat,
Lincoln favor leniency with swift process
• Propose pardons for most confederates, and
reunion once 10% took loyalty oaths
• Radical Republicans in Congress want longer,
harsher Reconstruction to transform South
• Argue secession end South’s status as states
• Revert to “ unorganized territories”
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II. Congress, 13th Amendment, &
Freedmen’s Bureau
• Radicals propose slow readmission and denial
of vote/citizenship to Confederate leaders
• Lincoln pocket-veto 1864 Wade-Davis Bill
• Citizens (incl. women) petition to end slavery
• President & Congress cooperate on 13th
Amendment (1865) to abolish slavery
• Agree on Bureau (1865) to help/protect former
slaves (1ST US aid to individuals)
• Bureau also help some whites, but war leave
tremendous southern enmity toward North
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III. Meanings of Freedom
• Ex-slaves celebrate freedom (Decoration Day)
• Act with caution because of white hostility/
power
• Most end up working for former masters
• But relocate homes & try to control their labor
• Tremendous efforts to reunite families and to
live together as family & community
• Create all-black settlements to avoid white
interference & allow personal freedom
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IV. Freedpeople’s Desire for Land &
Education
•
•
•
•
Recognize land necessary for independence
Most whites reject land redistribution
Johnson return much land to planters
US Gov’t sell some coastal lands (SC &
GA), but lots too big for ex-slaves to afford
• Ex-slaves devote time & money to education
• Freedman’s Bureau & northern reformers
help
• Start black schools & colleges in South
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V. Black Churches
•
•
•
•
•
Secret slave churches move into open
Become central to black communities
Most become either Methodist or Baptist
Establish independent branches
Lack of land & white refusal to rent land,
push freedpeople to sharecropping
• An ex-slave provide labor to raise crop
• At harvest split crop with land owner
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VI. Sharecropping
• Ex-slave use his part of crop to pay for
earlier loans from landlord/merchant
• Ever-increasing debt develop for exslave as his portion of crop fail to pay for
loans
• Southern farmers, incl. sharecroppers,
grow cotton, but cotton prices decline
(late 1800s)
• Many white yeomen become
sharecroppers because lose land
through debt
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VI. Andrew Johnson
• In TN politics, Johnson (Democrat)
champion yeoman farmers against
planter elite
• Refuse to follow TN into secession
• Lincoln pick him for 1864 ticket
• Reject secession, but adamant on limited
government, states’ rights, white
supremacy
• Control Reconstruction in 1865 because
Congress in recess
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VII. Johnson’s Racism, Leniency, &
Pardons (1865)
• Rejecting black suffrage, Johnson refuse
to force southern states to extend the
vote
• Initially bar planters from voting/politics
• But when planters take control of new
state conventions, Johnson accept them
• Pardon planters & restore their land
• Johnson want their support for 1866
elections
• Declare Reconstruction over (Dec. 1865)
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VIII. Black Codes
• North upset by return of planter control
and their defiance (slow to repudiate
secession)
• Northern frustration grow when southern
governments merely revise old slave laws
• Place numerous restrictions on ex-slaves
• To North, South seem unrepentant
• Congress refuse to recognize southern
governments & challenge Johnson’s
leniency
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IX. Congressional Reconstruction
Plan
• Despite divisions, Congress assert its
authority to shape Reconstruction policy
• Northern Democrats support Johnson
• Conservative Republicans favor action,
but not extensive activism pushed by
Radicals
• Radicals (a minority) want to help former
slaves (vote/land) and democratize South
• Moderate Republicans in between
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X. Congress vs. Johnson (1866)
• Johnson’s refusal to compromise push
conservatives & moderates toward Radicals
• Numerous attacks on blacks (riots in
Memphis, New Orleans) also influence
Congress
• Override veto to continue Freedman’s
Bureau & pass first civil rights act
• Congress also draft new amendment
• A compromise between different
Republicans
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XI. The 14th Amendment (Ratified
by States, 1868)
• Confer citizenship on all people, plus
“due process of law”& “equal protection
of laws”
• Void Confederate debt and bar its
leaders from state/national office; uphold
US debt
• Encourage (but not require) suffrage for
black males (ignore female suffrage)
• To get full representation in US House,
South must give vote to black men
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XII. Johnson (1866) &
Reconstruction Act of 1867
• President tour North to argue against
14th
• Northerners reject him; re-elect
moderates & radicals with mandate to
continue activity
• 1867 Act replace “Johnson governments”
• Under military supervision, black men
gain suffrage; Confederate leaders not
allowed in politics; & South must accept
14th
• Radicals unable to confiscate planter land
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XIII. Land Redistribution;
Constitutional Crisis
• Radicals recognize land necessary for
former slaves to be truly independent
• Moderates & conservatives reject taking
private property from planters
• Severely limit independence of ex-slaves
• Congress pass controversial laws to
restrict Johnson’s interference
• Limit power over army, Tenure of Office
Act
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XIV. Impeachment of Johnson;
Election of 1868
• Besides many vetoes, Johnson remove
military officers who support Congress
• For first time Congress try to remove a
president for “high crimes”/abuses of
power
• Most senators vote to remove Johnson,
but Radicals miss 2/3 majority by 1 vote
• Grant (Republican) win; Democrats
conduct openly racist campaign
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XV. President Grant; 15th
Amendment (1869–1870)
• Vacillate in supporting Reconstruction
• At times use troops to quell white violence
• Demobilization leave few troops in South
(“military rule” = myth)
• Radicals push 15th to protect black male
suffrage, but it not guarantee right to vote
• North want ability to deny suffrage to
women & other groups (Chinese)
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XVI. White Resistance; Black Voters
& Republicans
• Whites, especially planters, resist change
• Black Codes = key e.g.
