12.+Reconstruction

=﻿Reconstruction= Angela Ly


 * Presidential and Radical Reconstruction:**
 * Freedman's Bureau: On March 1865, Congress made an agency that will provide food to former slaves and help build schools for them . Many missionaries and teachers were sent to the South by the Freedman's Aid Societies and other private and church groups in the North. This showed that the government was trying its best to help aid these former slaves and give them an easier living to start of their new life in the new South.
 * Conservative and Radical Republicans: The Conservative Republicans wanted the South to recognize the free slaves in their society, but the Radical Republicans wanted to punish the South. The Radical Republicans wanted to take away the whites' money and give it to the ex-slaves as an aid . This showed the two different ways that the Republicans wanted to deal things in the South. During Recinstruction, all the Conservative Republicans just wanted the South to recognize the free slaves and move on. They didn't want to alway remain or referr back to the past. They wanted South to realize their mistake and so they can all move on and create a better nation together. On the other hand, the Radical Republicans wanted to punish the South for their mistake. They believed that it was the South's fault that they were in a war and if it wasn't for their stubborn belief in slaves, this conflict could have been resolve without the need of a war. They also wanted to punish the South because they seceded the nation and it portrayed them as some sort of traitor to their nation. With this anger inside of them, the Radical Republicans wanted to punish the South and give them a good lesson to never do this again. To punish them, they thought about taking their wealth away from them and giving to the ex-slaves. It's because at that time the ex-slaves were all lost and confused with this new society and they needed some aid. Instead of the government providing huge amounts of money, they can simply just take the wealth from the whites and give it to the poor.
 * Lincoln's 10% Plan : In Lincoln's 10% Plan, Lincoln states that if 10% of each state gave their loyalty to the federal government and accepted the elimination of slavery, then the government will allow them to rejoin the nation. Lincoln did this because he wanted to unite the nation as soon as possible and didn't want it to lag. Though Lincoln wanted to do this, but many disagreed with him . Many wanted the South to realize their mistake and some wanted to punish them as well. But to Lincoln, he just wanted the nation to reunite together as a whole again. He didn't care about punishments and such; he just wanted the nation to be a whole again. The longer it takes for the country to reunite, the weaker the country gets.
 * Wade-Davis Bill: The Wade-Davis Bill was passed by Congress on July 1864 in which it allowed the president to appoint a governor for each state that had rejoined the nation . This was different from Lincoln's 10% Plan because this bill required more than 10% of the white men of each state to pledge their loyalty to the government . After the pledge of loyalty, the president/government will then appoint a governnor to the state. The delegates selected would have to swear that they were never against America and never will . This help ensure that those who control the South were loyal to the government and conflicts like the Civil War won't happen again. Lincoln didn't really agree with this bill because he just wanted to reunite the nation quickly.
 * Andrew Johnson: When Andrew Johnson became president, he didn't follow what Lincoln did. Instead his idea of Reconstruction was similar to the Wade-Davis Bill. He didn't plan of giving ex-slaves equal rights. He wanted the South to recognize the 13th Amendment and pay off the war debts.
 * 14th Amendment: The 14th Amendment states what American citizenship was and that former leaders of the Confederacy can't hold position in state officials unless two-thirds of Congress pardons them
 * 15th Amendment: Once all the states reunite, they can not deny any person of their race, colorm and previous conditions of servitude
 * Tenure of Office Act : This denied the president's power to remove civil officers without a consent of the Senate . But Johnson ignoreed this act and removed his vice president. This gave the Radical Republicans a reason to impreach the president.
 * Three Reconstruction Bills: This established a plan to reconstruct the South and the whites and blacks who didn't participate in the rebellion had to vote to make constitutions for each state.


 * Southern States Government (aspirations, achievements, failures):**
 * In the beginning the federal government interferre to help establish these southern state governments . Acts and laws such as the Wade-Davis Bill was passed so that the president can appoint a governor for each states' government . The federal government had a tight hold on the South because it didn't want the South to rebel again. And so the federal government had strict restrictions on who can be governors and hold positions in the government. For instance, the delegates that are elected would have to swear that they had never went against America and never will in the future . This was to ensure their loyalty to the federal government and to prevent an incident like the Civil War from happening again. Then the 14th Amendment also states that the former leaders of the Confederacy can't hold position in state officals unless two-thrids of Congress pardons them. This shows how much the federal government was involved in establishing the governments in the South. The federal government had a really tight hold of the southern states government. These were its achievements over the southern states government.
 * Though the federal government was so involved in establishing the southern states government, they also experienced some failures as well. The southern states government and its people only behaved so well because it was watched over by the federal government.


 * Role of African Americans in Politics, Education, and the Economy:**
 * Politics
 * African Americans also played a role in politics because ever after the Civil War their support leaned towards the Republican Party more than the Democratic Party. This was caused by Lincoln's presidency. Because Lincoln was a Republican and he helped the slaves gain their freedom, the African Americans tend to lean more towards to the Republican side so that probably they will continue to help them. This caused a political change to the landscape and it stayed like this until FDR's presidency.
 * Education
 * In the education field, the African Americans were better than before and received education as well. Though they received education, they still were segarated in schools between the whites and the blacks. The government tried to put the whites and the blacks together as one, but many refused to. Because of this refusal, the southern government was removed so that it won't try force the whites and the blacks to join together as one.
 * On March 1865, Congress passed the Freedman's Bureau so that food would be given to ex-slaves and schools could be built for them
 * Economy
 * More African American women worked outside of homes because they believed that they took care of the domestic chores at home and so they have the time for a job outside of their homes. It's also because they needed more income for the family.
 * African Americans began looking for jobs in their new society, but it was hard especially in the South. Some moved to the North for more job opportunities. But no matter where the African Americans went they were still faced with discrimination and segregation. The South had more discrimination towards African Americans than the North did. The North discriminated the African Americans because there were too many of them moving to there and it created more competition.
 * Black Middle Class: These were the blacks who believed in self-improvement and progress and wanted to raise themselves to the middle class. Some of them eventually became business owners or had other different great opportunities.


 * Compromise of 1877:**
 * The Compromise of 1877 was a written deal to get the Democrats to support Hayes and in return he will remove the troops in the South. This Compromise of 1877 was done in secret and no one knew about it. Hayes was one of the presidential candidates for the election of 1877 and he was a Republican. The election was bitter. Hayes and Tilden were almost neck and neck with each other and it was hard to choose between these two candidates. Then Congress created the special electorial comission to help choose the president and they chose Hayes. But Hayes needed to gain support from the Democrats and so he made a secret agreement with them. He promised that he'll remove the troops in the South to gain the Democrats' support. By doing this, he lessened the watch on the South and the South returned almost back to where they were in the beginning.


 * Impact of Reconstruction:**
 * Reconstruction played an important role in American history because the federal government tried to reconstruct the South to make it the same as the North. The federal government plays an important role in trying to prevent the South from using slaves again and give benefits for the ex-slaves. This Reconstruction was to better the southern society so that another Civil War wouldn't happen again.


 * Sources:**
 * "A Survey American Survey" Twelfth Edition by Alan Brinkley, Chapter 15