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Wartime Reconstruction- Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation - Proclamation liberates slaves in states that are at war with the Union. The proclamation did NOT free any slaves in border states or in areas of the Confederacy that were occupied by the Union. -
Wartime Reconstruction- Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
President Lincolns postwar vision for reunification is outlined. It included:
1. Pardoning of all Confederates who signed an oath of allegiance to the Union, excluding government and military leaders.
2. Recognition of any southern state government who had at least 10 percent of their population pledge allegiance to the Union in 1860 election
3. Return of political rights and confiscated land to confederates after accepting emancipation of black people. -
Wartime Reconstruction - Special Field Order 15
General Sherman meets with twenty black leaders in Savannah, Georgia to determine the needs of former slaves. Days later, Sherman issues Field Order 15; redistribute confiscated land in forty-acre parcels to blacks in Florida and on islands off Georgia and South Carolina. -
Wartime Reconstruction- The Freedmen's Bureau
The Bureau was created a month before the war ended to provide food, clothing, and medicine to freed people. The Bureau also established schools as well as the Freedmen's Bank. -
Presidential Reconstruction - Johnson's Plan
Following Lincolns assassination, Vice President, Andrew Johnson, immediately became president and pardoned thousands of Confederate Leaders and championed the restoration of white supremacy in the South. His plan included:
1. Amnesty Proclamation- Pardon Confederate leaders and allow them to reclaim land given to freed people
2. Vetoing legislation designed to grant and protect African Americans' civil liberties.
3. Rallying of conservatives to halt change to social order in the South. -
Presidential Reconstruction- 13th Amendment Ratified
Despite President Johnson's attempts to veto legislation of the Republican Congress and restore white supremacy, the 13th Amendment was ultimately ratified. This required southern states to abolish slavery before rejoining the Union. -
Radical Reconstruction- Opposition From White Supremacists
After the passing of the 1866 Civil Rights Acts, many white supremacists became outraged and set out to terrorize black citizens by committing horrible acts such as harassment, beatings, and lynchings. They called themselves the Ku Klux Klan. They not only targeted black citizens but white citizens who fought for the rights of black citizens. -
Radical Reconstruction- Civil Rights Act of 1866
As Northerners soon began to realize that President Johnson could not be trusted to reconstruct the Union, they turned to the Republican party which swept the 1866 congressional elections. The Republicans now controlled the House and Senate. A major legislation passed was the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which granted citizenship to blacks and safegaurded their civil liberties. -
Radical Reconstruction- Reconstruction Acts
First Reconstruction Act- Also known as the Military Reconstruction Act, this bill reduced the secessionist states claim to conquered territories. Congress carved the South into five military districts, which were each goverened by a Union general in charge of the Reconstruction process.
Second Reconstruction Act- To safeguard black voting rights, Republicans passed this act, placing Union troops in charge of voter registration. -
Radical Reconstruction- Tenure of Office Act.
The Tenure of Office Act- Several bills were passed in 1867 to limit President Johnson's power. The Tenure of Office Act sought to protect Republicans within the Johnson Administration by forbidding their dismissal without congressional authorization. -
Radical Reconstruction- 14th Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment is ratified. The Amendment safeguards blacks' citizenship rights and reduced congressional representation of states that denied black males voting rights. -
Radical Reconstruction - Grant's Presidency
The 1868 presidential election saw Republicans nominate Civil War Hero Ulysses S. Grant. Grant proved himself as an effective leader in the army. He also acted as a reminder that it was the Republicans who won the war. -
Radical Reconstruction - 15th Amendment
In 1869, Republicans passed the fifteenth amendment to guarantee that all black males had the right to vote. Republicans also made ratification a prerequisite for all southern states still awaiting readmission. -
Radical Reconstruction- Ku Klux Klan Act
To combat the rise of racial violence spurred by the newly formed Ku Klux Klan, Congress passed the Ku Klux Klan act. This allowed Congress to act against the Klan and other similar terrorist organizations. This is also known as the Civil Rights Act of 1871. -
The End of Reconstruction- The Election of 1872
In 1872 the Republican party split when a significant number of Republicans broke from the radicals and moderates to form their own Liberal Republican faction. Despite the name, Liberal Republicans disliked big government and preferred limited government involvement in the economy. President Grant ultimately won relection, but the damage within his party was already done. -
The End of Reconstruction - Civil Rights Act of 1875
Republicans managed to pass one final piece of radical legislation through Congress in the form of the Civil Rights Act of 1875. This legislation aimed to eliminate social discrimination and facilitate true equality for black Americans by specifying the following:
1. Racial discrimination would be outlawed in all public places.
2. Blacks would have the same legal rights as whites.
3. Blacks could sue violators in federal courts. -
Radical Reconstruction - The Compromise of 1877
After the disputed election results of 1876, which saw Republican Rutherford B. Hayes beat out Democratic nominee Samuel J. Tilden, a stalemate ensued as to who was the "true" winner. The Compromise of 1877 saw Democrats and Republicans agree to let Hayes become president in exchange for the complete withdrawal of federal soldiers from the south. Not long after Hayes entered the office, he ordered the last remaining troops out of South Carolina and Lousiana, effectively ending Reconstruction.
