HIUS 222 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, UPDATED AND VERIFIED,
ALREADY GRADED A+
Reconstruction:
- Not just about physically rebuilding the South's infrastructure in the wake of the Civil War
- It was an attempt by Republicans in Congress to remake the postwar South in the North's image
socially, politically, and economically
- It hinged upon the restoration of the Southern states to the Union, and the status of the freedmen =.
- Lats from 1865 to 1877.
Context for Reconstruction:
1. Between 1861and 1865, the United States was locked in a bitter and bloody civil war.
2. The Civil War began after the Southern states seceded fro the Union following the election of
Republican Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in 1860.
3. The Civil War transformed America:
- In 1862, President Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, ending slavery in those rebel
states against the United States.
- In early 1865, Congress passed (and the states soon ratified) the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery
in the United States.
4. In April 1865, the Southern Confederacy surrendered, secession was defeated, and the North
emerged triumphant.
Rationale for Reconstruction:
1. The Civil War came with a high cost- over 630,000 Americans killed.
2. Congressional concern over President Johnson's "Restoration Plan"
What should happen to the seceded states that shredded their state constitutions in 1860-1861?
Do they simply return as fully restored states or should they have to go through some sort of new
statehood process?
What about the Freedman?
Could there be a balance between reunion and equality, healing and justice?
Gettysburg Adress (1863), Abraham Licoln
- Offered an early explanation of the war in his November speech.
- Argued that the United States was an idea grounded in the "proposition that all men are created
equal."
- The contradictions of that creed nearly killed the idea, but the war offered a "new birth of freedom."
- The war was about a "rebirth of freedom" and thus there could be no return to the status quo.
President Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865
, - First Republican elected to the Presidency (1860)
- Ridiculed and criticized by anti-war Northern Democrats
- Called him a liar, butcher, dictator, and "Union-splitter" who made the Constitution "obsolete."
- As early as 1863, h established a plan for "reconstruction" that involved a certain percentage of a
state's population taking loyalty oaths.
- Reelected in 1864
- In April 1865, just one month after his second term began, the President was shot and killed.
Andrew Johnson & Reconstruction:
- His belief in white supremacy and his persona racism conflicted with mainstream and Radical
Republican thought
- Encouraged the South to believe that it could escaped the Consequences of the Civil War
- Made the task of Reconstruction divisive and bitter
- In May 1865, articulated a mild "Reconstruction" policy that provided swift amnesty for most white
Southerns
- Called for ratification f 13th Amendment and repudiation of secession
- Ignored black suffrage
Areas of Congressional Concern:
1. Southern legislatures resisted the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery.
2. Black Codes:
- Laws passed by Southern legislatures that limited the civil and economic rights of former slaves.
- Many if these codes sought the return of slavery in all but name.
3 Southern legislatures refused to consider suffrage for black males.
4. The election of Alexander Stephens to the United States Senate in the fall of 1865.
- Vice President of the Confederacy, 1861-1865
Work of Congress, 1866-1870
1. The 14th Amendment:
- Passed by Congress in 1866, it declared that all persons born or naturalized in the United States were
citizens of the United States and of their state of residence.
- Furthermore,no state could abridge the rights of citizens or deprive any person of life, liberty, and &
property without due process of law or deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of
the laws.
2. The Reconstruction Acts of 1867:
- Divided the former Confederacy into five military districts
- Each district was to have a military commander, supported by troops, who was to prepare his district
for readmission as states.
- To this end, the district commander was to institute registration of voters, which was to include all
adult black males, and those white males who were not disqualified by participation in the Confederacy.
- After registration was completed in each district, the general was to call the voters to elect a
convention to prepare a new constitution, which had to include black suffrage.
- If such a constitution was ratified by voters, elections for a state government then could be held.
- Finally, the state was to be restored after it did all those things, and ratified the 14th Amendment.
ALREADY GRADED A+
Reconstruction:
- Not just about physically rebuilding the South's infrastructure in the wake of the Civil War
- It was an attempt by Republicans in Congress to remake the postwar South in the North's image
socially, politically, and economically
- It hinged upon the restoration of the Southern states to the Union, and the status of the freedmen =.
- Lats from 1865 to 1877.
Context for Reconstruction:
1. Between 1861and 1865, the United States was locked in a bitter and bloody civil war.
2. The Civil War began after the Southern states seceded fro the Union following the election of
Republican Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in 1860.
3. The Civil War transformed America:
- In 1862, President Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, ending slavery in those rebel
states against the United States.
- In early 1865, Congress passed (and the states soon ratified) the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery
in the United States.
4. In April 1865, the Southern Confederacy surrendered, secession was defeated, and the North
emerged triumphant.
Rationale for Reconstruction:
1. The Civil War came with a high cost- over 630,000 Americans killed.
2. Congressional concern over President Johnson's "Restoration Plan"
What should happen to the seceded states that shredded their state constitutions in 1860-1861?
Do they simply return as fully restored states or should they have to go through some sort of new
statehood process?
What about the Freedman?
Could there be a balance between reunion and equality, healing and justice?
Gettysburg Adress (1863), Abraham Licoln
- Offered an early explanation of the war in his November speech.
- Argued that the United States was an idea grounded in the "proposition that all men are created
equal."
- The contradictions of that creed nearly killed the idea, but the war offered a "new birth of freedom."
- The war was about a "rebirth of freedom" and thus there could be no return to the status quo.
President Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865
, - First Republican elected to the Presidency (1860)
- Ridiculed and criticized by anti-war Northern Democrats
- Called him a liar, butcher, dictator, and "Union-splitter" who made the Constitution "obsolete."
- As early as 1863, h established a plan for "reconstruction" that involved a certain percentage of a
state's population taking loyalty oaths.
- Reelected in 1864
- In April 1865, just one month after his second term began, the President was shot and killed.
Andrew Johnson & Reconstruction:
- His belief in white supremacy and his persona racism conflicted with mainstream and Radical
Republican thought
- Encouraged the South to believe that it could escaped the Consequences of the Civil War
- Made the task of Reconstruction divisive and bitter
- In May 1865, articulated a mild "Reconstruction" policy that provided swift amnesty for most white
Southerns
- Called for ratification f 13th Amendment and repudiation of secession
- Ignored black suffrage
Areas of Congressional Concern:
1. Southern legislatures resisted the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery.
2. Black Codes:
- Laws passed by Southern legislatures that limited the civil and economic rights of former slaves.
- Many if these codes sought the return of slavery in all but name.
3 Southern legislatures refused to consider suffrage for black males.
4. The election of Alexander Stephens to the United States Senate in the fall of 1865.
- Vice President of the Confederacy, 1861-1865
Work of Congress, 1866-1870
1. The 14th Amendment:
- Passed by Congress in 1866, it declared that all persons born or naturalized in the United States were
citizens of the United States and of their state of residence.
- Furthermore,no state could abridge the rights of citizens or deprive any person of life, liberty, and &
property without due process of law or deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of
the laws.
2. The Reconstruction Acts of 1867:
- Divided the former Confederacy into five military districts
- Each district was to have a military commander, supported by troops, who was to prepare his district
for readmission as states.
- To this end, the district commander was to institute registration of voters, which was to include all
adult black males, and those white males who were not disqualified by participation in the Confederacy.
- After registration was completed in each district, the general was to call the voters to elect a
convention to prepare a new constitution, which had to include black suffrage.
- If such a constitution was ratified by voters, elections for a state government then could be held.
- Finally, the state was to be restored after it did all those things, and ratified the 14th Amendment.
