Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Perils of Reunion

Question 1

Civil War in Minnesota: US-Dakota War

Answer 1

The US-Dakota War (also known as the Sioux Uprising) took place in Minnesota in 1862. It was a violent conflict between the Dakota (Sioux) tribe and the United States government, triggered by broken treaties and unmet promises from the government. The Dakota people, suffering from hunger, poverty, and displacement, grew increasingly frustrated with the government’s failure to provide food, supplies, and land as agreed upon in earlier treaties.

In August 1862, tensions reached a breaking point. Led by Chief Little Crow, a group of Dakota warriors launched an attack on white settlers and military targets in southwestern Minnesota. The fighting quickly spread, leading to widespread destruction, with many settlers killed or taken captive. The conflict lasted for several weeks, and hundreds of Dakota people were killed or forced to flee.

The war ended when the US military, reinforced by local militias, defeated the Dakota. After the war, the US government punished the Dakota severely. 38 Dakota men were hanged in what remains the largest mass execution in U.S. history, and the Dakota were forced out of Minnesota, many being exiled to reservations in the western part of the United States. The US-Dakota War had lasting consequences, creating a deep divide between Native American communities and the federal government.

Question 2

Seneca Falls Convention (1848)

Answer 2

-200 men and 40 women met to “discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and the rights of women”
—Attendees included Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Stanton and Mott
-Composed the “Declaration of Sentiments”
—“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal.”
-Narrowly supported women’s right to vote

Question 3

Woman’s Movement

Answer 3

-Now known as “First Wave Feminism”
Major issues:
—Legal equality for women
—Domestic abuse (marital rape not recognized as a crime)
—Divorce laws
—Suffrage

Question 4

Ulysses S. Grant

Answer 4

-Successfully laid siege to Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1863
-Lincoln appointed Grant head of the Union Army in March 1864
-Employed “all-out war”: war against civilians as well as soldiers

Question 5

Surrender at Appomattox

Answer 5

The Surrender at Appomattox occurred on April 9, 1865, and marked the end of the American Civil War. After a long and exhausting conflict, the Confederate Army, led by General Robert E. Lee, was surrounded by Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant in Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

Lee, realizing that further resistance was futile and that his army was no longer able to continue fighting, decided to surrender. The meeting took place in the McLean House, where General Lee formally surrendered to General Grant.

Grant, known for his generous terms, allowed Lee’s troops to return home with their horses, sidearms, and personal belongings, offering them food rations as well. This act of leniency aimed to help heal the nation and begin the process of reconciliation.

The surrender at Appomattox effectively ended the Civil War, though some Confederate forces continued to fight in other areas. Lee’s surrender signified the collapse of the Confederate government and the preservation of the Union.

Question 5

William Tecumseh Sherman

Answer 5

William Tecumseh Sherman was a Union general during the Civil War known for his strategy of total warfare, which aimed to break the Confederate will to fight by targeting both military forces and civilian infrastructure. In September 1864, Sherman’s army captured Atlanta, a key Confederate supply center, which marked a major turning point in the war.

After capturing Atlanta, Sherman began his famous “March to the Sea” from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia, in late 1864. This march was a devastating campaign where his forces destroyed railroads, homes, farms, and factories, crippling the South’s ability to sustain its war effort and morale.

Sherman famously said, “War is all hell. War is all cruelty. The more cruel it is, the sooner it is over.” His brutal tactics aimed to hasten the war’s end by demoralizing the Southern population and destroying the resources Confederate forces relied on. Sherman’s march was controversial at the time but played a crucial role in the Union’s victory.

Question 6

The Cost of War

Answer 6

-3.5 million men fought in the war
-620,000 died in the war (360,000 Union; 258,000 Confederates)
-Another 500,000 maimed for life
-4 million African Americans freed but owned nothing
-With the cost of the war, the Union could have purchased every slave in the South in 1860

Question 7

John Wilkes Booth

Answer 7

-Young actor who believed in white supremacy & slavery.
-Didn’t fight in the Civil War
-Shot Lincoln in the back of the head at Ford’s Theater

Question 8

Reconstruction (1863/65-1877)

Answer 8

Federal Government tries to get the South to change its’ social and political institutions as a prerequisite for full readmission into the Union

Question 9

Three Phases of Reconstruction

Answer 9

Presidential Reconstruction (1863-66/67)
President Lincoln, and then President Johnson, the driving force behind federal policy

Congressional or “Radical” Reconstruction (1866/67-1870s)
Congress controls federal policy and moves it in a much more radical direction

Retreat from Reconstruction or “Redemption” (1870s-77)
White, Democratic-party rule is reinstated in the South. Onset of the Jim Crow South

