Reconstruction

Question 1

In December 1865, the first constitutional amendment in 60 years was ratified by 2/3 of the states. What did the Thirteenth Amendment do?

Answer 1

The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for a crime.

Question 2

What was Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan?

Answer 2

Lincoln proposed that for a state to be readmitted to the Union, it had to fulfill two requirements:

agree to abolish slavery
10% of the total number of voters from 1860 had to take an oath of future loyalty to the United States
By 1863, the states of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana fulfilled Lincoln’s requirements and applied for readmission.

Question 3

Define:

Radical Republicans

Answer 3

Vehement abolitionists, the Radical Republicans favored harsh treatment for the former Confederacy, and advocated strong protections for newly freed blacks, such as the Freedman’s Bureau.

Radical Republicans opposed the more moderate stances towards the Confederacy advocated by Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.

Question 4

In 1863, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee had fulfilled the requirements of Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan, and applied for readmission to the Union. Their application was denied in Congress. Why?

Answer 4

The Radical Republicans, who controlled Congress, thought that Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan was too lenient, and denied the three applications for readmission.

Question 5

What did the Wade-Davis Bill (1864) require regarding the readmission of former Confederate States?

Answer 5

The Wade-Davis Bill required that, in order to be readmitted, 50% of a former Confederate state’s voters had to take the Ironclad Oath, swearing that they had never taken up arms against the Union, nor supported the Confederacy. Effectively, the Bill sought to keep ex-Confederates from voting and controlling the readmitted states.

Question 6

How did Abraham Lincoln react to the harsh terms of the Wade-Davis Bill (1864)?

Answer 6

Lincoln exercised a pocket veto over the Wade-Davis Bill (meaning that he neither approved nor vetoed it formally, instead letting the Congressional term expire).

Lincoln opposed the Bill’s harsh Ironclad Oath, which required swearing that one had never taken up arms against the Union, nor given aid to the Confederacy. Lincoln preferred that Southerners swear an oath of future loyalty.

Question 7

How did President Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan differ from Lincoln’s?

Answer 7

In addition to Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan, Johnson proposed three further requirements for readmitted states:

ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment
repudiation of Confederate debts
renunciation of secession
Much as Lincoln’s plan had, Johnson’s plan angered Radical Republicans in Congress, who felt it was too lenient on the former Confederate states.

Question 8

Define:

Black Codes

Answer 8

In 1865, legislatures in the formerly Confederate states passed Black Codes, which were laws that prohibited blacks from:

borrowing money to purchase land
renting land
testifying against whites in court
serving on juries when a white defendant was on trial
The Black Codes also established a form of semi-bondage which deemed many freedman as vagrants and forced them to work

Question 9

Define:

sharecropping

Answer 9

Under sharecropping, a landowner provided land, seed, and needed farm implements to poor black and white farmers in exchange for a portion of the harvested crop (usually 50%).

Although sharecropping gave poor farmers access to land, it allowed for little upward mobility.

Question 10

By late 1865, all 11 of the former Confederate states had met the lenient requirements of Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan, and sent representatives to Congress. How did Congress react?

Answer 10

Congress, and especially the Radical Republicans, were furious, especially since none of the new state constitutions extended voting rights to blacks and had established Black Codes. Further, many of the elected Congressmen were former Confederate leaders, including Alexander Stephens, the Confederate Vice President.

Question 11

What was the “Swing Around the Circle”?

Answer 11

The “Swing Around the Circle” was the nickname given to President Johnson’s speaking tour in 1866. Johnson sought public support for his lenient Reconstruction policies and denounced Radical Republicans.

Question 12

What was the result of the 1866 congressional elections?

Answer 12

Radical Republicans were swept into office, ensuring that a hard line would continue to be maintained against the former Confederate states.

Johnson failed in his attempts to persuade the public to support his lenient policy in his “Swing Around the Circle” tour. For the remainder of his Presidency, Johnson would face staunch Congressional opposition.

Question 13

In response to the South’s Black Codes, Congress passed the first _____ _____ Act in 1866.

Answer 13

Civil Rights

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 deemed that blacks were citizens, directly contradicting the Dred Scott decision. Concerned that the Supreme Court would deem the Act unconstitutional, its terms were later embodied in the Fourteenth Amendment.

