Apush Reconstruction & Civil Rights

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Condition of South after the Civil War:

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After the Civil War had ended, the South was in a state of total destruction. Most major agricultural land, including the fields of Northern Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley, and large sections of Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina, were completely obliterated. In addition, Southerners lost the two major aspects of their wealth in the form of slaves and cotton crops. Southern cotton had been either destroyed by war or confiscated by Union troops. As a result, the Southern economy would not be able to recover for an entire generation. The South’s control of the nations wealth dropped from 25% to 12% over the decade following the war, leaving the victimized, vulnerable, and helpless South struggling to survive. The concept of a white aristocracy, and their antiquated ideals of chivalry and honor were completely gone following the war. They had lost their spirit. On top of that, emancipation was the most bitter pill for the South to swallow; slaves had been integral to their economic system, and now they had gained political rights. The social system of the South responded by creating Black Codes and promoting racism as the accepted way to treat these resented freedmen. Overall, the Civil War had been a fight between Northern and Southern ways of life, and the North’s industrialization had triumphed over the South’s agriculture. Conflicts that existed before the war continued after it, and competing notions of freedom emerged. The battle for freedom had only just begun.

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Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan:

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Throughout the Civil War, Lincoln’s overall plan was to preserve the Union. Following the surrender of the Confederacy, Lincoln immediately launched his reconstruction plan to bring the seceded states back into the Union as quickly as possible. The plan respected private property (excluding slaves) and opposed imposing harsh punishments for rebellion. The Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction of December 1863 offered full pardon and the restoration of property (excluding slaves) to white Southerners willing to swear an oath of allegiance to the United States and its laws, including the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln also proposed the “Ten Percent Plan”. When ten percent of any Confederate state’s voters who participated in the Election of 1860 took an oath of allegiance, the group could establish a state government that Lincoln would recognize as legitimate.

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Congressional Reconstruction:

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Congressional, or Radical Republican Reconstruction was harsher on the South but protected the rights of African Americans. Led by Sumner and Stevens, the Radical Republicans created the Freedmen's Bureau- aiding African Americans by reuniting families, providing education, hospitals, and managing lands. In 1866, the Civil Rights Act guaranteed the right of citizenship to African Americans but it wasn’t until the passage of the 14th Amendment that such citizenship was granted. While holding the majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Radical Republicans had the chance to override many of Johnson’s vetoes. One of the first actions taken was to separate the South into five military districts, under the direction of martial law. Then with the creation of the Joint Committee, consisting of all Radical Republicans, the states were governed under federal power, not states rights. With the passage of the Reconstruction Act of 1867, the readmission of 7 out of 10 former Confederate states readmitted, the 15th Amendment, and the Civil Rights Act of 1875, racial discrimination against the blacks was ended.

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Radical Republicans:

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Led by Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania and Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, the Radical Republicans were strongly opposed to Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction because it was too lenient. Radical Republicans were in favor of harsh punishment for the south. They passed Reconstruction Acts despite Johnson’s vetoes and were behind his impeachment. Radical Republicans backed the Wade Davis Bill, which would make it more difficult for southern states to be readmitted by requiring that a white majority swore loyalty to the Union. They also passed the 14th amendment to allow citizenship to anyone born in the U.S.

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Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens:

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Sumner, a Senator from Massachusetts, and Stevens, a Representative from Pennsylvania, were leaders of the Radical Republicans. They both believed in abolition and, after the war, believed in freedom for freedmen and racial equality. Both Sumner and Stevens assisted in the passing of the Fourteenth Amendment, and other Reconstruction legislation. They opposed President Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan as it was too lenient. They fought for harsh punishments for the South, as they thought of the South as “conquered land.” As leaders of the Radical Republicans, they overrode many of President Johnson’s presidential vetoes.

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Wade-Davis Bill:

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In late 1863, President Abraham Lincoln and the Congress began to consider the question of how the Union would be reunited if the North won the Civil War. In December, President Lincoln proposed a reconstruction program that would allow Confederate states to establish new state governments after 10 percent of their male population took loyalty oaths and the states recognized the “permanent freedom of slaves.” Several congressional Republicans thought Lincoln’s 10 Percent Plan was too mild. A more stringent plan was proposed by Senator Benjamin F. Wade and Representative Henry Winter Davis in February 1864. The Wade- Davis Bill requires that 50 percent of a state’s white males take a loyalty oath to be readmitted to the Union. In addition, states were required to give blacks the right to vote. Congress passed the Wade-Davis Bill, but President Lincoln chose not to sign it, killing the bill with a pocket veto. Lincoln continued to advocate tolerance and speed in plans for the reconstruction of the Union in opposition to the Congress. After Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865, however, the Congress had the upper hand in shaping Federal policy toward the defeated South and imposed the harsher reconstruction requirements first advocated in the Wade-Davis Bill.

