A summary of 'The Making of a Superpower: USA, This summary covers the society, economics, foreign policy, and politics during the presidencies of every U.S. president from 1865 to 1920
Presidential Reconstruction 1865 - 1867
Reconstruction after the Civil War resulted in political reunion and
bitter disputes over how best to reintegrate the South into the Union.
President Lincoln proposed a generous and non-punitive plan to return
the former Confederate states speedily to the United States. His Ten
Percent Plan (1864): Admittance of rebel states into the Union if ten
percent of their electorate agreed to an oath of further allegiance to the
USA.
The Radical Republicans considered Lincoln's plan too lenient to the
rebel states. They insisted on harsh terms for the defeated Confederacy
and protection for former slaves, through the Wade-Davis Bill: 50
percent of the rebel state’s electorate had to agree to the oath. It
excluded Confederacy states from government roles in future. Lincoln
vetoed it.
Andrew Johnston 1865-1867 - Democrat
Johnson’s policies focused on reunifying the United States but did not
care for the anti-slavery cause. He sought to reconstitute the Union
quickly. His Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in 1865
provided sweeping “amnesty and pardon” to rebellious Southerners.
He provided Southern states with a clear path back to readmission. As
Showed by granting more than 13,000 pardons to the Southern
confederates where All rights and property, except slaves, were
restored. And trying to veto the Civil Rights Bill (1866), 14th
Amendment and the expansion of the freedman's Beur
Radical Reconstruction 1867 - 1877
Radical Republicans in Congress disagreed with Johnson's position.
The conflict between Johnson and Congress continued and Northern
voters grew discontented with Johnson's leniency towards the Southern
states.
,In the 1866 congressional elections, they gained control of the House. In
the ensuing years, they pushed for the dismantling of the old Southern
order and the complete reconstruction of the South.
The 1867 Military Reconstruction Act set a new direction for
Reconstruction in the South. Republicans in Congress began to
implement their own plan of bringing law and order to the South through
the use of military force and martial law.
President Johnson vetoed the Reconstruction Acts, but Congress simply
overrode these vetoes. By the end of 1870, all the southern states under
military rule had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment and been restored
to the Union.
In 1868 the House of Representatives voted to impeach Johnson for
breaking the Tenure Of Office Act, making him the first President in
American history to be impeached. However, the vote to remove him
from office failed by one single vote. Nonetheless, Johnson’s power was
essentially gone. He had very little support and Congress became the
driving force of the next era of Reconstruction: Radical Reconstruction.
Johnson was replaced as president by Ulysses Grant of the Republican
party in 1868, who oversaw many policies to increase African-American
civil rights. All three branches of government were controlled by the
Republicans by 1869. Grant had no difficulty passing his policies.
Failure of Reconstruction
By 1875, with the Republic Party hobbled by scandals and economic
depression, Reconstruction had largely come to an end.
Although Grant won a second term in the presidential election of 1872,
the Republican grip on national political power began to slip in the
early 1870s.
Three major events undermined Republican control:
In 1873, the U.S. experienced the start of a long economic downturn.
The Republican Party experienced internal squabbles and divided
, into two factions. The Democratic Party made significant advances in
the 1870s. The 1874 elections proved a significant turning point:
The Democrats recaptured control of the House of Representatives for
the first time since before the Civil War.
The majority of Southern states fell to the Democratic Party and the
restoration of white supremacy.
3) Grants scandals - whisky and Black Friday
Many white Southerners felt humiliated by the process of Radical
Reconstruction. Those committed to rolling back the tide of Radical
Reconstruction in the South called themselves Redeemers.
This label expressed their desire to redeem their states from northern
control and to restore the antebellum social order of white supremacy.
By 1877, they had succeeded in bringing about the “redemption” of
the South, leading to the disputed election of 1876 and the
Compromise of 1877 with Hayes promising to remove the fed
troops and be a 1 term president effectively destroying the dream of
Radical Reconstruction. It had failed to achieve its primary objective of
creating an interracial democracy that provided equal rights to all
citizens.
Society 1865 - 1877
Women
Despite the increased rights being granted to African Americans, women
were excluded from the constitutional amendments and their campaign
for suffrage continued. Despite these setbacks, some women's rights
leaders pressed forward in their struggle for the vote and increased
property rights.
Chief amongst these was Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady
Stanton. In 1869, Stanton and Anthony helped organize the National
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