Reconstruction and African American experience (1865-1890) Flashcards

1
Q

Approximately, there were (…) freedmen following the end of slavery

A

4m

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2
Q

3

Describe CW background to slavery

A
  • 1861-65
  • Sectional differences
  • Southern economy dependent on slavery/sharecroppers
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3
Q

3

Describe the 3 major Reconstruction amendments

A
  • the abolition of slavery (13th)
  • granting the freed slaves citizenship (14th)
  • the right to vote (15th)
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4
Q

6

Describe Reconstruction under Lincoln

A
  • Proposed very limited suffrage for AAs - had openly discussed voluntary emigration to Africa, Caribbean, etc
  • Sent 13th amendment through Congress pre-Southern defeat over fears Southern senators may object
  • Vetoed Wade Davis Plan
  • Set up Ten Percent Plan
  • Set up Freedmen’s Bureau for one year in March 1865
  • Assassinated by Booth in April 1865 six days after war ended
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5
Q

4

Describe the Wade Davis and Ten Percent Plan

A
  • Voters must take Ironclad Oath
  • Wade Davis Plan - Set bar at 50% for state readmission
  • Vetoed by Lincoln over fears federal relations would be strained
  • Ten Percent Plan - set at 10% to swear oath of allegiance
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6
Q

4

Describe the Freedmen’s Bureau

A
  • Set up by lincoln in March 1865
  • Provided legal and financial advice
  • Resources were meagre and spread thin
  • Programme set up for just one year - not renewed by Johnson
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7
Q

4

Describe key events of Johnson’s presidency

A
  • Civil Rights Bill 1866
  • The 14th Amendment
  • Attempted impeachment in 1868
  • Congress for Radical Reconstruction (e.g. Military Reconstruciton Bill 1867)
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8
Q

6

Describe Johnson’s attitude to Reconstruction

A
  • Opposed to RR and preferred restoration
  • Southener - Dem VP on National Unity Candidate in 1864
  • For him, Southern states had never left union and thus no reason to exclude them from political decision making
  • May 1865, issued general pardon for those who swore Ironclad Oath and recognised govt of Virginia (set up under 10% Plan)
  • For him, only passage of 13th amendment and repayment of Confederate debt remained (USA subsumed debt)
  • Expected republican party to dissolve and he would lead new conservative party
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9
Q

3

Describe the treatment of Southern leaders

A
  • Rebel president Jefferson Davis was imprisoned for only 2 years
  • General Robert E. Lee lost his estate in Virginia, but lived as a free man for the rest of his life
  • Southern electors vehemently voted for old confederate leaders e.g. Confederate VP, Alexander H. Stephens, was elected as a Senator of Georgia in 1882
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10
Q

5

Describe Black Codes

A
  • Laws issued in Southern states between 1865-66
  • Restricted freemen’s rights to buy property, conduct business, made black children work as apprentices on plantations, etc
  • Argued black people needed discipline to live newly freed lives - echo of paternalistic justification of slavery
  • Newly passed penalties for murder, rape and arson applied almost exclusively to black criminals
  • undone by 14th amendment and RR congress - but set precedent for JC laws
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11
Q

5

Describe the Civil Rights Bill, 1866

A
  • A proposed bill would have strengthened Freedmen’s Bureau
  • Johnson sided with Dems in vetoeing bill
  • Moderate Republicans introduced Civil Rights Bill to guarantee black people minimum rights
  • vetoed by Johnson in April 1866
  • Congress overrided the presidential veto (by ⅔ majority in both Houses)
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12
Q

5

Describe the terms of 14th amendment

A
  • Designed to enshrine Civil Rghts Bill 1866 into constitution
  • Stated that people born in the USA or who were naturalised were US citizens
  • All citizens were guaranteed equality before the law
  • Gave federal authorities the right to intervene if individual states contravened its rules
  • Ratified 1668, 2 years after congress passage
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13
Q

3

Describe the opposition to the 14th amendment

A
  • Johnson urged southern states to reject it
  • The amendment was rejected by all ex-Confederate states bar Tennessee
  • Had failed to get approval of 75% of states necessary to become law

Tennessee is Johnson’s home state

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14
Q

4

Describe Radical Republican legislation in Congress

A
  • Iniitiated to ensure 14th amendment passage
  • Military Reconstruction Bill 1867 - imposed military rule on 10 confederate states that rejected amendment until they set up National Conventions to accept amendment and black suffrage
  • Command of Army Act 1867 - reduced Johnson’s control over military to strengthen military reconstruction bill
  • Tenure of Office Act 1867 - prevented Johnson from removing swarm of RR office-holders, namely Sec of War Edwin Stanton
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15
Q

4

Describe the impeachment of Johnson

A
  • Johnson ignored Tenure of Office Act and dismissed Stanton in 1868
  • 11 articles of impeachment brought forward by Republicans
  • 35 for, 19 against - 1 short of 2/3 supermajority
  • Johnson remained in office, but his credibility was destroyed
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16
Q

