The document discusses key issues facing Reconstruction, including how to bring the South back into the Union, rebuild the post-war South, and protect freed black people. It outlines President Lincoln's 10% Plan, the Wade-Davis Bill, the Freedmen's Bureau Act, and President Johnson's more lenient Reconstruction plan. Congress grew alarmed by black codes and Johnson's actions, leading to passage of the 14th Amendment and military Reconstruction under Congressional Acts in 1867.
PowerPoint on the Reconstruction Era after the Civil War. Topics addressed are President Lincoln, President Johnson, the Radical Republicans, the KKK, Black Codes, Jim Crow and more.
Did the Civil War lead to a Second Founding of the United States? Eric Foner in his book with that title on the Reconstruction amendments and his other books on the Reconstruction era argues forcefully that the Civil War was a political turning point for this country. Before the Civil War, each state determined its own racial policies, but the politics of slavery, then white supremacy, proved so repugnant to the North that it passed these three amendments.
As Eric Foner puts it, “Together with far-reaching congressional legislation meant to provide former slaves with access to the courts, ballot box, and public accommodations, and to protect them against violence, the Reconstruction Amendments greatly enhanced the power of the federal government, transferring much of the authority to define citizens’ rights from the states to the nation.” Each amendment specifically gave the US Congress the authority to enforce these amendments by appropriate legislation.
What were these Reconstruction Amendments?
• Thirteenth Amendment, ratified January 31, 1865: Slavery is abolished, except for convict labor.
• Fourteenth Amendment, ratified July 9, 1868: Everyone born or naturalized is a citizen of the US. All citizens are guaranteed due process under the law
• Fifteenth Amendment, ratified February 3, 1870: All citizens have the right to vote.
In addition, we will also discuss:
• Presidential Reconstruction under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson
• Emancipation Proclamation
• Congressional Reconstruction under Radical Republicans, including Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner
• Lincoln’s 1864 Presidential Campaign
• Convict Leasing, aka Chain Gangs
• White Supremacy and Ku Klux Klan
• Ulysses Grant and his Presidential Campaign of 1868
• Freedmen’s Bureau
• Great Financial Panic of 1873
• Presidential Election of 1876
• Compromise of 1877
• Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney and Dred Scott Decision
• Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, the Great Dissenter, for the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896
• Brown V Board of Education case of 1954
Please share with your friends and associates!
HIS 131The Crises of ReconstructionChapter 16I. The IssuSusanaFurman449
HIS 131
The Crises of Reconstruction
Chapter 16
I. The Issues of Reconstruction
The word “Reconstruction,” as Americans in the 1860’s used it, referred to the process by which states of the defeated Confederacy were to be brought back to their former places in the Union….Several possible ways of achieving reconstruction existed.
One possibility would be to grant easy terms…permitting the states to return promptly and with little internal change except for the elimination of slavery.
Another possibility would be to delay the readmission in such a way as to reduce the power of the rebel leaders.
A quick and easy restoration of the Union would be to the advantage of the former Confederates and the Democratic party of both the North and South….Ironically, the abolition of slavery would increase the power of the Southern states in national politics.
In the past, under the “three-fifths clause” of the Constitution, only three-fifths of the slaves had been counted in determining a state’s representation in Congress and its electoral votes in presidential elections.
In the future, all the former slaves would be counted, whether or not they themselves were given political rights.
----------------------
However, the Republicans saw this easy restoration of the Union as creating a potentially disastrous outcome for their party….This was because the Republicans had gained control of the government in 1860 only because of the split in the Democratic party over the slavery issue, and the subsequent secession of the Southern states which lost the Democrats roughly half of their representation.
Once the Southern states would be restored and the Democratic party would be reunited, the Republicans would have to face the fact that once again they would be in the minority.
The outlook on an easy restoration was also disturbing for Northern businessmen who during the war had obtained favors from the federal government and this preferential treatment might be ended if the Democrats were returned to power.
---------------------------
For the newly freed slaves, a quick and easy restoration would be catastrophic….The Southern white population, which had controlled the state governments in the South before the Civil War, would continue to do so….The newly freed slaves could then expect to be kept in a position that would be somewhere between slavery and freedom.
2
Therefore, the issues of Reconstruction were very similar to the Civil War itself.
So far as the Southerners were concerned, the war had been fought for the Independence of the South, and the preservation of the Southern way of life which included slavery…After the war the Southerners hoped to maintain a considerable degree of Southern independence through the assertion of states’ rights, and they also hoped to retain the essence of slavery by finding some substitute for it.
