Reconstruction Flashcards
1
Q
Civil War causes?
A
- long standing sectional differences
- differences over the issue of slavery
- Qs not fully resolved when USA constitution was ratified in 1789
2
Q
Number of Slaves
- statistics
A
1860 - 4 million
1 in 4 families owned slaves
50% of slaves lived on plantations
3
Q
Effects of the War:
- Most striking immediate effect was? + statistics
A
- loss of life on a scale the country had never imagined and destruction
- Union - 360,000 dead
- Confederate - 258,000 dead
- Total: 618,000
4
Q
What was the economic expense of the war?
A
- Union $2.3 billion
- Confederate $1 billion
5
Q
Economically how did the North end up during 1860s in compassion to the south?
A
- North increasing in prosperity; total wealth increased by 50% during 1960s
- Compared to impoverished south
6
Q
How did the war effect both sides politically?
A
- Although union preserved still deep divisions and uncertainty with what to do with defeated states
7
Q
Emancipation of how many slaves?
A
- 3.5 million
8
Q
What were the arguments for slaves in terms of conditions of slaves?
A
- Early Twentieth Century Ulrich Phillips a southern historian argues slaves content with conditions –> reasonable relationship between slaves and owners
- flogging rare, few brutal owners
- well fed, clothed and housed
- no major slave revolts
9
Q
What were the arguments against slaves in terms of conditions of slaves?
A
- 1950s Kenneth Stampp claimed slavery harsh and slaves not treated well by owners
- Slaves could be sold, punished by branding or flogging, sexually exploited and killed
- generally worked longer than free Americans
- hated slavery no attempt to escape –> too difficult
10
Q
Reconstruction under Lincoln
President for what period ?
A
- 1860 -1865
11
Q
What were Lincolns aims?
A
- Deal with south
- Deal with ex slaves
- reconstruction policy
12
Q
What policies did Lincoln introduce? + when
A
- April 1864, 10 Percent Plan
- 1864 - The Thirteenth Amendment - freed slaves - approved 1965
- 1865 - Freedmen’s Bureau
13
Q
What was the 10 percent plan?
What did the Radical Republicans do in response?
A
- introduced in 1864
- Rebel states would be admitted if 10% of their electorate agreed to an oath of future allegiance with the USA
- Radical Republicans dissatisfied introduced Wade-Davis bill - June 1865 - increased 10% to 50% - was vetoed
14
Q
What did the 13th Amendment do ?
A
introduced 1864 - freed slaves - approved in 1865
15
Q
What did the Freedman’s bureau do ?
When was Lincoln assassinated?
A
- Introduced in 1865 for one year to help former slaves
- established schools
- helped with employment
- 14th April Lincoln is assassinated
16
Q
What period was Johnson president?
A
- 1865-1868
17
Q
What were Johnson’s aims?
A
- Restore southern states ASAP
- NO WISH to help former slaves
18
Q
What bill was introduced under Johnson?
What did it do?
How did Johnson respond to it?
A
- Civil Rights Bill, 1866
- Gave minimum rights to blacks
- Johnson vetoed but congress overturned this which required 2/3
19
Q
What was the Fourteenth Amendment?
A
- Was to ensure that the Civil Rights Bill couldn’t be changed
- Rejected by all ex-confederate states apart from Tennessee - failed to get 75%
20
Q
What three policies did the Radical Republicans introduce partially due to the veto of the 14th Amendment?
A
- Military Reconstruction Bill 1867
- The Command of the Army Act
- Tenure of Office Act
21
Q
What did the Military Reconstruction Bill do?
A
- 1867
- Imposed military rule on the south - Tennessee
- To get back in the union southern states had to accept the 14 Amendment, elect national conventions and accept black suffrage
22
Q
What did the Command of the Army Act do?
A
- reduced Johnson military power
23
Q
What did the Tenure of Office Act do?
A
- Prevent Johnson from removing a host of office holders to protect the Secretary of State Edwin M. Stanton
24
Q
Describe the impeachment of Johnson
Why?
Result?
A
- Johnson ignored the tenure of office act and dismissed Stanton
- Republicans decide to impeach Johnson
- Process took place in 1868
- Two month trial, 35 senates voted against him
- they were one short
- His credibility and effectiveness was destroyed
25
When was Grant president?
