The rebirth of our nation, after the Civil War, can be broke down into three phases: Reconstruction, 1877-1893 and the 1890s. The country as we know it today, traces its roots back to this era.
After the war was won, the North had to decide how to handle the South. Congress wanted a complete reconstruction of southern politics. It was to be a long and harsh plan for rejoining the Union. They wanted to build a strong Republican party in the southern states and take all ex- Confederates out of power. Redistribution of southern land was a priority and so was giving former slaves full civil rights.
President Lincoln had another idea for healing the nation. He started working on his plan well before the war had ended, in 1863. His plan called for a quick and easy process. According to Lincoln’s plan, only 10% of a state’s citizens had to agree to rejoin. Once they agreed, they would take an oath of loyalty to the Union, accepting wartime acts and proclamations concerning slavery. By doing this, he would grant amnesty to all Confederate citizens, except for high ranking civil and military officials. But, before Lincoln could pass his plan through congress, he was assassinated after taking office for a second term.
Vice President Andrew Johnson stepped in as acting president after Lincoln’s death. Congress thought they had a friend in the White House. Johnson was from North Carolina, but had stayed true to the Union during the Civil War. But congress was too quick to judge him. Johnson agreed with Lincoln’s plan to heal the nation as quickly and easily as possible. So, while congress was out on break I 1865, he made his own plan. To rejoin the Union, a southern state only had to revoke their secession ordinances and ratify the 13th amendment; the abolishment of slavery. By doing so, Johnson granted amnesty to all Confederate citizens except for high ranking civil and military officials, gave back property, not slaves, to owners as long as they were not high ranking officials or if they owned more than $20,000 in taxable property. By December when congress went back into session, all seceding states had meet Johnson’s requirements and had full functioning governments in place.
Northern Congressmen were outraged with Johnson. Instead of reconstructing the south, Johnson had simply restored it without addressing land issues, giving blacks their rights and putting the ex confederates right back into power. Because of his hasty actions, Republicans in the south were being attacked and the south quickly returned to the way it was. When representatives from the south came to congressional meetings, northern leaders refused to seat them. Johnson vetoed all reconstruction legislation that congress passed without southern representation. Congress simply overrides his veto later. Throughout the cat and mouse games, congress passed the Civil Rights Bill of 1866. It gave blacks the right to own property, make contracts and have full access to courts. By passing the Bill, the federal court could now sue over violations of the Bill. They also passed the 14th amendment giving citizenship and civil rights to blacks. By the end of Johnson’s term, the 15th amendment had been passed, giving black men the right to vote.
During this time, blacks made great gains, although they were only temporary. With their new freedom, many blacks took to the road in search of loved ones, to look for employment and to simply get away from the white supervision of farm life. They legally married for the first time, bought land and started families. Black communities were built along side cities with churches that offered education and social wellness. Strong black leaders rose up from these church organizations. Only five years after the Civil War ended, blacks held official offices in the Senate, House of Representatives and local state government seats as well. They started business and made financial gains for themselves. But all of this was short lived.
Soon after, the North lost interest in issues of the south and began to focus on their prospering economics, leaving the south to return to the way it was pre-Civil war. To circumvent the 13th amendment, they enforced Black Codes. These were local laws that helped keep conditions as close to slavery as possible. They arrested blacks for very minor offenses, charged unrealistic fines and sentenced them to work off their court debt for extremely low ages on nearby plantations. Southern plantation owners took further measures to keep “legal slavery” alive. Sharecropping was viewed as a wonderful opportunity for blacks and poor whites alike. They dream of having your own land to work and make a living on lured them to this endless cycle of debt. By 1870, the Democratic Party used the terrorist organization, the Ku Klux Klan, to scare blacks from voting and making any gains in the south. The KKK used such tactics as burning property, assaulted and killed blacks and whites who associated with blacks.
The government was full of scandals from the Grant administration during the 1876 election. Three southern states disputed the outcome of the election, resulting in the Compromise of 1877. This Compromise put Republican R. Hayes in the Presidential office and let Democrats take control of southern states. This was the start of the reign of the Solid South.
