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Reconstruction 1865–1877

Reconstruction 1865–1877

CHAPTER 15 Reconstruction 1865–1877

Th is chapter covers the aft ermath of the Civil War in the 4. Th e Grant Years and Northern Disillusionment South; the batt le over Reconstruction under Lincoln, A. Th e Election of 1868 Johnson, and Congress; how black and white southern- B. Scandals ers viewed Reconstruction; Reconstruction under Grant, C. Th e Money Supply including the scandals and eventual northern disillusion- D. Financial Panic ment; and a discussion of Reconstruction’s impact on the E. Liberal Republicans nation’s future. F. White Terror G. Southern “Redeemers” CORE OBJECTIVES H. Th e 1. Identify the federal government’s major challenges in I. Th e End of Reconstruction reconstructing the South aft er the Civil War during 5. Reconstruction’s Signifi cance the period from 1865 to 1877. LECTURE IDEAS 2. Describe how and why Reconstruction policies changed over time. 1. A lecture could focus on one or more aspects of Recon- 3. Assess the att itudes of white and black southerners struction policy, emphasizing how and why each plan toward Reconstruction. diff ered from the other approaches. During wartime, 4. Analyze the political and economic factors that helped proposed the fi rst reconstruction lead to the end of Reconstruction in 1877. plan. ’s fi lmLincoln (2012), as well 5. Explain the impact of Reconstruction on the nation’s as the book it was based on, ’s future. Team of Rivals: Th e Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (2005), provides helpful information about Lincoln’s CHAPTER OUTLINE plan. Students may benefi t from a showing and dis- 1. Th e War’s Aft ermath in the South cussion of the fi lm in its entirety. David O. Stewart’s 2. Th e Batt le over Political Reconstruction Impeached: Th e Trial of and the Fight A. Lincoln’s Wartime Reconstruction Plan for Abraham Lincoln’s Legacy (2010) points out how B. Th e Freedmen’s Bureau Johnson’s plan, although strikingly similar to Lincoln’s, C. Th e Assassination of Lincoln diff ered in signifi cant ways. Congressional reconstruc- D. Johnson’s Plan tion off ered yet another approach. Th e best general E. Th e overview of the era and all the variations of presidential F. Unreconstructed Southerners and congressional reconstruction remains ’s G. Johnson’s Batt le with Congress prize-winning Reconstruction: America’s Unfi nished H. Congressional Reconstruction Revolution, 1863–1877 (updated 2014). I. Impeaching the President 2. Th e more one studies Reconstruction, the more J. Republican Rule in the South evident it becomes that the Civil War’s last batt le was 3. Reconstruction in Practice not fought in 1865. Write a lecture on the relentlessly A. Th e Reconstruction of Black Social Life violent and largely successful eff ort of white suprema- B. in Southern Politics cist ex-Confederates to reverse the progress in black C. Land, Labor, and Disappointment rights and restore the South to conservative, Demo- D. “” and “” cratic control. A great source, which concentrates E. Southern Resistance and White “Redemption” on developments in and in F. Th e Legacy of Republican Rule the early 1870s, is Nicholas Lemann’s Redemption: Th e Last Batt le of the Civil War (2007). Th is can be 1

