Abraham Lincoln initially sought to preserve the Union rather than abolish slavery during the Civil War. However, northern public opinion and soldiers increasingly saw abolition as a goal. Lincoln responded by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and pushing for the 13th Amendment, officially abolishing slavery. After the war, Reconstruction policies aimed to integrate freed slaves as citizens and restore the South to the Union. However, the South passed "Black Codes" restricting black rights. This increased tensions between Congress and President Johnson, leading to impeachment efforts and Republican control of Reconstruction. Ultimately, the Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction and removed federal troops from the South, abandoning protections for black civil rights.

1. ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND
SLAVERY
• Did not go to war against the South in
1860 to abolish slavery
– His primary goal was to preserve
the Union
• However, average northern soldiers
and northern public opinion did see
abolition of slavery as a major goal of
the war
• In addition, the freeing of slaves
would deprive the South of valuable
manpower in both military and civilian
areas and thus cripple the Southern
war effort
• For both emotional and practical
reasons, the demand for the abolition
of slavery grew in the North while the
war was still going on

2. LINCOLN ACTS
• Lincoln responded to
public opinion by
issuing Emancipation
Proclamation in 1863
– Freed all slaves in
Union-occupied
Southern territory
• Also had Congress
ratify the 13th
Amendment in early
1865
– Officially abolished
slavery in the U.S.

3. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
• Abolition of slavery and
military defeat of South raised
new questions
– What to do with freed
slaves?
• Should they be made
full-fledged citizens or
made a dependent class,
free but not equal?
– What to do with defeated
white southerners?
• They had technically
committed treason
• Should they be treated as
traitors or forgiven?

4. TEN PERCENT PLAN
• Since Lincoln had always
believed the prime purpose of
the war had been to preserve
the Union, he thought that,
now that it was over, all effort
should be made to restoring
the Union and ending the
bitterness and hatred of war
years
– Wanted to be lenient on the
defeated South
– Favored letting them
reconstitute their state
governments and
pardoning all former
Confederates except the
highest leaders
• Embodied his lenient position
in the so-called Ten Percent
Plan

5. PROBLEM
• Many Northerners did not like the
Ten Percent Plan
– Every Southern state contained
thousands of people who
opposed the Confederacy--
Unionists
• Northerners wanted to
reward Unionists and punish
Rebels
• Were afraid ex-Rebels would
take revenge on Unionists as
soon as they had the chance
–Would also try to re-establish
slavery and
might even start a new
civil war once they had
regained strength

6. NORTHERN OPINION
• Many Northerners did not want the South admitted as a full
member of the Union as quickly or easily as Lincoln did
– Wanted the South to go through a period of
reconstruction first
• A trial period in which the North would essentially
control the South in order to make sure Southerners
were sincere about re-establishing their loyalty to the
Union before allowing Southern states to become
free and equal members of the U.S.

7. WADE-DAVIS BILL
• Congress thought Ten Percent
plan was too lenient and passed
its own alternative, the Wade-
Davis Bill
– Made it difficult for southern
states to organize new state
governments
• Majority of adult white
makes had to swear oath of
allegiance to Union first
– Full citizenship denied to any
man who had willingly served
the Confederacy
• Lincoln vetoed the bill and, in
response, Congress refused to
implement Ten Percent Plan
– Result was stalemate

8. CATASTROPHE
• Congress and Lincoln still
locked in stalemate when the
war ended (4-9-65) and Lincoln
was murdered five days later
• If Lincoln had lived, he
probably would have found a
solution
– A master politician who
would have found some sort
of compromise
– Too smart and too
ambitious to continue a fight
if he knew he was going to
lose
– But now he was dead

9. ANDREW JOHNSON
• New president, Andrew Johnson,
was well-intentioned but less
intelligent, flexible, and willing to
compromise than Lincoln
• Started off on wrong foot when he
announced his own policy while
Congress was in recess
– As lenient as Ten Percent Plan
– Pardoned all ex-Confederates as
soon as they swore oath to
support the Union
– Created procedures to set up
new Southern state governments
and allow Southern states to re-enter
Union
– Hoped lenient measures would
heal wounds of the Civil War

10. TROUBLE
• When pardoned
southerners went to
polls in late 1865 to
elect their new state
governments, they
often selected men who
had been high
Confederate officials
– This upset
Northerners
– Wanted some
assurance that the
South would not try
to leave Union again,
but these actions did
not give them any
high hopes