The next sixteen years were mostly a standstill in politics. This era is known as the No Name Presidents era because nothing of substance was achieved during their administrations. Politics had taken a “Laissez-faire” approach to running the country. Government was uninvolved with the Thieving Country’s economic status. The age of industry was upon us. Although the South was still behind the North’s booming economy, it too had started to see times of better industry.
Immigrants from all over Europe and Asia were flooding the United States. They made communities that reflected their individual heritages, but lived side by side with everyone else. Newspapers from different diversities were being published. They started writing about human interest stories. These papers told lavish tales of how wonderful it was in the West. They filled the imagination with tales of Indian wars and saloon bar fights. They prompted the migration towards the west.
This wave of immigrants changed the way local power was handled. Cities played important political roles in how officials were now elected to office. People in office would greet immigrants at the dock and offer to help them. They feed them, found them homes and jobs. By doing this, they secured a steady source of voters. Local leaders also played important roles in what business would be brought to their city. Bids were placed for property and business license. The local leader had say in who got both. Campaign money was trickled down to these leaders in return for granting access to the city. Ward leaders had turned Tammany Hall into a political machine.
Factories from the North were moving their companies to the South because of the abundance of low waged workers and the likeliness of no union involvement. Steel Mills, textiles and tobacco farming filled the south. Railroads linked the rural areas of the south together. This made it possible for southern products to be shipped to the prosperous north. Small towns flourished new depot sites for the railroad. Migration within the U.S. happened where the railroad went.
After the price of cotton fell in 1877, southern farmers revolted. The prices of necessary tools to raise cotton continue to go up even though the farmer couldn’t make enough money off the cotton to grow it. Railroad freights were unregulated and the cotton market was only helping the large farmer make gains. Neither the Federal nor local governments would make changes to help these farmers. So, they organized together to form their own unions. Farmers began to store their cotton until the price would rise and would borrow money off of their expected profits.
Big business flourished. The average worker worked long work days for very little pay. They began to strike against their employers in hopes of making gains. Many of these strikes resulted in people getting injured or killed, loss of jobs and military intervention. Government sided with big business and not the little man. No strike during this time ever achieved its goals.
By 1890, the People’s Party, or better known as the Populist Party, had formed from unions of small farmers. Although black farmers agreed with the issues the Populists argued for, most stayed loyal to the Republican Party because they didn’t understand southern politics. The third Party forced the dominate Parties to face issues that dealt with the small farmers. The votes they received in an election could tip the balance of the outcome for Republicans and Democrats.
Women began reform movements. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union was the largest of its kind. In 1874, they began their movement to teach children about the evils of alcohol, education, prison reform and flood men’s groups with literature about their causes. They eventually expanded into labor, social purity, health, women’s prisons and women’s suffrage. They are responsible for creating a new generation of leaders in America.
Legal segregation had begun by the 1890s in churches, schools, some organizations and in public places. Black Codes had ended and the Jim Crow Laws made it possible for blacks to live separate but equal with whites. This still didn’t stop many from mingling together and doing business with one another. The Supreme Court case, Plessy v. Ferguson, the decision held that the Railroad was not in violation with the constitution. Separate but equal did not mean the same standards of equal for blacks. Southern politicians used the disfranchisement of black voters to put poll taxes on voting to make it harder for blacks to vote. When this affected the poor whites, they changed requirements to a Grandfather Clause. It stated that if your Grandfather could vote, then you could vote. Most Black Grandfathers were former slaves with no rights. The common idea that blacks were inferior to whites was held by both whites from the North and South.
By the 1890s, funding for black education had dropped dramatically. Teacher student ratios were twice that of their white counterparts. Living in complete segregation was taking its toll on the poor black society. Blacks had trouble finding work in mills the employed whites. To help the blacks make economic and educational gains, the Atlanta Compromise was passed. This compromise meant that blacks would stay segregated and disenfranchised until they could prove their worth. In return, white people would provide education and job training that they would need to make these gains.
Within the thirty odd years after the Civil War, the United States has continued its battle between the North and the South over issues of civil rights and the black man’s place in society. This is easily seen throughout the three phases of the Reconstruction era of American history.
Related source:
The American Journey by: Goldfield,Abbott, Anderson, J. Argersinger, P. Argersinger, Barney, Weir; Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 07458, copyrights 2007, 2005, 2002, 1998
