Reconstruction

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1865-1877

Homestead Act 1862 The first of these acts was signed into effect by

Abraham Lincoln Anyone who had never taken up arms against the

U.S. government could apply Granted adult heads of families 160 acres of

surveyed public land for a minimal filing fee Required to “improve” the plot by building a

dwelling and cultivating the land After 5 years on the land the original filer was

entitled to the property, free and clear This accelerated the settlement of the western

territory

Abraham Lincoln President Lincoln was

concerned that the Emancipation Proclamation would be seen as a temporary war measure

He wanted to offer southerners amnesty for all illegal acts supporting the rebellion

1865 cartoon showing Lincoln and Johnson using their talents as rail-splitter and tailor to repair the Union

Freedmen’s Bureau Established in the War Department, originally by

Abraham Lincoln to help freed slaves after the war. Supervised all relief and education activities relating

to refugees and freedmen Issued rations, clothing and medicine Assumed custody of confiscated lands or property in

the former Confederate states, border states, District of Columbia and Indian Territory

The Bureau encouraged former plantation owners to rebuild their plantations

Urged African Americans to gain employment Pushed both whites and blacks to work together as

employers and employees rather than as masters and as slaves

Freedmen’s Bureau Main focus: (for black and white

people in the South) Provide food Medical Care Help with resettlement Administer justice Manage abandoned and confiscated

property Regulate labor Establish schools – educational

opportunities for newly-freed slaves

13th Amendment

Outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude

Abolished slavery without compensation to owners

First of three reconstruction amendments adopted after the Civil War

All enslaved people were freed as a result

13th Amendment President Lincoln had first proposed

compensated emancipation as an amendment in December 1862

His Emancipation Proclamation declared slaves free in the Confederate states in rebellion but did not extend to border-states.

After Lincoln’s assassination, President Andrew Johnson declared his own plan for Reconstruction which included the need for Confederate states to approve the 13th Amendment.

Lincoln’s Assassination

Andrew Johnson

17th President 1865-1869 Democrat He wanted to carry

out Lincoln’s plan of leniency toward the South.

He believed Reconstruction should not be cruel and harsh.

Problems in the South Over 1,000 schools were built

and some services provided, but most people did not get what they were promised

People took advantage of the rebuilding of the South

Scalawags – Southern Whites who supported the Reconstruction – Seen as traitors

Carpetbaggers – Northerners who moved to the South to take advantage of the plight, political and economic

Freed Slaves Some were able to take advantage of the

opportunities given to them by the government

Most organizations created to help freed slaves were underfunded

Most freed slaves ended up working on plantation or sharecropping, much like they had before

Sharecropping – People were provided housing, tools and seed. When harvest time came, they were given a share of the crop. Many people used this method, not just freedmen.

Civil Rights Act of 1866 Granted citizenship to persons born in the U.S.

except Native Americans This extended citizenship to blacks. President Johnson opposed and vetoed the

legislation but Congress overruled his veto and then proposed the 14th Amendment

14th Amendment All persons born in the U.S. (except Native

Americans) were citizens and all citizens were entitled to equal rights regardless of their race (Newly-freed slaves became citizens)

Their rights were protected under law

This amendment did not extend the right to vote to black men but it encouraged states to allow them to vote by limiting the Congressional representation of any state that did not extend the right.

This disappointed women’s rights advocates because it defined the right to vote as a male right

Trouble in the South Southerners were finding

ways to circumvent federal laws that were designed to protect freed slaves

Freed slaves were guaranteed rights but had to follow laws passed by the states that they lived in. These laws greatly limited their opportunities.

Trouble in the South

Black Codes: 1866 Laws passed in the South to limit

the opportunities for blacks. Reflected the unwillingness of

southern whites to accept blacks as equals

Jim Crow Laws: 1876-1965 Laws passed to bypass laws

created by the Radical Republicans and any other federal law that Southerners did not agree with concerning African-Americans

“Separate but equal”

Trouble in the South

Ku Klux Klan: Created by those who did not

agree with the opportunities given to freed slaves

Secret society that gained support in 1868

Sought to destroy the Republican Party in the South

Used harsh intimidation tactics on African-Americans and other groups that helped African-Americans

