Chapter 15
slavery - "one person's receiving by irresistable power the work of another man, and not by his consent"
freedom - "placing us where we could reap the fruit of our own labor, and take care of ourselves"
Sherman's order - "40 acres and a mule"
Blacks and freedom
blacks' definition of freedom - being able to do things like a white man
expanded and strengthen black organizations
acquired things that were outlawed to them in the past - traveling, dogs, guns, liquor
Families
widows' of black soldiers successfully claimed pensions - forcing gov to acknowledge validity of prewar relationships that slavery denied.
emancipation increased power of black men and altered relationships - intro idea wo(men) should inhabit separate spheres.
black women preferred to spend time @ home, something slavery didnt allow. men saw it a badge to see their wives remain @ home.
eventually the dire poverty of black community beckon higher proportion of black women than white to work for wages
Church/school
blacks abandoned white controlled institutions to create their own.
church became the center of community - religion/school/social events/political gatherings
ministers major role in politics
eager for education
Failure of land reform
blacks wanted land, not jobs on plantations
President Johnson - who succeeded Lincoln -ordered federal land to be return to former owners - evicted blacks who settled
*bc of conflicts on plantation new systems arose "task systems" - daily tasks, completion = day over
White Farmer
prior war, grew food and little cotton
after war: property destroyed, crop failure
had to start growing cotton,
crop lien - "in order to obtain material to grow cotton must pledge part of crop as collateral"
*new urban middle class of merchants, RR promoters, bankers reaped benefits of cotton production spread
*new social order - landowning employers, black/white sharecroppers, cotton producing white farmers, wage earning black laborers, urban entrepreneurs
Andrew Jackson
ambitious, proud, pro-union, military governor
only senator from a seceding state to remain during civil war
nominated him for VP as hope of extending republican power into south
intolerant of criticism/cold.
believed the south never really seceded from union since it's treason therefore never surrendered the right to govern their own affairs
(defender of south)
deeply racist
Failure of Presidential Reconstruction
offered pardon(restore political/property rights except slaves) to almost all white southerns who took allegiance oath
excluded confederate leaders and wealthy planters whose prewar value exceeded 20K
they later for individual pardons
appointed governors - elected by only whites - to establish loyal governments in south
south gov must abolish slavery, repudiate secession, refuse to pay confederate debt
granted the new governments a free hand in managing local affairs
*prominent confederates and old leaders returned and violence broke out against northern visitors/slaves
Black Codes
passed by new south gov that regulated lives of former slaves
granted legalized marriage, ownership of property, limit access to court
deny right to testify against whites, vote, serve on jury/state militias
those who failed to sign yearly labor contracts would be arrested and hired out to white landowners
union army quickly demobilized
*what motivated the north for action was not to punish white south but to force them to face reality that emancipation is real and here to stay
Radical Republicans
wanted south gov to be replaced with new one w/o rebels and blacks granted right to vote
embraced expanded power of federal gov
steven's aim was to confiscate land of disloyal planters and divide among former slaves/north migrants -> south
Origins of Civil Rights
republican feared north and south would not accept black suffrage
first bill extended the life of freedmen bureau
second bill defined all ppl born in the US were citizens
Johnson veto'd both bills
became first major law to pass over presidential veto
14th AD
gave citizenship to everyone born in US
broadness gave congress and courts leeway to adopt/twist meaning
compromised - didnt give blacks right to vote but said if state denied the vote to any group of men then that state's rep # would be reduced
gave south choice - let blacks vote and keep their state's full rep in house or sacrifice part of their political power
by writing that equality regardless of race into constitution was most significant amendment since bill of rights
Reconstruction Act
"swing around the circle" - johnson made trip around north to urge voters to elect members of congress that are on his side(his version of reconstruction)
violence and riots broke out killing blacks
every south state, but tennesse, did not ratify
temp divided south into 5 military districts that called for new state gov + black men vote
Impeachment and election of grant
Tenure of Office Act - bar president from removing certain officeholders/cabinet w/o consent of senate
Johnson lashed out by removing secretary of war. Got put on trail for impeachment
did not reach 2/3 vote to remove him
Grant won following campaign
15th AD
still only 8 north states allowed blacks to vote
American Anti-Slavery Society disband after 15 AD, believing its work was done
