US Reconstruction & Future after Civil War: A Historical Overview - Prof. Mary Wolf, Study notes of World History

Download US Reconstruction & Future after Civil War: A Historical Overview - Prof. Mary Wolf and more Study notes World History in PDF only on Docsity! 1-Reconstruction Slavery is dead? Thomas Nast, 1867. Shall we call home our troops? "We intend to beat the negro in the battle of life & defeat means one thing--EXTERMINATION" - Birmingham (Alabama) News Questions for today  What were the various visions for the future of the United States following the Civil War?  How would the nation be reunited and who would control the rebuilding?  How would the South's and the nation's economy be restored?  What would happen to the freedmen? Slave resistance - “contraband” Second Bull Run (VA) Aug 1862 B. Ten-Percent Plan  Ten-Percent Plan (Dec 1863) - a/k/a Proclamation of Amnesty & Reconstruction  If 10% of a state’s voters (according to prewar rolls) took a loyalty oath, could be readmitted to Union.  Effort to weaken the Confederacy  Believed states couldn’t legally secede; therefore reunion/reorganization was an admin matter  TN, LA, VA, AR took advantage of this plan (but didn’t achieve Congressional recognition) Lincoln-Congress Tensions  Radical Republicans wanted:  No former Confederate leaders in power in the postwar South  Republican party prominence in the South  Civil equality for blacks in the South by guaranteeing the vote  Conservative Republicans - profoundly racist; blacks could never become responsible citizens  Moderate Republicans  E.g., Lincoln - limited black suffrage Andrew Johnson  Self-made man, former slave-owner  From TN, a border state  Blamed the planter aristocracy for the war  Radical Repubs expected his support but were disappointed A. Restoration  Like Lincoln, Johnson believed states retained their constitutional status  reunion was an executive matter  While Congress was adjourned, issued a series of proclamations allowing lenient terms for “restoration”  By Dec 1865, when Congress returned, all states had functioning governments  But Congress had to recognize their national representatives B. Black Codes  Ex-Confeds returned to power in many southern states  Some states refused to repudiate secession and ratify the 13th Amendment  Black Codes - body of laws that narrowly defined blacks’ rights and hindered freedom of movement A. 14th Amendment  Intended to strengthen Civil Rights Act of 1866  Constitutional guarantee of rights for all citizens  Moderates were afraid that explicitly guaranteeing African Americans the right to vote would alienate northern voters.  Rising violence in the South clinched Moderate support “Scenes in Memphis, Tennessee, during the riot” May 1866 A. 14th Amendment  Ratified 1868  Single most important act of the Reconstruction era C. 15th Amendment  Passed Congress Feb. 1869  Can’t deprive any citizen of the right to vote b/c of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”  Extended the vote to northern blacks D. Congressional Moderation  By late 1867, northern voters showed strong preference for moderation  Ulysses S. Grant elected 1868 IV. Reconstruction in the South A. Freedmen’s Bureau B. Sharecropping C. Black Community D. Republican Rule B. Sharecropping  Revival of southern economy rested on agriculture  Sharecropping = compromise between planters and freedmen  Blacks didn’t want labor contracts  Weren’t able buy land but wanted benefits and privacy of landholding  By 1867-8, system of sharecropping taking shape  Crop-lien system  During Reconstruction, 35% of farmers were tenants; in 1900: 70% C. Black Community  Seized freedom of choice  Rapid growth of Af-Am churches  Education  American Missionary Association  Black universities 1865-67, e.g., Atlanta University D. Republican Rule  Achieved universal male suffrage  Created South’s first public school systems  To fund services, raised taxes & incurred debt  All southern state governments were “redeemed” by conservative Dems 1869-1877 through violence, economic intimidation, fraud  Redemption able to proceed because northerners and national Republican’s commitment waning VI. Compromise of 1877  Congressional Reconstruction - long dormant by 1876 - officially ended  Republican Rutherford B. Hayes  Democrat Samuel Tilden  Compromise:  South to get internal improvement $; last of federal troops to be removed  Dems agreed not to block Hayes’ inauguration  Message: Hayes wouldn’t enforce the 14th & 15th Amendments Key Terms  Black Codes  14th Amendment  Freedmen’s Bureau  FWP Slave Narratives