In the North, there was the memory of sacrifice, suffering, and personal loss…In the South there was the bittern ...
What are the unenforced sections of the Fourteenth Amendment?
Can Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the House, and the Republicans in the House of Representatives hold the national and world economies hostage over the debt ceiling negotiations?
Can the January 6th rioters be denied the right to hold public office?
Could the representation of the former Confederate states have been reduced when they passed the Jim Crow laws denying black citizens suffrage, or the right to vote?
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https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/unenforced-sections-of-the-14th-reconstruction-amendment-public-debt-and-insurrection/
YouTube video: https://youtu.be/GoDYRQzFRhI
Fourteenth Amendment
• Section 1: All persons born and naturalized in the United States are citizens, and all citizens are entitled to due process and equal protection under the law.
• Section 2: NEVER ENFORCED: If a state denies the right to vote to a class of its citizens, its representation for the Presidential Electoral College and the House of Representatives shall be reduced.
• Section 3. ENFORCED ONLY AFTER CIVIL WAR: Anyone guilty of insurrection or rebellion is disqualified from running for public office in not only the federal government, but also state and local elected offices.
• Section 4. NEVER ENFORCED: Ensuring the validity of the public debt of the United States.
We also reflect on:
• How the Confederate states were compelled to adopt these Reconstruction amendments before they were readmitted to the Union.
• Eric Foner’s book on the history of the Reconstruction Amendments, Second Founding.
• Comparing the disputed 1876 Presidential Election to the disputed 2020 Presidential election. How slates of alternate electors were selected by both parties in swing states.
• How Congress formed the Electoral Commission in 1877.
• How the Northern congressmen agreed to withdraw federal troops from the South in exchange for the Southerners agreeing to accept that the Republican candidate for President, Rutherford B Hayes.
• The Amnesty Act of 1872, and whether the 14th Amendment prohibitions applied to Madison Cawthorn or Marjorie Taylor Greene, or MJT.
• How the Supreme Court upheld the prospective application of validating the public debt in Perry v. United States.
• Obama and Biden and the debt ceiling crisis.
• Abraham Lincoln suspending the writ of habeas corpus in Maryland, and the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act of 1863.
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Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
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Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
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• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
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HY 103 Reconstruction
1.
2. Key Questions
1. How do we1. How do we
bring the Southbring the South
back into theback into the
Union?Union?
1. How do we1. How do we
bring the Southbring the South
back into theback into the
Union?Union?
2. How do we2. How do we
rebuild therebuild the
South after itsSouth after its
destructiondestruction
during the war?during the war?
2. How do we2. How do we
rebuild therebuild the
South after itsSouth after its
destructiondestruction
during the war?during the war?
3. How do we3. How do we
integrate andintegrate and
protect newly-protect newly-
emancipatedemancipated
black freedmen?black freedmen?
3. How do we3. How do we
integrate andintegrate and
protect newly-protect newly-
emancipatedemancipated
black freedmen?black freedmen?
4. What branch4. What branch
of governmentof government
should controlshould control
the process ofthe process of
Reconstruction?Reconstruction?
4. What branch4. What branch
of governmentof government
should controlshould control
the process ofthe process of
Reconstruction?Reconstruction?
3.
4. President Lincoln’s Plan
10% Plan
* Proclamation of Amnesty and
Reconstruction (December 8, 1863)
* Replace majority rule with “loyal rule” in
the South.
* He didn’t consult Congress regarding
Reconstruction.
* Pardon to all but the highest ranking
military and civilian Confederate
officers.
* When 10% of the voting population in
the 1860 election had taken an oath of
loyalty and established a government, it
would be recognized.
5. President Lincoln’s Plan
1864 “Lincoln Governments”
formed in LA, TN, AR
* “loyal assemblies”
* They were weak and
dependent on the
Northern army for
their survival.
6. Wade- Davis Bill (1864)
Required 50% of the number
of 1860 voters to take an
“iron clad” oath of allegiance
(swearing they had never
voluntarily aided the
rebellion ).
Required a state
constitutional convention
before the election of state
officials.
Enacted specific safeguards
of freedmen’s liberties.
Senator
Benjamin
Wade
(R-OH)
Congressman
Henry
W. Davis
(R-MD)
7. Wade- Davis Bill (1864)
“Iron-Clad” Oath.