11. BLACK CODES
• Johnson did not make
any provisions for freed
slaves
– Left their future up to
new southern state
governments
• New southern state
governments had no
desire to help ex-slaves
become equal citizens
– All passed laws that
discriminated
against ex-slaves
– Called the “Black
Codes”

12. BAD NEWS
• Prohibited blacks from
testifying against whites in
court
• Prohibited blacks from
serving on juries
• Prohibited marriage between
whites and blacks
• Banned blacks from mixing
with whites in public facilities
• If a black person was arrested
for vagrancy, they were hired
out to whites and forced to
work until their fines and
court costs were paid off
– Their labor was auctioned
off to the highest bidder

13. NORTHERN RESPONSE
• Northern Congressmen interpreted
Black Codes as an effort to restore
slavery in the South
– Realized that Emancipation
Proclamation and 13th Amendment
were not enough
– Blacks had to given the right to
vote and hold public office so that
laws like the Black Codes could
not be passed in the future
• Most Republicans were moderates
and did not want to fight Johnson
and split the party over this issue
– Hoped that they would be able to
reason and compromise with him
and thus modify his
reconstruction program with his
cooperation

14. RADICAL REPUBLICANS
• Johnson refused to compromise
– Thereby strengthening the radical
wing of Congressional Republicans
and gave them the ammunition they
needed to try to dump Johnson and
impose their own Reconstruction
program
• Radical Republicans were a minority
in Congress but they included some
very able men
– Rep. Thaddeus Stevens of PA
– Hated the South, blamed the entire
Civil War on southern slaveowners,
and were devoted to establishing
Negro equality
– Dedicated to restructuring southern
society by confiscating the property
of southern slaveowners and
redistributing it to ex-slaves

15. 14TH AMENDMENT
• Congress passed 2 bills to
protect Negro rights in the South
– Johnson vetoed both bills
• Not because he was a racist
but because he believed
Reconstruction policy
should be a presidential, not
a Congressional, power
– Congress over-rode both
• Johnson’s stubbornness gave
Radical control of Congress
– Passed 14th Amendment
• Gave blacks equal rights
and pressured southern
states to give blacks full
voting rights
– Northern states ratified
amendment but only one
southern state did

16. RECONSTRUCTION ACT OF
MARCH 2, 1867
• Since 14th amendment was the foundation for all
future Reconstruction policies, Radicals realized
that southern states had to be convinced to ratify
it
– Passed Reconstruction Act of March 2, 1867 to
do this
– Dissolved all state governments in South and
divided region into 5 military districts
• Each under the control of military commander
charged with preserving order and protecting
the rights of ALL persons
– To remove itself from this situation, a southern
state had to ratify the 14th Amendment and set
up a state government that granted full equality
and voting rights to blacks

17. DECISION TO DUMP JOHNSON
• Congress also passed laws
to reduce Johnson’s ability to
hinder enforcement of its
Reconstruction policy
– Such as prohibiting him
from firing an federal
official with prior
Congressional approval
• Johnson still had enough
power to get in the way and
he did so as much as
possible
– It was at this point that
Radicals made up their
mind to impeach him and
get rid of him once and for
all

18. JOHNSON IN TROUBLE
• Johnson had not committee a
“high crime or misdemeanor”
– But he had displayed an
incredible lack of political
judgment
• He then began to fire federal
officials friendly to the
Radicals
– In direct violation of the law
Congress had just passed
– Gave Radicals real charge to
use to impeach him
• This and 10 other
trumped up charges were
presented to and
approved by the House

19. IMPEACHMENT
• Impeachment trial held in Senate
from March 13-May 16, 1868
– Vote very close in the end
• 35 guilty/19 not guilty
• One vote short of necessary
2/3s majority to impeach
• Johnson hung on to his job but it
didn’t matter any more
– U.S.S. Grant got Republican
presidential nomination
• Making Johnson a lame-duck
for the remaining 9
months of his term
• Grant and Republicans
swept the country in
November 1868

20. RECONSTRUCTION IN THE
SOUTH
• 20,000 troops stationed in the
South
– Tended to stay in the
background but their presence
was intensely resented by
white southerners
– Role was generally positive
• Protected Unionists and
blacks when they voted
–Without army, ex-
Confederates would
have prevented both
from voting

