A.P. U.S. History - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

A.P. U.S. HistoryMr. Krueger

ReconstructionSlide2

After War

The Reconstruction of the south was difficult

Constitution provided no guidelines because founders didn’t anticipate a Civil War

How far should the federal government go to secure freedom and civil rights for 4 million former slaves

Advocates for minimal Reconstruction favored quick restoration with no protection for the freed slaves beyond prohibition of slavery

Radicals wanted loyal men to replace Confederates in elite positions and blacks would receive basic rights of citizenshipsSlide3

Wartime Reconstruction

Major question – how do seceded states return to the Union

1863 – Lincoln issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction

Offers full pardon to southerners (not confederate leaders) who would take an oath of allegiance to the Union and acknowledge emancipation (10% Plan)

Congress did not support Lincoln’s 10% Plan

Radicals were strongly anti-slave

They felt Lincoln exceeded his authority

Only Congress could determine

readmittance

Congress felt that by leaving the Union, the South forfeited their right to a republic.

Congress passed the Wade – Davis Bill (50% plan) – but Lincoln used his pocket veto, and his relations with Congress reached an all time low.Slide4

Andrew Johnson

Attempts to put the Union back together with his own authority in 1865 – angers Congress and the Rep. Party – provokes problems between Executive and Legislative Branches

Johnson as President was a strange accident that a southern democrat and white supremacist came to reside over the Republican Administration

Former Jacksonian Democrat

Hated the Southern Planter Class

Endorsed Lincoln’s Emancipation Plan

Some Radicals liked Johnson

Strongly Loyal to the Union

Wanted to punish confederates and southern traitors

Johnson’s Reconstruction Policy changes this.

He placed N. Carolina and other states under provisional governors

They were chosen mostly from prominent southern politicians who opposed secession and did not serve the CSA.Slide5

Johnson’s Plan

Governor’s Responsibility

Call for constitutional conventions

Ensuring only legal whites would vote for delegates (must take an oath)

To regain political and property rights, southern land owners loyal to the CSA must apply for a presidential pardon

Wealthy planters were excluded if they possessed taxable property exceeding $20,000

Johnson Urged:

Declare the ordinances of secession illegal

Repudiate CSA debt

Ratify the 13

th

Amendment

Once Reconstruction process was complete, the south could regain their rights

Some states approved Johnson’s Plan, but with qualifications and all constitutions that limited suffrage to whites.Slide6

Black Codes

Republicans were outraged when states passed the Black Codes, vagrancy laws, and apprentice laws

Forced Blacks to work

Denied free choice of employers

Blacks in some states could not testify in court

Blacks were subject to special codes and laws

Radicals thought this was similar to slavery

A number of ex-CSA leaders were elected to Congress

Johnson was responsible

He granted amnesty to CSA leaders

Johnson and Congress drift apart

Johnson wants to restore the federal system quickly without change

Most Republicans did not want the return of the Southern ruling plantation class back in powerSlide7

Congressional Initiative

Reconcile between Johnson and Congress inevitable because he vetoed two bills:

Extended the Life of the Freedman’s Bureau – give black relief, education, land, legal aid

Civil rights bill – nullify black codes and give blacks equal rights

Congress overrode the veto to Civil Rights Bill (1

st

time in history)

Passed the 14

th

Amendment

Section 1 – equal rights to all Americans

Section 2 – established a punishment to all states who denied suffrage to black males

Section 3 – denied federal office to CSA supporters

Section 4 – Repudiated CSA debt

During the election of 1866 – Johnson opposed the Amendments because they violated states’ rights

Bloody race riots in New Orleans and Memphis

State governors were not protecting life and liberty for blacks

Johnson had a very crude campaign

This allowed radicals to gain 2/3 majority in CongressSlide8

Radical Reconstruction

Radicals like Charles Sumner,

Thadeus

Stevens, George Julian – reshape southern society before readmitting ex-CSA to the Union

Regeneration before Reconstruction – Military rule to confiscate and redistribute propert

y of large landowners. Provide Federal Aid to Blacks

March 1867 –

1

st

Reconstruction Act

passed (overrode presidential veto)

South divided into 5 military districts

Black suffrage was seen as a way for Northern Reps. to stay in power

Reconstruction had a radical aspect. It allowed poor to have access to the ballot box, this was a bold application of principle of government by consent of the governed.

The biggest problem was to enforce equal suffrage in the South.Slide9

Impeachment Crisis

Johnson opposed radical reconstruction

Began to dismiss office holders – Congress responds with the Tenure of Office Act, limiting presidential power and requiring Senate approval for the removal of cabinet members

Also limited Johnson’s ability to command the military

Johnson objected – Congress spoke of impeachment

1869 – Johnson tries to dismiss the Secretary of War – the only radical in his cabinet

The House viewed this as a violation of the Tenure Act

Johnson went to trial in the Senate, but a Rep. Senator broke from party leadership and voted for acquittal

Result – one vote short

Arguments ensue

President can only be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors

Removal for political reasons places too much power in Legislative handsSlide10

Social and Economic Adjustments

South was devastated by war

Problem – Emancipation had taken away planters most productive asset

Southern prosperity would still rely on cotton

Sherman was hampered by a huge number of black fugitives – set aside 40 acre plots for them along the coasts

