History Notes on the aftermath of the American Civil War

The Baleful of Black Codes

• Series of laws passed in former slave states that regulated the lives of freedmen
• Mississippi had the harshest codes
• Former slaves were used as sharecropper farmers that resembled slavery
• Freedmen were allowed to marry, but NOT allowed on jurys OR to vote
• Repubs opposed to these codes – the question arose  - What was the war for?

Congressional Reconstruction

• South wanted congressional members in 1865, but most were former Confed. Leaders which caused much anger w/ Repubs and not allowed in
• Repubs had enjoyed a 4 years of no obstruction to their agenda in the absence of the southern Dems – they pushed thru the Morrill Tariff, Pacific RR Act and the Homestead Act  -  they did not want to give up this political advantage especially since,
• Now slaves counted as a whole person vote and would make the South more politically powerful which worried the North b/c now the South could pass laws that favored them and once again the North cried, Who won the war?
• Black Code laws were an issue that would not go away and IF the southern and northern Dems joined forces, they could out vote the Repubs in congress and undo much of their accomplishments during the Civil War
• President Johnson upset the Repubs even more when declared on Dec. 1865 that the South had satisfied the conditions of re-entering the Union

Johnson Clashes with Congress

• AJ vetoed the bill to extend the Freedmen’s Bureau which upset the Repubs who passed the Civil Rights Bill – grants blacks citizenship – strikes out the Black Codes
• AJ vetoes bill -  Congress ignores veto as they repeatedly do – clipping the President’s power
• Now Repubs turn Civ Rights bill into 14th Amendment (citizenship)
• No state would be allowed back without ratifying the 14th amendment
• AJ advised the southern states to reject

Swinging Round the Circle with Johnson

• The issue between AJ and Congress was whether or not Reconstruction would be carried out without the 14th amendment
• Election of 1866, AJ  set out on a series of “give ‘em hell” speeches Radicals of stirring up problems in the South – this was highly unpopular and Repubs swept both houses of Congress in the election

Republican Principles and Programs

• Now Repubs had veto-proof Congress and could move forward with policies
• Two factions within the Repub party (Radicals led by Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens) both dedicated to keeping the south out long enough to pass laws that would drastically change social and economic transformations in the South   - Moderates – more cautious of federal interference in citizens lives agreed with Radicals that blacks would become eligible to vote even if it meant the presence of Federal troops

Reconstruction by the Sword

• March 1867 – Congress passed the Reconstruction Act – split South into military districts which put the South under military rule
• States must ratify 14th amendment before re-entering Union
• Guarantee full suffrage for former adult male slaves
• Radical Repubs fearing that the southern state gov’t back in power would stop blacks from voting and so passed the 15th Amendment – which gives citizens the right to vote – on a Federal level -   Ratified 1870
• Military Recon. usurped the power of the president b/c Congress set up the military zones in the South – although illegal, the Supreme Court avoided challenging the Republicans Congress
• By 1870 all state gov’ts constitutions re-written and given their full rights as states in the Union
• Once the military presence left, the old South Dems were back in power  on state levels

No Women Voters

• The struggle for black freedom and women’s rights were one and the same in the eyes of many women
• When the war ended and the 13th amendment was passed feminist believed their time had come
• Feminists were angered that the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments gave rights to black males, but not to women

The Realities of Radical Reconstruction in the South

• Moderate Repubs envisioned for blacks the same status as women – citizenship without voting rights – however the South saw the determination to push thru the vote for southern blacks as hypocritical b/c minorities in the North were being denied the vote as well as many southern whites
• Blacks began to organize politically – their main vehicle was the Union League – organized effort to prepare and educate it’s Repub. Candidates for possible office holding – they built schools, churches and recruited militias to protect black communities from white retaliation
• These efforts to organize produced blacks holding political offices, but not majorities in state gov’ts HOWEVER,  black political participation increased exponentially during Reconstruction
• Scalawags – southerner who are looked at as traitors
• Carpetbaggers – northerners who took advantage of the south’s economic distress
• Although corruption was a problem in state gov’t for the first time in the South a move for adequate public, tax systems, public works and property rights guarantee for women

The Ku Klux Klan

• White southerners resorted to radical intimidation against blacks new found political power
• Founded in Tennessee in 1866
• Terrorist group that wore sheets over their heads to conceal their identity
• Congress passed the Force Acts of 1870-71 to deal with the KKK – gave the military the right to enforce laws to stop terror tactics of KKK

Johnson Walks the Impeachment Plank

• Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act in 1867 – required the President to get Senate approval to Remove any Senate-approved cabinet member
• Real purpose was to keep Stanton in office (Sec. of War)
• Johnson dismissed Stanton any way and Congress voted to impeach the President for “high crimes and misdeameanors”

A Not-Guilty Verdict for Johnson

• H of R prosecuted the president
• Johnson argued that the ACT was unconstitutional and that he dismissed Stanton to test it’s constitutionality
• 1868 – Senate voted NOT GUILTY
• Fears of creating a poor precedent and opposition to abusing checks and balances system caused the senators to vote NOT GUILTY

The Purchase of Alaska

• By 1867 Alaska was sold to US from Russia
• Rather have the US than GB have control of this area because so close to Russia
• Sold for $7.2 million
• Sec of state William Seward signed the deal even against public opinion

The Heritage of Reconstruction

• Most southerners thought Reconstruction was worse than the war itself because it’s social and political status quo
• Although former slaves were freed and given the right to vote, true reform did not take place for another 100 years