5.10 Flashcards
Challenges the US faced after the Civil War
South in shambles
4M freed slaves; how to deal with them
How to treat the Confederate states
Postwar Conditions; Slaves
No money, land, and education
SC and GA gave order for slaves; “40 acres and a mule”
Andrew Johnson canceled this order
Postwar Conditions; South
1/3rd of livestock lost
Destruction of roads, bridges, tracks, and fences
Chronic food shortages
Postwar Conditions; Country
Republicans wanted to continue economic processes
Southern Aristocrats wanted low-cost labor for plantations
Freed slaves wanted independence and equal rights
Little economic help given to all Southerners
Lincoln’s Views on Reconstruction
Firmly believed the South did not leave as it was not constitutional; viewed them as disloyal
Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
Established in 1863; plan for polital reconstruction
Terms:
-Presidential pardons for Confederates who took an oath of allegiance to the Union and the US Constitution, and accepted slaves as free
-State governments to be re-established under the condition of at least 10% of voters taking the oath
Practically meant for Southern states to rewrite constitutions and abolish slavery
Vocab: Wade-Davis Bill
Passed in 1864
Required 50% of voters of southern states to pledge allegiance to the Union before reunification
Pocket-vetoed by Lincoln
Vocab: Freedman’s Bureau
Agency established in March 1865
Welfare agency for everyone
-Food
-Shelter
-Medical aid
-Education
-3K schools for freedpeople
200K African Americans taught how to read
Vocab: Andrew Johnson
17th President of the US
Rose in TN politics by advocating for the poor
Appointed as TN Governor in 1853
Democrat
White Supremacist
Johnson’s Reconstruction Policy
Issued plan in May 1865
Addition to Lincoln’s plan
Loss of power for
1) Former Confederate officeholders
2) Confederates with more than $20K in taxable property
Johnson’s Vetoes
Vetoed 29 bills in one term
Vetoed 2 bills in 1866
-Increased services of Freedman’s Bureau
-A Civil Rights bill
Southern states consequently began passing Black Codes
Vocab: Radical Republicans
Republicans who called mostly for rights for Black citizens, but also women’s suffrage and rights for labor unions
Spike in Radicals in 1866
Leading Radical in Senate was Charles Sumner
Vocab: 13th Amendment
Amendment ratified in December 1865 that declared slavery unconstitutional
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
Vocab: Civil Rights Act of 1866
States that all African Americans were US citizens; overruled Dred Scott v. Sandford
Vocab: 14th Amendment
Ratified in 1868, it declared that
-All people born/naturalized in the US were citizens
-States were to respect the rights of US citizens
Vocab: Equal Protections Clause
Clause in the 14th Amendment that essentially prevented discriminatory laws from being passed
Vocab: Due Process Clause
Clause in the 14th Amendment that required the government to act fairly and to accord with established rules at all times
Report of the Joint Committee
June 1866, House and Senate joint committee declared that the Confederate states were not entitled to representation in Congress
Election of 1866
Republican victory that resulted in a Republican-dominated House and Senate, allowing them to easily override any of Johnson’s vetoes
Reconstruction Acts of 1867
1) Former Confederate states placed into 5 Union-controlled military districts
2) Ratify 14th Amendment to be readmitted to the Union
3) Allow all adult males to vote regardless of race to be readmitted to the Union
Andrew Johnson’s Impeachment
First president to be impeached
Sparked after Johnson dismissed Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton
House responded with impeachment
-11 “high crimes and misdemeanors”
-One vote short to being removed from office
Election of 1868
Republicans nominated Ulysses S. Grant as candidate
Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour as candidate
Grant won 300k more popular votes than Democrats
Vocab: 15th Amendment
Ratified in 1870, it declared that states had no right to restrict citizens’ right to vote based on race
-Banned open discrimination
-Did not ban from passing restrictions targetting African Americans
Civil Rights Act of 1875
Last Civil Rights reform of Congress
-Equal public space accommodations
-Courts prohibited from excluding black jurors
-Poorly enforced
