Passed on March 2nd, 1867, the first Military Reconstruction Act divided the ex-Confederate states into five military districts and placed them under martial law with Union Generals governing.
How did Radical Reconstruction affect the Confederacy?
May 22, 2013 · Ex-Confederates were treated fairly during Reconstruction. After the war ended, ex-Confederates who laid down their weapons were not persecuted or treated unfairly.
What did the Confederate States have to do?
Oct 28, 2009 · Reconstruction (1865-1877), the turbulent era following the Civil War, was the effort to reintegrate Southern states from the Confederacy and 4 million newly-freed people into the United States ...
What happened during the Reconstruction era?
Dec 13, 2010 · Frightening uncertainties emerged for ex slaves n the South during the process of Reconstruction. Uncertainty arose around homelessness, education, health and work, not to mention the treatment of these ex slaves, particularly by the Acts being passed, and the emergence of not only the Ku Klux Klan, but other organizations of the same nature.
What was the purpose of reconstruction after the Civil War?
The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865); it lasted from 1865 to 1877 and marked a significant chapter in the history of civil rights in the United States. Reconstruction, as directed by Congress, abolished slavery and ended the remnants of Confederate secession in the Southern states.
How did Reconstruction impact former Confederates?
What happened to former Confederates after the Civil War?
How were former Confederate leaders treated under the radical Reconstruction plan?
How was the South treated under Congressional Reconstruction?
What is an ex Confederate?
What happened after Reconstruction in the South?
What did the former Confederate states have to do in order to rejoin the Union?
What was Abraham Lincoln's plan for Reconstruction?
What was Andrew Johnson's plan for Reconstruction?
Who did freedmen's Bureau help?
Why was a plan for reconstruction of the South needed?
Why did Congress seize control of Reconstruction?
What were the achievements of the reconstruction era?
Besides the election of Southern black people to state governments and the United States Congress other achievements of the Reconstruction era include "the South’s first state-funded public school systems, more equitable taxation legislation, laws against racial discrimination in public transport and accommodations and ambitious economic development programs (including aid to railroads and other enterprises). " Despite these achievements the interpretation of Reconstruction has been a topic of controversy because nearly all historians hold that Reconstruction ended in failure, but for very different reasons.
What was the debate over reconstruction and the Freedmen's Bureau?
The debate over Reconstruction and the Freedmen's Bureau was nationwide. This 1866 Pennsylvania election poster alleged that the bureau kept the Negro in idleness at the expense of the hardworking white taxpayer. A racist caricature of an African American is depicted.
What was the reconstruction period?
The Reconstruction era, was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865); it lasted from 1865 to 1877 and marked a significant chapter in the history of civil rights in the United States.
What was the purpose of reconstruction?
Reconstruction addressed how the 11 seceding rebel states in the South would regain what the Constitution calls a " republican form of government " and be re-seated in Congress, the civil status of the former leaders of the Confederacy, and the constitutional and legal status of freedmen, especially their civil rights and whether they should be given the right to vote. Intense controversy erupted throughout the South over these issues.
What was Lincoln's plan for reconstruction?
In 1863, President Lincoln proposed a moderate plan for the Reconstruction of the captured Confederate state of Louisiana. The plan granted amnesty to rebels who took an oath of loyalty to the Union. Black freedmen workers were tied to labor on plantations for one year at a pay rate of $10 a month. Only 10% of the state's electorate had to take the loyalty oath in order for the state to be readmitted into the U.S. Congress. The state was required to abolish slavery in its new state constitution. Identical Reconstruction plans would be adopted in Arkansas and Tennessee. By December 1864, the Lincoln plan of Reconstruction had been enacted in Louisiana and the legislature sent two senators and five representatives to take their seats in Washington. However, Congress refused to count any of the votes from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee, in essence rejecting Lincoln's moderate Reconstruction plan. Congress, at this time controlled by the Radicals, proposed the Wade–Davis Bill that required a majority of the state electorates to take the oath of loyalty to be admitted to Congress. Lincoln pocket-vetoed the bill and the rift widened between the moderates, who wanted to save the Union and win the war, and the Radicals, who wanted to effect a more complete change within Southern society. Frederick Douglass denounced Lincoln's 10% electorate plan as undemocratic since state admission and loyalty only depended on a minority vote.
Who was the first Republican to pass the Reconstruction Act?
With the Radicals in control, Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts on July 19, 1867. The first Reconstruction Act, authored by Oregon Sen. George Henry Williams , a Radical Republican, placed 10 of the former Confederate states—all but Tennessee—under military control, grouping them into five military districts:
How did reconstruction affect the South?
Reconstruction changed the means of taxation in the South. In the U.S. from the earliest days until today, a major source of state revenue was the property tax. In the South, wealthy landowners were allowed to self-assess the value of their own land. These fraudulent assessments were almost valueless, and pre-war property tax collections were lacking due to property value misrepresentation. State revenues came from fees and from sales taxes on slave auctions. Some states assessed property owners by a combination of land value and a capitation tax, a tax on each worker employed. This tax was often assessed in a way to discourage a free labor market, where a slave was assessed at 75 cents, while a free White was assessed at a dollar or more, and a free African American at $3 or more. Some revenue also came from poll taxes. These taxes were more than poor people could pay, with the designed and inevitable consequence that they did not vote.
