2. The battle was done and the American people faced the staggering challenges of peace. Four
questions loomed large:
1. How would the South, physically devastated by war and socially revolutionized by
emancipation, be rebuilt?
2. How would the liberated blacks fare as free men and women?
3. How would the Southern states be reintegrated into the Union?
4. And who would direct the process of Reconstruction – the Southern states
themselves, the president, or Congress?
Other issues also loomed: What should be done with the captured Confederate ringleaders?
3.
4. THE PROBLEMS of PEACE
Dismal indeed was the picture presented by the war-racked South. Handsome cities of
yesteryear, such as Charleston and Richmond, were rubble-strewn and weed-choked. The
Southern economy was in ruins.
5. Beaten but unbent, many high-spirited white Southerners remained dangerously defiant.
They cursed the “danmyankees” and spoke of “your govt.” in Washington, instead of “our
govt.” Many former Confederates continued to believe that their view of secession was
correct and that the “lost cause” was still a just war.
6. FREEDMEN DEFINE FREEDOM
Confusion abounded in the still-smoldering South about the precise meaning of
“freedom” for blacks. Explain how emancipation took effect. And describe the
variety of responses to emancipation, by whites as well as blacks.
7. Tens of thousands of emancipated
blacks took to the roads, some to
test their freedom, others to
search for long-lost
spouses, parents, and children.
Emancipation thus strengthened the
black family, and many newly freed
men and women formalized “slave
marriages” for personal and
pragmatic reasons.
8. THE FREEDMEN‟S BUREAU
Emancipators were faced with the brutal reality that the freedmen were overwhelmingly
unskilled, unlettered, without property or money, and with scant knowledge of how to
survive as free people.
To cope with this problem, Congress created the
Freedmen‟s Bureau on March 3, 1865.
The bureau was intended to be a kind of
primitive welfare agency. It provided
food, clothing, medical care, and education to
both freedmen and to white refugees.
9. The bureau achieved its greatest successes in education. One educator asserted that “a
schoolhouse would be the first proof of their independence.” Despite shortages of
buildings, teachers, and supplies, an estimated 200,000 blacks were taught how to read.
In other areas, the bureau‟s accomplishments were meager – even mischievous. Why did
Southerners resent the bureau? What was President Johnson‟s stance toward the
bureau?
10.
11. JOHNSON: THE TAILOR PRESIDENT
Provide the personal and political
profile for Johnson.
Explain the political paradox that
would ultimately undermine Johnson‟s
presidency.
12.
13. PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION
Even before the Civil War ended, the political war over Reconstruction had begun.
Explain Lincoln‟s “10 percent” plan for Reconstruction. Why were many congressional
Republicans opposed to Lincoln‟s plan?
Explain the provisions of the Wade-Davis Bill (1864). What controversies
surrounding this legislation were revealed?
When Lincoln was assassinated, what was the hope of the radical Republicans?
How did Johnson disillusion the radical
Republicans?
Describe the provisions of his
Reconstruction proclamation. Why did it
eventually anger all Republicans?
14.
15.
16. THE BALEFUL BLACK CODES
New Southern regimes passed Black Codes.
Explain these codes. What was the purpose
of these codes?
The Black Codes made an ugly impression in the
North. What made Northerners especially
angry?
17.
18. CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION
Describe the controversy when the congressional delegations from the newly re-
constituted Southern states presented themselves in the Capitol in December 1865.
Why did Southern voters send these men? And why were congressional Republicans
infuriated and worried?
20. A clash between president and Congress
exploded in February, 1866, when Johnson
vetoed a bill (later re-passed) extending
the life of the controversial Freedmen‟s
Bureau.
Aroused, the Republicans struck back by
passing the Civil Rights Bill of 1866 – what
was the key provision?
Johnson vetoed the bill but Congress
overrode his veto, which they repeatedly
did henceforth.
The Republicans undertook to rivet the
principles of the Civil Rights Bill into the
Constitution as the 14th Amendment. Why
were Republicans determined to do this?
Describe the key provisions of the
amendment.
Republicans agreed that no state should be
re-admitted into the Union without first
ratifying the 14th Amendment? What did
Johnson recommend to the Southern
states? How many of the “sinful eleven”
ratified the amendment?
21.
22. SWINGING „ROUND the CLOCK with JOHNSON
The crucial congressional elections of 1866 would be a referendum of the issue of
whether Reconstruction was to be carried on with or without the 14th Amendment.
Republicans would settle for nothing less.
Johnson was naturally eager to escape from the clutch of Congress by securing a majority
favorable to his soft-on-the-South policy.