“State Suicide” Theory [MA Senator
Charles Sumner]
“Conquered Provinces” Position
[PA Congressman Thaddeus Stevens]
PresidentPresident
LincolnLincoln
PresidentPresident
LincolnLincoln
Wade-DavisWade-Davis
BillBill
Wade-DavisWade-Davis
BillBill
Pocket
Veto
Pocket
Veto
9. Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)
Bureau of Refugees,
Freedmen, and
Abandoned Lands.
Many former northern
abolitionists risked
their lives to help
southern freedmen.
Called “carpetbaggers”
by white southern
Democrats.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
13. President Andrew Johnson
Jacksonian Democrat.
Anti-Aristocrat.
White Supremacist.
Agreed with Lincoln
that states had never
legally left the Union.
Damn the negroes! I am
fighting these traitorous
aristocrats, their masters!
14. President Johnson’s Plan (10%+)
Offered amnesty upon simple oath to all except
Confederate civil and military officers and those with
property over $20,000 (they could apply directly to
Johnson)
In new constitutions, they must accept minimum
conditions repudiating slavery, secession and state debts.
Named provisional governors in Confederate states and
called them to oversee elections for constitutional
conventions.
EFFECTS?
1. Disenfranchised certain leading Confederates.
2. Pardoned planter aristocrats brought them back
to political power to control state organizations.
3. Republicans were outraged that planter elite
were back in power in the South!
15. Growing Northern Alarm!
Many Southern state
constitutions fell short of
minimum requirements.
Johnson granted 13,500 special
pardons.
Revival of southern defiance.
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=j3IxWEK0uJA
Black
Codes:
Watch 1st
19
16. Black Codes
Purpose:
* Guarantee stable labor
supply now that blacks
were emancipated.
* Restore pre-emancipation
system of race relations.
Forced many blacks to
become sharecroppers
[tenant farmers].
17. Congress Breaks with the
President Congress bars Southern
Congressional delegates.
Joint Committee on
Reconstruction created.
February, 1866 President
vetoed the Freedmen’s
Bureau bill.
March, 1866 Johnson
vetoed the 1866 Civil Rights Act.
Congress passed both bills over
Johnson’s vetoes 1st
in
U. S. history!!
18. Johnson the Martyr / Samson
If my blood is to be shedIf my blood is to be shed
because I vindicate thebecause I vindicate the
Union and the preservationUnion and the preservation
of this government in itsof this government in its
original purity and character,original purity and character,
let it be shed; let an altar tolet it be shed; let an altar to
the Union be erected, andthe Union be erected, and
then, if it is necessary, takethen, if it is necessary, take
me and lay me upon it, andme and lay me upon it, and
the blood that now warmsthe blood that now warms
and animates my existenceand animates my existence
shall be poured out as a fitshall be poured out as a fit
libation to the Union.libation to the Union.
(February 1866)(February 1866)
19.
20. 14th
Amendment
Ratified in July, 1868.
* Provide a constitutional guarantee of the
rights and security of freed people.
* Insure against neo-Confederate political
power.
* Enshrine the national debt while repudiating
that of the Confederacy.
Southern states would be punished for
denying the right to vote to black
citizens!
22. The Balance of Power in
Congress
State White Citizens Freedmen
SC 291,000 411,000
MS 353,000 436,000
LA 357,000 350,000
GA 591,000 465,000
AL 596,000 437,000
VA 719,000 533,000
NC 631,000 331,000
23. The 1866 Bi- Election
Johnson’s “Swing around
the Circle”
A referendum on Radical Reconstruction.
Johnson made an ill-conceived propaganda
tour around the country to push his plan.
Republicans
won a 3-1
majority in
both houses
and gained
control of
every northern
state.
24. Radical Plan for Readmission
Civil authorities in the territories were
subject to military supervision.
Required new state constitutions,
including
black suffrage and ratification of the 13th
and 14th
Amendments.
In March, 1867, Congress passed an act
that authorized the military to enroll
eligible black voters and begin the process
of constitution making.
25. Reconstruction Acts of 1867
Military Reconstruction Act
* Restart Reconstruction in the 10 Southern states
that refused to ratify the 14th
Amendment.
* Divide the 10 “unreconstructed states” into 5
military
districts.
26. Reconstruction Acts of 1867
Command of the Army Act
* The President must issue all
Reconstruction orders through
the commander of the military.
