Reconstruction (1865-1877) Flashcards
Reconstruction
-Reconstruction is the name of the period of time in the South right after the Civil War ends.
-(Rebuilding of the south)
-Civil Rights laws were passed in the southern states (slavery ended and black people could vote)
-While reconstruction lasted, it did good—but it didn’t fix everything. The problem with reconstruction was that it ended too early (it was incomplete) —The problem wasn’t the plan or execution, it was just unfinished business.
Freedmen
(blacks freed from slavery after the Civil War)
-Support for freedmen was actively fought against by most white southerners—they wanted to return to the Antebellum period (before the civil war—to the southern whites, that was when they had slaves and they thought everything was the way it was supposed to be)
-The biggest problem was that the White South feared the end of slavery. Due to their racism, they didn’t trust black people to be “free.” In addition, they were concerned about their economy. They wanted to know how they were going to replace slave labor on the farms/plantations.
-The white people also had this irrational fear that the black men would rape the white women and create mixed children (they thought black people were animals and couldn’t control themselves). They believed that the white women might like this, and have more children with black men and establish families. They feared that this would ultimately result in the end of the white race.
Sharecropping
The white south were concerned about their economy. They wanted to know how they were going to replace slave labor on the farms/plantations. They came up with two different types of jobs: Sharecropping and Tenant Farming
Sharecropping:
-much worse than tenant farming for the sharecropper. Mainly freedmen in the South became sharecroppers. Owners hired freedmen to farm on their land. In return for the farmers’ labor, they would get a share of the crop. The problem is that most plantation owners had sharecroppers grow cotton. Since you can’t eat cotton and the sharecroppers were unable to sell it, they gave their share of cotton to the owners in exchange for food/shelter. This created a cycle of economic dependency, whereby economically, things were not much better for sharecroppers than they were as slaves.
-Essentially, the rich landowners were not as rich as they used to be, so they wanted to regain their wealth by farming cash crops (crops grown for selling/profit—cotton, for example). The sharecroppers are hired to work on the farms, and in return, they get a portion of what they’ve farmed, like cotton. However cotton cannot be eaten, and so their rewards did not help feed them. Furthermore, when the sharecroppers go to market to sell their cotton, they don’t get any buyers. This is because the buyers buy in bulk (so the cotton is cheaper) and therefore consult the landowners. The buyers have also established generations of trade relations with the landowners’ families and do not want to buy from an ex-slave who they do not trust. Because the sharecropper cannot eat their crop nor sell it, they turn to the landowner and revise their contract. The landowner gives them food, shelter, clothes for their hard labor and the sharecropper gives the landowner all of the cotton they harvested. (They basically become slaves again—however there were slight improvements: the sharecroppers were not beaten nearly as much, women were not raped as much, sharecroppers got reunited with their families, etc.)
Tenant Farming
The white south were concerned about their economy. They wanted to know how they were going to replace slave labor on the farms/plantations. They came up with two different types of jobs: Sharecropping and Tenant Farming
Tenant Farming:
-plantation owners would rent out a portion of their land to tenants. Tenants could then farm their plot of land, paying rent to the landowner. This enabled many landowners to be able to keep their land. Most of the tenant farmers were POOR white farmers. Much better for the owner than for the tenant, because the tenant needed to also rent from the owner equipment, seed, fertilizer.
-Essentially there was a cycle of oppressive, never-ending debt on the tenant farmer. (Due to slaves being free, the landowner had excess land and no one to farm it, so they turned to poor white men who couldn’t afford their own land. The poor white farmer would do what they want with that land and pay rent for it. However, the farmer also had to rent equipment, seeds, etc. from the landowner which further caused them to sink in debt. They were becoming poorer, and the tenant farmer became a sort of servant to the landowner. If they attempted to leave the land before paying their debt, they went to prison—many people never got out of the cycle of debt)
Freedmen’s Bureau
(GOOD for black people)
-an organization designed to help black people in the South readjust to their newfound freedom.
1) Helped freedmen negotiate fair contracts with landowners (sharecroppers were often screwed-over in these contracts)
2) Provided food/clothing/money to freedmen
3) Provided formal schools for black children
(However it was limited and didn’t help a lot of people—they couldn’t convince Congress to fund all of it…something is better than nothing though—This did ultimately allow black people to reach middle-class status in the future)
The Black Codes
(BAD for black people)
-A response from White Southerners to the Freedmen’s Bureau. This was intended to make the South resemble what it looked like politically, socially, economically, prior to the Civil War. Greatly supported by President Andrew Johnson. The Black Codes wanted race relations to resemble the pre-Civil War era. In other words, legal freedom did not mean equality. (examples: blacks could not to serve on juries, blacks could not own their own land in many cases).
Andrew Johnson
Southern democrat/slave-owner
-Supported confederacy
(he was the vice president and it was normal at this time for vice and president to be of different parties)
-Becomes president after Lincoln’s assassination
Reconstruction (How Johnson and Lincoln agreed)
They agreed on one thing: they did not want to punish the South after the War.