What did the Wade Davis bill do?
Congress instead passed the Wade–Davis Bill, which required half of any former Confederate state's voters to swear allegiance to the United States and also swear that they had not supported the Confederacy. The bill also ended slavery, but did not allow former slaves to vote. President Lincoln vetoed the bill.
How many pardons did Lincoln give?
During his presidency Lincoln issued 64 pardons for war-related offences; 22 for conspiracy, 17 for treason, 12 for rebellion, 9 for holding an office under the Confederacy, and 4 for serving with the rebels.
What is the 10th Confederate?
Tenth – All persons who left their homes within the jurisdiction and protection of the United States and passed beyond the Federal military lines into the so-called Confederate States, for the purpose of aiding the rebellion.
What did Andrew Johnson's attitude toward Confederate leaders mean?
Andrew Johnson. As Johnson assumed the presidency, his attitude toward Confederate leaders seemed to signify punishment and prosecution for the rebellion. Many southern leaders fled the United States, going to Mexico, Canada, Europe and other countries. He doubled the number of exempted classes that had been exempted by Lincoln.
What did Lincoln do in 1863?
Abraham Lincoln. On December 8, 1863, in his annual message to Congress, President Lincoln outlined his plans for reconstruction of the South, which included terms for amnesty to former Confederates. A pardon would require an oath of allegiance, but it would not restore ownership to former slaves, or restore confiscated property which involved ...
When did the Confederate surrender?
Under the terms of surrender for the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 10 , 1865, General Ulysses S. Grant stipulated that "each officer and man will be allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside". On May 5 the parole was extended so that soldiers from the 11 Confederate states, plus West Virginia, would be allowed to return home on their paroles but that "all who claim homes in the District of Columbia and in States that never passed the Ordinance of Secession ( Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri included) have forfeited them and can only return thereto by complying with the Amnesty Proclamation of the president and obtaining special permission from the War Department".
What is the sixth person?
Sixth – All who have engaged in any way in treating otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war persons found in the United States service, as officers, soldiers, seamen, or in other capacities. Seventh – All persons who have been or are absentees from the United States for the purpose of aiding the rebellion.
What did Lincoln say to his cabinet members in April 1865?
As noted earlier in this article, Lincoln suggested to his cabinet members early in April 1865 that the entire Confederate cabinet be allowed to escape the United States. In Lincoln’s view, if there were no Confederate leaders within the Union’s borders, there would be no need for a trial dealing with the legality of secession.
What did Lincoln say to the Confederate leaders?
Sherman, and to his own cabinet at his last meeting with them on April 14, that he wanted the top Confederate leaders to escape the country. In two separate meetings separated by just over two weeks, Lincoln, when asked what should be done with the Confederate leaders should they be captured, told a story of how a man would not object to someone slipping some liquor into his lemonade if it was unbeknownst to him.
Where did the Confederate army stop fighting?
by Clint Johnson. The fighting stopped at the Battle of Palmito Ranch, near Brownsville, Texas, on May 13, 1865, but before the details of occupation and Reconstruction could be developed, the nation faced the immediate issue of what to do with the prominent Confederate leaders, civilian and military, who had led the Confederacy out of the Union.
What did Lee think about the South?
On February 17, 1866, Lee was called before a House committee to get his opinions on what The South thought about future wars with foreign countries, and about the right of secession. Over two hours of testimony Lee politely answered questions, most of which asked his opinion rather than answer any specific charges. When asked if he thought Southerners believed they had the right to secede, Lee replied: “I think they considered the act of the state as legitimate; that they were merely using the reserved right to which they had a right to do….the act of Virginia in withdrawing from the United States carried me along as a citizen of Virginia, and that her laws and her acts were binding on me.” [6]
What was the name of the prison camp where the Union soldiers were arrested?
The commandant of Camp Sumter, the prison camp for Union soldiers at Andersonville, Georgia, was arrested on May 7, 1865 at the camp. He was taken to Washington and charged with intentionally mistreating the Union prisoners under his charge in 1864.
Where did the shootings take place in 1865?
Picture courtesy of: The Library of Congress. Technically, the shooting stopped at the Battle of Palmito Ranch, near Brownsville, Texas, on May 13, 1865. Except for the occupying Union forces stationed around the South for nearly a decade during Reconstruction, most of the common soldiers on both sides put down their muskets and headed home.
When did the President give his second inaugural address?
When he gave his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865, a time when all remaining Confederate armies were clearly inferior to overwhelming Union forces, the President seemed to imply that he was ready to welcome the rebelling states back with open arms.
Why did the Confederate States lose their right to vote?
The Confederate States of America's leadership lost their right to vote because they lost their citizenship by committing treason.
What did the Military Reconstruction Act protect?
The Military Reconstruction Act also protected the voting rights and physical safety of African Americans exercising their rights as citizens of the United States.
What did Lincoln's measures allow the South to do?
