HIS 615 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Carpetbagger, Veto, Grandfather Clause
23 Jan 2021
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HIS 615 – Lecture 01 9/10/2020
The Place of African American in the United States – Up to the First World War
- D.W. Griffith: invented running of two parallel stories, the way films are cut – moving
from a close-up to distant scene, night filming
- Birth of a Nation: story of the civil war featuring Stoneman, a power in the house of
representatives, who lives with their two brothers and sister in Pennsylvania, and friends
with the Camerons
o At the end of the war, Stoneman wants to punish the south, hanging the leaders
and severely punish the people
▪ Lincoln stops him, but is then assassinated
o Lynch is a person of mixed race, that is sent by Stoneman to punish the south
o Stoneman wants to free the blacks and punish the whites
- The aftermath of the civil war:
o Shiploads of africans were brought over the America as slaves as a British colony
– Britain abolished it before America ever did
▪ The economy in the South depended on tobacco and cotton that needed a
lot of manual neighbor, “justifying” slavery
o Lincoln: during the civil war, her abolished slavery → he was trying to undercut
the Southern economy to make it possible for slaves to run away and join the
northern armies, to try and economically cripple the southern US
o Congress: controlled by the moderate and radical republicans post-civil war
▪ Southern states started to put restrictions in place to keep their slaves
there, and the central government controlled by Andrew Johnson (a
southerner given the presidency after Lincoln’s assassination)
• He insistent he had authority over the reconstruction program of
the US, the congress denied and over road his vetos – tried to
impeach him
• 1866: Civil rights bill: giving citizenship to all people born in the
US except Native Americans
• 1867: Reconstruction act which set up military distrcits in the
southern state → southern states could regain membership in
congress if they gave blacks the vote
• 1868: 14th amendment: guaranteed equal treatment for everyone in
the law
• 15th amendment: right to vote was extended to all citizens →
congress instructed the military to register black voters and
organize elections
- Reversal of fortunes:
o African Americans gained control of the legislature in South Carolina and had
considerable influence in other Southern states
▪ Accompanied by the carpetbaggers → took advantage of the African
American influence by manipulating governments to take money out of
the South
