The Reconstruction Era: 1865-1877

Reconstruction is the period of US History during which the United States began to rebuild the South after the Civil War. It lasted from 1865-1877. During this time, the federal government proposed many plans to readmit the defeated Confederate states to the Union. Reconstruction failed to alter the South's social structure or its distribution of wealth and power, which disadvantaged African-Americans. It also left many significant legacies. Some of these would include the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, which would be used nearly 100 years later to protect minority rights.

1. Executive/Presidential: The purpose of Presidential Reconstruction was primarily charity toward southern whites and the establishment of new state governments. Some outcomes included the 18363 Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (10% Plan), Wade-Davis Bill of 1864, Thirteenth Amendment, and Black Codes. 2. Legislative/Congressional: Republicans in Congress used reconstruction to maintain power by using the Southern black vote and a Joint Committee on Reconstruction (December 1865) examined the conditions of the South and determined if certain states deserved representation in Congress. Some outcomes included the Freedmen's Bureau, Fourteenth Amendment, Reconstruction Act of 1867, Fifteenth Amendment, and Civil Rights Act of 1875. 3. Judicial: Some Supreme Court cases during Reconstruction include Ex parte Milligan, Texas v. White, Slaughterhouse Cases, US v. Reese, and US v. Cruikshank.

Also known as the 10% Plan, this Reconstruction proposal, presented by Abraham Lincoln, stated that 10% of voters in the 1860 election had to take oath of allegiance to the Union and accept emancipation of slaves in order to be readmitted into the Union. However, the Radical Republicans did not agree with this proposal because they wanted a slower readmission process.

Radical Republicans were a powerful force of Congress that included those representatives and senators who pressed for the following: 1. black suffrage 2. disenfranchisement of Confederates 3. confiscation of southern planter's land and redistribution of that land to freedmen 4. federally supported schools for blacks 5. the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson

The Wade-Davis Bill of 1864 was the Radical Republican answer to Lincoln's 10% Plan. It stated that at least 50% of eligible voters of the southern Confederate states had to vote and take oath of allegiance to the Union in order to be readmitted.

1. Andrew Johnson proposed these specific codes, which included the following: a. racial segregation in public places b. prohibition of interracial marriages c. prohibition of jury service by blacks d. blacks could not testify against whites e. blacks without lawful employment were arrested as vagrants and auctioned off to employers who paid their fines 2. The purpose of these codes was to prevent blacks from moving and to keep them as sharecroppers (plantation laborers). With these codes the blacks retook their place beneath whites.

Established on March 3, 1865 (prior to the ending of the Civil War), this organization established by Congress provided food, medical care, resettlement aid, establishment of schools, and overseers to oversee the administering of justice for the newly freed African Americans.

1. Some successes of the Freedmen's Bureau included: a. helped black communities establish schools and churches b. monitored civil authority cases that involved African Americans to be sure that justice was being administered c. helped African Americans negotiate fair contracts for labor and property d. aided African Americans in establishing firm family structures by acting as a clearing house of information to aid African Americans in finding lost relatives and the mediation of domestic disputes 2. The ultimate success was prevented by a lack of funds, opposition from conservatives, and an overall apathy or disinterest from the Southern community.

1. The Fourteenth Amendment gave black males rights by declaring all native born and naturalized persons to be citizens, though it intentionally excluded women. 2. The Fifteenth Amendment gave black males the right to vote.

This act divided the South into 10 military districts/states under martial law, demanded acceptable state constitutions, and required states to ratify the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments before readmission into the United States.

1. This act prohibited racial discrimination in juries, forms of transportation, and public accommodations. Schools were not included because many felt it would be ruled as unconstitutional. 2. This act was overturned in 1883 because the Supreme Court ruled that, except for juries, Congress had no authority to legislate against discrimination by individuals, but had the authority to legislate only against discrimination by states.

1. Ex Part Milligan (1866)-ruled that military trials of civilians were illegal unless the civil courts are operative or the region is under martial law 2. Texas v. White (1869)-argued that Texas was still a state and would not have to undergo reconstruction since it had never seceded 3. Slaughterhouse Cases (1873)-series of cases that rendered the Fourteenth Amendment by stating that this amendment protected citizens from rights infringements only on the federal level, not the state level; allowed state legislatures to suspend blacks' legal and civil rights as outlined in the Constitution 4. US v. Reese (1876)-stated that the Fifteenth Amendment did not guarantee suffrage but only the right not to be discriminated against by the state on account of race, color, or previous conditions of servitude 5. US v. Cruikshank (1876)-restricted Congress' ability to enforce the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871; ruled that only states, not the federal government, had the right to prosecute Klansmen under the law

Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was the most notorious and widespread of the Southern vigilante groups. The Klan's goals were to destroy the Republican Party, to throw out the Reconstruction governments, to aid the planter class, and to prevent African Americans from exercising their political rights. The KKK was one of the numerous white supremacy groups protected by the US v. Cruikshank Supreme Court ruling.

As Reconstruction continued, the Supreme Court cases came to demonstrate declines of reconstruction efforts. As time went on, states gained more authority while the federal government turned a blind eye to violations of black civil rights until the 1960s.

Scalawags were white Southerners who joined the Republican Party. Many were small farmers who wanted to improve their economic position and did not want the former wealthy planters to regain power.

Carpetbaggers were Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War. This negative name came from the misconception that they arrived with so few belongings that they carried everything in small traveling bags made of carpeting.

Many believe Reconstruction to be considered a "Glorious Failure." Some believe it was a misguided scheme that collapsed becuase of radical excess, but others believe it was a democratic experiment that did not go far enough. Moreover, it did leave many legacies that are known to Americans today, some of which include the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. To this very day, however, continued struggle between federal government and state government still exists.