5

Name some key events from the presidency of Grant

A
  • White terrorists
  • Legal discrimination
  • Final policies of reconstruction (15th Amendment, Ku klux klan laws, Civil Rights Act 1875)
  • The failure of radical reconstruction
  • Many scandals
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17
Q

4

Describe the 1868 election

A
  • Reconstruction election
  • Grant vs Seymour
  • Grant won 3/4 of all states - but only won 300k more votes than Seymour
  • Showed Republican strategists how vital were the Southern AA votes
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18
Q

3

Describe the 15th amendment (Grant)

A
  • Passed by Congress in 1869, ratified 1870
  • prohibited disenfranchisement of AAs
  • However, individual states could decide who could register to vote
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19
Q

5

Describe the ‘White Terror’

A
  • KKK’s violent actions grew - had formed in 1865 in Tennessee
  • Other militias/groups like White League in Louisiana
  • Lynching became prevalent
  • Actions made troop intervention essential for AA protection
  • Federal Govt passed Ku Klux Klan laws
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20
Q

2

Describe the Ku Klux Klan laws 1870-71

A
  • Federal Govt passed 3 Enforcement Acts (Ku Klux Klan laws) in 1870-71 to strengthen provisions of 14/15th amendment
  • Acts banned intimidation or bribery of black voters
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21
Q

4

Describe the Civil Rights Act 1875

A
  • Guarantee equal treatment in issues such as jury service and public transport
  • Internal debates in Republican party about potential state interference (hence why it took years to pass after being initially proposed in 1870)
  • Grant supported measure, but by 1875 RR policies were losing momentum
  • SC deemed Act unconstitutional in 1883
22
Q

5

Describe opposition to RR governments in the South

A
  • ‘Scalawags’ - white Southerers who supported Rc policies
  • ‘Carpetbaggers’ - opportunistic Northerners seeking political/financial gain
  • RR govts despised as they threatened the ‘cause’
  • Govts often corrupt and inefficient
  • Southern Dems referred to themselves as the ‘Redeemers’
23
Q

3

Describe limitations to complaints about Southern political treatment post-CW

A
  • No major confiscation of property occurred
  • Carpetbagger influence exagurrated - At no point did Northeners make up more than 2% of the population of an ex-Confederate state
  • Corruption was commonplace across USA (i.e. Grant Presidency)
24
Q

