IB US History HL - Reconstruction (1865 - 1877)

Basic History

• Southern Democrat Andrew Johnson is elected president
• Lincoln originally put Johnson as his running mate to show he is willing to listen to the South
• As president, Johnson became lenient on what states could and could not rejoin the Union, which angered radical republicans

• Johnson’s new requirements were: Ratify the 13th amendment, pay war debt, and swear loyalty to the Union

• The Union faced a challenge in deciding what to do with former confederate leaders such as Robert E. Lee as well as what should happen when southerners voted confederate politicians to congress

• They decided to not seat the voted politicians

• Carpetbagger - A term for a Northern Republican who wants to take advantage of the south, they would take all their belongings south in bags made of carpet

• They would move south to gain votes from freed slaves

• Scalawag - Term for a white southerner who joins the Northern republican party for financial or political gain

Political Turmoil

• Southern States limited black votes which led to former confederates being elected to congress
• Johnson was sent 2 bills: The Freedman’s Bureau and Civil Right’s Bill

• Freedman’d Bureau aimed to help freed slaves and refugees of war

• President Johnson vetoed both, but congress overturned
• Johnson was not an abolitionist, he was a unionist and initially joined the senate to stops states from seceding
• He realized slavery had to end in order for the Union to, well, unite
• Remember the federal and state governments have separation of powers

• Johnson believed in states’ rights but saw slavery as a national issue

Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1887

• The Bill passed Johnson’s veto and led to a large number of black voters in the 1870s, which led to black congressmen
• Johnson’s leniency created a rift between him and congress
• A political cartoon from 1867 shows a black man voting as others, including Johnson, look at him angrily

Reconstruction Act (RA) of 1867

• The RA divided the South into 5 military districts
• It also outlined how governments based on universal male suffrage were to be organized
• Troops were sent from the Union army to ensure everything went as planned
• Southern whites got angry as they were now on the same level as black people, they were both in a “poor equality”

• This then spurred political and economic disenfranchisement

Andrew Johnson Impeachment

• Congress impeached Johnson in 1868 after finding his actions an abuse of power
• WHat is an impeachable offense? Whatever congress decides is
• Johnson removed the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, over a disagreement on military districts
• Johnson granted full amnesty to past and future crimes regarding the Civil War
• He believed he could get the democratic nomination to run for president
• 14th Amendment - July 9, 1868 - People born in the U.S. are naturalized citizens, all are granted equal protection under the law

• A.k.a. The citizenship for slaves amendment

• Radical Reconstruction - Began in 1867, Ulysses S. GRant is elected in 1868
• 15th Amendment - February 3, 1870 - prohibited voting exclusion based on race, third and final reconstruction amendment
• Panic of 1873 - Financial Crisis in Europe and North America

• Southern states limit black vote with poll taxes and literacy tests
• This also limited poor uneducated whites, which was remedied by the grandfather clause (a law stating that if your grandpa could vote, you can too)