They wanted to readmit the former Confederacy into the Union easily (with no revenge/retribution). Johnson wanted this because he was a Southerner himself who had some loyalty to the South and the people of the former Confederacy. Lincoln wanted that because he did not want the South to be angry and maybe secede again…or fight another Civil War. (He didn’t want bad blood between the north and the south—however the north did not like this…this is because they had relatives that died in the civil war fighting these southerners and so they wanted to see them punished)
Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th, 15th)
1) 13th Amendment (1865)- Slavery is abolished (the southern states were not allowed into the union without abolishing slavery)
2) 14th Amendment (1868)- All citizens, regardless of race, are guaranteed equal protection under the law. Equal citizenship rights to all, regardless of race. (Legally speaking, all men are created equal and are given the same rights as everyone else.—according to this law, all black men have the right to vote…however some southern states did not give them the right to vote and argued that it wasn’t included in the constitution, so the next amendment was made for clarification)
3)15th Amendment (1870)- All men, regardless of race, have the right to vote. (Black people were a large percentage of the population in the south, so when they voted, typically republican, they voted for people that supported them.
President Johnson vs. Congress
(fight over Reconstruction and the readmission of Southern states to the Union)
-In the beginning of Reconstruction, there was a constant battle over Reconstruction between Johnson (a Democrat) and the majority of Congress (majority Republican). Many Republicans started to get elected to office, now that more black men had the right to vote in the South. They supported laws that would aid freedmen. (The black people voted for those that supported them, so Johnson wanted them to not vote anymore) But Johnson and his Democratic allies, opposed these laws. They wanted the South to resemble what it looked like prior to the Civil War. Johnson vetoed many of these bills…earned him the nickname “King Veto.”
-This ultimately led to the impeachment of President Johnson. Johnson’s impeachment in the House of Representatives was led by a group known as the Radical Republicans. This leads, in 1868, to the beginning of what is known as Radical Reconstruction. The Radicals impeached Johnson for violating the Tenure of Office Act….a made up law by Congress that said that in order for the President to fire a member of his cabinet, he needs to get Congressional approval (it was justified because a potential cabinet member must be approved by Congress, and so the dismissal of a cabinet member also required Congressional approval). (They made this act up so that they could impeach Johnson because they knew he already had plans to fire a cabinet member named Stanton)
-The Senate finds Johnson not guilty (by 1 vote), so Johnson gets to stay in office…but lacks power. (when a president gets impeached, it’s basically a stain on their presidency—they lose popularity)
-In the Presidential election of 1868, the Republican U.S. Grant gets elected…and will serve 2 terms. (Grant is from the south, but he also supports reconstruction and abolitionism—he appointed more black men to the government than anybody else—He was a republican, just like Lincoln {Republicans were progressive in this era}).
Radical Republicans
-The Radical Republicans believed blacks were entitled to the same political rights and opportunities as whites. They also believed that the Confederate leaders should be punished for their roles in the Civil War.
-They were the ones that led Johnson’s impeachment.
-Responsible for Radical Reconstruction
Radical Reconstruction (1868-76)
Its goals were…
1)Abolish the new state governments in the South and replace them with military rule. —Troops are overseeing that the south does what it was supposed to do before coming back to the union.
2) Ensure that former Confederate leaders could not serve in the government.
3) Ensure that freedmens’ right to vote was protected .—Troops were stationed around the south to make sure the black people’s right to vote was protected. —More black people vote and so Republicans (who are abolitionists at this point) are mostly voted in all levels of government (Ex. mayor, senator, representative, governor, president)
By 1870, all of the former confederate states (10) were readmitted into the Union.
Scalawags and Carpetbaggers
The new governments in the South were run by 2 different types of officials:
Scalawags- white southerners that sympathized with the North. (like Grant)
Carpetbaggers- white Northerners (republicans) who moved to the South to get elected to public office. These carpetbaggers ran for office for good reasons (cared about rebuilding the South, cared about helping black people in the South), but also for self-motivated reasons (power—most people that voted in the south were black, so they had to do what pleased the black voters in order to get elected/maintain power). They created what were known as the Carpetbag Governments.
In addition to the above, some black Americans also got elected to gov’t positions in the South (state legislatures, Congressmen).
Lincoln- “House Divided” speech
The main reason Lincoln fought the War was to preserve the Union. (“A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand”) Lincoln predicts that all the states will allow slavery or not allow slavery. Lincoln wanted to show the US how slavery will split up the United States.
-Reconstruction and it’s opposition
-Reconstruction was very well intentioned and was doing very well. Roads, bridges, r.r., infrastructure were rebuilt.
-Carpetbag (Radical Republican) governments made sure that black mens’ right to vote was protected…they had troops stationed in the South to protect that right at the polls during elections. (Carpetbaggers believed in civil rights and equality)
-The Carpetbag governments also tried to help black people adjust to freedom (schools especially)
Opposition:
But, despite the good of Reconstruction, the majority of white southerners opposed it. At the start of it, the Ku Klux Klan was founded. Its purpose was to end Reconstruction and make the South look like it did prior to the Civil War (economically, socially, politically). Main point was to push black people down and remove their new freedoms (they believed black people were the inferior race)