President Johnson vetoed the bill, further angering Republicans in Congress.

Question 14

What did the Fourteenth Amendment establish?

Answer 14

Adopted in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment:

defined citizenship to include all persons born or naturalized in the United States
extended the Constitution to the states, meaning that states could no longer violate rights embodied in the Constitution
repudiated Confederate debt
barred former Confederates from holding elective office

Question 15

What prompted Congress to pass the Military Reconstruction Act in 1866?

Answer 15

Due to Southern opposition, the Fourteenth Amendment initially failed to be ratified by the requisite 2/3 of the states. After the 1866 election, Congress passed the Military Reconstruction Act, which designated 10 of the 11 former Confederate states as military districts under military control. Johnson vetoed the Act.

The Military Reconstruction Act held that to be readmitted, states must adopt the Fourteenth Amendment, and provide for black voting rights.

The 11th state was Tennessee, which had ratified the 14th Amendment.

Question 16

Why did the House vote to impeach President Johnson?

Answer 16

In 1867, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act, which required the President to get Senate approval before removing a cabinet member. The Act was designed to protect Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, a Radical Republican ally.

Johnson ignored the Act and fired Stanton. The House voted to impeach Johnson, but by a single vote the Senate voted against his removal from office.

Question 17

Who did the Republicans nominate at the 1866 Republican Convention?

Answer 17

The Republicans backed Ulysses S. Grant, a popular war hero with no political record. The Republican platform endorsed many Radical Republican policies, including harsh treatment for the South.

Question 18

In the 1868 presidential election, Grant defeated Democratic Party nominee Horatio Seymour by only 300,000 votes. Which group of voters formed the deciding margin?

Answer 18

Grant could never have won without the 500,000 votes provided by newly enfranchised freedmen. The importance of freedmen to their continued political dominance convinced even conservative Republicans to vigorously defend black voting rights.

To further protect black voters, Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment.

Question 19

What conduct was the Fifteenth Amendment (1869) designed to protect?

Answer 19

The Fifteenth Amendment was designed to protect the right to vote, and disallowed any state to abridge voting “on account of race, color, creed, or previous condition of servitude.”

In part, Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment in response to Grant’s narrow victory in the 1868 election, which had been due to the 500,000 votes Grant received from black voters.

Question 20

How did suffragettes react to the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment?

Answer 20

Many suffragettes espoused abolition and supported the granting of civil rights to blacks. They used the Amendment’s passage to argue that they deserved the same rights which the nation had extended to former slaves.

Question 21

_____ were Northerners who came South after the War to operate the Reconstruction governments; _____ were Southerners who cooperated with them.

Answer 21

Carpetbaggers; Scalawags

Both groups met with widespread derision from the local populace.

The term “Carpetbaggers” refers to carpetbags, a popular suitcase of the time. Critics contended that Carpetbaggers tossed their few possessions in a bag, then headed South to take advantage of the defeated Confederacy.

Question 22

Define:

Union Leagues

Answer 22

The Union Leagues were organizations in various Southern cities during Reconstruction, mostly headed by Northern blacks. In addition to providing education and political discussions, the Union Leagues registered voters and encouraged them to vote for Republican candidates.

Question 23

What was the Ku Klux Klan?

Answer 23

Founded by former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Klan sought to intimidate newly freed blacks by lynchings, whippings, and burning black-owned buildings. The Klan operated in secret, with membership wearing distinctive white hoods.

In response to the Klan’s activities (and those of related entities), Congress passed the Force Acts of 1870 and 1871, which made actions such as the Klan’s federal offenses.

Question 24

In 1872, Congress passed the _____ _____, which granted to all but top-ranking Confederates their civil rights, including the right to vote.

Answer 24

Amnesty Act

Re-enfranchised voters throughout the South promptly elected Democrats to their state governments.

Question 25

Who ran against Grant in the presidential campaign of 1872?

Answer 25

Horace Greeley

Breaking with their party over political corruption, Liberal Republicans nominated Northern newspaperman Horace Greeley, a move which was also endorsed by Democrats.