Tenure of Office Act
* The President could not remove
any officials [esp. Cabinet members]
without the Senate’s consent, if the
position originally required Senate
approval.
Designed to protect radical
members of Lincoln’s government.
A question of the
constitutionality of this law. Edwin Stanton
27. President Johnson’s
Impeachment Johnson removed Stanton in February, 1868.
Johnson replaced generals in the field who were
more sympathetic to Radical Reconstruction.
The House impeached him on February 24
before even
drawing up the
charges by a
vote of 126 – 47!
28. The Senate Trial
11 week trial.
Johnson acquitted
35 to 19 (one short of
required 2/3s vote).
31. Tenancy & the Crop Lien System
Furnishing Merchant Tenant Farmer Landowner
Loan tools and seed
up to 60% interest
to tenant farmer to
plant spring crop.
Farmer also secures
food, clothing, and
other necessities on
credit from
merchant until the
harvest.
Merchant holds
“lien” {mortgage} on
part of tenant’s
Plants crop,
harvests in
autumn.
Turns over up to ½
of crop to land
owner as payment of
rent.
Tenant gives
remainder of crop
to merchant in
payment of debt.
Rents land to tenant
in exchange for ¼
to ½ of tenant
farmer’s future
crop.
33. Blacks in Southern Politics
Core voters were black veterans.
Blacks were politically unprepared.
Blacks could register and vote in states since
1867.
The 15th
Amendment
guaranteed
federal voting.
34. 15th
Amendment
Ratified in 1870.
The right of citizens of the United States
to vote shall not be denied or abridged by
the United States or by any state on
account of race, color, or previous condition
of servitude.
The Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
Women’s rights groups were furious that
they were not granted the vote!
36. KKKKKK
• The Birth of the KKKThe Birth of the KKK
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=xrgerbOmyqUv=xrgerbOmyqU
37. The Failure of Federal
Enforcement Enforcement Acts of 1870 & 1871
[also known as the KKK Act].
“The Lost Cause.”
The rise of the
“Bourbons.”
Redeemers
(prewar
Democrats and
Union Whigs).
38. The Civil Rights Act of 1875
Crime for any individual to deny full &
equal use of public conveyances and
public places.
Prohibited discrimination in jury
selection.
Shortcoming lacked a strong
enforcement mechanism.
No new civil rights act was attempted
for 90 years!
43. Grant Administration Scandals
Grant presided over an era of
unprecedented
growth and
corruption.
* Credit Mobilier
Scandal.
* Whiskey Ring.
* The “Indian
Ring.”
44. The Election of 1872
Rumors of corruption
during Grant’s first
term discredit
Republicans.
Horace Greeley runs
as a Democrat/Liberal
Republican candidate.
Greeley attacked as a
fool and a crank.
Greeley died on
November 29, 1872!
47. The Panic of 1873
It raises “the money
question.”
* debtors seek
inflationary
monetary policy by
continuing circulation
of greenbacks.
* creditors, intellectuals
support hard money.
1875 Specie
Redemption Act.
1876 Greenback Party formed & makes gains in
congressional races The “Crime of ’73’!
48. Legal Challenges
to the 14th
& 15th
Amendments
The Slaughterhouse Cases (1873)
The court offered a narrow definition of the
14th
Amendment.
It distinguished between national and state
citizenship.
It gave the states primary authority over
citizens’ rights.
Therefore, the courts weakened civil rights
enforcement!
49.
50. Northern Support Wanes
“Grantism” & corruption.
Panic of 1873 [6-year
depression].
Concern over westward
expansion and Indian wars.
Key monetary issues:
* should the government
retire $432m worth of
“greenbacks” issued during the Civil War.
* should war bonds be paid back in specie or
greenbacks.
55. ReconstRuction collapsesReconstRuction collapses
• An Election and a compromiseAn Election and a compromise
– Tumultuous election: Tilden V HayesTumultuous election: Tilden V Hayes
– Electoral Votes in Florida, Louisiana, andElectoral Votes in Florida, Louisiana, and
South Carolina.South Carolina.
– Congress had to decide who actually wonCongress had to decide who actually won
– Compromise of 1877Compromise of 1877
– End or ReconstructionEnd or Reconstruction
• But former slaves can worship in their ownBut former slaves can worship in their own
churches, send children to school, and workchurches, send children to school, and work
independently on their own farms. (Limitedindependently on their own farms. (Limited
Freedom but no longer slaves.)Freedom but no longer slaves.)