Rebuilding the Nation

President Versus Congress

The term "Reconstruction" describes the time period between the end of the Civil War and the removal of troops from the South.

Lincoln and Congress

There was conflict between President Lincoln and Congress because they disagreed over which branch of the government should direct Reconstruction.
Lincoln's Plan of Reconstruction: it said that southern whites should take an oath of loyalty to the United States. They would then be given amnesty by the government. Confederate military leaders were not part of this plan. Once 10 percent of the people in each state who had voted in 1860 had taken the oath, that state could begin to form a new government. The new state governments had to recognize the freedom of blacks. By 1864, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Louisiana were ready to return to the Union, but Congress refused to seat their representatives.
The Radical Republicans: the Radical Republicans were the members of Congress who thought Lincoln's plan of Reconstruction was too mild. The Radicals thought that southern states had left the Union and should be treated as territories. They also feared the Democratic party would come back into power. They felt Lincoln's 10 percent element was too mild, and it allowed the President to control Reconstruction.
The Wade-Davis Bill: it said a majority of the white male citizens in each seceded state should take an oath of loyalty to the U.S. Then a convention could be held to set up a new state government. Only those who took an oath that they never willingly aided the Confederacy could vote or serve in these state conventions. The new state constitution had to abolish slavery; then, if Congress agreed, the state would be readmitted to the Union.
President Lincoln used a pocket-veto to keep the Wade-Davis Bill from becoming law.

The Thirteenth Amendment

It abolished slavery everywhere in the United Sates.

Johnson and Congress

Johnson's Plan of Reconstruction: Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction plan was similar to Lincoln's. Most southern white's would be pardoned once they took an oath of loyalty. However, leaders of the Confederacy and people who had at least $20,000 in cash or property would have to get a special pardon. Seceded states could hold elections for constitutional conventions, and had to repeal their acts of secession. They had to adopt the Thirteenth Amendment and refuse to honor Confederate debt. By December 1865, the southern states had followed Johnson's plan and were ready to return to the Union.
Congressional Reaction: President Johnson and Congress disagreed in that the Radicals were angry because Johnson formed a plan on his own; they considered Johnson's plan as too easy on the South. The Republicans blocked the new southern members from taking their seats and prepared to defeat Johnson's plan.

Congressional Reconstruction

The Freedman's Bureau

The Freedman's Bureau was meant to help all needy people in the South, although the freed slaves were its main concern.

Black Codes and the Civil Rights Act

Black codes restricted southern blacks as they could not vote, testify against whites in court, serve on juries, or hold certain jobs.
President Johnson vetoed a bill which would have added powers to the Freedman's Bureau because 11 states were not represented. Later, a bill continuing the bureau for two years was passed over his veto.
In 1866, Congress moved to protect the rights of blacks by passing the Civil Rights Act. This act was aimed at protecting freedmen through the courts rather than by military power. Blacks were made citizens, and it became illegal to treat a person differently because of color.
President Johnson vetoed the bill on civil rights on the ground that it went against state's rights. Congress passed it over his veto.

The Fourteenth Amendment

The Fourteenth Amendment stated that all persons born in the United States (except Indians) were citizens of the United States and the state in which they lived. No state could deprive a citizen of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Every citizen was entitled to equal protections of the laws.
Tennessee was the first southern state to return to the Union. They were also the first to ratify the amendment.
President Johnson and northern Democrats opposed the amendment because they thought it was the right of the states to decide citizenship.
Other states did not ratify the Fourteenth Amendment until 1868.

The Reconstruction Acts

In March 1867, Congress passed the first of several Reconstruction Acts. Under these acts, the South (except Tennessee) was divided into five military districts. Each district was headed by a general backed by soldiers. The military was to oversee the readmittance of the southern states to the Union. By 1870, all of the southern states had returned to the Union.

Johnson's Impeachment

The Tenure of Office Act stated that the President could not remove a person from federal office without the approval of the Senate. It was passed to check Johnson's power.
Johnson thought the act was unconstitutional, and in February 1868, he removed Secretary of War Edwin Stanton from office.
President Johnson was impeached because Radicals charged Johnson with breaking the
Tenure of Office Act.
Johnson was acquitted in the Senate trial and served out the remainder of his term; however, he had lost most of his influence.

Reconstruction and the Postwar South

Southern Blacks and Reconstruction

Former slaves hoped to gain land, education, and the rights to vote, and hold public office from the Reconstruction Acts passed by Congress.
Groups southern blacks generally supported during Reconstruction were the Republicans.
Southern Whites and Reconstruction
Southern whites opposed the new Republican governments and carpetbaggers, scalawags, and untrained blacks in government.

Carpetbaggers and Scalawags

The Republican party in the South was controlled by two groups: people from the North who moved into the South to take part in Reconstruction (carpetbaggers), and southern whites who worked with Reconstruction officials (scalawags).

Claims of Corruption

Many southern whites thought that the new governments in their states were corrupt. To prove this , they pointed to the growth of both state budgets and state debts.
Although there was corruption in some southern state governments after the Civil War, the same basic problem of increased state debts was true for many northern governments as well. Because of the needs of the people, large-scale spending was needed in the South.

Ku Klux Klan

The Ku Klux Klan was formed to scare blacks and their supporters.

The End of Reconstruction

The Election of Grant

The Republicans won the Election of 1868, Grant received 3,012,833 popular votes, and his opponent 2,703,249. Grant received almost 400,000 votes from blacks. This pointed out how important the black vote could be.
In the North, many states had chosen not to let blacks vote, although the new state governments in the South had been forced to do so. This was changed by the Fifteenth Amendment. It said that no state could keep a person from voting because of color.
The Emancipation Proclamation, and the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were all concerned with the rights of black people.

Grant's Reconstruction

President Grant's view of Reconstruction was he favored Radical Reconstruction and black rights.
By the end of his first term in office, Grant had lost interest in sending soldiers into the South to protect Republicans and blacks. After his reelection in 1872, he stopped sending them.

Other Interests, Other Concerns

Congress was becoming less concerned with supervising the South and helping the freedmen.
Other problems attracted the nation's attention. The Indian wars in the West and a plan for the United States to buy Santo Domingo. There were also talks with the British over damage caused to Northern shipping by Confederate ships built in Great Britain.

Scandals under Grant

Credit Mobilier: this company was formed by the Union Pacific Railroad. Huge profits went to railroad executives and to some members of Congress who had accepted stock in the company for certain favors. Suspicion about the nature of these dealings increased when Congress tried to block any investigation.
The Whiskey Ring: some of President Grant's Cabinet officers were found to be involved with a group of revenue officers and distillers who formed to cheat the government out of tax money.

The Election of 1876

The scandals during President Grant's term of office hurt the Republican party, which lost most of its power in the South.
In the Election of 1876 there was a dispute concerning the electoral vote. A special commission was set up to decide the matter. The Compromise of 1877 was the result. The Democrats agreed to accept Hayes as President. In return, the Republicans agreed to remove federal soldiers from the South.
Reconstruction ended in 1877.

The Plight of Southern Blacks

The Compromise of 1877 affected southern blacks as they lost political rights and economic opportunities.

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