Reconstrustion To The Early 1970s

Introduction

Reconstruction refers to the period immediately following the Civil War in which attempts were made to politically, economically, and socially "reconstruct" the Union and the 11 defeated ex-Confederate states. The era was marked by horrific racial violence, widespread southern poverty, and general political unrest. Reconstruction lasted from the end of the Civil War in 1865 to the withdrawal of the last federal troops from the South in 1877 (Andrews, pp. 77).

By the end of the Civil War, the South was devastated. The Union army had burned cities, uprooted train tracks, and destroyed plantation homes and cotton gins to suppress Confederate resistance. At least 4 million newly emancipated slaves sought food, shelter, and work alongside an impoverished and resentful white community. Fears persisted among whites that freed slaves would revolt against them, and in the first postwar Reconstruction governments (still consisting of Confederate representatives), "black codes" were passed to severely limit the economic, social, and political mobilization of freed blacks (DuBois, pp. 56).

In June 1866, Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment, which extended citizenship to blacks. In response to the empowerment of ex-Confederate politicians in new state offices and the emergence of “black codes" in southern states, northern Republicans in Congress refused to recognize the immediate postwar southern governments (initially allowed by President Lincoln and by Johnson's administrative policies). Congress instead developed its own standards for Reconstruction and readmission to the Union. It initiated an era of congressional dominance over Reconstruction policy (Congressional Reconstruction, also known as Republican Reconstruction or Radical Reconstruction) with the Reconstruction Acts of 1867. Under the acts, passed over the veto of President Andrew Johnson, the ex-Confederate states were separated into five districts to be occupied by the U.S. Army. Conditions were set for readmission to the Union and included acceptance of the Fourteenth Amendment (and Fifteenth amendment, if admitted after its passage), disenfranchisement of ex-Confederate soldiers, and the establishment of a new state constitution. Under this agreement, every one of the ex-Confederate states was readmitted to the Union by 1880, though readmission to the Union did not signify the end of Reconstruction for southern states (Foner, pp. 45).

Furthermore, Reconstruction governments, although short-lived, ushered in substantial progressive reform (Franklin, pp. 54). The political gains made during Reconstruction for emancipated blacks were profound. Black politicians emerged throughout the South to assume judgeships, law enforcement positions, and nearly all other forms of elected office. In South Carolina, blacks held a majority of seats in the state house of representatives. Reconstruction afforded blacks a degree of political freedom that they would not enjoy again for nearly 100 years.

Other important reforms marked the Reconstruction era, such as the establishment of free public schools, the abolishment of debt imprisonment, the curbing of capital punishment, and the drafting of state constitutions that incorporated the concept of equal protection. Congress also created the Freedman's Bureau to aid and protects emancipated blacks in the aftermath of the war. The bureau issued 20 million rations to needy Americans in the four years after ...