what were reconstruction governments

7 The Reconstruction Governments

• The Radicals' plan for Reconstruction. The Reconstruction Acts had been created and passed by a Congress dominated by the Radical Republicans, a group made up of senators and representatives who ...
• John Roy Lynch: African American Legislator. ...
• Robert Smalls: A Daring Deed, and a Stellar Career. ...

Full Answer

How did Reconstruction governments benefit the south?

This was certainly beneficial to the South. There were other things that the Reconstruction governments tried to do that helped the South to some degree. These governments created social services like hospitals and orphanages. They put money into building railroad networks to help the Southern economy.

What were the Black Codes during Reconstruction?

During the Reconstruction Era the southern whites used Black Codes to limit African-American civil rights and freedoms. Black Codes were put in place to regulate the lives of former slaves so that they were able to still have some control over them. With the Black Code in play; blacks were able to have limited rights.

What was the Congress plan for reconstruction?

• It acknowledged state and federal citizenship for persons born or naturalized in the United States.
• It forbade any state to diminish the “privileges and immunities” of citizenship, which was the section that struck at the Black Codes.
• It prohibited any state to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without “due process of law.”

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What were the problems during Reconstruction?

The problems faced by Reconstruction in the south were based on corruption and white supremacist attitudes. Following the Civil War, as the government began to implement legislation aimed at ensuring equal rights for freedmen, there was a southern backlash against the movement for equality.

What impact did Reconstruction have on the government?

Among the other achievements of Reconstruction were the South's first state-funded public school systems, more equitable taxation legislation, laws against racial discrimination in public transport and accommodations and ambitious economic development programs (including aid to railroads and other enterprises).

What was Reconstruction and what was its purpose?

The Reconstruction Era lasted from the end of the Civil War in 1865 to 1877. Its main focus was on bringing the southern states back into full political participation in the Union, guaranteeing rights to former slaves and defining new relationships between African Americans and whites.

What were the 3 purposes of Reconstruction?

Reconstruction encompassed three major initiatives: restoration of the Union, transformation of southern society, and enactment of progressive legislation favoring the rights of freed slaves.

What role did the federal government take during Reconstruction?

After rejecting the Reconstruction plan of President Andrew Johnson, the Republican Congress enacted laws and Constitutional amendments that empowered the federal government to enforce the principle of equal rights, and gave black Southerners the right to vote and hold office.

What was Reconstruction in simple terms?

Reconstruction, the era following the U.S. Civil War, was an effort to reunify the divided nation and integrate African Americans into society. The controversial steps taken gave rise to the Ku Klux Klan and other divisive groups.

How did Reconstruction change society?

The Reconstruction era redefined U.S. citizenship and expanded the franchise, changed the relationship between the federal government and the governments of the states, and highlighted the differences between political and economic democracy.

What were the goals of Reconstruction and was it successful?

Reconstruction was a success in that it restored the United States as a unified nation: by 1877, all of the former Confederate states had drafted new constitutions, acknowledged the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, and pledged their loyalty to the U.S. government.

What did Reconstruction do for slaves?

In 1866, Radical Republicans won the election, and created the Freedmen's Bureau to offer former slaves food, clothing, and advice on labor contracts. During Reconstruction, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were passed in order to attempt to bring equality to blacks.

What reforms did Reconstruction governments in the South support?

Reconstruction governments served the expanding citizenry by establishing the South's first state-funded public school systems, seeking to strengthen the bargaining power of plantation labourers, making taxation more equitable, and outlawing racial discrimination in public transportation and accommodations.

How did the federal government help to end Reconstruction?

The Compromise of 1877 was an unwritten deal, informally arranged among United States Congressmen, that settled the intensely disputed 1876 presidential election. It resulted in the United States federal government pulling the last troops out of the Southern United States, and ending the Reconstruction Era.

Why did Congress take over Reconstruction?

In early 1866, Congressional Republicans, appalled by mass killing of ex-slaves and adoption of restrictive black codes, seized control of Reconstruction from President Johnson.

