C'est une période charnière car il a fallu intégrer de nouvelles données dans la construction de la nation et l'une des questions essentielles à laquelle il a fallu répondre était de savoir que faire des anciens esclaves.
Si la période débute par beaucoup d'espoir, avec une société égalitaire, cela ne durera pas et bientôt la ségrégation se met en place.
Voici une courte chronologie de la période avec les faits marquants
Chronology : the south during reconstruction
FIRST PERIOD: RECONSTRUCTION
1820 Missouri Compromise: agreement between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the US Congress involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the Western territories
1861
restoration of the union, not emancipation generated the widest support for the war effort
First confiscation act: authorized confiscation of any confederate property (including slaves)
1862
Second confiscation Act: liberation of slaves who resided in Union-occupied territories or escaped to Union lines + land: permanent seizure by the Union
Law: a draftee could avoid service by producing a substitute (20 slaves)
September Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
1863
Emancipation proclamation : all slaves free except more than 700,000 from the border states (Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland and Missouri + Tennessee + some portions of Virginia and Louisiana – states that had not seceded from the Union)
December 8 Proclamation for Amnesty and Reconstruction: full pardon and restoration of all rights (except the right to own slaves) to people who took an oath of future loyalty and pledged to accept the abolition of slavery + ten percent plan: when in any state the number of loyal southerners amounted to 10% of the votes cast in 1860, this minority could establish a new state government
1864
July the Wade-Davis bill in Louisiana: proposed to delay the start of Reconstr until a majority of a state’s white males had pledged to support the fed constit (the Ironclad Oath). Guaranteed blacks equality before the law, although not the suffrage
the 13th Amendment: abolition of slavery – importance given to Congress which “shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation”
1865-85 memorial movement for white southerners: to cope with the trauma of war and defeat + bereavement – to give meaning to defeat and turn the page
1865-67 Presidential Reconstruction (very lenient plan)
1865
March creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau (belief that the fed gvt must shoulder broad responsibility for the emancipated slaves, including offering them some kind of access to land)
April 9, Lee surrenders at Appomatox
May W. L. Garrison wanted to dissolve the American Anti-Slavery Society but it was refused so Wendel Phillips replaced him as the society’s president
May creation of the National Anti-Slavery Standard (now motto “No Reconstruction without Negro Suffrage”)
May 29, 2 proclamations by Johnson
Amnesty and pardon (+ restoration of property except for slaves)
The Black codes: a series of state laws, intended to define the freedmen’s rights and responsibilities but also an attempt to stabilize the black work force and limit its eco options. Mississippi and South Carolina enacted the first and most severe black codes (end 1865)
Ex. Mississippi required all blacks to possess, each January, written evidence of employment for the coming year + apprenticeship laws obliged black minors to work without pay for planters
December congress refuses to admit southern representatives and senators under Johnson’s plan
1866
January bill which extended the life of the Freedmen’s Bureau and authorized agents to take jurisdiction of cases involving blacks and punish state officials denying blacks the “civil rights belonging to white persons”
January The Civil Rights bill: all persons born in the US (except Indians) as national citizens so rights without regards to race (first attempt to give meaning to the 13th amendment, to define in legislative terms the essence of freedom)
both laws passed over Johnson’s veto
14th amendment equality before the law – definition of citizenship
First clause: prohibited the states from abridging equality before the law
Second clause: reduction in a state’s representation proportional to the number of male citizens denied suffrage. Aim: prevent the south from benefiting politically from emancipation (before the war 3/5 of the slaves had been included in calculating congressional representation; now as free persons all would be counted). So choice to white southerners: enfranchise the freedmen or sacrifice representation in congress
Third clause: barred from national and state office men who had sworn allegiance to the Constitution and subsequently aided the Confederacy (excluded from office most of the South’s prewar political leadership)
2 pbs: it implicitly acknowledged the right of states to limit voting because of race + introduction of the word ‘male’ feminists felt betrayed
Southern Homestead Act passed by Congress: reserved public land in 5 southern states to be leased to people who cultivated it for 5 years (46 million acres) – repealed in 1876
Milligan Case: a US Supreme Court case ruled that the application of military tribunals to citizens when civilian courts are still operating is unconstitutional
race riots in Memphis and New Orleans - riot in New Orleans => major impact on the election
Republicans win three-fourths majority in congressional elections
Ku Klux Klan founded as a Tennessee social club
1867-77 Radical Reconstruction
1867
January a bill enfranchising blacks in the D.C. became law over the president’s veto
Habeas Corpus Act greatly expanded citizens’ ability to remove cases to federal courts
The Reconstruction Act established military rule but only as a temporary measure to keep the peace with the states assured a relatively quick return to the Union + enfranchisement of freedmen. A mixture of idealism and political expediency
2 amendments added by the Joint Committee:
Anyone disqualified from office under the 14th A could not elect or serve as constitutional convention delegates
The Johnson gvts were subject to modification or abolition at any time and prohibited individuals disqualified under the 14th A from holding office or voting under them
Efforts to impeach Johnson fail
1867-69 southern constitutional conventions: clearly embodied republicans’ commitment to equal rights and a new south but inner divisions
1868
Tenure of office act: authorized officials appointed with the senate’s consent to remain in office until a successor had been approved
Johnson impeached but not convicted. Trial before the Senate for “high crimes and misdemeanors” (contravening the Tenure of Office Act, Johnson had suspended Sec of War Stanton and replaced him by Grant). Reason: increasingly hostile relations between himself and Congress
Election of Grant against Seymour (governor of New York) last presidential contest to center on white supremacy. Rep campaigned on a platform of order and stability (usually party of change) and Democrats cast themselves as virtual revolutionaries (usually appealed to continuity with the past)
The Public Credit Act pledging to pay the national debt in gold (first statute enacted so eco more important than blacks)
14th amendment ratified
Most southern states readmitted under congressional plan of Reconstr
August death of Thaddeus Stevens
1870
15th amendment prohibited disenfranchisement because of race (passed in 1869, ratified in 1870).
