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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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