3

Describe the end of RR Governments

A
  • State readmission meant Dems gained ground on temporarily dominant Republicans state legislatures
  • Tennessee had Democrat control from as early as 1869
  • By 1876, only LA, FL and SC had Republican control - though this was changed by compromise of 1877
25
# 2 Describe the violence in Louisiana
* 1868 election - sustained violence by white terrorists killed 1000, most of whom black freeden * Colfax Massacre 1873 saw 3 whites and about 150 pro-Republican freedmen unjustly killed
26
# 4 Describe the failure of radical reconstruction
* Democrat control was restored in several Southern states between 1870-75 * Corruption and scandals (e.g. Tweed Ring) detracted from RR * Split in Repubican party between liberal republicans opposed to military supression and RRs by 1877 * Hayes Compromise 1877
27
# 2 Describe the Amnesty Act 1872
* Aproved by Grant * Allowed many ex-confederates (150k ex-Confederate troops) to return to political life after being disqualified under prior laws
28
# 5 Describe the 1876 election
* Hayes vs Tilden * Compromise candidate Hayes promised contradictory policies of 'home rule' in South and protection of political/civil rights of AAs * Pop vote: Tilden 4.2m, Hayes 4m * Elec college: 185 Hayes, 184 Tilden * 20 contested electoral college votes in South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana on account of disenfranchisement of mainly Republican-black voters
29
# 3 Describe the agreement of the Hayes Compromise 1877
* Congress convened a special commission on 15 members (7 Rep, 7 Dem and 1 Ind) - the independent candidate resigned and was replaced by a Republican * Predictably, the commission voted in favour of Hayes becoming president, by 8 votes to 7 * Democrats threatened to filibuster certification of result
30
# 4 Describe the effects of the Hayes Compromise 1877
* Dems agreed to compromise in return for 'home rule' and withdrawal of federal troops (+ federal aid to railroad/public works programmes) * Dems won major concession - easy to promise freedmen equality and not deliver * Took all force out of Enforcement Acts and similar legislation * Ended Reconstruciton era - heralded in Jim Crow system
31
# 3 Describe political **progress** in AA situation (1865-90)
* Temporary black majority in South Carolina legislature * 2 black senators and 20 black representatives went to Congress * Taxes went up in Southern states to fund in part RR social programmes
32
# 5 Describe political **limitations** in AA situation (1865-90)
* The Republican Party would often put forward white candidates to attract white voters, having been guaranteed of African-American votes * Hayes Compromise 1877 * Rapidly declining interest in AA affairs * President Arthur held little interest * Election of Democrat Cleveland in 1884, who was keen to not offend white support base
33
# 4 Describe **progress** in the franchise of AAs (1865-90)
* Black office-holding during Rc * Passage of 15th amendment * Greater possibility of franchise in North * Swung election in 1868 and 1876
34
# 3 Describe **limitations** in the franchise of AAs (1865-90)
* Voter suppression in South (e.g. 1868 and 1876 elecs) * 15th amendment exploited as did not outlaw discrimination in voting on account of gender/property * By 1910, AA vote all but wiped out in South
35
# 3 Describe **progress** in the employment of African-Americans (1865-90)
* Some employment in railroads and lumbering * Free from day to day supervision of slavery * Slow movement towards land ownership - by 1910 25% of black farmers owned their land and the standard of living was rising
36
# 5 Describe **limitations** in the employment of African-Americans (1865-90)
* Sharecropping system in South * Very little land redistributed to ex-slaves * ⅔ of crops were handled by black Americans and ⅓ by the poor whites, yet the white people still received a higher compensation * Freedmen's Savings Bank went bust during panic of 1873 - hundreds of black investors sent back into poverty * Frequently barred from Trade Unions in North (e.g. AFL founded 1886)
37
# 4 How did the sharecropping system work?
* Tenant farmers use land and are provided with resources * white landowner takes portion of crop produced * White plantation owners insisted they continued to grow cotton/tobacco * Essentially force AAs to work on plantations
38
# 4 Describe **progress** in AA education (1865-90)
* Increased education rate during Reconstruction era (6x more South Carolinian black children went to school in 1870 than 1860) * Tuksegee institute, a university to promote AA learning, opened in 1881 and led by Booker T Washington * Number of black children in schools in USA had doubled between 1877 and 1887 * Mostly integrated schools in North-East
39
# 4 Describe **limitations** in AA education (1865-90)
* Only ⅖ of eligible black children were enrolled between 1877-87 * Southern black schools poorly supplied and financed, often lacking bare essentials of desks and blackboards * White schools had longer terms * Fears educated black class would destroy caste system
40
# 4 Describe **progress** in AA migration (1865-90)
* Emancipation gave AAs right to migrate * Between 1870 and 1900, the USA’s black population almost doubled from 4.4m to 7.9m * Black population in North and West doubled from 460k to 910k, with migration in search of better job opps accounting for half the increase * Strong black culture began developing in North (e.g. Harlem emerged as black ghetto in 1880s)
41
# 2 Describe **limitations** in AA migration (1865-90)
* Majority of AAs remained in South * Intensfied Northern racial tensions
42
# 3 Describe segregation (1865-90)
* Not legal, but economic segregation in North * Between 1887 and 1891, **8 Southern states** adopted formal segregation through rapidly developing **Jim Crow laws**, 3 of them extending this to waiting room facilities * Social Darwinism used as justification
43
# 4 Describe Jim Crow Laws in the South (1865-90)
* Enforced racial segregation in Southern states * Institutionalised: SC denied *The Civil Rights Cases* that individuals’ access to public accommodation deserved statutory protection against racial discrimination in 1883 * Cross-racial cohabitation strictly forbidden * In Atlanta, given different bible to swear on in court
44
# 3 Describe opposition to Jim Crow Laws in the North (1865-90)
* Ohio and New Jersey (1884) passed civil rights laws following other states * by 1895, 17 states had civil rights legislation * however statutes were weak, with few penalties and weak enforcement
45
# 3 Describe white terrorism (1865-90)
* Growth of KKK (1865-) and other groups * KKK -> Colfax Massacre 1873 * Lynching
46
# 6 Describe lynching (1865-90)
* Commonplace in Rc; reached height in Gilded Age * between 1882 and 1899, 2.5k men and women lynched * 'justice without trial' * Public events where even children watched * Police/state govt did little to intervene * Cases against lynching rarely brought to court, and all-white juries would not convict
47
What was special about Hiram Rhodes Revels?
Became first AA senator, taking ex-confederate President Jefferson Davis' old seat in Mississippi in 1870
48
# 2 Outline a fact that shows the decline in Southern political success after the CW
* Between 1788-1860, Southerners had held the presidency for 50 years * from 1864-1912, there was just one elected Southern president
49
# 3 List the 3 scandals under Grant
* Black Friday 1869 * Tweed Ring - $45m stolen through Tammany Hall (detracted from Rc efforts) * Whiskey Ring Scandal 1875
50
# 3 Describe Black Friday 1869
* Group of speculators attempted to influence the government and manipulate the gold market. * Failed plot triggered gold panic * Grant’s reputation suffered because he had become personally associated with two of the speculators, Fisk and Gould, prior to the scandal
51
# 4 Describe the Whiskey Ring Scandal 1875
* Network of distillers, distributors and public officials * Conspired to defraud the federal government out of millions of liquor tax revenue * Grant’s private secretary Babcock, was indicted in the scandal * Grant helped acquit babcock