Johnson‟s famous “swing „round the circle,” beginning in the summer of 1866 was a disaster
for Johnson. Why?
When the ballots were counted, what was the outcome? What would be the
significance for Johnson?
23. REPUBLICAN PRINCIPLES and PROGRAMS
The Republicans now had a veto-proof Congress and virtually unlimited control of
Reconstruction policy, but moderates and radicals were split on Southern policy.
The radicals were led in the Senate by
Charles Sumner; in the
House, Thaddeus Stevens
Provide some background on Stevens.
24. Describe the policy positions of both the radical and moderate Republicans. Which
faction had more control in Congress? And, what could both factions agree on?
25. RECONSTRUCTION by the SWORD
Against a backdrop of bloody race riots in many Southern cities, Congress passed the
ReconstructionAct on March 2, 1867. This drastic legislation divided the South into 5
military districts, each commanded by a Union general and policed by Union soldiers. The
act also temporarily disenfranchised tens of thousands of former Confederates.
26. Describe the tough conditions
imposed on the seceded states as
conditions of re-admission into the
union.
Even after the Reconstruction
Act, why were radical Republicans still
worried? How would the 15th
Amendment solve their problems?
Was military Reconstruction
constitutional, or at the very least, a
conflict of democratic principles?
Then why did the Supreme Court not
step-in and strike it down?
Was military Reconstruction
effective? What happened when the
federal troops were withdrawn?
27. This illustration was published during a heated election campaign in Pennsylvania in 1866.
Supporters of the Democratic candidate for governor circulated this image in an attempt
to defeat the Republican gubernatorial nominee. What are its most pointed arguments?
28. This illustration appeared in Baltimore in 1870 to celebrate the enactment of the 15th
Amendment. What does it find most praiseworthy about the new law?
29.
30. NO WOMEN VOTERS
The passage of the three Reconstruction-era Amendments (13th; 14th; 15th) delighted
former abolitionists, but deeply disappointed advocates of women‟s rights. Why were
women understandably upset and angry? Did Frederick Douglas crusade for woman
suffrage? What key word did Susan Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton want added to
the 15th Amendment? Were they successful?
Douglas Anthony Stanton
31. THE REALITIES OF RADICAL
RECONSTRUCTION in the SOUTH
Prior to 1870, moderate Republicans and even some radical ones, hesitated to bestow
suffrage on the freedmen (the 14th Amendment would give freedmen the status of white
women). But having gained their right to suffrage with the 15th Amendment in
1870, Southern black men seized the initiative and began to organize politically.
32. Subsequent elections expanded black political participation at all levels of govt., holding
offices formerly held by their onetime masters.
For the first time, black Americans seemed poised to have the political clout to improve
their plight.
33. White Southerners lashed out with particular
fury at the freedmen‟s white allies, labeling
them “scalawags” and “carpetbaggers.” How did
white Southerners define these labels?
How well did the radical regimes rule
(identify the pluses and minuses)?
34.
35.
36. THE KU KLUX KLAN
Deeply embittered, some Southern whites resorted
to savage measures against “radical” rule.
A number of secret organizations mushroomed
forth, the most notorious of which was the
“Invisible Empire of the South.”
Describe the variety of savage tactics of
intimidation used by the KKK.
What was the primary goal of the KKK?
Nathan Bedford Forrest
37.
38. Congress responded to Black American pleas
for help by passing the Force Acts of 1870
and 1871 – federal legislation intended to
protect black Americans by prohibiting
intimidation tactics.
The Force Acts were not fully effective – what
undermined their effectiveness?
39.
40. JOHNSON WALKS the IMPEACHMENT PLANK
Republican radicals were not satisfied with curbing Johnson‟s authority; they decided to
remove him altogether by constitutional processes. As an initial step, Congress in 1867
passed the Tenure of Office Act (over Johnson‟s veto). Explain the provision of this
act. How did Johnson provide the radicals with a pretext to impeachment? What
were the impeachment charges against Johnson?
Describe the factors shaping the outcome. What was the verdict in the Senate?
What was the significance of the impeachment and verdict?
41. THE PURCHASE of ALASKA
President Johnson‟s greatest foreign policy achievement was the purchase of Alaska.
Why did the Russians want to sell Alaska? Secretary of State William Seward, an
ardent expansionist, signed a treaty with Russia in 1867. How much did the U.S. govt.
pay for Alaska? Describe American‟s reaction to the purchase? Despite the
opposition, why did the purchase occur?
How did Alaska become
especially valuable to the
U.S. in the 20th century?
42. THE HERITAGE of RECONSTRUCTION
Describe the Southern perspective of
Reconstruction.
Grade the Republicans – what progress
was made? What were their
miscalculations?