Congress felt that Lincoln's measures would allow the South to maintain life as it had before the war. Their measure required a majority in former Confederate states to take an Ironclad Oath, which essentially said that they had never in the past supported the Confederacy. The bill passed both houses of Congress on July 2, 1864, but Lincoln pocket vetoed it, and it never took effect.
What was the President's plan for reconstruction?
Johnson's plan also called for loyalty from ten percent of the men who had voted in the 1860 election. In addition, the plan called for granting amnesty ...
What did the 1860 Voters pledge to do?
and pledged to abide by emancipation, voters could then elect delegates to draft new state constitutions and establish state governments.
Why did Lincoln put forth the emancipation plan?
It was put forth in hopes that it would give incentive to shorten the war and strengthen his emancipation goals, since it promised to protect private property , not including slaves.
What was the backlash in the South?
Backlash occurred in the South in the form of the Black Codes. Passed in 1865 and 1866 in Southern states after the Civil War, these Codes severely restricted the new-found freedoms of the formerly enslaved people, and it forced them to work for low or no wages.
What was the sharecropping system in the Reconstruction era?
In the Reconstruction-era United States, sharecropping was one of few options for penniless freedmen to conduct subsistence farming and support themselves and their families. Other solutions included the crop-lien system (in which the farmer was extended credit for seed and other supplies by the merchant), the rent-labor system (in which former slaves rented land but kept the entire crop), and the wage system (in which the worker earned a fixed wage, but kept none of his crop).
What was the name of the agency that aided distressed freedmen during the Reconstruction era?
Freedmen’s Bureau: A U.S. federal government agency that aided distressed freedmen (freed slaves) in 1865–1869, during the Reconstruction era of the United States; also known as “The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.”
What was the period of reconstruction?
Reconstruction: A period of U.S. history, from 1865 to 1877 , during which the nation tried to resolve the status of the ex-Confederate states, the ex-Confederate leaders, and freedmen (ex-slaves) after the American Civil War.
What did Johnson say about the invasion of the United States?
Johnson said it was an invasion by federal authority of the rights of the United States. It had no warrant in the Constitution and was contrary to all precedents. The Democratic Party, proclaiming itself the party of white men, North and South, supported Johnson. However, the Republicans in Congress overrode his veto.
What did radical Republicans do?
Radical Republicans strongly opposed slavery during the war and after the war distrusted ex-Confederates, demanding harsh policies for punishing the former rebels, and emphasizing equality, civil rights, and voting rights for the freedmen. By 1866, the Radical Republicans supported federal civil rights for freedmen, which President Johnson opposed. By 1867, they defined terms for suffrage for freed slaves and limited early suffrage for many ex-Confederates. While Johnson opposed the Radical Republicans on some issues, the decisive congressional elections of 1866 gave the Radicals enough votes to enact their legislation over Johnson’s vetoes. Through elections in the South, ex-Confederate officeholders were gradually replaced with a coalition of freedmen, Southern whites (scalawags), and Northerners who had resettled in the South (carpetbaggers).
What is a Scalawag?
In U.S. history, “scalawag” was a term used for white Southerners who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party after the Civil War. Like “carpetbagger,” the term “scalawag” has a long history of use as a slur. Typically, it was used by conservative, pro-federation Southerners to derogate individuals whom they viewed as betraying Southern values by supporting Northern policies such as desegregation. In historical studies, the term is commonly used as a neutral descriptor for Southern white Republicans, but some historians have discontinued this habit because of the term’s pejorative origin.
What was the effect of the decreasing price of cotton on the agricultural economy?
The decreasing price of cotton kept the agricultural economy at a low. White supremacist paramilitary organizations, allied with Southern Democrats, used intimidation, violence, and assassinations to repress blacks and prevent them from exercising their civil rights in elections from 1868 until the mid-1870s.
Overview
Abraham Lincoln
On December 8, 1863, in his annual message to Congress, President Lincoln outlined his plans for reconstruction of the South, which included terms for amnesty to former Confederates. A pardon would require an oath of allegiance, but it would not restore ownership to former slaves, or restore confiscated property which involved a third party. The pardon excluded office holders of the Confederate governmentor persons who had mistreated prisoners. Congress, however, objecte…
Andrew Johnson
As Johnson assumed the presidency, his attitude toward Confederate leaders seemed to signify punishment and prosecution for the rebellion. Many southern leaders fled the United States, going to Mexico, Canada, Europe and other countries. He doubled the number of exempted classes that had been exempted by Lincoln. Johnson's proclamation of May 29, 1865, for example, did not inclu…
See also
• List of people pardoned or granted clemency by the president of the United States
Further reading
• William A. Blair (2014). With Malice toward Some: Treason and Loyalty in the Civil War Era. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-1469614052.
• Jonathan Truman Dorris (1953). Pardon and Amnesty under Lincoln and Johnson, The Restoration of the Confederates to Their Rights and Privileges, 1861-1898. University of North Carolina Press.
External links
• Zebley, Kathleen Rosa, Rebel Salvation: The Story of Confederate Pardons, Doctoral Dissertation, Univ. of Tennessee Knoxville, 1998