The Legacy of War
• 360,000 Union soldiers & 260,000 Confederate soldiers died over 520,000 total were wounded • 3,000,000 of the nation’s 31,000,000 were still occupied by military service (disrupted education, careers & families) • Civil War was considered to be the 1st “modern” war • new rifles, bullets, hand grenades & land mines • Monitor (N) & Merrimack (S), ironclad ships(stand-off, the era of wooden ship fighting was over) • a combined $3.3 bil. Was spend on the war (4 yrs) • 20 yrs later 2/3 of the federal budget still went to pay interest payments on the war debt & veterans’ pensions
• Constitutional amendment abolishing slavery: 13th Amendment – “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist within the US”
• Many political leaders returned to civilian life • Civilians tried to return to farm, market and village but many left for large, growing cities to seek opportunities • Walt Whitman, a nurse & poet, wrote 2 books of war poetry & Lincoln “Oh Captain! My Captain” • Clara Barton returned to the US and est. the American Red Cross in 1881
• the assassination of Lincoln while seeing the British Comedy “Our American Cousin” @ Ford’s theatre in Washington; John Wilkes Booth, a southern sympathizer shot him in the back of the head, just like an action flick he jumped down from the box, broke his leg & escaped after shouting “sic semper tyrannis” “thus be it ever to tyrants” he was taken 12 days later, being smoked out, shot & dragged from a tobacco shed • 1st assassinated President, nearly 7 million (1/3 of the Union pop) turned out for his casket journey “martyr”
Now to face 2 major problems: how to restore Southern states to the Union & how to integrate 4 mil. newly freed African American slaves into national life
Reconstruction • Andrew Johnson succeeded Lincoln as President • 1865-1877 • Lincoln’s 10% Plan –pardon all Confederate soldiers who swear allegiance to the Union & agree to follow laws • 10% pardoned so state could form a govt. & send reps to Congress • Goal was to make return of S quick & easy
• Radical Republicans • advocates of abolition & the war • pushed for laws ensuring African-American rights • Wade-Davis Bill -Congress responsible for Reconstruction • maj. had to take an oath to rejoin the Union • Lincoln pocket vetoed the bill causing confrontation • Johnson’s Plan “Presidential Reconstruction” declared all states (Alab, FL, GA, Missi., NC, SC & TX) could join, • secession illegal • oath of allegiance • ratify the 13th Amendment • ignored slaves rights • recall Charles Sumner? Beaten on the floor of the Senate by Brooks…Sumner & Thaddeus Stevens were radicals who wanted to destroy all political power of former slaveholders. No other country who had abolished slavery had given A. Americans suffrage & these men though America should be 1st • in 1865, Radical Republicans disputed Johnson’s claims that reconstruction was over, many southern states were the same as they were when the war ended • Congress voted to expand the Freedmen’s Bureau – organization that assisted formed slaves and poor whites by distributing food, clothing & setting up hospitals, schools, industrial institutes & teacher-training institutes • Civil Rights Act of 1866 – granted citizenship to A.Americans & made Black Codes illegal –black codes were discriminatory laws passed in the S that severely restricted A.Americans (incl. prohibiting carrying weapons, renting farmland & marrying whites…) Johnson Vetoed (alienated many pol. groups) • 14th Amendment – granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the US • males, did not say blacks specifically but a state preventing them from doing so would lose an equal percentage of seats Reconstruction Act of 1867 –divided all Confederate states, except TN into 5 military districts headed by Union gens. states would
• 13th Amendment • Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude except as punishment for convicted crime…shall exist within the US
• 14th Amendment • granted citizenship to all peop9le born or naturalized in the US (1868)
• 15th Amendment • stated no one could be denied the right to vote due to “race, color, or previous condition of servitude” (*not gender) • Republican govts. worked to rebuild the shattered south • public works programs (bridges, railroads, orphanages, institutions etc…) • social services • increased taxes • Republican party splits • Carpetbaggers –Northerners who moved S after the war (to help, to profit…) • Scalawags –White Southerners who joined the Rep. party to profit economically, politically or encourage industry • African Americans –supported the Rep. party committed to civil rights & suffrage • Newly Freed Slaves • major adjustments just for SURVIVAL • Freedom meant movement: leaving plantations for cities, searching for displaced family, marriages, education, churches, volunteer organizations, politics = DESEGREGATION • Hiram Revels -1st Af. Am. Sen. • Southern Economy • African Americans promised land –couldn’t afford to purchase “40 acres & a mule” • Southern Homestead Act (1866) –attempted to rebuild the plantation system –set aside 44 mil acres but it was swamp, unsuitable for farming & the blacks had no tools etc… • Restoration of plantations: • Sharecropping –landowner divided land & provided seeds & tools, portion of harvest went to land owner • Tenant farming –after building-up enough to but their own tools, farmers could rent the land; difficult as goods were expensive & purchased on credit • Cotton no longer the key cash crop • Democrats regain strength in the South –redemption
• KKK: • Klu Klux Klan est in TN by 2 Confed. (1866); Southern whites who use terror to win back white supremacy…still active today
What do you think about this? Should they have freedom of speech?
• Violence & threats kept Af. Ams from voting & allowed Democrats to win in several southern states by 1875
• Enforcement Acts: passed by Congress to stop Klan violence & Democratic intimidation tactics • caused a decrease in Klan activity • Amnesty Act (1872): returned the right to vote and hold federal offices to former Confederates causing a shift in power • Freedman’s Bureau comes to an end • Republican Party Scandals • Credit Mobilier scandal –Rep. incl. Grant’s VP skimmed large amounts of $ from govt. railroad contract • Whiskey Ring –officials accepted bribes from whiskey distillers in exchange for not collecting taxes from these distillers • Liberal Republican Party –(1872) caused a split in the Republican Party weakening the Radical Republicans and their Reconstruction plans • “Panic” or Depression of 1873 • results from borrowing too much too fast, companies collapse & go bankrupt • currency becomes a key issue distracting the govt. greenbacks v. gold standard
• Supreme Court Decisions weakened the impact of the 14th & 15th Amendments • Northern support fades as they become weary of Southern problems and the question over Af. Am’s place in society • Political Shift… • Election of 1876 –Hayes v. Tilden • Tilden 1 vote short of electoral req. 20 disputed • Rep. dominated; committee resolved situation by giving election to Hayes • Compromise of 1877 –final blow to Reconstruction • withdrawal of all fed troops • fed $ to build a railroad & improve lines • appoint a southern consv. To Hayes’ cabinet • Home Rule –south able to run their govt. without fed. Interference • redeemers –passed laws to restrict Af. Ams. Lowered taxed, cut social programs etc… Failure of Reconstruction “Success” of Reconstruction
• Repub. Parties couldn’t • Af. American participation in continue support to make ALL levels of govt. reforms • public school systems (& other • Rad. Rep parties unwilling state govt. successes) to provide former slaves w/ economic support • Af. Am est. families & institutions such as schools & • Racial biases churches
• Panic of 1873 (eco fear) • Redistribution of land disbursed from plantations • Supreme Court undermined power of 14th & 15th Amnds. • 14th & 15th Amnds. helping Af. Am attain full civil rights in 20th C.
Migration & Industrialization 1877-1917 (Ch. 13) Changes on the Western Frontier: Cultures Clash on the Prairie
•Pressure of advancing white settlement: views of land use & ownership • legislating Indian life: reservations, treaties & legal status