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First Phase of Reconstruction Begins
Lincoln’s Plan (10% Plan) -
Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan
Known as the 10% Plan, Lincoln’s lenient approach to Southern reconstruction required that to rejoin the Union, Southern states had to have 10% of their male population pledge allegiance to the Union. This was a political move on Lincoln’s part to end the war quickly, however Radical Republicans wanted a stricter Reconstruction plan -
Wade-Davis Bill
Bill drafted and passed in Congress by Radical Republicans in 1863 that had harsh requirements for the Confederate States to reenter the Union if the Union won. Confederate states were required to have 50% of the male population pledge their loyalty to the Union and give the right to vote to blacks to be readmitted into the Union. Although passed in Congress, Lincoln pocket-vetoed the bill in favor of his 10% plan. After his death in 1865, Congress put the bill into effect Era: Lincoln 5% Era -
Special Field Order No. 15
An order approved by Lincoln that allowed Union General William T. Sherman to confiscate a strip of land stretching from South Carolina to Florida and distribute the 400,000 acres to black refugees. This helped to relieve Sherman of his group of black refugees that he was protecting as he could no longer support or protect the refugees while on campaign. Field Order No. 15 also seemingly solved a problem from Republicans on where a new class of Southern workers would live -
Freedmen’s Bureau
Created during the Civil War (March 3, 1865) to help former black slaves and poor Southern Unionists. The Bureau was created mainly to help freedmen in the South. The Freedmen’s Bureau faced opposition from Southern governments and President Andrew Johnson and was disbanded on June 28, 1872 -
President Lincoln’s Assassination
Lincoln was shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. The next day (April 15) Lincoln was pronounced dead. Lincoln’s death helped Congress to do away with Lincoln’s 10% plan and put the Wade-Davis Bill into effect -
Sharecropping (“Slavery by another name”)
Sharecropping was a type of farming where families rent small plots of land from a landowner in return for a portion of their crop, to be given to the landowner at the end of each year. With Southern economy in disarray after the abolition of slavery and the devastation of the Civil War, conflict arose during the Reconstruction era between many white landowners attempting to reestablish a labor force and freed blacks seeking economic independence and autonomy -
Scalawags
White Northerners who moved South after the Civil War for economic gain by helping freed African Americans. They supported Republicans and earn the name “scalawag” and “carpetbagger” from Southerners and critics who saw them as exploiting the Southern economy -
Black Codes
Black Codes were restrictive laws designed to limit the freedom of African Americans and ensure their availability as a cheap labor force after slavery was abolished during the Civil War. The Black Codes were created to dampen the blacks’ attempt for physical and economic independence. First created by South Carolina and Mississippi in 1865. Would eventually be known as Jim Crow Laws -
Thirteenth Amendment
Amendment that attempted to outlaw slavery. The 13th Amendment was one of three Amendments released as a result of the Civil War. Passed on January 31, 1865 but ratified on December 6, 1865. Slavery was outlawed by name in the South but was kept in other forms -
First Phase of Reconstruction Ends
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Second Phase of Reconstruction Begins
Presidential Plan with President Andrew Johnson -
The Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Civil Rights Act (1866) was passed by Congress on April 9, 1866 over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. The act declared that all persons born in the United States were now citizens, without regard to race, color, or previous condition. As citizens they could make and enforce contracts, sue and be sued, give evidence in court, and inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property. People who denied these rights to former slaves were guilty of a misdemeanor -
Radical Republicans
A group of Republicans that were dedicated to the emancipation and later equal treatment of blacks. These Republicans were active during the Civil War and worked for emancipation and harsh Reconstruction policies and afterwards the equal treatment of blacks and the enforcement of harsh Reconstruction policies -
Reconstruction Act
in 1867 Congress approved acts that allowed Southern states to be readmitted into the Union under strict requirements, which including ratifying the 14th Amendment and rewriting their state constitutions to allow universal male suffrage and had to approve by Congress. The Act also called for the first 10 “rebel” states to be admitted be split into 5 districts under military control. President Johnson tried to veto the bill but Congress overrode the veto -
“Great Constitutional Revolution” concept introduced by Carl Schurz
Republican leader Carl Schurz called the Reconstruction amendments the start of the Great Constitutional Revolution, showing how citizens could enjoy equality before the law. The GCR also showed how Congress stepped in as “the custodian of freedom” -
Ku Klux Klan
white group formed in 1866 by former Confederate soldiers. The Klan was dedicated to restoring white rule in the South. This was an underground resistance to Radical Reconstruction and the KKK carried attacks on black freedmen to assert white supremacy. The KKK reached their height in 1868-1870 and was responsible for restored white rule in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia. Was disbanded in 1869 by the Grand Wizard and ceased to exist by the 1880s -
Impeachment of President Andrew Johnson
On February 24, 1868 Johnson was impeached and on March 13 the impeachment trial began. Johnson’s charges were mostly about his removal Secretary of War Edwin Stanton from office. The move to impeach Johnson was due to how unpopular he was among Republicans for his lenient approach to Reconstruction and his efforts to hamper civil rights for freed slaves. Johnson was not removed from office however as the vote to remove Johnson from office was missed by one vote -
Fourteenth Amendment
adopted by Congress in July 9, 1868. Gave citizenship regardless of past servitude, equal rights, and legal rights to freed African Americans. Southern states were required to recognize the 14th Amendment if they wanted to be readmitted into the Union -
End of Second Phase of Reconstruction
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Beginning of Third Phase of Reconstruction
Military/Congressional Phase -
Enforcement Acts
Acts passed in 1870 and 1871 in an attempt to protect black voters and candidates from white people who were attacking or planning to attack them -
Fifteenth Amendment
ratified on February 3, 1870. Gave voting rights to citizens regardless of race, previous servitude, but not gender. Southern governments did not recognize the Fifteenth Amendment and were able to limit black voters by the use of poll taxes, literacy tests, and other means -
Slaughterhouse Cases
Case that tested the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment through involuntary servitude. The case lost and was decided that the Fourteenth Amendment only prevents the deprivation of blacks of equal rights and does not apply to economic privileges -
Civil Rights Act of 1875
Act passed on March 1, 1875 that required all public housing and amusement places be open to people of color -
Bargain of 1877
a compromise between Democrats and Republicans to accept Rutherford B. Hayes’ nomination for president. For the Democrats to accept the nomination, the Republicans were required to withdraw Federal troops from the South and thus ended the enforcement of Reconstruction policies -
End of Reconstruction
