APUSH Unit 7- Chapter Guide/Lecture Notes

Transcription

1 APUSH Unit 7- Chapter Guide/Lecture Notes Chapter 22 I. America after the Civil War A. Effects of the war on the nation as a whole- 630,000+ lives lost; South s economy and landscape devastated B. Republican legislation- in the absence of its southern members, the wartime Congress centralized the national power and enacted the Republican economic agenda 1. Morrill Tariff- doubled the average level of import duties 2. National Banking Act- created a uniform system of banking and bank-note currency and helped finance the war 3. Subsidies for north-central transcontinental railroad (Omaha, NB to Sacramento, CA) 4. Homestead Act of Congress provided free federal homesteads of 160 acres to settlers, who had only to occupy the land for five years to gain title 5. Morrill Land Grant Act of each state would receive 30,000 acres of federal land per member of Congress from the state; sale of some of the land provided funds to create agriculture and mechanic arts colleges C. Wartime devastation of the South 1. Much private and public property destroyed 2. Confederate currency and bonds worthless 3. $4 billion invested in labor-the slaves-wiped out 4. Problems of postwar agriculture- cotton and tobacco took years to gain prewar production; rice and hemp never regained D. A transformed South- many planters left destitute and homeless; imbedded hatred of the Yankees E. Special problems of the freedmen 1. Though free, the former slaves had little with which to make a living; false rumors of forty acres and a mule spread across the South 2. The Freedmen's Bureau 1. Set up March 3, 1865 within the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands to provide such issues of provisions, clothing, and fuel as might be needed to relieve destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen and their wives and children ; it was the first federal experiment in social welfare, albeit temporary 2. Negotiated labor contracts (new for both blacks and white planters), provided medical care, and set up schools; racial prejudice in the South thwarted efforts of the Freedmen s Bureau to protect and assist former slaves

2 II. Lincoln and Reconstruction A. Lincoln's lenient 10 percent plan 1. In late 1863, President Lincoln issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction; any former Rebel state could form a Union gov t whenever a number equal to 10 percent of those who voted in 1860 took an oath of allegiance to the Constitution and the Union and had received a presidential pardon; participants also had to swear support for laws and proclamations dealing with emancipation 2. Excluded Confederate officials, senior Confederate naval and army officers, judges, congressmen, and others from a pardon B. Loyal governments appeared in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana, but were not recognized by Congress --- where does the authority lie? C. Arguments by Lincoln and Congress for authority over Reconstruction a. Lincoln argued it fell under the presidential power to grant pardons and the obligation to guarantee each state a republican form of gov t; Congress argued it fell under their powers D. The stricter Wade-Davis bill- sponsored by Senator Benjamin Wade of OH and Representative Henry Winter Davis of MD a. Required that a majority of white male citizens declare their allegiance and that only those who could take an ironclad oath (required of federal officials since 1862) attesting to their past loyalty could vote or serve in the state constitutional conventions; passed on the last day of the Congressional session but, Lincoln vetoed it E. Lincoln's philosophy of Reconstruction- Speaking on the White House balcony on April 11, 1865, he pronounced the Confederate states never left the Union; proposed creation of new southern state gov ts and he wanted no radical restructuring of southern social and economic life F. Lincoln's assassination III. Andrew Johnson's plan for Reconstruction A. Johnson's philosophy of Reconstruction 1. Johnson s loyalty to the Union sprang from a strict adherence to the Constitution and a fervent belief in limited gov t; he preferred the term restoration to reconstruction B. Johnson's plan closely resembled Lincoln s- May 1865, a new Proclamation of Amnesty 1. Exclusion from pardon of those owning property worth over $20, States must invalidate secession ordinances, abolish slavery, and repudiate Confederate debt; Lincoln s 10 percent is omitted C. Most southern states met all of Johnson's requirements 1. Suggestions of black suffrage were scarcely raised in the state constitutions

3 IV. Congress, in December 1865, refused to seat senators and congressmen from the southern states A. Southern states had elected to Congress many ex-confederate leaders B. Southern states had passed repressive Black Codes 1. These black codes restricted the freedom of African Americans demonstrating that southern state legislators intended to preserve slavery as much as possible a. Black codes varied state to state, but some provisions were common i. Existing marriages were recognized, testimony of blacks was accepted in legal cases involving blacks, they could own property and could sue or be sued in courts; ii. On the other hand, blacks could not own farmland in MS; they were required to but special licenses to practice certain trades; sign into annual labor contracts with employers; Unemployed blacks, or vagrants, were arrested and heavily fined; if the fines could not be paid, they were forced to labor in the fields; another guise of slavery? V. The critical year of 1866: Radical Republicans gain power A. Faced with southern intransigence, moderate Republicans drifted toward the Radicals B. The Radicals: who they were and how they planned to reconstruct the South 1. Thaddeus Stevens argued that the Confederate states should be viewed as conquered provinces, subject to the absolute will of the victors and that the whole fabric of southern society must be changed 2. Most Republicans, held that the Confederate states forfeited all political and civil rights under the Constitution C. Johnson began to lose battle with Congress, much self-induced 1. Johnson's veto of bill to extend life of Freedmen's Bureau upheld by Senate a. Johnson said it violated the Constitution in several ways: made federal gov t responsible for the care of indigents, passed by a Congress denying seats to ex-confederates, and it used too vague a language in identifying the civil rights of African Americans 2. Johnson's veto of Civil Rights Acts of 1866 overridden a. In response to the black codes and neo-slavery system, granting citizenship to native-born blacks; Johnson fumed stating it exceeded the scope of federal power and he vetoed it; however, on April 9 th, Congress overrode it 3. Johnson's veto of revised Freedmen's Bureau bill overridden