Freedman Bureau gave 40 acre plots and an option to buy after 3 years

Most blacks on small farms failed to acquire title, problems committing to wage labor

Sharecropping was common

Work a piece of land for a % of the crop

Tenet shared the risk of crop failure, and low cotton prices

Credit problems

Blacks in cities found themselves living in segregation because of Black Codes and Separate but Equal institutionsSlide11

Political Reconstruction

State governments had little respect for freed slaves

Black codes made unemployment a crime

Denied the right to own property

Extreme violence – 1000’s were murdered – terrorism and violence were used to keep blacks from voting

Southern Republican Party was made up of 3 groups

North Republican businessmen – carpetbaggers and scalawags – given opportunity for commercial development

Poor white farmers

Nearly enfranchised blacks – formed a majority in some states and were concerned with education, civil rights, land ownership

Problem – each groups stood alone and Southern Democrats exploited this

Corruption due to Radical Reconstruction affects economySlide12

Age of Grant

Grant was the only President to serve 2 consecutive terms between AJ and W. Wilson

Grant is regarded as a failure

Corruption

Inconsistency

Ultimate failure of southern policy

Top priority was to old friends and politicians

Money was an issue in the election

Many wanted to return to greenbacks

Others wanted to stay with the gold standard

1869-1870 – Congress passed a law that assured payment in gold, but eased the burden of the huge Civil War debt for bond holders not due for the next 10-30 years

What should be done with 356 million in greenbacks in circulation?

Grant administration wanted them to float until economic expansion would bring them to par with gold

Panic of 1873 brought economy to its knees – debt at an all time high

Grant vetoed a Congressional greenback bill

Deflation continued – workers and farmers upset creates the Greenback PartySlide13

Retreat from Reconstruction

15

th

Amendment – States are prohibited from denying a citizen the right to vote based on race, color, or previous servitude

Limited by: Literacy Tests, Property qualifications, Poll taxes

The amendment makers did not see that the amendment would be used to strip blacks of the right to vote

Feminists were upset the amendment did not extend the right to vote to women – campaigned against it

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Susan B. Anthony

The Grant Administration was charged with enforcing the Amendment. The Republican Party depended on it:

African American Support

Political Partnership

Dictated federal action

A big threat to the Republicans were white supremacists like the KKKSlide14

Klu Klux Klan or Knights of the Camellia

Organized in Tennessee – grass roots movement with support from all classes

Klan caused Grant to lose Louisiana and Georgia during the election of 1868

Insurrections broke out in many states as militias were called out against the KKK

In Tennessee, N. Carolina, and Georgia, Klan activities brought the Democrats to power in the 1880’s

Grant faced overthrow in the South – passed laws to enforce the 15

th

amendment

Federal protection for black suffrage

Use of the army against the KKK

KKK or Force Act

Made interference with voting a federal crime

Gave the president the right to call federal troops

Gave the president the right to suspend habeas corpus

Result – Election of 1872 was peaceful

Democrats change tactics – promote the idea of white supremacy and agrarian hostility to the government

Republicans start to lose the SouthSlide15

Scandal

Grant’s power was failing

Reformers charged that a corrupt national administration was protecting poor southern governments for personal advantage

Example: Grant’s administration intervened in Louisiana to protect a poor Rep. faction headed by his wife’s brother – in – law.

Credit –

Mobilier

Scandal – Grant’s 1

st

term VP (Schuyler Colfax) took profits that should have gone to the Union Pacific Railroad

U.P. benefited from federal land grants

To stop a government inquiry the Credit

Mobilier

stock was distributed to influential Congressmen and Colfax

Republicans split – Liberal Republicans try to create an honest government and reconcile North and South

Grant still wins because southern democrats do not support Liberal Republicans

Whiskey Ring 1875 – Federal revenue collectors conspired with distillers to steal millions of dollars in liquor taxes

Grant’s private secretary indicted

Grant’s secretary of war impeached because he took bribesSlide16

Compromise

Compromise of 1877 – End of Reconstruction

Election of 1876 – Rep. Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Sam Tilden promised honest government

Tilden won the popular vote and seemed to win the electoral vote – S. Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana were contested

Congress appointed an electoral commission of 15 members to determine the outcome

Democrats filibuster

Compromise is reached – Hayes would be president, southern home rule would be restored, and blacks left to fate

Hayes ordered the army to not to resist Democratic takeover

Radical governments were endedSlide17

The New South

Committed to economic development, commercial and industrial interests – led by the “redeemers”

Wealthy planters supported a return to plantations

Professional Politicians

Interest groups dominate policy

Laissez Faire, White Supremacy

Government remained corrupt and dishonest

Embezzlement of funds, bribery and corruption of state

lotterys

Cut back on money for schools and public service

Crop Loan and credit affected black and white farmers

Said they would not impede black suffrage (as long as they voted for the Democratic Party)

Democrats also: stuffed ballot boxes, discarded votes, reported false totals

African Americans were defenseless to the Jim Crow Era