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Freedmen’s Bureau:

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The U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, better known as the Freedmen’s Bureau was established by Congress on March 3, 1865, about two months before the end of the Civil War, as an organization to assist African Americans in the South post war. The Bureau was run by the military and the commissioner was Oliver Otis Howard, a union general. The Bureau was unpopular with many Southern whites, including Andrew Johnson who vetoed a bill in 1866 that would extend the duration and legal powers of the Bureau. During its years of operation, the Freedmen’s Bureau fed millions of people, built hospitals and provided medical aid, negotiated labor contracts for ex-slaves and settled labor disputes. It also helped former slaves legalize marriages and locate lost relatives, and assisted black veterans. The bureau also was instrumental in building thousands of schools for blacks, and helped to found such colleges as Howard University in Washington, D.C., Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, and Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia.

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13th Amendment:

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It was adopted on December, 6 1865 as the first of three post Civil War Reconstruction Amendments. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery throughout the United States by stating that slavery and servitude, except for the punishment of a crime, were unconstitutional and that Congress had the power to enforce those rules. Congress needed to quickly pass this amendment as to protect The Emancipation Proclamation. If a constitutional amendment hadn’t been made the southern Democrats could eventually gain enough power in government to nullify Lincoln’s Proclamation because it was just a presidential order. Congress knew the importance the abolition of slavery was to the United States Lincoln’s support for the 13th amendment shows that he really supported the abolition of slavery when he was freed of all political and military constraints.

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14th Amendment:

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Ratified to the Constitution on July 9, 1868, the 14th amendment was one of the three Reconstruction Amendments. On July 28, Secretary of State, William Seward, passed a proclamation to certify the ratification of the amendment. The bill consisted of five sections The first section reads that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” are citizens of the United States and the state they reside in. No one shall be denied their right to life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Equal protection of the law is given to all regardless of their race. This section overrules the Supreme Court's decision in the Dred Scott Case. The Brown vs Board of Education also stemmed from the idea that equal jurisdiction existed for all. Section two consists of rights issued to males over the age of twenty one. It states no state can abridge these men the right to vote. Section three discusses the right to representation. No person shall hold civil office if involved in a case of rebellion of the government. Congress has a two thirds vote to remove such person, if necessary. Section four states public debt shall not be questioned. Any debt inquired in aid of rebellion of the government shall be held illegal and void. Lastly, section five states that Congress shall have power to enforce this bill to states. The 14th amendment took federal rights over states’ rights. Directly mentioning state’s rights implying the largest limitation coming from federal government in an amendment. The Amendment consists of clauses within its sections. The focused ones are the Citizenship Clause (Sec.1), The Privileges Clause (Sec 2), the Due Process Clause (Sec 1), and the Equal Protection Clause (Sec 1).

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15th Amendment

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The 15th amendment prohibited states from denying citizens (men) the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Ratified 1870 after bitter struggle to get ¾ states to approve. However, many black voters still unable to vote due to literacy tests and poll taxes enacted in especially southern states. Grandfather clauses were legal until 1915, excluding even more blacks prior to that date. In addition to that, white intimidation by the KKK and other groups also prevented or discouraged many blacks from exercising the right to vote. It would take the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 before the majority of African Americans in the South were registered to vote.

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Andrew Johnson:

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Johnson was the 17th president of the United States who served from 1865-69. Johnson was vice president to Abraham Lincoln when he was assassinated and the presidency was passed down to Johnson. Johnson is known to be the “wrong man at the wrong time” because he was a democrat opposed to the Radical Republican congress. Johnson had a different idea of reconstruction than Lincoln. He began by pardoning those who took an oath of allegiance, but made leaders and wealthy men obtain special Presidential pardons. At this time slavery was being abolished but “black codes” were becoming more popular. The Radical Republican congress passed bills against slavery and in favor of Civil Rights; Johnson vetoed many bills, but congress had the majority to override them. Congress also passed the 14th amendment at this time. In 1868 the Radical Republicans impeached Johnson for violation of the Tenure of Office Act by dismissing Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton. Johnson was acquitted by just one vote and soon after his term as president ended in 1869.

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Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan:

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Johnson blamed southern planter elite for their succession and defeat. His goal was to punish Confederate leaders and wealthy landowners in the south. Johnson went for the most part with Lincoln's 10% plan with the exception of excluding confederate leaders and wealthy landowners. However these people could apply for presidential pardons and Johnson would pardon most applicants. Johnson's reconstruction plans were ruined by radical republicans in congress taking charge of reconstruction. Johnson tried to veto many of the bills passed by congress by his vetoes were overturned.