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supplemented with LeeAnna Keith’s Th e Colfax from the fi lmTh e Outlaw Josey Wales, a fi ctionalized Massacre: Th e Untold Story of Black Power, White account of a outlaw, could be used Terror, and the Death of Reconstruction (2008) and to introduce the lecture. James Hogue’s Uncivil War: Five Street Batt les and the Rise and Fall of Radical Reconstruction IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES / FLIPPED CLASSROOM SUGGESTIONS (2006). 3. During Reconstruction hundreds of African Americans 1. Th omas Nast has been called “the Father of the served in politics. A discussion of that topic could American Cartoon,” and many of the iconic images of spark considerable discussion and comparisons with American politics owe their popularity to him. Some more recent political developments, such as the na- of his images have been reprinted in the text, and tion’s election of its fi rst African American president, many more can easily be found online. Class could be- . Philip Dray’s Capitol Men: Th e Epic gin by discussing the power of the visual image, both Story of Reconstruction through the Lives of the First then and now. Give students some prompting and Black Congressman (2008) is a collective biography guidance on how to analyze a visual image. Consider of several African American congressmen from the beginning by using a current example and discussing South. In Mississippi alone, 226 African Americans how every detail is fraught with meaning and signifi - held political offi ce during Reconstruction, includ- cance. Th en divide the class into small groups and ask ing Hiram Revels, who served as a U.S. Senator. A them to analyze the images in a select group of Nast’s lecture sharing the stories of these men would provide cartoons. Albert Boime has stated that Nast’s “impact interesting narratives, driving home the story aspect on American public life was formidable enough to of the past and how large historical movements aff ect profoundly aff ect the outcome of every presidential people’s lives, hopes, and ambitions. Such a lecture election during the period 1864 to 1884.” For more could be followed by a discussion of how the exam- on Nast and his artwork, see Donald Dewey’s Th e ples set by these people infl uence student views about Art of Ill Will: Th e Story of American Political Cartoons their own ambitions and how to help others, as well as (2007) and Fiona Deans Halloran’s Th omas Nast: Th e the obstacles one might face. Father of Modern Political Cartoon (2012). 4. Develop a lecture on the presidency of Ulysses S. 2. One way to help students understand the complex- Grant. Start with the election of 1868, and discuss his ity of Reconstruction and the multiple concerns and eff ectiveness as a campaigner and leader. Continue goals of the individuals involved is to stage a histori- with the fi nancial issues of the day and an overview cal “encounter.” Provide a list of the various entities of the culture of corruption that surrounded his involved and have students select from the names. administration. One could help students relate to and For instance, that list could include a Radical Repub- understand the issues of the past by discussing the lican, a moderate Republican, a Democrat, a former oft -recurring nature of fi nancial concerns, fraud, and plantation owner, a former non-slave-owning white race relations. See William S. McFeely’s Grant: A southerner, a Freedmen’s Bureau agent, a former Biography (2004) and Brooks D. Simpson’s Let Us slave, a black male who had been a free black before Have Peace: Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and the Civil War began, a political leader in the former Reconstruction, 1861–1868 (1997). Confederacy, a member of the U.S. military sent to 5. Students would be fascinated with a lecture that puts enforce the Military Reconstruction Act, a northern the activities of some of the most famous outlaws businessman, an African American politician, a black in American history in the context of the social and minister, and various other interest groups. Have the political turmoil that followed the Civil War. A good students come to class in character, complete with source for this is T. J. Stiles’s Jesse James: Last Rebel of costume if desired, having done background research the Civil War (2002). In this lecture, explore whether on their chosen individual. Th e instructor would then or not Jesse James was one of the classic Robin Hood act as a facilitator in gett ing the various individuals to fi gures that emerges in many diff erent countries share their perspectives and concerns. and time periods. Good sources for this are Eric 3. Only two presidents have been impeached in U.S. Hobsbawm’s Bandits (2000) and Kent Steckmesser’s history: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Neither Western Outlaws: Th e Good Badman in Fact, Film, and was convicted. Accusations have been made that Folklore (1983). Other outlaws for discussion could partisan motivations played a signifi cant role in include Cullen Baker and John Wesley Hardin. A clip

