01:512:104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: 39Th United States Congress, Reconstruction Era, Radical Republican
16 May 2018
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Chapter 17 - Reconstruction
The Politics of Reconstruction
- Civil War killed 600,000 + soldiers, wounded 470,000 +
- War destroyed slavery, but not racism
- New “United States” was now a singular, not plural, entity
- Federal govt took precedence over individual states
- Key issue of Reconstruction: how fed govt would relate with Confed and
freed states
The Defeated South
- By 1865, the South’s most precious commodities, cotton & slaves, no longer
valuable
- Took a generation for South’s economy to recover from the civil war
- 1860 - South = 25% of US’s wealth; 1870 - South = 12%
- White southerners hated the idea of emancipation - led to tons of racism in
the South
Abraham Lincoln’s Plan
- Lincoln based his plan for Reconstruction on bringing seceded states back
quickly
- Promised that when a Confed state’s voters reached 10% of those who had
voted in 1860, they would be allowed to form a legitimate govt.
- 10% plan
- New govt had to negotiate the abolishment of slavery
- Not a plan for Reconstruction - a bid to gain white support for emancipation
- Wade-Davis bill - required 50% of white males in a state to take a loyalty
oath before state’s constitution could be re-written
- guaranteed equality before the law for former slaves
- threatened Lincoln’s attempts to win Southern support - he vetoed it
- No one was quite sure how to redistribute Southern land among former
slaves
- Gen. Benjamin F. Butler transformed slaves into paid labourers
- Gen. William T. Sherman set aside some land exclusively for freed peoples
- 40 acres of land + loaned army mules
- March 1885 - Freedmen’s Bureau made to look after matters pertaining to
freed slaves
- Jan 1885 - 13th Amendment - promised no slavery would exist within the
United States
- Lincoln’s assassination left the issue of reconstruction to a racist, Andrew
Johnson
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Andrew Johnson and Presidential Reconstruction
- Appointed by Lincoln because he was the only Southern senator to remain
loyal
- nominated for VP in ‘64 to appear to Northern and border “War Democrats”
- Johnson believed Reconstruction was the responsibility of the executive, not
legis.
- Granted ~ 100 pardons per day in Sept. 1865 - gratified him and reinforced
class bias
- Used the term “Restoration” rather than “Reconstruction”
- Wanted to build coalition of N. Democrats, conservative Republicans, & S.
Unionists
- Opposed political rights for freedmen
The Radical Republican Vision
- Radicals firmly believed in equality in rights/opportunities for everyone
- Felt reconstruction needed a strong federal govt
- Disliked discriminating laws like the “black codes” in SC, MS, and Louis.
- Black codes reflected the Southerners’ unwillingness to adapt
- Radicals gained support from other Republicans suspicious of the whites in
the South
- 1865 - 39th Congress discovered old Confederates were back in power and
that blacks needed new protections - Two Bills Passed as a result:
- Civil Rights Bill - granted blacks full citizenship
- overturned Dred Scott decision
- made everyone born in the US an American citizen
- did not include Indians
- gave equal legal rights
- Congress also promised to give the Freedmen’s Bureau more authority
- Johnson vetoed both bills because he was a racist bastard
- Denounced the use of national power to protect black civil rights
- Johnson denounced Radicals as “anti-Unionists”
- Moderate and Radical Republicans united to override the vetoes
- June 1866 - 14th Amendment - included former slaves as national citizens
- Republicans used this as their platform in the 1866 Congressional elections
- Huge Republican majorities led for an inevitable conflict - President vs.
Congress
Congressional Reconstruction and the Impeachment Crisis
- Mar 1867 - 1st Reconstruct. Act - divided South into 5 military areas with
martial law
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Civil war killed 600,000 + soldiers, wounded 470,000 + New united states was now a singular, not plural, entity. Federal govt took precedence over individual states. Key issue of reconstruction: how fed govt would relate with confed and freed states. By 1865, the south"s most precious commodities, cotton & slaves, no longer valuable. Took a generation for south"s economy to recover from the civil war. 1860 - south = 25% of us"s wealth; 1870 - south = 12% White southerners hated the idea of emancipation - led to tons of racism in the south. Lincoln based his plan for reconstruction on bringing seceded states back quickly. Promised that when a confed state"s voters reached 10% of those who had voted in 1860, they would be allowed to form a legitimate govt. New govt had to negotiate the abolishment of slavery. Not a plan for reconstruction - a bid to gain white support for emancipation.
