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Reconstruction

Reconstruction. Background. South seceded from the Union to form the Confederacy Texas Civil War 1861-1865 South lacks resources, supplies, soldiers Ends when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Union General Ulysses S. Grant April 9, 1865 April 14, 1865-Lincoln assassinated.

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Reconstruction

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  1. Reconstruction

  2. Background • South seceded from the Union to form the Confederacy • Texas • Civil War 1861-1865 • South lacks resources, supplies, soldiers • Ends when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Union General Ulysses S. Grant April 9, 1865 • April 14, 1865-Lincoln assassinated

  3. Treatment of Former Slaves

  4. African Americans in Texas • 1863-President Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, which frees slaves • Texans do not hear about this, though • June 19, 1865 Union General Gordon Granger lands at Galveston and proclaims that the slaves in Texas are free • “Juneteenth”

  5. What happens to the slaves once they are free?

  6. Freedman’s Bureau • Federal agency designed to help former slaves and manage Confederate-seized land • General E.M. Gregory-head of Texas bureau • Find jobs for freed Texans • Issue food/clothing to sick, aged, and poor • Opens public schools (eventually closed when the bureau ceased operation) • Defended rights of former slaves in court

  7. Challenges to the Freedman’s Bureau • Texas is a large state with poor transportation/communication system • Hostility of whites Texans (and Southerners in general)

  8. Texans on the Move • Since African Americans are free, some go in search of family members from whom they were separated • Since other southern states were destroyed during the war, southerners came to Texas looking for land. • More Europeans came to Texas (Germans, Irish, French, English, Austrians, Czechs, Scots, Swedes, and Swiss)

  9. What should we do with the former Confederate states?

  10. Reconstruction • Period lasting from 1865-1870s • Southern states are gradually brought back into the Union • Rebuilding the Union

  11. How do we handle the South? • Disagreement among Northerners about how the South should be handled • Lincoln feels like the former Confederate states should be given some sympathy • After assassination, President Andrew Johnson continues Lincoln’s plan

  12. Andrew Johnson

  13. Presidential Plan #1-Easy • Set up a provisional government in each southern state with troops to protect them • Must prohibit slavery • Must nullify, or cancel, ordinance of secession • Citizens must take oath of allegiance to US • Voting requirements • Confederate leaders must seek pardon from president • After this, southern states can write new constitutions

  14. Government in Texas • Andrew Jackson Hamilton appointed governor by President Johnson • Against Texas secession, like Sam Houston • Honest and fair-minded • But most Texans liked him because he wanted the Reconstruction process to go smoothly

  15. Government Restored 1866 • Governor Hamilton appointed many state and local officers who took the oath of allegiance • Delegates wrote a new constitution (some of these delegates were former Confederates who got pardons)

  16. Texas Constitution 1866 • Declares slavery illegal • Declares secession illegal • Schools for African Americans • DOES NOT give them full rights, because African Americans do not have the right to vote (disappoints Governor Hamilton) • Ratified June 1866

  17. Congress Reacts • Some Northerners think that Lincoln and Johnson were “going too easy” on the former Confederate states • They wanted Congress to decide how they should be readmitted into the Union • Why do you think Congress felt this way?

  18. Why did Congress feel that way? • Most elected southern officials were ex-Confederates • Example: newly elected Texas Governor Throckmorton had been a Confederate general • It made Congress very nervous and upset that the very people who called for secession were basically back in power.

  19. 13th and 14th Amendments • Changes to the Constitution passed by Congress • 13th amendment-abolishes slavery • 14th amendment-grants citizenship to former enslaved people • Texas legislators and other southern states refuse to ratify, or accept, these amendments

  20. To make things worse… • Southern states started passing black codes • Black codes-Laws limiting the rights of African Americans (not as restrictive in Texas, but still offensive) • Examples: • Not allowed to vote • Not allowed to testify against a white person • Cannot serve on juries • If African Americans don’t have a job or home, they work for a plantation owner

  21. So…has anything really changed for African Americans???

  22. Radical Republicans • Northerners who want stricter regulations for Southern states to get back in the Union • Want Congress to set up these regulations • Want to protect the rights of and freedoms about African Americans (they think that in the long run, they will stay in power this way)

  23. Radical Republicans in Congress • Many get elected to Congress in 1866 • They can override any presidential veto • They do not get along with President Johnson and even vote to impeach him • Remove him from office because of misconduct • Senate fails to convict him

  24. Congressional Plan • Radical Republican Congress’s plan for Southern states to reenter the Union 1. Military governs 1 of 5 districts of the South (TX and LA are one district) 2. State constitutions must give African American men the right to vote and to hold office 3. Require states to ratify the 14th amendment and 15th amendment (guarantees African Americans the right to vote)

  25. Congressional Plan 4. Must repeal the black codes 5. Voters must take Ironclad Oath which states that southerners had not served in Confederate army (prevents many from voting) • This plan pleased many Unionists and African Americans • Southerners VERY mad • In Texas, Governor Throckmorton did NOT put these laws into effect.

  26. Texas Reaction • Elisha M. Pease appointed governor of Texas after Throckmorton was removed by Unionists • Well respected by Texans, as well as Radical Republicans • All across Texas, ex-Confederates were removed from office and replaced with Radical Republican sympathizers

  27. New Social Groups • Scalawags-Southern whites who supported Reconstruction • Carpetbaggers-Northerners who came to the South during Reconstruction to help rebuild the nation • Ku Klux Klan-group of white Southerners who used terror to prevent African Americans from exercising their rights

  28. Carpetbagger

  29. KKK

  30. New Texas Constitution 1869 • Written by delegates including African Americans • No one excluded from voting due to race or color • Support for public education • Extended rights of African Americans • Many African Americans elected to office

  31. Radical Republican Texas • Edmund J. Davis (Radical Republican choice) elected to governor in 1869 • Ratified of the 14th and 15th amendment • Everything seems to be ok in Texas • BUT, March 30, 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant declares that Reconstruction in Texas had ended………….

  32. What could this mean for Texas?????

  33. Republican Governor • Many Texans did not like Republican Governor Davis • Argued that he gave too many rights to African Americans and Tejanos • Tried to restrict rights of white Southerners • Increased spending (education, etc.) meant that state debt increased • Many Texans overlooked the successes of Davis

  34. Democratic Challenge • 1872 anti-Davis Democrats won a majority of seats in the state legislature • They reduced the power of the governor and abolished the state police force • Richard Coke (ex-Confederate) ran against Davis for governor and won • Fighting over when Coke will be sworn in • Coke sworn in January 15, 1874, and Davis forced to leave • Reconstruction is officially over

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