1869 - 1877
26
What were Grants aims?
Firm treatment of the south
27
What was the new system of government in the south under grant?
South:
- under military rule
- corrupt and inefficient
Made up of:
- 'carpetbaggers' - new officials and northerners - had most power and military support
- helped by 'scalywags' - southern poor whites
- Formed republican coalition with freedmen
28
What was the Fifteenth Amendment and introduced under who?
Grant
- In 1869 introduced stated that 'the right to vote should not be denied on account of race, colour or previous conditions of servitude'
29
In Grants first term what scandal was there?
| - Describe it
- The Whiskey ring scandal of 1875 involved a network of distillers and distributors who conspired to defraud the government of millions in liquor tax revenue
- Grants private secretary was indicated in scandal but was later acquitted with help from the president
30
Grants performance in election?
| Following this what scandal occurred in Grants first term?
- In 1872 Grant won over 55% of popular vote
- First term, group of speculators attempted to influence the government and manipulate the gold market
- they failed and this resulted in financial panic
- his reputation suffered because he was associated with two of the speculators
31
When was the Hayes compromise?
1877
32
What was the Hayes compromise?
1877
- 1876 presidential election
- Republican candidate - Rutherford Hayes
- Democrat candidate - Samuel Tilden
- Tilden won popular vote + Hayes won electoral vote
- resulted in long complex + controversial process
- Secret deal between largely northern-based democrats and emerging democratic party of the south
- Hayes as president if he agreed to withdraw troops from the south + departure of carpetbaggers
- brought an end to reconstruction
33
Effects of Reconstruction
| How successful was reconstruction politically in south?
- Democratic Party, who ensured white supremacy, controlled the south
- Carpetbagger influence exaggerated
- Radical Reconstruction was over before it began
34
Political effects of reconstruction on white southerners and states?
- Adverse effects on white southerners:
- Temporary lost control of southern states
- 1865 fall in political influence of the south in USA
- many states under democratic control in the south
35
What were the positive economic effects of reconstruction?
- Developed into a true industrial power
- 1867 - 1873 south benefited from general US prosperity and from increasing cotton prices
- Railroads rebuilt + textile manufacturing expanded
36
What were the negative economic effects of reconstruction? In south
- South remained an economically depressed region with considerable poverty
- 1870 the average white southerner's income had fallen to 2/5 of a northerners income
37
Positive effects of reconstruction on AA concerning the vote?
- In South Carolina and Mississippi AA were a majority of the electorate
- As a result, 2 black Senators and 20 black Representatives were elected to Congress and a large N. of AA were elected to state legislatures
38
Negative effects of reconstruction on AA concerning the vote?
- African Americans wielded very little influence in Southern states
- AA were a minority in many states
- The Republican party often put forward white candidates hoping to attract more white voters
39
Describe land distribution during reconstruction
- Little or no land given to ex-slaves
- 1865 Johnson ordered all land confiscated by the Union returned to those Southerners who had been pardoned
40
Positive effects of reconstruction in relation to employment for AA?
- 1870s - most became sharecroppers
- white landowners provided the land, seeds and tools and black tenants provided the labour
- fall in cotton prices - early 1870s - resulted in economic hardship for many sharecroppers
41
Negative effects of reconstruction on the social position of African Americans?
- Failed to guarantee AA civil rights --> treated as second class citizens
- In late 19th Century every state introduced segregation including 'Jim Crow Laws'
- Separate schools, drinking fountains, toilets etc
- 'separate but equal' - far from truth
42
Positive effects of reconstruction in social position of African Americans?
- Black institutions, similar to those of WA meant increase in No. of opportunities to lead and manage
- A small but increasing No. of AA men became doctors lawyers and teachers
- there were schools although inferior
- A no. of African Americans favoured segregation
43
Ku Klux Klan set up when?
- 1866
44
Describe Ku Klux Klan activities and effects of AA?
- Set up in 1866; peak terrorist activities in 1869-71
- African Americans faced intimidation and violence from white racists in south
- Terrorised African Americans into not voting through beatings and lynchings
- Hard/impossible to convict them --> AA afraid to testify and if Klansman on jury impossible to convict