What branch of government should control the process of Reconstruction?

The branch of government that should control the process of Reconstruction is the legislative branch. The legislative branch is the one to make the laws. Their laws would probably be something to satisfy the Radical Republicans. The Radical Republicans thought that the Lincoln's and Johnson's Plan were to lenient.

What was the Reconstruction quizlet?

What is Reconstruction? 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.

What did Reconstruction do for slaves?

In 1866, Radical Republicans won the election, and created the Freedmen's Bureau to offer former slaves food, clothing, and advice on labor contracts. During Reconstruction, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were passed in order to attempt to bring equality to blacks.

What was Reconstruction after the Civil War?

Reconstruction refers to the period immediately after the Civil War from 1865 to 1877 when several United States administrations sought to reconstruct society in the former Confederate states in particular by establishing and protecting the legal rights of the newly freed black population.

Why did Reconstruction come to an end in 1877?

The Compromise of 1876 effectively ended the Reconstruction era. Southern Democrats' promises to protect the civil and political rights of Black people were not kept, and the end of federal interference in southern affairs led to widespread disenfranchisement of Black voters.

What was the Reconstruction era?

The Reconstruction era was the period after the American Civil War from 1865 to 1877, during which the United States grappled with the challenges o...

Why was the Reconstruction era important?

The Reconstruction era redefined U.S. citizenship and expanded the franchise, changed the relationship between the federal government and the gover...

What were the Reconstruction era promises?

While U.S. Pres. Andrew Johnson attempted to return the Southern states to essentially the condition they were in before the American Civil War, Re...

Was the Reconstruction era a success or a failure?

During a brief period in the Reconstruction era, African Americans voted in large numbers and held public office at almost every level, including i...

What were the changes in the South during reconstruction?

In the South, a politically mobilized black community joined with white allies to bring the Republican party to power, and with it a redefinition of the purposes and responsibilities of government.

What was the first comprehensive plan for reconstruction?

In December 1863, less than a year after he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, President Abraham Lincoln announced the first comprehensive program for Reconstruction, the Ten Percent Plan . This offered a pardon to all Southerners, except Confederate leaders, who took an oath affirming loyalty to the Union and support for emancipation. When 10 percent of a state's voters had taken such an oath, they could establish a new state government. To Lincoln, the plan was more an attempt to weaken the Confederacy than a blueprint for the postwar South. Although it was put into operation in parts of the Union-occupied South, none of the new governments achieved broad local support or were recognized by Congress. In 1864, Congress enacted and Lincoln pocket vetoed the Wade-Davis Bill, which proposed to delay the formation of new Southern governments until a majority of voters had taken a loyalty oath. Some Republicans were already convinced that equal rights for the former slaves must accompany the South's readmission to the Union. In his last speech, in April 1865, Lincoln himself expressed the view that some Southern blacks -- the "very intelligent" and those who had served in the Union army - ought to enjoy the right to vote.

What did Andrew Johnson do to help the South?

Johnson offered a pardon to all Southern whites except Confederate leaders and wealthy planters (although most of these subsequently received individual pardons), restoring their political rights and all property except for slaves. He also outlined how new state governments would be created. Apart from the requirement that they abolish slavery, repudiate secession, and abrogate the Confederate debt, these governments, elected by whites alone, were granted a free hand in managing their affairs. They responded by enacting the Black Codes, laws that required blacks to sign yearly labor contracts, designated unemployed blacks as vagrants who could be hired out to white landowners, and in other ways sought to reestablish plantation discipline. African-Americans strongly resisted the implementation of these measures. The inability of the white South's leaders to accept emancipation undermined Northern support for Johnson's policies.

What did the radical Republicans call for in 1865?

When Congress assembled in December 1865, Radical Republicans called for the abrogation of the Johnson governments and the establishment of new ones based on equality before the law and manhood suffrage. But the more numerous moderate Republicans hoped to work with Johnson, while modifying his program. Congress refused to seat the Congressmen and Senators elected from the Southern states, and in early 1866 passed and sent to Johnson the Freedmen's Bureau and Civil Rights Bills. The first extended the life of an agency Congress had created in 1865 to oversee the transition from slavery to freedom. The second defined all persons born in the United States as national citizens, who were to enjoy equality before the law.

How many military districts were there in the South during the reconstruction?

The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 divided the South into five military districts, and provided for the establishment of new governments, based on manhood suffrage. Thus began the period of Radical or Congressional Reconstruction, which lasted until 1877.

What was the first major piece of legislation in American history to become law over a president's veto?

The Civil Rights Act became the first major piece of legislation in American history to become law over a president's veto. Administering the Oath of Allegiance to Confederate soldiers. Library of Congress Image. Reconstruction (1865-1877), the period that followed the American Civil War, is perhaps the most controversial era in American history.

What was the purpose of the Freedmen's Bureau and Civil Rights Bills?

The first extended the life of an agency Congress had created in 1865 to oversee the transition from slavery to freedom.

What was the purpose of the reconstruction?

Reconstruction (1865-1877), the turbulent era following the Civil War, was the effort to reintegrate Southern states from the Confederacy and 4 million newly-freed people into the United States. Under the administration of President Andrew Johnson in 1865 and 1866, new southern state legislatures passed restrictive “ Black Codes ” to control ...

What did the Reconstruction Act of 1867 do?

The following March, again over Johnson’s veto, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which temporarily divided the South into five military districts and outlined how governments based on universal (male) suffrage were to be organized. The law also required southern states to ratify the 14th Amendment, which broadened the definition of citizenship, granting “equal protection” of the Constitution to formerly enslaved people, before they could rejoin the Union. In February 1869, Congress approved the 15th Amendment (adopted in 1870), which guaranteed that a citizen’s right to vote would not be denied “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

What happened after 1867?

After 1867, an increasing number of southern whites turned to violence in response to the revolutionary changes of Radical Reconstruction. The Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist organizations targeted local Republican leaders, white and Black, and other African Americans who challenged white authority.

How did emancipation change the Civil War?

Emancipation changed the stakes of the Civil War, ensuring that a Union victory would mean large-scale social revolution in the South. It was still very unclear, however, what form this revolution would take. Over the next several years, Lincoln considered ideas about how to welcome the devastated South back into the Union, but as the war drew to a close in early 1865, he still had no clear plan. In a speech delivered on April 11, while referring to plans for Reconstruction in Louisiana, Lincoln proposed that some Black people–including free Black people and those who had enlisted in the military–deserved the right to vote. He was assassinated three days later, however, and it would fall to his successor to put plans for Reconstruction in place.

What was the most radical development of reconstruction?

The participation of African Americans in southern public life after 1867 would be by far the most radical development of Reconstruction, which was essentially a large-scale experiment in interracial democracy unlike that of any other society following the abolition of slavery.

What were the laws of 1865 and 1866?

As a result of Johnson’s leniency, many southern states in 1865 and 1866 successfully enacted a series of laws known as the “ black codes ,” which were designed to restrict freed Black peoples’ activity and ensure their availability as a labor force. These repressive codes enraged many in the North, including numerous members of Congress, which refused to seat congressmen and senators elected from the southern states.

What were the achievements of the South during reconstruction?

Among the other achievements of Reconstruction were the South’s first state-funded public school systems, more equitable taxation legislation, laws against racial discrimination in public transport and accommodations and ambitious economic development programs (including aid to railroads and other enterprises).

What was the purpose of reconstruction?

history, the period (1865–77) that followed the American Civil War and during which attempts were made to redress the inequities of slavery and its political, social, and economic legacy and to solve the problems arising from the readmission to the Union of the 11 states that had seceded at or before the outbreak of war.

When did reconstruction begin?

Origins of Reconstruction. The national debate over Reconstruction began during the Civil War. In December 1863, less than a year after he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Pres. Abraham Lincoln announced the first comprehensive program for Reconstruction, the Ten Percent Plan.

What was the impact of the Reconstruction era on African Americans?

However, this provoked a violent backlash from whites who did not want to relinquish supremacy.

What was the impact of the reconstruction era?

The Reconstruction era redefined U.S. citizenship and expanded the franchise, changed the relationship between the federal government and the governments of the states, and highlighted the differences between political and economic democracy.

What changes did reconstruction bring to the American political system?

Reconstruction witnessed far-reaching changes in America’s political life. At the national level, new laws and constitutional amendments permanently altered the federal system and the definition of American citizenship.

What was the purpose of the Presidential Reconstruction?

Radical Reconstruction attempted to give African Americans full equality.

How many African Americans served in Congress during reconstruction?

Sixteen African Americans served in Congress during Reconstruction—including Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce in the U.S. Senate—more than 600 in state legislatures, and hundreds more in local offices from sheriff to justice of the peace scattered across the South.

What was the reconstruction period?

The Reconstruction era, was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865); it lasted from 1865 to 1877 and marked a significant chapter in the history of civil rights in the United States.

What was the purpose of reconstruction?

Reconstruction addressed how the 11 seceding rebel states in the South would regain what the Constitution calls a " republican form of government " and be re-seated in Congress, the civil status of the former leaders of the Confederacy, and the constitutional and legal status of freedmen, especially their civil rights and whether they should be given the right to vote. Intense controversy erupted throughout the South over these issues.

What did Lincoln say about the Confederacy?

The Southern delegation included Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens, John Archibald Campbell, and Robert M. T. Hunter. The Southerners proposed the Union recognition of the Confederacy, a joint Union–Confederate attack on Mexico to oust Emperor Maximilian I, and an alternative subordinate status of servitude for Blacks rather than slavery. Lincoln flatly rejected recognition of the Confederacy, and said that the slaves covered by his Emancipation Proclamation would not be re-enslaved. He said that the Union states were about to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, outlawing slavery. Lincoln urged the governor of Georgia to remove Confederate troops and "ratify this constitutional amendment prospectively, so as to take effect—say in five years.... Slavery is doomed." Lincoln also urged compensated emancipation for the slaves as he thought the North should be willing to share the costs of freedom. Although the meeting was cordial, the parties did not settle on agreements.

What was Lincoln's plan for reconstruction?

In 1863, President Lincoln proposed a moderate plan for the Reconstruction of the captured Confederate state of Louisiana. The plan granted amnesty to rebels who took an oath of loyalty to the Union. Black freedmen workers were tied to labor on plantations for one year at a pay rate of $10 a month. Only 10% of the state's electorate had to take the loyalty oath in order for the state to be readmitted into the U.S. Congress. The state was required to abolish slavery in its new state constitution. Identical Reconstruction plans would be adopted in Arkansas and Tennessee. By December 1864, the Lincoln plan of Reconstruction had been enacted in Louisiana and the legislature sent two senators and five representatives to take their seats in Washington. However, Congress refused to count any of the votes from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee, in essence rejecting Lincoln's moderate Reconstruction plan. Congress, at this time controlled by the Radicals, proposed the Wade–Davis Bill that required a majority of the state electorates to take the oath of loyalty to be admitted to Congress. Lincoln pocket-vetoed the bill and the rift widened between the moderates, who wanted to save the Union and win the war, and the Radicals, who wanted to effect a more complete change within Southern society. Frederick Douglass denounced Lincoln's 10% electorate plan as undemocratic since state admission and loyalty only depended on a minority vote.

What did Lincoln do to the military?

Starting in March 1862, in an effort to forestall Reconstruction by the Radicals in Congress, President Lincoln installed military governors in certain rebellious states under Union military control. Although the states would not be recognized by the Radicals until an undetermined time, installation of military governors kept the administration of Reconstruction under presidential control, rather than that of the increasingly unsympathetic Radical Congress. On March 3, 1862, Lincoln installed a loyalist Democrat, Senator Andrew Johnson, as military governor with the rank of brigadier general in his home state of Tennessee. In May 1862, Lincoln appointed Edward Stanly military governor of the coastal region of North Carolina with the rank of brigadier general. Stanly resigned almost a year later when he angered Lincoln by closing two schools for Black children in New Bern. After Lincoln installed Brigadier General George Foster Shepley as military governor of Louisiana in May 1862, Shepley sent two anti-slavery representatives, Benjamin Flanders and Michael Hahn, elected in December 1862, to the House, which capitulated and voted to seat them. In July 1862, Lincoln installed Colonel John S. Phelps as military governor of Arkansas, though he resigned soon after due to poor health.

How was the Civil War financed?

The Civil War had been financed primarily by issuing short-term and long-term bonds and loans, plus inflation caused by printing paper money, plus new taxes. Wholesale prices had more than doubled, and reduction of inflation was a priority for Secretary McCulloch. A high priority, and by far the most controversial, was the currency question. The old paper currency issued by state banks had been withdrawn, and Confederate currency was worthless. The national banks had issued $207 million in currency, which was backed by gold and silver. The federal treasury had issued $428 million in greenbacks, which was legal tender but not backed by gold or silver. In addition about $275 million of coin was in circulation. The new administration policy announced in October would be to make all the paper convertible into specie, if Congress so voted. The House of Representatives passed the Alley Resolution on December 18, 1865, by a vote of 144 to 6. In the Senate it was a different matter, for the key player was Senator John Sherman, who said that inflation contraction was not nearly as important as refunding the short-term and long-term national debt. The war had been largely financed by national debt, in addition to taxation and inflation. The national debt stood at $2.8 billion. By October 1865, most of it in short-term and temporary loans. Wall Street bankers typified by Jay Cooke believe that the economy was about to grow rapidly, thanks to the development of agriculture through the Homestead Act, the expansion of railroads, especially rebuilding the devastated Southern railroads and opening the transcontinental railroad line to the West Coast, and especially the flourishing of manufacturing during the war. The goal premium over greenbacks was $145 in greenbacks to $100 in gold, and the optimists thought that the heavy demand for currency in an era of prosperity would return the ratio to 100. A compromise was reached in April 1866, that limited the treasury to a currency contraction of only $10 million over six months. Meanwhile, the Senate refunded the entire national debt, but the House failed to act. By early 1867, postbellum prosperity was a reality, and the optimists wanted an end to contraction, which Congress ordered in January 1868. Meanwhile, the Treasury issued new bonds at a lower interest rate to refinance the redemption of short-term debt. While the old state bank notes were disappearing from circulation, new national bank notes, backed by species, were expanding. By 1868 inflation was minimal.

How did reconstruction affect the South?

Reconstruction changed the means of taxation in the South. In the U.S. from the earliest days until today, a major source of state revenue was the property tax. In the South, wealthy landowners were allowed to self-assess the value of their own land. These fraudulent assessments were almost valueless, and pre-war property tax collections were lacking due to property value misrepresentation. State revenues came from fees and from sales taxes on slave auctions. Some states assessed property owners by a combination of land value and a capitation tax, a tax on each worker employed. This tax was often assessed in a way to discourage a free labor market, where a slave was assessed at 75 cents, while a free White was assessed at a dollar or more, and a free African American at $3 or more. Some revenue also came from poll taxes. These taxes were more than poor people could pay, with the designed and inevitable consequence that they did not vote.

What were the phases of reconstruction?

Reconstruction is generally divided into three phases: Wartime Reconstruction, Presidential Reconstruction and Radical or Congressional Reconstruction, which ended with the Compromise of 1877, when the U.S. government pulled the last of its troops from southern states, ending the Reconstruction era.

How many black men served in Congress during reconstruction?

By 1870, Black men held three Congressional seats in South Carolina and a seat on the state Supreme Court—Jonathan J. Wright. Over 600 Black men served in state legislators during the Reconstruction period.

What was Lincoln's 10 percent plan?

Eric Foner writes that Lincoln’s Ten-Percent Plan “might be better viewed as a device to shorten the war and solidify white support for emancipation” rather than a genuine effort to reconstruct the south. July 2, 1864: The Wade Davis Bill. Radical Republicans from the House and the Senate considered Lincoln’s Ten-Percent plan too lenient on ...

Who returned most of the land to the slaves after the war?

After the war was over, President Andrew Johnson returned most of the land to the former white slaveowners. At its peak during Reconstruction, the Freedmen’s Bureau had 900 agents scattered across 11 southern states handling everything from labor disputes to distributing clothing and food to starting schools to protecting freedmen from the Ku Klux Klan.

Who was the Vice President of the United States during reconstruction?

Political cartoon depicting Vice President Andrew Johnson and President Abraham Lincoln as they attempt to mend a tear in the United States during Reconstruction, 1865. Library of Congress/Interim Archives/Getty Images. May 29, 1865: Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan.

Which amendment abolished slavery?

The ratification of the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, with the “ exception as a punishment for a crime.”. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 only covered the 3 million slaves in Confederate-controlled states during the Civil War.

What was the reconstruction approach?

The reconstruction approach they preferred was embodied in the Wade‐Davis bill (July 1864), which called for the establishment of a military government in each state and required at least fifty percent of the eligible voters to swear allegiance to the United States.

What was the first reconstruction act?

The First Reconstruction Act (March 1867) invalidated the state governments established under Johnson's policies (except the government of Tennessee, which had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment) and divided the former Confederacy into five military districts.

What was Lincoln's plan for reconstruction?

Politics of Reconstruction. Well before the end of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln began formulating a plan to restore the Confederate states to the Union. His Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (December 1863) provided that if at least ten percent of a state's voters in the 1860 election accepted emancipation and took an oath ...

When was the Civil Rights Act passed?

The new legislation was passed in July over Johnson's veto. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 , which granted blacks born in the United States the same rights as white citizens, also became law (in April) over the president's objection.

Did the 1866 amendment work?

Adoption of the amendment was an issue in the 1866 congressional elections, but the president's campaign against it did not work. Republicans were in control of both the House and Senate, and they gave a ringing endorsement to the amendment and congressional, not presidential, Reconstruction.

What was the central goal of reconstruction?

Central to Reconstruction was the effort of former slaves to breathe full meaning into their newly acquired freedom, and to claim their rights as citizens. Rather than passive victims of the actions of others, African Americans were active agents in shaping Reconstruction.

Why is reconstruction important?

Just as the fate of slavery was central to the meaning of the Civil War, so the divisive politics of Reconstruction turned on the status the former slaves would assume in the reunited nation. Reconstruction remains relevant today because the issues central to it -- the role of the federal government in protecting citizens' rights, and the possibility of economic and racial justice -- are still unresolved.

What did the Republican Congress do after rejecting the Reconstruction Plan of President Andrew Johnson?

After rejecting the Reconstruction plan of President Andrew Johnson, the Republican Congress enacted laws and Constitutional amendments that empowered the federal government to enforce the principle of equal rights, and gave black Southerners the right to vote and hold office.

Why is reconstruction still relevant today?

Reconstruction remains relevant today because the issues central to it -- the role of the federal government in protecting citizens' rights, and the possibility of economic and racial justice -- are still unresolved. Northern victory in the Civil War decided the fate of the Union and of slavery, but posed numerous problems.

What was the new South government?

The new Southern governments confronted violent opposition from the Ku Klux Klan and similar groups. In time, the North abandoned its commitment to protect the rights of the former slaves, Reconstruction came to an end, and white supremacy was restored throughout the South.

John Roy Lynch: African American Legislator

• Born into slavery, John Roy Lynch became a very successful Mississippi politician during the Reconstruction era. After the Reconstruction governments were overthrown by white supremacist "Redeemers," Lynch moved to the North. Lynch was the son of the Irish overseer of a Louisiana p…

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Robert Smalls: A Daring Deed, and A Stellar Career

Developments in The North and The West

Achievements and Disappointments

For More Information

Summary

Congressional Reconstruction

Dating the Reconstruction era

Overview

Purpose

Material devastation of the South in 1865

Restoring the South to the Union

Lincoln's presidential Reconstruction