Reconstruction (1865-1877)
Role of Congress, presidents and Supreme Court in changing race relations
CONGRESS: Positive role.
Ø Radical Republicans in Congress acted against President Johnson and took Reconstruction into their own
hands, passing key legislation that signified great civil rights improvement.
- 13th Amendment (1865): Emancipation of all slaves. Created 4 million freedmen.
- 14th Amendment (1868): Both black and white received equal protection under the law.
- 15th Amendment (1870): Forbade the deprivation of any US citizen to vote.
- Freedmen’s Bureau (1865): Set up to help millions of former black slaves and poor whites in the
South in the aftermath of the Civil War, providing food, housing, medical aid and legal aid. It set up
the first black universities (Fisk, Atlanta) and freedmen gathered $750,000 for them. It also provided
education for 150,000 black Americans.
However: It was prevented from fully carrying out its programs due to a shortage of funds and
personnel, and constant pressure exerted by white southerners which led to its closure in 1872.
- Civil Rights Act of 1866: Passed over President Andrew Johnson’s veto. The act declared that all
persons born in the United States were citizens, without regard to race, colour, or previous condition.
- Civil Rights Act of 1875: Supported equality before the law, justice for all and full enjoyment of public
places. The last act of Reconstruction.
PRESIDENTS: Mixed role.
Ø Abraham Lincoln: He was a key individual for passing the 13th Amendment which liberated all black
Americans from slavery. Without the 13th Amendment AA would have stayed in slavery for a very long time.
However: He didn’t stay for long as he was assassinated. Didn’t introduce any other key legislation that
furthered black Americans. That was the role of other presidents and Congress.
Ø Andrew Johnson: He hindered more than he helped.
- In 1865 he granted a general pardon to former confederates who were willing to take a mere oath of
allegiance. This meant that they were able to gain control of their states.
- He also recognised several provisional state governments in the former confederacy and left it up to
the states who should be qualified to vote. This meant that state governments gained the power to
refuse the vote to blacks.
This freedom allowed for the creation of the Black Codes, which caused uproar.
- In 1866 he attempted to veto the Civil Rights Bill of 1866 and eliminate the Freedmen’s Bureau. He
vetoed Congress proposals a total of 29 times. Consequently, from 1866 congressional elections,
Radical Republicans took over reconstruction since Johnson’s programme had failed.
Ø Ulysses Grant: His impact was mixed.
- 1st Enforcement Act (1870): Passed by Grant to deal with the violence of terrorist groups. It prohibited
groups from banding together and disguising.
- 2nd Enforcement Act (1870): Placed administration of elections for Congress under federal
surveillance and empowered federal judges and marshals to supervise local polling places.
- 3rd Enforcement Act (KKK Act) (1871): Gave power to the president to use armed forces to combat
those who denied equal protection of the law and suspended their habeas corpus if necessary. It
succeeded in controlling WSG during what was left of Reconstruction, though groups did spring up
and violence was occasional.
- Amnesty Act of 1872: Allowed many ex-confederates to return to political life. Removed voting and
office-holding restrictions on most former members of the confederacy. Provided no help to governor
of Mississippi to provide troops to control white backlash. The Amnesty Act contributed to the
‘redeeming’ of southern states, which liberated them from military federal control.
Ø Rutherford Hayes:
- Hayes Compromise (1877): A deal that settled the disputed 1876 presidential election in which
Southern Democrats agreed to allow republican Hayes win if he pulled the last troops out of the south,
ending the military rule and thereby ending Reconstruction. It was the last blow to the attempt to
improve the conditions of black Americans because it meant that southern whites had gained back
, control of their states and were therefore able to remove the rights black Americans had gained up to
then and instate new ones which reduced them to an inferior position.
SUPREME COURT: Negative role.
Ø The Supreme Court limited the rights of AA during Reconstruction because it weakened the power of the
14th and 15th Amendment on AA.
- Slaughterhouse Decision of 1873: Ruled that the 14th Amendment did not protect the civil rights that
individuals received from state citizenship. This meant that individual states had authority over civil
rights: they could apply different laws that limited the rights of black Americans.
- United States v. Reese Case of 1876: Stated that the 15th Amendment did not give the right to vote
to anyone.
Role of pressure groups and individuals campaigning for civil rights
There was a lack of pressure groups campaigning for civil rights because, in comparison to the period
before 1865, generally positive change was taking place. AA were emancipated, given citizenship and the right to
vote. Thus, despite the political and social backlash, it was too soon for pressure groups to be established.
However it could be argued that the presence of black Americans in office showed a certain degree of
political power. During Reconstruction, about 2000 AA held office, though they were seen as less qualified.
Impact: Office holding and the vote empowered black people. Also, political power led to increased funds for
education.
The forces resisting civil rights
Ø Presidents:
- Johnson: 1865 general pardon, recognised provisional state governments, attempted to veto (29) Civil
Rights Act of 1866 and to close Freedmen’s Bureau which provided help to AA.
- Grant: Amnesty Act of 1872
- Hayes: Hayes Compromise of 1877
Ø Southern Democrats: Limitation of political and economic rights
- Sharecropping: Put ex-salves to rent small plots of land to work themselves and in return they would
give a portion of their crop to the landowner. Under sharecropping they became trapped in the system,
as they lacked capital of their own, it gave them little profit and prevented them from thriving
economically.
- Black Codes, introduced in 1865: The Black Codes were a series of rules introduced by states which
established codes of behaviour for black Americans and threatened them with fines or unpaid labour
in case of breakage. The Codes successfully repressed many black Americans, as they were forced
to do labour in conditions with little difference from slavery.
- Redemption of the south: State governments filled with white southerners attempted to gain back
power by redeeming their states from federal control and thus be able to establish their own state
laws, including ones regarding black Americans. The push for redemption meant that states started
to get rid of legislation that protected black Americans.
Ø Violence: Limitation of social civil rights. White supremacist groups aimed to enforce the social system
that had existed before the end of the Civil War, wherein black Americans were inferior and lacked civil
rights (white supremacy).
They particularly attacked black schools and churches as teachers encouraged voter participation and
political power for black Americans, which led to the improvement of their conditions and the continuation
of federal control over the South.
They had political and social impact: they successfully intimidated black Americans so that they did not
vote in the 1868 and 1875 elections, allowing Democrats to slowly establish control over the ex-
Confederate states, redeeming them eventually and leading to the introduction of the Jim Crow laws. Also,
they had a strong social impact: Freedmen’s Bureau reported 336 cases of violence in 1868 only. The
height of their violence came between 1869-71: e.g. Colfax Massacre.