- refuse to let slaves leave;
- prevent blacks from getting land;
- violence
• Black communities celebrate suffrage,
help create Republican party in South
• Southern Republicans combine
northerners who move south, native
whites, & freed-men
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XVII. Triumph of Republican
Governments
• New southern constitutions (1869–70) more
democratic w/ reforms (public education)
• Republicans, including some blacks, win
election to new governments in South
• Republicans, esp. blacks, advocate leniency to
ex-Confederates
• Realize whites = majority & planters own best
land
• Not disfranchise planters or take their land
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XVIII. Republican Policies; The Myth
of “Negro Rule”
• Promote industry with loans, tax
exemptions
• Establish public schools
• White Republicans reject integration
• Debate among African American
Republicans
• White southerners claim blacks dominate
new governments; claim = myth
• 400 participate, but blacks not hold office
in proportion to share of populace
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XIX. Carpetbaggers, Scalawags,
Corruption
• Southerners attack Republicans w/ label
“Carpetbaggers” for migrants from North
• Ignore that most migrants want to help
South
• Discredit southern white Republicans as
“Scalawags”
• Most = yeoman farmers pursuing class
interests, not racial equality
• Both parties engage in corruption, but
Democrats tar Republicans with it
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XX. Ku Klux Klan (start in TN, 1866)
• Rapid spread of terrorist organization =
deathblow to Reconstruction in South
• Attack Republican leaders (white & black)
• Harassment, beatings, rape, arson,
murder
• Planters organize KKK units to regain
power with return of Democratic Party
control
• Most significant mistake of Republicans
in DC and in South = no land
redistribution
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XXI. Retreat from Reconstruction
• North lose interest in Reconstruction (1870s)
as undergo rapid industrialization, etc.
• Always more interested in suppressing
rebellion than helping blacks
• Democrats “redeem” southern governments
with KKK violence and grow stronger in North
• Congress pass KKK laws; little enforcement
• Northerners reject idea US Government should
protect civil rights
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XXII. Liberal Republican Revolt
(1872)
• Oppose continued US intervention in
South
• Bolt party w/ their own nominee (Greeley)
• Grant win, but his tepid support for
Reconstruction decline
• Congress pardon most ex-confederates
(Amnesty Act, 1872)
• Corruption scandals also weaken Grant
and Republicans; Democrats take House
(1874)
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XXIII. Shift in Northern Attention
away from South
• Rapid industrialization & immigration
monopolize Northern concerns
• Panic of 1873 start 5 years of contraction
• Accelerate class tensions (debtor vs. creditor)
• In West, whites use violence & discriminate
against Indians, Hispanics, & other non-whites
• Nationwide, greater focus on race
• North also debate further territorial expansion
(Alaska & Midway Islands, 1867)
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XXIV. Judicial Retreat from
Reconstruction
• Inactive after Dred Scott & during war,
Supreme Court reassert itself post-1865
• Slaughter-House (1873) deny that 14th
makes US Gov’t protector of civil rights
• Narrow 14th with stress on state power
• Bradwell (1873) dismiss claim that 14th
outlaw gender discrimination
• Court later uphold restrictions on suffrage
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XXV. Disputed Election of 1876;
Compromise of 1877
• Tilden (Democrat) win slightly more
popular votes, but need 1 more electoral
vote to win
• 19 votes in dispute (fraud)
• Voting by party, congressional
commission give 19 votes to Hayes
(Republican)
• Democrats accept outcome in return for
promise of federal aid & troop removal
• African Americans anxious about future
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Summary: Discuss Links to the
World & Legacy
• Global response to Grants’ Tour (1877-79)
• Grant as celebrity & symbol of USA on
world stage
• Grant’s motive?
• How “Lost Cause” a legacy of
Reconstruction?
• How did southern whites (e.g., exConfederates, UDC) seek to shape
historical memory?
• Downplay slavery; emphasize states rights
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