During the campaign, the Republicans relied upon “waving the bloody shirt,” a tactic they’d employed since 1866, by referring to those who had fought and died in the Civil War to justify their re-election.

Question 26

What was the Freedman’s Bureau?

Answer 26

Active between 1865 and 1869, the Freedman’s Bureau was a federal agency that assisted newly freed blacks.

The Freedman’s Bureau provided food, clothing, and education, and over a four-year period, taught some 200,000 blacks to read, founded several black colleges, and built 3,000 schools.

Question 27

Who was Hiram Revels?

Answer 27

Hiram Revels was the first black person elected to Congress, and represented Mississippi in Congress in 1870 and 1871. A second black Congressman, Blanche K. Bruce, represented Mississippi from 1875-1880.

Revels was elected to fill Jefferson Davis’s former seat.

Question 28

What led to the establishment of black colleges during Reconstruction?

Answer 28

The earliest black colleges, such as Fisk, Morehouse, and Howard, were established to train ministers and teachers to staff the new churches and schools proliferating in the South.

Question 29

What impact did Reconstruction have on religion among the Southern black community?

Answer 29

During Reconstruction, many blacks left churches dominated or monitored by whites, and joined black churches in large numbers. Most religious blacks joined the African Methodist Church or the Negro Baptist Church.

Question 30

Who were the candidates of the two major political parties in the 1876 presidential election?

Answer 30

The Democrats chose Samuel J. Tilden, a prominent Northern reformer and a former New York Governor.

Republicans chose Rutherford B. Hayes, a Civil War General, Congressman, and Governor from Ohio (though many Republicans supported Grant for a third term).

Question 31

Who won the popular vote in the 1876 presidential election?

Answer 31

Samuel J. Tilden, the Democratic Party’s candidate, won the popular vote. Tilden received 184 electoral votes to Rutherford B. Hayes’s 165 electoral votes. 185 votes were needed for election.

The results from three militarily occupied Southern states (Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina), however, were disputed, as was one electoral vote from Oregon, for a total of 20 votes. These 20 votes were eventually awarded to Hayes to secure his winning the election.

Question 32

In the election of 1876, how did Congress resolve the impasse between Samuel Tilden and Rutherford Hayes for the disputed electoral votes?

Answer 32

Congress created a special commission, composed of seven Republicans, seven Democrats, and one independent.

The membership of the commission included five members of the Senate, five of the House of Representatives, and five members of the Supreme Court.

Question 33

How did the 1876 Electoral Commission resolve the election between Hayes and Tilden?

Answer 33

In addition to seven Democrats and seven Republicans, the Commission contained one independent who would be the deciding vote. The independent was to be chosen by the two Democrat and two Republican members of the Supreme Court, with the intention that Justice David Davis would be chosen.

Immediately before the Commission met, however, Illinois elected Davis to the Senate. The remaining members of the Court were all Republicans and the Commission resolved on Hayes in a straight party line vote.

Question 34

What was the Compromise of 1877?

Answer 34

The Compromise of 1877 was a purported unwritten agreement between Democrats and Republicans, in which Republicans agreed to end Reconstruction and military occupation of the South in exchange for which Republicans received the Presidency.

The Compromise has never been proven by historians, and Rutherford B. Hayes’s involvement is unclear.

Question 35

How did President Andrew Johnson react to French intervention in Mexican affairs?

Answer 35

Napoleon III of France took advantage of the Civil War to establish Maximilian I as Emperor of Mexico. President Johnson arranged for a blockade of Mexico to prevent aid from France, and provided arms for Maximilian’s opponents. In 1867, Maximilian was shot by a firing squad.

A French defeat at the hands of an ill-equipped Mexican force took place at Puebla on May 5, 1862, the Cinco de Mayo.

Question 36

Who arranged for the U.S. to purchase Alaska from the Russians in 1867 for $7.2 million?

Answer 36

William Seward arranged the purchase from the Russians, who were anxious to arrange the purchase, concerned that the British would take over the territory anyway. Congress approved the purchase in part due to gratitude for Russian support during the Civil War.

For years, Alaska was ridiculed as Seward’s Folly or Seward’s Icebox, until gold was found there in the late 1890s.