Pbs: it said nothing about the right to hold office and it didn’t forbid literary, property and education tests (which might effectively exclude the majority of blacks, even if non-racial)
Remaining southern states readmitted under congressional plan of Reconstr
1870-71 congress enacted a series of Enforcement Acts to counteract terrorist violence (one protected black votes, one provided federal supervision of southern election)
1871
liberal Republicans and Democrats nominate Greeley for president: NY Tribune editor, hostile to free trade and indifferent to civil service reform
April the Ku Klux Klan Act (one of the enforcement acts): brought for the first time certain crimes committed by indivi under federal law (if states failed to act)
Trials of several klansmen (few found guilty but it restored order)
1872
Colfax massacre in Louisiana: bloodiest in the Reconstr era (50 blacks, 2 whites killed) 1873?
Election: Grant reelected - decline of radicalism, ascendancy of organizational politics and emergence of liberal reform
The most peaceful election of the entire reconstr period. Saw the death of radicalism as both a political movement and a coherent ideology
1873
the Slaughterhouse Cases (US v. Reese): the 14th amendment gave the rights passed by the federal gvt to slaves (access to ports, ability to run for federal office …) not the rights under state control (see also Cruishank 1876)
Financial panic brings on economic depression (because Jay Cooke and Co, a pillar of the nation’s banking establishment, collapsed)
the Coinage Act: Congress joined the international mvt toward a monometallic standard Deflationary effect
1874
congressional elections give Democrats a majority in the House (still presidency, senate and supreme court in Republican hands but gave them a vetoing power)
Street battles in New Orleans: the white league, the “military arm of the Democratic party,” led an insurrection against the Republican governor (Kellogs)
1875
the civil rights bill becomes a law: prohibited racial discrimination in facilities but it was more a broad assertion of principle than a blueprint for further coercive action by the federal gvt
“let alone policy” Grant didn’t want to interfere in the states
the Specie Resumption Act (Grant administration) : Compromise legislation. Put equal value on greenbacks and golden dollars and provided for an increase in the nb of national banknotes
1876
US v. Cruishank: arose from the Colfax massacre. Alleging a conspiracy to deprive the victims of their civil rights. Decision: the postwar amendments empowered the fed gvt to prohibit only violations of black rights by states, the responsibility for punishing crimes by indivi remained with local and state authorities
The Hamburg Massacre in S Caro. Blacks against white militiamen
Presidential election: Tilden (Dem NY governor) v. Hayes (Rep Ohio governor) disputed
Anniversary of the nation’s independence. Centennial exposition in Philadelphia
SECOND PERIOD : REDEMPTION
with main actors called redeemers, bourbons or conservatives. Redeemers because idea that it was necessary for Southerners to redeem the south from the corruption and chaos of control by the scalawags / carpetbaggers / freedmen coalition
1877-92 the conservative era
1877
Hayes new president because of a compromise or « Wormley House Bargains » Hayes accepts to withdraw troops from the south and cease military occupation in exchange his election is acknowledged by the democrats
fin de l’occupation militaire du sud
last southern republican governments collapse
Great Strike: every region except New England and the Deep South
federal troops intervene in railroad strikes
1880 election of Garfield
1881 Garfield assassinated. Chester Arthur becomes president
1883 the Civil Rights Act is declared unconstit by the Supreme Court
1884 election of Grover Cleveland (Dem)
1885-98 celebration of the lost cause in a new context: a means to reassert white men’s power and to foster unity
1887 Interstate Commerce Act: It initiated federal regulation of railroads and created the 1st federal regulatory agency (the Interstate Commerce Commission)
1888 election of Benjamin Harrison (Rep)
1890s severe depression. Populist upheaval. Near destruction of the structure the Redeemers had erected. monetary policy became THE issue in American politics, thanks in large part to the Alliance mvt
1890
Second Mississippi Plan: first example of massive attempt at circumventing the 14th and 15th amendments. Several measures aimed at disenfranchising blacks
Lodge bill defeated in Senate: Lodge proposed a bill restoring federal control of federal elections – aimed to fight against fraud (especially in the south). Important turning point: last time congress attempted to legislate on Southern politics
Silver coinage bill defeated in senate thanks to an alliance west / south: the rep wanted to coin more money but the west was against it so the west made a deal with the south: you vote against the coinage bill and we vote against lodge bill
1892-96 the triumph of Democratic White Supremacists
1892
election of G. Cleveland again
peak of the populist mvt: Weaver has more than 1 million votes and 4 states
New Orleans general strike 1st general strike in urban history
1883 Civil Rights cases: the civil rights act of 1875 is judged unconstitutional – ended federal protection of blacks against discrimi by private persons and businesses
1894 the Democratic congress repeals much of the Enforcement Acts
1895 Cotton States and International Exhibition: Booker T. Washington y fait son célèbre discours (« the Atlanta Compromise ») où il accepte la ségrégation en disant que c’est une bonne chose et que les noirs doivent prouver leur valeur aux blancs pour que les blancs les acceptent
1896
Plessy v. Ferguson: institutionnalise la ségrégation “separate but equal” doctrine
Election : William Jennings Bryan (dem) against Mc Kinley (rep)
death of the populist party, absorbed by the democrats.
Mc Kinley wins: return to a strict two-party system + end of dem presence outside the south
1898 Supreme Court upholds Mississippi constit of 1890 in William v. Mississippi
