🗽US History – 1865 to Present Unit 1 – Reconstruction Era: New South (1865-1877)

Key Events and Timeline

• 1865: Civil War ends with the surrender of Confederate forces, leading to the beginning of the Reconstruction Era
• 1865-1866: President Andrew Johnson implements his Reconstruction plan, which includes pardoning former Confederates and allowing Southern states to rejoin the Union
• 1866: Congress passes the Civil Rights Act and the 14th Amendment, granting citizenship and equal rights to African Americans
• 1867: Congress passes the Reconstruction Acts, dividing the South into five military districts and requiring states to ratify the 14th Amendment to rejoin the Union
• 1868: President Andrew Johnson is impeached by the House of Representatives but acquitted by the Senate
• 1870: The 15th Amendment is ratified, granting voting rights to African American men
• 1873: The Panic of 1873 leads to an economic depression that lasts for several years
• 1877: The Compromise of 1877 ends Reconstruction, leading to the withdrawal of federal troops from the South and the rise of Jim Crow laws

Political Developments

• Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th, and 15th) were ratified, granting freedom, citizenship, and voting rights to African Americans
• The Freedmen's Bureau was established to provide aid and support to newly freed slaves
• The Radical Republicans, led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner, pushed for more extensive Reconstruction measures and civil rights for African Americans
• The Ku Klux Klan emerged as a white supremacist organization that used violence and intimidation to suppress African American political participation
• The Compromise of 1877 resulted in the withdrawal of federal troops from the South, effectively ending Reconstruction and allowing for the rise of Jim Crow laws
• The Republican Party, which had been the party of Lincoln and Reconstruction, began to shift its focus away from civil rights and towards economic issues
• The Democratic Party, which had been the party of the Confederacy, regained control of Southern state governments and implemented policies that disenfranchised African Americans

Economic Changes

• The South's economy was devastated by the Civil War, with much of its infrastructure and agricultural system destroyed
• The Freedmen's Bureau provided some economic assistance to newly freed slaves, including food, clothing, and temporary housing
• Many former slaves became sharecroppers, working on land owned by white landlords in exchange for a share of the crop
• The crop-lien system emerged, in which farmers borrowed money from merchants to purchase supplies and used their crops as collateral, often leading to debt and poverty
• The rise of the "New South" movement encouraged industrialization and economic diversification in the region
• Northern investors and entrepreneurs began to invest in Southern industries, such as textiles and mining
• The Panic of 1873 led to an economic depression that lasted for several years, affecting both the North and the South

Social Transformation

• The abolition of slavery led to significant changes in Southern society, as former slaves sought to establish their own communities and assert their rights
• The Freedmen's Bureau established schools for African Americans, providing education and literacy skills to a population that had been largely denied access to education under slavery
• African American churches emerged as important centers of community life and political organizing
• The rise of the "Lost Cause" mythology romanticized the Confederacy and downplayed the role of slavery in the Civil War
• The Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist organizations used violence and intimidation to maintain white dominance and suppress African American social and political participation
• The Compromise of 1877 led to the rise of Jim Crow laws, which institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination in the South
• The Great Migration began in the early 20th century, as many African Americans left the South for better economic opportunities and less oppressive conditions in the North and West

Race Relations and Civil Rights

• The Reconstruction Amendments granted freedom, citizenship, and voting rights to African Americans, but these rights were often not enforced in practice
• The Freedmen's Bureau provided some protection and support for African Americans, but its effectiveness was limited by lack of funding and opposition from white Southerners
• The Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist organizations used violence and intimidation to suppress African American civil rights and political participation
• The rise of Jim Crow laws institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination in the South, limiting African American access to education, employment, and public facilities
• The Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision in 1896 upheld the constitutionality of "separate but equal" facilities, effectively sanctioning racial segregation
• African American leaders such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois emerged as prominent voices in the struggle for civil rights
  • Washington advocated for a gradual approach to civil rights, emphasizing education and economic self-sufficiency
  • Du Bois argued for a more confrontational approach, challenging the "accommodationist" strategy of Washington and calling for immediate political and social equality

Key Figures and Their Roles

• Abraham Lincoln: 16th President of the United States who issued the Emancipation Proclamation and led the Union to victory in the Civil War before his assassination in 1865
• Andrew Johnson: 17th President of the United States who implemented a lenient Reconstruction plan that allowed Southern states to rejoin the Union quickly
• Thaddeus Stevens: Radical Republican congressman who pushed for extensive Reconstruction measures and civil rights for African Americans
• Charles Sumner: Radical Republican senator who advocated for civil rights and the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson
• Ulysses S. Grant: 18th President of the United States who supported Reconstruction and worked to suppress the Ku Klux Klan
• Frederick Douglass: Former slave who became a prominent abolitionist, writer, and civil rights activist
• Booker T. Washington: African American educator and leader who advocated for a gradual approach to civil rights, emphasizing education and economic self-sufficiency
• W.E.B. Du Bois: African American scholar and activist who challenged Washington's "accommodationist" strategy and called for immediate political and social equality

Legacy and Long-Term Impact

• The Reconstruction Era laid the foundation for the modern civil rights movement, as African Americans continued to struggle for equality and justice in the face of ongoing discrimination and oppression
• The failure of Reconstruction to fully address the economic and social inequalities created by slavery contributed to the persistence of racial disparities in wealth, education, and political power
• The rise of Jim Crow laws and racial segregation in the South had a lasting impact on American society, shaping patterns of housing, education, and employment that continue to affect communities today
• The "Lost Cause" mythology that emerged after the Civil War has had a enduring influence on American culture and politics, shaping debates over issues such as Confederate monuments and the legacy of slavery
• The Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the North and West in the early 20th century transformed American cities and laid the groundwork for the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s
• The political realignment that occurred during Reconstruction, with the Republican Party becoming the party of big business and the Democratic Party becoming the party of the solid South, has had a lasting impact on American politics
• The economic changes that occurred during Reconstruction, including the rise of sharecropping and the crop-lien system, contributed to the persistence of poverty and inequality in the South

Debates and Controversies

• The effectiveness of Reconstruction in achieving its goals of equality and justice for African Americans has been a subject of ongoing debate among historians
  • Some argue that Reconstruction was a noble but ultimately failed attempt to create a more just and equal society
  • Others contend that Reconstruction was a flawed and incomplete process that did not go far enough in addressing the root causes of racial inequality
• The role of President Andrew Johnson in shaping Reconstruction has been a source of controversy, with some historians arguing that his lenient policies towards the South undermined the goals of Reconstruction
• The extent to which the federal government should have intervened in the South to protect the rights of African Americans has been a subject of debate, with some arguing that more aggressive action was needed to combat white supremacist violence and intimidation
• The legacy of Reconstruction has been contested in debates over issues such as affirmative action, voting rights, and reparations for slavery
• The portrayal of Reconstruction in popular culture, including films such as "The Birth of a Nation" and "Gone with the Wind," has been criticized for perpetuating racist stereotypes and romanticizing the Confederacy
• The role of African American leaders such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois in shaping the direction of the civil rights movement has been a subject of debate, with some arguing that Washington's "accommodationist" strategy was necessary in the face of white supremacist violence, while others contend that Du Bois's more confrontational approach was needed to challenge the status quo