4 4. Congress passed Fourteenth Amendment, passed Congress on June 16, 1866, and ratified by the states on July 28, 1868 a. Contents i. Reaffirms the state and federal citizenship of persons born or naturalized in the U.S. and it forbids any state to abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens, to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, or to deny any person the equal protection of the laws. The due process clause has come to mean that state as well as federal power is subject to the Bill of Rights. b. Responses i. TN was the first state to ratify ii. In May and July 1866, Race riots in Memphis and New Orleans erupted D. Johnson lost support of the American public 1. Unsuccessful speaking tour of Midwest 2. In election of 1866, Republicans won over two-thirds majority in each house giving Johnson a devastating defeat VI. Congressional Reconstruction A. On March 2, 1867, Congress moved to protect its program from President Johnson by passing three laws promoting congressional Reconstruction 1. Command of the Army Act- this act prescribed conditions under which the formation of southern state gov ts should begin all over again a. This act required that all orders from the commander in chief go through the headquarters of the general of the army, then Ulysses S. Grant b. Ex parte Milligan (1866) ensured the citizens protection from dubious martial legalities by ruling that military tribunals could not try civilians, even during wartime, in areas where civil courts existed 2. Tenure of Office Act- required Senate permission for the president to remove any federal officeholder whose appointment the Senate had confirmed B. Military Reconstruction Act 1. This act was hailed, or denounced, as the triumphant victory of the Radical Republicans; the act declared that no legal state gov ts or adequate protection for life and property now exists in the rebel States 2. It created five military districts out of the ten southern states, exempting TN, and the commander of each was authorized to keep order and protect people s rights and property 3. New state constitutions were to be framed after the U.S. Constitution; new constitution had to be ratified by the majority of voters and accepted by Congress; then the new state legislature had

5 to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, and once it became part of their Constitution, any given state would be entitled to representation in Congress C. Second (March 23, 1867) and Third (July 9, 1867) Reconstruction Acts 1. No process existed for the new elections so Congress quickly remedied by passing these acts; before the end of 1867, new elections had been held in all states but TX D. Congress protected its program from Supreme Court- Congress removed the Court s power to review cases arising under the Military Reconstruction Act on March 27, 1868 VII. Impeachment and trial of Johnson A. Johnson removed Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, the Radical sympathizer, in violation of Tenure of Office Act 1. Johnson deliberately violated the Act to test its constitutionality by suspending Stanton on August 12, 1867, during congressional recess, and named General Ulysses S. Grant in his place B. On February 24, 1868, House of Representatives passed eleven articles of impeachment, seeing their chance to remove Johnson by a vote of 126 to 47 C. In Senate trial, vote to convict was one short 1. Chief Justice Samuel P. Chase presided over the impeachment trial which began on March 5, 1868; final tally was 35 to 19, one vote shy of the needed two-thirds needed for removal from office D. Effects on Radicals and Johnson 1. The trial crippled Johnson s already weakened presidency and the failure to remove Johnson from office damaged Radical Republican morale and support; Johnson agreed not to obstruct the process of Reconstruction VIII. Republican rule in the South A. New governments established in southern states B. The work of the Union League 1. Founded in Philadelphia in 1862 to promote support for the Union and the Republican party; helped African Americans register to vote and vote Republican C. Blacks in the Reconstructed South 1. Effects of military service- provided many freedmen with training in leadership; black veterans would form the first generation of African American political leaders in the postwar South 2. Separate churches- preferred the Baptist denomination 3. Black families- freed slaves also hastened to reestablish their families

6 a. Many husbands and wives chose sharecropping, in which the crop produced was divided between the tenant and landowner 2. Black schools a. SC s Mary McLeod Bethune went on to become the first black woman to found a school that became a four-year college, Bethune-Cookman, in Daytona Beach, FL; churches and veterans helped with the cost and teachings G. Blacks in politics 1. Introduced suddenly to politics, many rose to high positions 2. Black influence in Reconstruction governments has been greatly exaggerated H. White Republicans in the South 1. Carpetbaggers-northern Republicans who allegedly came south for political and economic gain, such as former Union veterans, teachers, social workers, and preachers 2. Scalawags-southern white Republicans, like former Confederate general James Longstreet I. The Republican record 1. Achievements of Republican governments- created extensive railroad networks, state-supported public school systems, infrastructure was rebuilt and African Americans rights and opportunities 2. Corruption of Republican governments- public money and public credit were often rewarded to privately owned corporations, notably railroads IX. Religion and Reconstruction A. Christians for racial justice B. "Apostles of forgiveness"- prized white unity over racial equality; i.e. Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, the powerful NY minister, wanted white southern planters to oversee Reconstruction C. Differing religious perspectives of black and white southerners IX. Expansion into the Pacific under Johnson s Administration A. President Johnson s Secretary of State, William H. Seward, had predicted in 1866 that the U.S. must exercise commercial domination on the Pacific Ocean, and its islands and continents. Seward believed that the U.S. had to remove all foreign interest in the northern Pacific B. As he was eyeing the British colony of British Columbia, Seward learned of Russia s desire to sell Alaska; hoping to influence British Columbia to join the Union, he jumped at the opportunity; In 1867, the U.S. bought Alaska for $7.2 million; critics scoffed at

7 Seward s folly of buying the Alaska icebox but it proved to be the biggest bargain since the Louisiana Purchase