Question 10

Presidential Reconstruction

Answer 10

-Reconstruction During Wartime
—Emancipation Proclamation (1862-63)
—Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery (Senate 1864, House 1865, ratified 1865)
—Lincoln’s “Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction” – the “Ten-Percent Plan”(1863)

Presidential Reconstruction refers to the efforts led by President Abraham Lincoln and later Andrew Johnson to reintegrate the Southern states after the Civil War. During the war, Lincoln took significant steps to end slavery and preserve the Union, such as issuing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, which freed slaves in Confederate territories, and pushing for the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, which abolished slavery throughout the United States. Lincoln also introduced the “Ten-Percent Plan” in 1863, which allowed Southern states to rejoin the Union if 10% of their voters swore loyalty to the Union and accepted the abolition of slavery. This plan aimed for quick reconciliation, but it faced criticism from Radical Republicans who wanted harsher terms for Southern states. These early actions laid the foundation for Reconstruction, although the process would become more complicated after Lincoln’s assassination.

Question 11

13th Amendment

Answer 11

13th Amendment: “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.”

Question 12

Congressional Reconstruction

Answer 12

Fourteenth Amendment (1866)
—Guarantees of the Privileges and Immunities of Citizenship, Due Process and Equal Protection under the law.

Election of 1866 (Republicans win two-thirds majorities in both Houses)

Reconstruction Act of 1867
-Existing southern governments declared merely provisional
-Reinstituted military authority
-Required new steps for southern states to regain full membership in national government
-Ratification of 14th amendment
-Adopting state constitutions that permitted blacks to vote!

Question 13

14th Amendment

Answer 13

Section 1. “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Section 2. Representatives will be decided “counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.” But when the right to vote is denied any male citizen over the age of 21, “the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.”

Question 14

15th Amendment

Answer 14

-Ratified: 1870

-“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

-Problems with the 15th Amendment?
Allows for loopholes to restrict the black vote (literacy tests, property requirements, etc.)

Question 15

First African American Congressmen (1872)

Answer 15

By 1872, a total of 14 African Americans had served in Congress.

Here’s a brief overview of the first African American Congressmen:

Hiram Rhodes Revels (1870) - U.S. Senate, Mississippi

The first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate.
Blanche K. Bruce (1875) - U.S. Senate, Mississippi

The second African American to serve in the Senate and the first to serve a full term.
Joseph Rainey (1870) - U.S. House of Representatives, South Carolina

The first African American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Robert Smalls (1875) - U.S. House of Representatives, South Carolina

A former enslaved man who became a prominent political leader and served in the House.
By 1872, African Americans had started to make significant strides in political office, especially in the Southern states that had been affected by the Civil War and Reconstruction. The majority of these early African American politicians were Republicans, as the party was aligned with the abolition of slavery and civil rights for African Americans during this period. However, by the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s, many of these leaders would face increasing discrimination and the loss of political power as Jim Crow laws took hold in the South.

Question 16

Black Resistance during Reconstruction

Answer 16

-Education:
1866-1869: Seven black colleges founded, including Fisk and Howard

-Families:
Families reunited; marriages legalized

-Migration:
Many African Americans migrated to cities to flee white violence; pursue economic opportunities

-Churches:
Black ministers play central role in institution building; support.

Question 17

End of Reconstruction

Answer 17

By 1877, Southern Democrats regained control of state governments

President Hayes withdraws troops from the South in 1877

African Americans left without property or means of protection against whites

Southern Democrats enact sweeping legal & political changes that they call “Redemption”

The end of Reconstruction came in 1877 after a series of political events that shifted control back to Southern Democrats. Reconstruction, which had been aimed at rebuilding the South and granting civil rights to African Americans, officially ended with the Compromise of 1877. This compromise was the result of the contested 1876 presidential election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden. In exchange for Southern support in Hayes’ election, he agreed to withdraw federal troops from the South, effectively ending the military occupation that had been in place since the Civil War.

When President Hayes withdrew the federal troops in 1877, it allowed Southern Democrats to regain control of state governments, a process known as “Redemption.”

Question 18

Daughters of the Confederacy

Answer 18

-Founded in 1894
-Primary objective was to “tell of the glorious fight against the greatest odds a nation ever faced”
-Served a “public relations” function for the KKK

The Daughters of the Confederacy was founded in 1894 with the primary objective of preserving and promoting the memory of the Confederate States of America and its soldiers. They sought to “tell of the glorious fight against the greatest odds a nation ever faced,” portraying the Confederacy’s cause as noble and just. The organization played a key role in shaping the Lost Cause narrative, which romanticized the South’s fight in the Civil War and minimized the role of slavery. Additionally, the Daughters of the Confederacy served a “public relations” function for groups like the Ku Klux Klan, helping to spread and justify white supremacist ideals through their activities, including erecting monuments to Confederate leaders and distributing Confederate symbols.