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both impeachments. Th e website htt p://memory. arguments might be used to support or oppose the loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/Impeachment-Guide.html particular memory of the era under consideration. contains several useful links to resources about For this and other classroom activities that address impeachment and the particular cases of Presidents Reconstruction, see www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ Johnson and Clinton (especially President Clinton). reconstruction/tguide/index.html. In addition, consider having students read portions of David O. Stewart’s Impeached: Th e Trial of Andrew DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Johnson and the Fight for Abraham Lincoln’s Legacy 1. What were the federal government’s major challenges (2010), as well as Richard Posner’s Aff air of State: in reconstructing the South aft er the Civil War during Th e Investigation, Impeachment and Trial of President the period from 1865 to 1877? Clinton (2000). Was impeachment justifi ed in 2. How and why did Reconstruction policies change these cases? What role did partisanship play? How over time? likely was it that either president would have been 3. What were the att itudes of white and black southern- removed from offi ce? What consequences might the ers toward Reconstruction? nation have faced if President Johnson or Clinton 4. Why did Reconstruction come to an end in 1877? had been convicted? 5. What makes the Reconstruction era signifi cant in 4. Divide the class into three groups, and have them history? What is its legacy? How did it research a specifi c Reconstruction policy: Lincoln’s impact the nation in the future? plan, Johnson’s plan, and Congressional Recon- 6. Was Reconstruction a failure? Why or why not? Who struction. See Eric Foner’s Reconstruction: America’s deserves the blame for its shortcomings or credit for Unfi nished Revolution, A. J. Langguth’s How the North its achievements? Won the War and Lost the Peace (2014), and Michael 7. If Lincoln or Johnson had the opportunity to see their L. Benedict’s A Compromise of Principle: Congres- respective Reconstruction plans through, did either sional Republicans and Reconstruction (1974). Have one (or both) have the potential to be more eff ective each group present the unique aspects of their policy, than Congressional Reconstruction? Why or why not? including its purposes and results. Th e activity could 8. Did Andrew Johnson deserve to be impeached? also be turned into a modifi ed debate by separating 9. Was it a mistake by the Radical Republicans to em- out a few students to be judges who could also ask phasize civil rights of the freedmen in their Recon- questions of the three groups presenting. Each group struction plans? Was it a mistake to deemphasize would then argue why their policy would be the best those rights as Reconstruction dragged on? option. 5. In 2004, PBS released a documentary titled Recon- PRACTICING CITIZENSHIP struction: Th e Second Civil War as part of its American Experience series. Th e website for that movie off ers With its adoption of the Th irteenth Amendment, the United a variety of classroom activities to encourage active States obliterated the remnants of slavery in this country learning. One of those activities introduces students and struck a powerful symbolic blow against this institu- to the enduring myths of Reconstruction (www. tion wherever else it existed in the world. Is it possible that pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/plantation/ slavery is still being practiced in parts of the world today, sf_myths.html). Aft er students familiarize them- legally or illegally? What forms of human traffi cking still selves with the six myths and misconceptions of the exist? Conduct research on this question to fi nd out where period that are addressed on this website, divide slavery and human traffi cking may still persist and why. them into groups representing the various Confed- Encourage students to search for organizations that are erate states. Each group should be tasked to fi nd fi ghting to put an end to slavery and human traffi cking and three examples in their respective states of particu- have them fi nd ways to contribute or get involved in their lar myths or misconceptions being perpetuated eff orts, especially in nearby areas that may be aff ected by in the present day. To fi nd examples, students are the issue. encouraged to look at war cemeteries, parks, public NORTON COURSEPACKS events, offi cial monuments to the war, and organi- zations dedicated to preserving the Confederacy’s In addition to the resources and recommendations in this memory. Each group should present its fi ndings manual, Norton provides PowerPoint slides of all the maps to the entire class, which then can discuss what and art in the chapter, additional Lecture PowerPoint slides,

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and a Test Bank. Norton Coursepack content is available for from AMERICA: Th e Essential Learning Edition, Th inking hybrid, online, or lecture courses and is designed to work with Like a Historian exercises and documents from the book, any existing learning management system. Norton Course- additional Primary Source Exercises, Guided Reading Ex- pack content is free to students and instructors and includes ercises, and more. An online reader with additional primary “offi ce hour” videos of David Shi discussing topics in each source documents and images is also available in the Norton chapter, chapter review quizzes, maps and the map questions Coursepack.

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