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Tenure of Office Act/ Edwin M. Stanton:

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Radical and moderate republicans were frustrated with Johnson’s denouncing Congressional Reconstruction and persistent vetoes, so they passed legislation to limit his power. The Tenure of Office Act was passed in March 1867 and stated that any officeholder appointed by the president with the Senate’s advice and consent could not be removed until the Senate approved of it and had appointed a successor. This law not only protected Republicans in office but also helped Republicans in Congress who were battling Johnson to find a cause for his removal. Johnson decided to test the constitutionality of the law and get rid of a Republican official by removing Secretary of State Edwin M. Stanton and intentionally breaking the law in February 1868. He replaced Stanton with General Ulysses S. Grant, but he voluntarily stepped down when Senate overruled Stanton’s suspension. Stanton barricaded himself in his office while Johnson tried to remove him again,

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Impeachment of Johnson:

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Johnson was the first president to be impeached in office. A democrat in a predominantly Republican administration, Johnson’s presidency was not easy. He was not a conservative democrat, but he still disagreed with congress quite frequently. In order to make the views in his cabinet less conflicting, Johnson tried to remove some of the republicans left over from Lincoln’s administration (specifically Edwin M. Stanton the secretary of war). This was a violation of the Tenure of Office Act (which was specifically created to prevent Johnson from creating an all democratic cabinet). Johnson was essentially impeached because his views conflicted with the republican congress, not because he did anything wrong.Yes, he violated a congressional act, but congress had only passed the act out of personal desire to keep Johnson’s cabinet republican. Even though he was impeached, the senate acquitted him with one vote to spare, proving that they were acting out of personal desire and that the tenure of office act was unconstitutional.

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Freedmen Experience:

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After achieving emancipation in 1863, Freedmen (consisting of former slaves, free African Americans, and mulattoes) had finally achieved independence from white control. These freedmen were then able to reunite with their families after separating for multiple years, receive an education and become literate, and migrate to cities that provided a welcoming community for the newly freed people. African Americans founded multiple churches and communities in which their people could attend and live. However, jobs were difficult to find and the majority of freedmen joined the art of sharecropping. Unfortunately, it was highly difficult for freedmen to achieve the right to vote, which included requirements of passing a literacy test and paying a poll tax. Victims of poverty and lack of education, most freedmen were incapable of voting.

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Reconstruction Acts of 1867:

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Constructed by the Radical Republicans, these acts represented the way they handled the entirety of Reconstruction, being harsher on the South and more protective of black citizens with their policies. The South was seen as conquered land and was separated into five military districts. It was a hard process to get the former confederate states readmitted into the Union, and 7 of the 10 were readmitted by 1868. The Radical Republicans also used the Reconstruction Acts to protect the new rights given to freedmen by the 14th Amendment passed as part of their Reconstruction plan, and the Freedmen’s Bureau was formed to ensure that these rights were secure.

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Poll Tax/ Literacy Test:

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The poll tax and literacy test were two ways that Southern Democrats prevented blacks from voting. The poll tax required that African Americans paid for their right to vote. The problem for African Americans was that they did not have any money to pay for the tax. African Americans just freed from slavery were either unable to find jobs, or trapped in the cycle of debt from sharecropping. The literacy test was just another barrier that prevented a majority of African Americans from voting. A vast majority of slaves never learned to read, in fact, there were laws preventing African Americans from becoming literate. These two restrictions , along with hate groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, prevented almost all Freedmen from voting.

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Black Codes:

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Laws passed in the South that were created to take rights from African Americans. They began in 1965, and their main goal was to keep the South as it was, and restrict any progressive change. This happened socially, as they were still seen as unequal, and economically, as they were still used for cheap labor. The Codes sometimes made it so that blacks could not vote or own property, and were punished for quitting jobs.Overall, these codes made the South hardly change from before the war. The Radical Republicans opposed these laws, and they used the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Military Reconstruction Act of 1867 to weaken the codes. However, the use of these codes still made people wonder who won the war.

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“Jim Crow” Laws:

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The Jim Crow Laws were a series of laws in the South that legalized segregation. They were allowed to pass by the claim of “ser\separate but equal facilities”(backed by court case of Plessy V. Ferguson.) This was an attempt by white southerners to maintain a sense of supremacy after the emancipation of the slaves. They were meant to limit the status of freedmen both socially and economically. The Jim Crow laws followed the Black Codes which had been ousted by the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

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Sharecropping:

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Sharecropping was a farming system used in the South after the American Civil War (1860-1865). The sharecropping system was used instead of slaves due to blacks nw having their freedoms, however, sharecroppers were tied to the land, and laws were put in place where sharecroppers couldn’t leave their land. Sharecropping worked by plantation owners leasing out their land to poor blacks and whites, who in return, would work the land and give a large portion of their crops back to the plantation owner. The owner would supply the supplies (IE: Shovels, farming tools, donkeys, etc) and the sharecroppers agreed to work the land and listen to the plantation owner. It was essentially slavery, and kept blacks low on the social totem pole.

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Grandfather Clause:

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Beginning in Louisiana, around 1890 (20 years after the ratification of the 15th Amendment) and ending around 1915, the Grandfather clauses were rules that required potential voters to prove that their grandfathers had been eligible to vote. Exempt from this clause was anyone who had been able to vote on January 1, 1867 along with their sons and grandsons. It was very effective. The clause made it so white men did not have to deal with poll tax or literacy test, while making it almost impossible for black men to not have to deal with poll tax or literacy test. At this time only about 5% of Southern black electorate voted.

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Plessy v. Ferguson:

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Plessy v. Ferguson was an 1896 decision by the US Supreme Court that confirmed the principle of "Separate but Equal" and minority segregation.

The case began in Louisiana in 1892. Homer Plessy agreed to be arrested to test the 1890 law establishing "whites only" train cars. Although he himself was one-eighth black and seven-eighths white, he was still legally required to sit in the "colored" car of the train.

The judge at the trial was John Howard Ferguson, a lawyer from Massachusetts who had previously declared the Separate Car Act "unconstitutional on trains that traveled through several states." In Plessy's case, however, he decided that the state could choose to regulate railroad companies that operated only within Louisiana. He found Plessy guilty of refusing to leave the white car. Plessy appealed to the Supreme Court of Louisiana, which upheld Ferguson's decision. In 1896, the Supreme Court of the United States heard Plessy's case and found the law constitutional. Plessy paid the fine for the offense, but the case renewed black opposition to such laws.The Plessy decision set the precedent that "separate" facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were "equal" (which was seldom the case). The "separate but equal" doctrine had already been extended to cover many areas of public life, such as restaurants, theaters, restrooms, and public schools. Not until 1954, in the equally important Brown v. Board of Education decision, would the "separate but equal" doctrine be struck down.

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Carpetbaggers:

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In United States history, a carpetbagger was a Northerner (Yankee) who moved to the South after the U.S. Civil War, especially during the Reconstruction era (1865-1877), in order to profit from the instability and power vacuum that existed at this time. The term carpetbagger was a pejorative term referring to the carpet bags (a fashionable form of luggage at the time) which many of these newcomers carried. The term came to be associated with opportunism and exploitation by outsiders. The term is still used today to refer to an outsider perceived as using manipulation or fraud to obtain an objective. Together with Republicans, carpetbaggers were said to have politically manipulated and controlled former Confederate states for varying periods for their own financial and power gains. In sum, carpetbaggers were seen as insidious Northern outsiders with questionable objectives meddling in local politics, buying up plantations at fire-sale prices and taking advantage of Southerners.

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Scalawags:

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Southern whites who supported Republican Reconstruction and also the Republican Party after the Civil War. Some scalawags even opposed the Confederacy in earlier times and wanted a new South to emerge. Many of these people served in the Republican government in order to gain money-making opportunities for themselves. Scalawags also worked with carpetbaggers, who were northerners who moved to the south after the Civil War to profit from Reconstruction. Many scalawags were former members of the Whig Party. Scalawags were viewed as traitors toward the south. Together, the scalawags made up about 20% of the white electorate and had a pretty large influence. They all believed they could achieve advancement in a Republican South than by opposing Reconstruction. Many of them had political experience and served as members of Congress or judges before the war.

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Northern Economy in the Reconstruction Era:

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The Northern economy experienced intermittent boomos during the Reconstruction Era, followed by periods of panics or depressions. Overall, this period signaled the rise of the “Gilded Age”, in which railroads, steel machinery, and oil became the three dominant industries, and business tycoons such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan rose to prominence. Very little government interference occurred in this era, which allowed the tycoons to monopolize entire markets, become riddled with corruption, and keep workers in poor conditions. This also made the market very unstable, without governmental checks to keep companies from over-extending and becoming bankrupt, as was the case with Jay Cooke & Company. This Second Industrial Revolution transformed the USA from a mainly agricultural nation to a frontrunner in technological advancement.