Question 19

Black Codes

Answer 19

African Americans could not:
—Serve on Juries
—Testify against whites
—Carry a gun
Former slaves must:
—Carry a pass
—Observe curfew
—Live in housing provided by landowner

Question 20

Sharecropping

Answer 20

-Stiff labor contracts and “vagrancy laws” bound former slaves to plantations
-Predatory lending practices
-Blacks had no ability to testify in court; many were illiterate & unable to get an education

Sharecropping was an agricultural system that emerged in the South after the Civil War, where landowners provided land, tools, and supplies to poor farmers (many of whom were former slaves) in exchange for a share of the crops they produced. While it allowed poor farmers to work the land, sharecropping often kept them in debt and poverty, as they had to give a large portion of their harvest to landowners and frequently borrowed supplies at high interest rates. This system perpetuated economic exploitation and limited opportunities for financial independence, continuing until the early 20th century.

Question 21

Convict Leasing System

Answer 21

Systematized criminalization of former slaves

The Convict Leasing System was a practice in the Southern United States that emerged after the Civil War during Reconstruction and lasted into the early 20th century. Under this system, primarily African American prisoners, many of whom were arrested under dubious circumstances, were leased to private companies or state-run enterprises to perform labor, often in brutal conditions. The system allowed Southern states to profit from convict labor while circumventing the abolition of slavery.

After the Civil War, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, but it included a loophole that allowed forced labor as punishment for a crime. Southern states, looking for a way to maintain cheap labor, began arresting large numbers of African Americans, particularly through vagrancy laws (which criminalized being unemployed or homeless), and sentencing them to prison. Once imprisoned, these individuals were often “leased” to companies in industries like mining, railroad construction, and agriculture. The companies paid the state for the labor, and prisoners were subjected to harsh, inhumane conditions, including long hours, physical abuse, and poor living conditions.

Question 22

Segregation

Answer 22

Initiated during & after Reconstruction

Segregation in the United States was initiated during and after Reconstruction (1865-1877) as a way for Southern states to maintain white supremacy and control over African Americans. During Reconstruction, newly freed African Americans gained some political and civil rights, such as the right to vote and hold office. However, as federal troops were withdrawn from the South in 1877 (with the end of Reconstruction), Southern states began to reassert their power, and segregation became institutionalized.

Southern Democrats who regained control of state governments passed laws that enforced racial segregation, particularly in public spaces like schools, transportation, and restaurants. These laws, known as Jim Crow laws, were designed to separate African Americans from white Americans in nearly every aspect of life. While segregation was not immediately legalized, the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision in 1896 upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation, establishing the “separate but equal” doctrine. This ruling legalized racial segregation across the South and legitimized the system of Jim Crow.

Question 23

KKK Initiation Ceremony

Answer 23

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK), an extremist white supremacist group, experienced a significant resurgence in the early 20th century, particularly in the 1920s. The KKK initiation ceremony of 1924 marked one of the high points of this revival. During this time, the group expanded beyond the South, gaining a large following in the North and West. The Klan promoted a platform of white supremacy, anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic, and anti-Semitic ideologies.

The 1924 initiation ceremony was typically a secretive and dramatic event, often held in remote locations, such as forests or secluded areas, where new members would be sworn into the organization. The ceremony usually involved symbolic rituals like wearing white robes and hoods, the lighting of crosses, and the taking of an oath to uphold the Klan’s beliefs and engage in actions to preserve the “purity” of the white race.

The 1920s Klan, under the leadership of William J. Simmons, used the ceremony to instill a sense of unity and secrecy among members. The Klan at that time had become more organized, with national and state chapters, and it used public parades, rallies, and ceremonies to promote its views. This era of the Klan’s influence also coincided with a broader climate of nativism and racial fear, with the Klan portraying itself as a protector of Protestant values and white American culture.

Question 24

What did the Civil War resolve?

Answer 24

-Abolished slavery
-Established legal precedents for equality in the Reconstruction Amendments
BUT
-Did not promote land reform; freed blacks left with little to no economic power
-Congress did not enforce Reconstruction
-Supreme Court gutted the 14th & 15th Amendments

Question 25

Achievements: Abolition & Woman’s Movement

Answer 25

13th Amendment (1865): abolished slavery
14th Amendment (1868): citizenship rights for all
15th Amendment (1870): voting rights for all men
19th Amendment (1920): voting rights for women