Black Americans Key Info – Civil Rights in the USA 1865-1992, OCR
B1 → Radical Reconstruction
Emancipation
-President Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation on 1st January 1863
-Was issued as a war measure and ensured that slavery would end when the South was finally
defeated
-In 1865, the North won the Civil War and the Thirteenth Amendment, ending slavery, was passed
The South
-Traditionally, Southern society was based on the ownership of slaves, their economy relied on it
(free labour)
-They had little intention of changing this and slaves became a measure of wealth
-Out of the American population of 31 million in 1860, there were 4 million slaves living in the
South
Reconstruction (1865-1877)
-The radical republicans (who were the majority in Congress) were determined to make
emancipation a reality by amending the Constitution and translating freedom into citizenship; even
if it meant opposing the new president, Andrew Johnson (who became president in 1865, after
Lincoln’s assassination)
-Reconstruction was the name given to the federal government’s attempt to aid the freed slaves,
who were uneducated, unskilled and without the ownership of property, land, or savings
Timeline of Reconstruction
1863 - Emancipation Proclamation
1865 - Andrew Johnson becomes President
- 13th Amendment
- the Freedmen’s Bureau
1866 - Civil Rights Act
- Fourteenth Amendment
1868 - U.S.Grant becomes President
1870 -Fifteenth Amendment
1870 - 1871 - Enforcement and KKK Act
1875 - Civil Rights Act
Was legal action enough to make slaves into citizens?
-When abolition came suddenly, it left both the North and South and the government unprepared for
the reality of how to release people from servitude into self-sufficiency
,-Devastation and distress caused by Civil War also meant that at first life was slow to change in the
South
-Ex-Slaves could live with their families, enjoy their communities and be educated for the first time
-However, most had little or no savings and so unable to purchase land or acquire many possessions
-Most had little choice but to remain as paid labourers or to become sharecroppers working on the
same land as before
-Southern white society, which had owned Black workers as property and controlled them by force,
could not easily forget habits of superiority
-Rise of Ku Klux Klan was a continuation of such attitudes
-Being a sharecropper meant that a family rented land, and received a house, tools and sometimes
seed. In return they gave their landlord (usually a white farmer) a large proportion of the crop
-This system kept the Black cotton producers in an inferior position
The Impact of Civil War
-By the time the war ended, the Confederate states were ruined
-The southern economy had collapsed and inflation had soared (and there was also huge loss of life)
-The north was less adversely affected economically but there was still devastating loss of life
-Congress passed a number of laws to extend the railway network, including the Pacific Railroad Act
1862, and to open up the opportunities for further westward expansion -this legislation offered
opportunities for self-improvement to all classes of people, but especially to the poor
Short term impact = the war benefited wealthy businessmen and manufacturers while ordinary
working people in industry suffered
Future problems = Economy was adversely affected + 2 questions:
How was the unity of the US to be restored?
What was the status of the several million slaves who had been freed?
Republican Reaction to Johnson’s Plan
-Johnson’s plan shocked Republicans as he had taken the initiative without consultation and the
nature of the proposal
-Republicans had hoped for a more general readmission of the southern rebel states into the union
while the more radical republicans wanted to see them barred from political life
-They also wanted to secure the vote for African Americans
Johnson’s Plan:
1.Almost all southerners who were prepared to swear an oath of allegiance to the Union were to
receive a pardon and amnesty, then they could vote and stand for election to state assemblies - they
also had to agree to the 13th amendment
2.All property was to be restored to them, except their slaves
,3.Leaders (civil + military) and the wealthy plantation owners were exempted from the offer of
pardon and Johnson said he was determined to punish these people
Johnson’s plan in action
-The plan had disastrous consequences for the freed slaves
-During the war years Johnson had never abandoned his support for slavery
-He pardoned more southern rebels than planned and abandoned the intention to charge with
treason and punish southern politicians and army officers, and allowed them to resume their state
offices
-Failed to implement policy of excluding rich planters from office
-Failed to enforce the requirement of newly elected state assemblies in the south to ratify the 13th
amendment
Black Codes
→State legislation introduced in the south
→Were justified as guaranteeing protection for freed slaves but their intention was clearly to
ensure that AAs never acquired land or political power
→Gave limited rights e.g. own property, attend school, enter a legal marriage e.t.c
→Generally withheld right to vote, serve on jury, give evidence against a white person, carry arms or
marry a white person
→Also (in some states) heavier penalties were imposed on black Americans who broke the law than
white Americans and in many states, they were banned from competing for jobs with white men and
were restricted to specified jobs. This forced large numbers to enter labour contracts with their
former owners - this effectively bound free slaves to the land and their employers and was simply
another form of slavery
Johnson had already made it clear that he didn’t support the extension of the franchise
automatically to African American men without any kind of voting qualification. He believed they
should be able to ‘read the constitution of the US and write their names in english’ and suggested
the imposition of property qualifications
Black codes = essentially disenfranchised African Americans but also prevented them from
receiving their full rights as citizens of the USA - they were no longer slaves, but neither were they
free and equal
Northern reaction of the black codes + Johnson’s plan
-Johnson’s plan united the Republican radicals, moderates and conservatives against him
-This put a fairly united republican party behind the case for civil rights for former sales and in
opposition to the president
-They set about destroying the black codes after meeting in December 1865
, The Freedmen’s Bureau
-First set up by and Act of Congress in March 1865 to support freed slaves
-Showed that the government was accepting some responsibility for the care of this large section of
society
-They helped to find homes and employment, provided food education and medical care, and
allocated some abandoned/confiscated land which they had the option to buy after three years
-Between 1865 and 1866, the Bureau spent $17 million on setting up 4000 schools and 100
hospitals
-The bureau was intended to be temporary just to ease the transition from slavery to freedom but in
1866 a proposal was put before Congress to extend its powers - the Supplementary Freedmen’s
Bureau act:
The Freedmen’s Bureau was
→Extended for 3 years
→To set up military courts to deal with labour disputes between former slaves and their employers
→To protect African Americans (AA)s from the aspects of the Black Codes that forced labour
contracts on them
-Johnson unsuccessfully attempted to veto the passing of the Act
The Civil Rights Act (1866)
-Intended to establish unequivocally the equality of African Americans with other American citizens
(in particular asserted their right to equality before the law)
-Johnson tried to veto the bill with blatantly racist motives but this was overridden
The Fourteenth Amendment(1866)
=Everyone born or naturalised in the USA were citizens so entitled to the protection of the law
without discrimination - if any state denied the vote to any male citizen, it’s representation in
Congress would be proportionately reduced (their political influence would be weakened)
→This was directly against the black codes
→It was an important political landmark in that it began to change the balance of power between
the state and federal governments, particularly in the definition and protection of the civil and
political rights of all US citizens
→Southern politicians were outraged (as was Johnson) and only 1 out of 11 southern states
(Tennessee) ratified it - a united republican party was able to win everyone else’s support for it
allowing it to be passed
The Fifteenth Amendment(1870)
=Intended to ensure that African Americans had the vote not only in the South, but also in the North
(as the 14th directly targeted the south with their higher population of African Americans)