They terrorized any who tried to help African-Americans

Alaska Purchase The first Russian settlement was in the 17th century The Russians never fully colonized Alaska and it wasn’t very

profitable William H. Seward, the United States Secretary of State,

negotiated the Alaska Purchase (also known as Seward's Folly) with the Russians in 1867 for $7.2 million

(It became a state in 1959)

Radical Republicans Reconstruction of the South was led by

Radical Republicans that favored harsh treatment of the South

Quick incorporation of the freedmen into citizenship with full privileges including voting rights and the push for seizure of land from planters

States were organized into military districts They wanted to restrict the actions of

Southern congressional leaders in the national government

Reconstruction Act of 1867

Military occupation of the former confederate states

Strict guidelines on representation and requirements for readmission to the Union

Required that all seceded states ratify the 14th Amendment as a condition of their readmission to the Union and grant voting rights to black men

Each state would have to draft a new constitution which would have to be approved by Congress

Congress eventually sought to safeguard the vote for black men by proposing the 15th Amendment

Impeachment

Andrew Johnson The amount of vetoes applied throughout his

career as president and the differences in view from Congress made him a target for impeachment

President Johnson was impeached by the House of Representatives on February 24, 1868

The Senate tried the case in a trial that lasted from March to May 1868.

In the end, the Senate voted to acquit President Andrew Johnson by a margin of 35 guilty to 19 not guilty - one vote short of the two-thirds needed to convict.

Ulysses S. Grant

18th President 1869-1877 Republican Was a war hero to

many Northerners Supported

Reconstruction Ran under the

slogan, “Let us have peace.”

15th Amendment Granted black men the

right to vote in all states Many black men were not

allowed to vote in Northern states

Women’s rights activists opposed the amendment because it continued to deny the vote based on gender

Fifty more years would pass before the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote.

Hiram Revels Rhodes First African-American

Senator Mississippi state legislature chose

Revels to fill a seat in the Senate that had been vacant since the start of the Civil War

He served briefly, but established a precedent by just taking his seat against objection by white Southerners

Won notice for speaking out against racial segregation

After him, 22 African American men were elected before the turn of the century

Compromise of 1877 After the election of 1877 Congress formed the

Electoral Commission to resolve disputed Democratic Electoral votes from the South

It was an unwritten and informal compromise between the Republicans and Democrats

Included measures to appease the South – removal of all federal troops

Appointed at least one Southern Democrat to Hayes’s administration

Construction of a second Transcontinental Railroad in the South

Legislation enacted to help industrialize the South

Compromise of 1877

Known as the “Great Betrayal” Settled the disputed election of

1876 Rutherford B. Hayes

became president in exchange for federal troops removed from the South

Ended Reconstruction in the South

A political cartoon by Joseph Keppler depicts Roscoe Conkling as a character (the devil) while Rutherford B. Hayes strolls off with the prize of the “Solid South” depicted as a woman.

Rutherford B. Hayes

19th President Republican 1877-1881

Morrill Act 1862 & 1890

This act made it possible for new western states to establish colleges for their citizens

The new land-grant institutions which emphasized agriculture and mechanic arts opened opportunities to thousands of farmers and working people previously excluded from higher education

The Morrill Act of 1890 established sixteen higher education facilities dedicated to African Americans

Many states built their first public colleges

Morrill Act Major universities

were charted as land-grant schools

When Texas rejoined the Union after the Civil War the state legislature authorized the first Texas Public College

State colleges brought higher education within the reach of millions of students

Dawes Act Allowed the president to

break up reservation land into small allotments for individuals

American Indians registered on a tribal “roll” were granted allotments of land

This act also provided that the government would purchase Indian land “excess” to that needed for allotment and open it up for settlement by non-Indians

Dawes Act Supposed to protect Indian property rights,

particularly during the land rushes of the 1890s The land allotted to the Indians included desert

or near-desert lands unsuitable for farming Techniques of self-sufficient farming were much

different from their tribal way of life Many Indians did not want to take up

agriculture, those who did, could not afford the tools, animals, seeds, and other supplies necessary to get started

It forced ownership of Indian lands among individual members, leading to a significant disruption of their way of life

A Scar left on our Nation

After Reconstruction was over, Democrats ruled the South for over 100 years

For over 100 years there was a clear division between North and South