21. CARPETBAGGERS AND
SCALAWAGS
• Most blacks and Unionists
voted for Republicans
– Often for “Carpetbaggers”
(white Northerners who
had moved to the South)
or “Scalawags” (former
white Unionists)
– Contrary to myth, most
were honest and sincere
men who truly wanted to
help the ex-slave
• Not the corrupt and
vicious politicians that
white racist legend has
portrayed them to be

22. RECONSTRUCTION STATE
GOVERNMENTS
• State governments set up by
Republicans all aimed at
overthrowing white supremacy in
the South
– All gave blacks the right to vote
– Many reapportioned legislative
districts to give blacks better
representation
– Property qualifications for
voting and holding office were
abolished
– Black Codes were abolished
– Institutions for caring for the
sick, disabled, insane, and
destitute were set up
– Most set up integrated public
schools

23. GOOD BUT HATED
• Some elected Republican officials in the
South were black
– Most were white Scalawags or
carpetbaggers
• Most southern state administrations
were liberal and aimed at guaranteeing
equality and education for all and
helping the unfortunate
– Earned undying animosity of former
conservative white planter elite
• Hated every aspect of
Reconstruction
• Hated coalition of blacks,
Unionists and northern
Republicans
• Resented aid to the poor
• Especially hated policy of equal
rights for blacks

24. BIG OBSTACLE
• Former white planter elite
exploited racism of poor,
white southerners to
undermine Reconstruction
and destroy Republicans
• Powerful current of racism
was the major and, in the end,
insurmountable obstacle that
southern Republicans faced
in trying to win over poor
white voters
– Who might have otherwise
sympathized with Radical
Republican policies

25. DANGEROUS TURN
• White Republicans were
socially ostracized
• Republican businesses were
boycotted
• White Republicans could not
rent houses, hotel rooms, or
even boarding house rooms
• Whites employed intimidation
and violence to prevent blacks
from voting
• “uppity” blacks were beaten up
and sometimes killed
• Black leaders were threatened
with assassination attempts
and mob violence

26. KKK
• Secret terrorist
organizations were formed
to terrorize blacks and
control their votes
– Such as the Ku Klux Klan
• Public opinion was
generally on the side of
these organizations
– White juries routinely
found them not guilty
• Even when the crime
was murder

27. LIBERAL REPUBLICANS • Conservative Southern whites,
rallying around the Democratic
Party, gradually overturned
Reconstruction
– At the same time, the federal
government was doing less
and less to protect southern
Republicans
• National Republican Party had
split over Reconstruction
policy
– “Liberal Republicans”
argued that continued
support for Negro rights in
the South against powerful
white opposition was
costing the party more than
it was worth
• Favored backing off from
Reconstruction

28. RETREAT
• Throughout the North, many
people had come to believe
by 1875 that the country as a
whole would be better off if
the government gave up
trying to impose
Reconstruction on an
unwilling South
– In general, the Republican
Party and Northerners
gradually retreated from
their commitment to black
equality
• Abandoned all efforts
to defend equal rights

29. ELECTION OF 1876
• Democrat Samuel J. Tilden
vs Republican Rutherford
B. Hayes
– Very close election
– 184 electoral college
votes for Tilden and 165
for Hayes
– But 20 electoral college
votes (19 of which were
from the South) were in
dispute and claimed by
both candidates
• If Hayes could get
firm control of them,
he would win, 185 to
184

30. COMPROMISE OF 1877
Hayes made deal with
southern politicians for 20
disputed votes
In exchange for
votes, he would
remove all federal
troops from the
South, given
several key cabinet
posts to
southerners, and
promote and
finance railroad
projects than
would benefit
southern
agriculture
As a result of this deal,
Hayes got his 20 votes
and became president

31. END OF RECONSTRUCTION
• Compromise of 1877 ended
Reconstruction in the South
once and for all
– Remaining white
Republicans and all blacks
were now at the mercy of
racist Democratic local and
state governments
• Also created so-called “Solid
South”
– Region overwhelmingly
voted Democratic in every
election until the late 1960s
• Even after Democratic
Party changed its attitude
towards race

32. CONCLUSION • As a result of the Compromise
of 1877, South was also given a
free hand to deal with blacks
and other local issues with
little federal interference
– Result of this would be
lynching, “Jim Crow” laws,
segregated public facilities
and schools, poll taxes, and
all the other racist laws that
the Civil Rights Movement
of the 1950s/1960s finally
eliminated
• The failure of Reconstruction
and the Compromise of 1877
established the characteristics
that the South would retain for
the next 100 years
– And most of them were
negative