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Chapter 17
Reconstructing the Union
1865–1877
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Describe the different presidential approaches to Reconstruction and why Congress
rejected Johnson’s approach.
• Describe Congress’s approach to Reconstruction.
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
The Civil War resolved several longstanding problems in the Republic. For one, the threat of
secession had been laid to rest; the Union was perpetual, as Andrew Jackson had proclaimed in
1832. Slavery had also been destroyed, and with it the most “peculiar” feature of the culture of
the Old South. With the agrarian South vanquished and impoverished, the industrial North was
now the dominant section politically and economically, and the nation’s course toward full
industrialization established. But the war had also created new problems. What rights the former
enslaved Blacks would have—and what their place would be in American society—was unclear.
Similarly, the process by which the former states of the Confederacy would regain their previous
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THEMES
Presidential Reconstruction
The problem of Reconstruction forced consideration even during the war, as Lincoln formulated
plans for the restoration of the Union once the fighting was over. Lincoln favored a less stringent
plan than Congress did, since he was eager to bring states back into the Union and wanted to
build up a Republican party in the South. Radical Republicans in Congress doubted southern
whites’ loyalty, wanted to punish the South, and saw Blacks as the only sizable loyal group in
the region. Lincoln vetoed the Radicals’ plan in 1864, but by war’s end he seemed to be moving
in the direction of the Radicals.
Congressional Reconstruction
Given a popular mandate, Republicans in Congress proceeded to enact their own program of
Reconstruction, requiring the unreconstructed states to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment and
adopt Black suffrage. Congress refused, however, to redistribute land to the freedpeople. Johnson
remained at odds with Congress and tried to obstruct the will of the legislative branch by
interpreting laws as narrowly as possible. When the president attempted to remove Secretary of
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Reconstruction in the South
Power in the southern states rested with the new Republican parties, which represented a
coalition of Black and white southerners and transplanted northerners. Only in South Carolina,
where a majority of the voters were African Americans, did Black officeholders approximate
their proportion of the population. Black officeholders, who ranged widely in ability, generally
Black Aspirations
Initially, Black southerners thought of freedom largely as a contrast to slavery: the freedom to
move about, the right to choose their employer, and freedom from physical punishment and the
breakup of families. In freedom, Blacks moved to protect the Black family and gain educational
rights. The Freedmen’s Bureau initially established Black schools in the South, and thousands of
adults as well as children enrolled, even though the schools were not free. Blacks also left the
The Abandonment of Reconstruction
In 1868 the Republicans rejected all their experienced leaders; they nominated and elected
Ulysses S. Grant for president. The enforcement and maintenance of Reconstruction thus rested
in Grant’s hands. Republicans tried to make Reconstruction more secure by passing the Fifteenth
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Amendment, which forbade a state from denying the right to vote on grounds of race. Efforts to
include women’s suffrage by forbidding discrimination based on gender failed. Grant lacked the
ostracism, economic pressure, and racist appeals to undermine Republican support. Their most
effective weapon, however, was terror and violence directed against Republican leaders and
Black voters. The constant violence in the South during elections further weakened the northern
commitment to Reconstruction. Grant acted decisively to suppress the Ku Klux Klan, a leading
terrorist organization, but the tide of violence could not be stemmed. In the end, a combination of
LECTURE STRATEGIES
The Fourteenth Amendment
Of particular importance in the early part of congressional Reconstruction is the Fourteenth
Amendment and what its framers intended in drafting it. Emphasize the significance of the
establishment of citizenship for all persons born in the United States, what this said about the
nation prior to the Fourteenth Amendment (what established citizenship then?) and the nation
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Reconstruction in the South
Reconstruction in the South is a theme that one or more lectures can explore, both politically and
socially. It is important to disabuse students of the often-held notion that Blacks controlled the
Mississippi’s government had been reasonably honest, whereas Louisiana politicians’ mastery of
the art of corruption could be characterized as truly without peer. One state with a powerful
native white southern element in the Republican party was Alabama, and Sarah Woolfolk
Wiggins, in The Scalawag in Alabama Politics, analyzes Reconstruction in that state. Richard N.
Current’s Those Terrible Carpetbaggers demonstrates the wide range of views and experiences
The End of Reconstruction
The end of Reconstruction raises important questions. Any full discussion must consider
political, intellectual, social, and economic developments, and must look at developments at the
TEACHING SUGGESTIONS
Reconstruction and Presidential Leadership
A discussion might turn to the question of whether better political leadership might have made a
difference. Why was Lincoln so much more effective than Andrew Johnson in dealing with
Congress and Radical Republicans? What were Johnson’s shortcomings as a leader? You might
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The Thirteenth Amendment and Mass Incarceration
Aside from the acute relevance of the Fourteenth Amendment (see the lecture strategies above),
the Thirteenth Amendment offers a great opportunity to connect history to the present. Have
students dissect this brief text, let them research and find the origin of that language in
The Costs of Building National Unity
Finally, there is the question not merely of politics but of the society at large. For Republicans
hoping to build a national—not sectional—party, was it realistic to think that the party could be
competitive in the former states of the Confederacy? As for the North, why did it finally decide
to abandon the experiment in Reconstruction? Certainly, it had demonstrated much greater
POWER OF PROCESS FOR PRIMARY SOURCES
Power of Process for Primary Sources is a critical thinking tool for reading and writing about
primary sources. As part of Connect History, McGraw-Hill Education’s learning platform, Power
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of Process contains a database of over 400 searchable primary sources in addition to the
capability for instructors to upload their own sources. Instructors can then select a series of
strategies for students to use to analyze and comment upon a source. The Power of Process
framework helps students develop essential academic skills such as understanding, analyzing,
and synthesizing readings and visuals such as maps, leading students toward higher order
thinking and writing.