Reconstruction+PatG+TylerC+BrandonC

What is Reconstruction?

Reconstruction was a program implemented by the federal government between 1865 and 1877 to repair the damage to the South caused by the Civil War and restore the southern states to the Union. Reconstruction Plan Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan:  1. It offered a pardon, an official forgiveness of a crime, to any Confederate who would take an oath of allegiance to the Union and accept federal policy on slavery.  2. It denied pardons to all Confederate military and government officials and to southerners who had killed African American war prisoners  3. It permitted each state to hold a convention to create a new state constitution only after 10 percent of voters in the state had sworn allegiance to the Union.  4. States could then hold elections and resume full participation in the Union. Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan  1.  It pardoned southerners who swore allegiance to the Union.  2.  It permitted each stated to hold a constitutional convention (without Lincoln’s 10 percent allegiance requirement).  3.  States were required to void secession, abolish slavery, and repudiate the Confederate debt.  4.  States could then hold elections and rejoin the Union.  Radical Reconstruction Plan 1.   Grant African Americans their civil rights, citizens' personal liberties guaranteed by law, such as voting rights and equal treatment. <span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> 2.    Have the Fourteenth Amendment ratified. <span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> 3.    Set up a strict laws calling for “reform, not revenge.” 4.    Have Johnson impeached for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Civil War Amendments 13th Amendment: It officially abolished and continues to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was adopted on December 6, 1865, and was then declared in a proclamation of Secretary of State William H. Seward on December 18. 14th Amendment: It was a post-civil war amendment that intended to secure the rights of former slaves. It was proposed on June 13, 1866, and ratified on July 9, 1868. The amendment provides a broad definition of citizenship, overruling //Dred Scott v. Sandford// (1857) which had excluded slaves and their descendants from possessing Constitutional rights. 15th Amendment: It prohibits any government in the United States from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color or previous condition of servitude. “(slave)   Life for Slaves after the Civil War  <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·    After the Civil War slaves were not treated any differently.  <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·    When the 13th amendment was ratified slavery was abolished, but the ex-slaves were still under conditions of the pre-civil war era.  <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·    Since the slaves had no money they needed to work for money and food.  <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·    To get money and food they worked in cotton fields just like before the 13th amendment. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   If an African American were to get a job then they would be denied fair wages. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   They were also not allowed to purchase any land for themselves. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   Some children would be forced to serve as apprentices in local industries. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   Slaves started being harassed by organized groups of white citizens. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   One of the most infamous groups was the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   The impeachment of Andrew Johnson was one of the most dramatic events in the United States during Reconstruction. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   He was impeached for committing high crimes and misdemeanors. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   One act that he violated was the Tenure of Office Act. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   What he did was he removed Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary of War, from office and replaced him with Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   Andrew Johnson became president after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   Johnson had looked at many different choices before Thomas and once they all rejected he went to Thomas who accepted. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   When Thomas delivered the dismissal notice to Stanton he had Thomas arrested for violating the Tenure of Office Act. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   Once Thomas asked to be brought to the president Stanton realized he could review the law. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   He asked if the senate could vote on an impeachment resolution. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   At the end of the trial he was found not guilty. Changes to the South after the Civil War <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   The south after the civil war was a mess. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   Lands were devastated, plantations were a wreck, towns and cities were in ruins. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   Many people in the south were homeless due to Sherman ’s march and many other battles. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   The south was also in major war debt. The war had taken almost all the money from the south. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   People needed to be given bonds and the paid for the bonds by selling their crops. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   People in the south had no food and no husbands to take care of them. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   The Union had to provide the citizens with food and shelter. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   The Confederate government could not provide the citizens either due to the debt. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> ·   Although many people were killed in the Civil War the people left behind had nothing to provide for themselves.

Reasons for Reconstruction’s Demise -  The main reason that the Reconstruction stopped was because President Hayes agreed to stop the Reconstruction if the South would all agree to vote for him in the next election. Soon enough the South voted for Hayes. He was reelected and the Reconstruction was ended. -  Another reason for Reconstructions downfall was that it caused a ton of controversy. Many southern men were killed due to their pride in their beliefs and would not free their slaves. -  Another reason was that there were many loopholes in the Reconstructions plan. They would make all blacks free but they still were not equal to white men. They let many white people do things blacks couldn’t. This caused many arguments in the South and was just another subject to argue about. The North wanted to end the Reconstruction because of all of the controversy it was causing.

Effects of Reconstruction -  The successes of Reconstruction are for the most part obvious. They rebuilt the South. Resurrected burned down towns. Gave the South money to get their economy going. Freed all of the slaves and enforcing that they would be freed with military. -  Some failures of Reconstruction were that many people were killed. There were many riots and many rules were not being followed by Southerners. -  Another big failure was that the whole country was still very frustrated with each other. Even though the two sides were being forced to stay together the hatred between the two was culminating. -  Something good is that in the end America built lots of schools and many colleges including Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, and Michigan. -  Another plus is that the government made a new currency by using the “greenback”(the currency we use to this day) -  Another negative could be that the United States failed economically until we became another world power right before WWII. -  In the Reconstruction they built a transcontinental railroad. -  Reconstruction laid the groundwork for the U.S. to be a powerful nation economically in the future. Sources: [|www.learningfront.com] [|www.answers.com] [|www.wikipedia.com] [|www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction]