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The Ordeal of Reconstruction
Hyperlinked materials are considered part of each lecture and
should be reviewed.
Video Clips
In many of the cyberlectures, I have added
video clips from a variety of sources. I believe that video often is
very effective to bring a topic to life.
In some cases, especially the History
Channel, you will have to tolerate a 30 second advertisement. I
apologize for the inconvenience.
From the close of the Civil War through the
turn of the century, the United States was truly a nation under
reconstruction. In this module, we will assess the dramatic changes
taking place in every section of the newly reunited states. A
country dealing with the horrors of a civil war; freedom,
citizenship and assimilation of one race; destruction or isolation
of another race, and the transforming from a rural nation based on
agriculture to one based on industrialization centered in great
cities. From my perspective, Reconstruction was one of the most
critical time periods in the history of the United States.
The "Ordeal of Reconstruction" refers
directly to a time period from 1865 through 1877 and the process of
reuniting the states into a Union. As suggested in the textbook,
four questions required immediate answers:
1. How would the South, physically
devastated by war and socially revolutionized by emancipation, be
rebuilt?
2. How would the liberated blacks fare as
free men and women?
3. How would the southern states be
reintegrated into the Union?
4. Who would direct the process of
Reconstruction--the Southern states themselves, the President or
Congress?
The questions may seem merely intriguing,
but the actual magnitude of the underlying problems was enormous.
Distrust and Despair:
The statement "with malice toward none, with charity for all"
was easier said than practiced. The psychological and physical
barriers to reunion were reflected in the military casualties of
the war. Estimates of over 600,000 dead and 350,000 seriously
wounded and maimed, nearly 1,000,000 casualties. In both the
North and South, there was no question who killed your relative,
ruined your life or was the enemy.
Physical and Economic Contrasts:
Northern cities were bustling with activity and prosperity.
Factories produced steel, textiles, farm implements and consumer
goods. Farms also benefited from mechanization and produced
enough food to feed the urban and rural populations. The South
was physically, psychologically and financially devastated.
Especially in areas traumatized by the practice of total
warfare, railroads, industries, major cities, small towns,
plantations, farms, and wealth destroyed.
Constitutional Crisis:
Eleven ex-Confederate states had seceded
and were not considered part of the Union. What was there
status? How and when would they be allowed to rejoin the
"united" states?
Political Crisis:
Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated. Vice President Andrew
Johnson, a former Democratic slaveholder from Tennessee was now
the President. The Congress was controlled by Republicans
undecided between leniency or punishment.
Social Crisis:
Four million black "freedmen" though out
the South were free--but what was their status as people and
citizens? Where would they live or work? Hundreds of thousands
of ex-Confederate soldiers and families throughout the South
also faced starvation, disease and despair.
Numerous proposals of how to address these
issues and reconstruct the Union swirled throughout the country.
Three primary theories became the focus of great political debate:
Presidential Theory
Conquered Provinces Theory
Southern Restoration Theory
President Andrew Johnson was politically
inept and personally contentious. His attempt to implement a
moderate plan of Reconstruction, along the lines originally proposed
by Lincoln, fell victim to the Southern whites' severe treatment of
blacks and his own political blunders.
Congressional Republicans imposed harsh
military Reconstruction on the South after their gains in the 1866
congressional elections. The Southern states reentered the Union
with new radical governments, which rested partly on the newly
enfranchised blacks. These regimes were sometimes corrupt but also
implemented important reforms.
Congress impeached Johnson, but failed by one vote
to convict him--take a little quiz about
Impeachment.
Embittered southern whites hated the
radical governments and mobilized the brutal
Ku Klux Klan
to restore white supremacy visit this History Channel Video Clip
The Klan--also a link related to the
Klan Today. Whenever
possible, restored state governments introduced
black codes, poll taxes, grandfather clauses, literacy
tests and
Jim
Crow laws to curtail the rights of African-Americans
(you might also visit Jim Crow
"Racial Etiquette").
Beyond the general legislation and practices,
lynching
became a
horrible legacy for over fifty years as a method of control and
murder by the masses--A more
comprehensive collection of these images and an insightful author's
commentary may be found in the book
Without Sanctuary
(Click on Movie) --if this site does not open--be sure you have
visited this site which is the same as the link for lynching above
http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/african/2000/lynching.htm
. Gradually a
new southern society evolved based on
sharecropping
( a type of legalized forced labor) and segregation. Even under
this oppressive system, a free black society created their own
schools, churches, business and communities. Many black colleges
(such as Howard, Fisk and Morehouse) were establish to train
African-American teachers and ministers. Other newly
freed persons migrated North or westward (Exodusters)
literally
distancing themselves from the memories of slavery.
The passage of the 13th,
14th
(visit this History Channel Video
Clip) and 15th Amendments to the Constitution declared slavery
illegal, promoted equal protection under the law, and made the
promise of political equality.
13th Amendment - Abolished Slavery in the
United States and any place subject to their jurisdiction.
14th Amendment - "All persons born or
naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein
they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within
its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law."
15th Amendment - "The right of citizens of
the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the
United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous
condition of servitude."
Although all these amendments were
necessary and crucial after the Civil War, what is the impact of the
Fourteenth Amendment today? Think of the numerous applications of
"equal protection under the law". Consider the relationship of the
first sentence of this amendment as related to immigration today.
However, these constitutional benchmarks
were restricted, often throughout the United States, by deep seated
racism, legislation and even Supreme Court decisions such as
Plessy v. Ferguson.
This case upheld the theory of "separate but equal" and doomed
the United States to the anguish of segregation and second class
citizenship for an entire race of people. Great leaders including
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois would each promote a
different strategy for African-American equality.
Our task is now to assess the successes and
failures of Reconstruction both in its time and in the one hundred
and twenty four years after the Compromise of 1877. In the end, a
combination of southern white terror and northern white indifference
combined to end Reconstruction. The 1876 election failed to produce
a clear winner, as both parties claimed to have carried South
Carolina, Florida and Louisiana, the three southern states still
under Republican control. In the end, a special electoral commission
by a straight party vote declared Rutherford B. Hayes the winner. In
private negotiations, Republicans had already agreed to restore home
rule in the South in exchange for Hayes' election. This deal became
known as the Compromise of 1877. Once in office, Hayes withdrew
support for the remaining radical governments in the South and they
collapsed. Every southern stated had been "redeemed" by 1877 and
Reconstruction was at an end. Thus, the dreams of so many
African-Americans for equal rights were bitterly disappointed.
One related current issue related to
slavery and Reconstruction worthy of review, please check the CNN
Law Center's article and support materials related to the issue of
Slavery Reparations.
You may wish to discuss the multiple perspectives related to this
controversial concept/lawsuit in the Talk to the Teacher Section or
Discussion Question for this module. Do not hesitate to revisit this
issue in later modules or in the Current Events assignments.--when
appropriate.
For each module I recommend that you visit A Biography of
America
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
,
an exceptional video instructional series for high school and
college students produced by WGBH Boston in cooperation with the
Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records
Administration. These thirty minute lectures incorporate first
person narratives, photographs, film footage and documents related
to various historical time periods. Combined with my introductory
comments, the required textbooks and our discussions, I believe you
will acquire a more in-depth and enjoyable encounter with history.
Please note the requirements and possible download limitations—which
is why this is not a requirement. Please follow the directions below
and give it a try!!!!
You can view Annenberg/CPB programs of your
choice online with a broadband connection whenever you see this
icon.  There is no
charge for this service.
Simply select a
program and go
to the individual program description listing and click on the icon.
Free sign up required for first-time users. To hear the sound
and view video, you should have Windows Media Player, DSL, a
cable modem, or a LAN connection to a T1 line or greater, and have
Javascript enabled. For more information, please visit our
broadband FAQ.
For this topic—visit
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
and access
theese presentation: Reconstruction AND America At Its Centennial.
Our textbook offers a very comprehensive Online Student
Learning Center. Click on the link below, Select the
appropriate chapter and you will have access to: Chapter
Objectives, Chapter in Perspective, Chapter Overview,
numerous Interactive Activities, Primary Source documents
and my favorite--Internet Exercises/Recommended Sites
Related to the Specific Topics--CHOOSE A CHAPTER
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072870982/student_view0/index.html
Folk Music of American History: Music and Lyrics (highly
recommended music before or after reading cyberlectures!)
If you have any questions about this material, please click
on the ASK A QUESTION link below. Now go to the next
document to continue this module.
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