4-2+USH

Abby Regan 11/3/11 Mr. Masterson

Key Terms: Freedmen's Bureau: Helped millions of homeless and hungry southerners, and gave them employment and other life necessities. The Civil Rights Act of 1866: An act that declared that everyone born in the USA was a citizen. Fourteenth Amendment: This required states to consider everyone a citizen, and to give everyone equal rights. Reconstruction Acts: Divided the south into five military districts, and had Union troops stationed in each district to keep order. And to gain readmission to the Union, a state had to ratify the Fourteenth amendment. Fifteenth Amendment: Gave African Americans the right to vote, but it didn't guarantee it.

Key People: Thaddeus Stevens: A radical republican who insisted that African Americans be given the right to vote. Frederick Douglass: Publicly supported African American voting rights.

Summary:

The Moderates Versus The Radicals
 * Most Rebuplicans were moderates who's main goal was to restore southern states to the Union.

Supporters of African American Suffrage
 * The radical Republican's main goal was to create a new south where everyone was treated equally.
 * Not many northerners supported the radical's goal.
 * Frederick Douglass, born into slavery in 1817, was taught to read and write by Sophia Auld, the wife of the plantation owner.
 * Douglass was sent to a plantation far from Baltimore, and tried to escape, but was betrayed by one of his colleages and was forced to work in a shipyard.
 * After the war, Douglass supported many efforts to keep peace between the races, and served as president of the freedmen's bank.

Land Reform
 * Some political leaders supported African American rights, and wanted the slaves to have economic independence.
 * Land reform wasn't widely supported, particularly govt. seizure of land.

Congress Versus Johnson
 * The moderate republicans decided to join with the radicals when they heard about the poor conditions in the south.

The Freedmen's Bureau
 * Congress decided to keep the Freedmen's Bureau going.
 * The Freedmen's Bureau gave many African Americans education, mostly under northern women.
 * When contract disputes arose between laborers and planters, the bureau told the larborers to continue working.
 * Congress had only intended to kee the bureau going for one year, but many supported keeping it going.
 * President Johnson didn't like the idea of the Bureau, was biased towards white people, and vetoed the bill to keep the organization going.

The Civil Rights Act of 1866:
 * Congress was angry with the President for vetoing the bill, and threatened to kill him if he didn't agree to the Civil Rights Act.
 * Johnson vetoed this bill, and Congress overrode his veto, as both types of Republicans were sided against him.

The Fourteenth Amendment
 * Afraid the Democrats would repeal the Civil Rights Act, they passed the Fourteenth Amendment.
 * The amendment helped get black citizens to vote by reducing the number of representatives a state could send to Congress based on the number of black male citizens that couldn't vote.

The Radicals Come To Power
 * Johnson tried to gain support of his views from the Midwest, but most people disagreed with them.

Race Riots
 * When two carriages collided in Memphis, police arrested the black driver, which caused a huge riot among the black people and the whites.
 * When a Confederate was elected to be mayor of New Orleans, the governor supported the radicals.

The Elections of 1866 and the Reconstruction Acts:
 * President Johnson's speeches were disliked by many, such as when he blamed Congress for the New Orleans riot.
 * Republicans decided that African Americans must be allowed to vote.

Presidental Impeachment
 * Tenure of Office Act passed in 1867, which required Senate approval of a replacement before the president could remove an official appointed or confirmed by the Senate.
 * President Johnson believed the law was unconstitutional and removed Stanton (sec. of war), and The House of Reps. voted to impeach Johnson.
 * A lot of Senators spoke out against the impeachment.
 * The case against the president was weak.
 * Impeachment trial started in March 1868 the public was against the trial because it was clear that they were just going after Johnson.
 * Johnson was found not guilty, and the effort to impeach him failed.

Further Political Difficulties
 * The radical republicans attempted to impeach Johnson, which cost them a lot of support.

The Election of 1868
 * Republicans candidate: U.S. Grant... Democrats Candidate: H. Seymore, and African Americans supported republicans.
 * Grant was elected president.

The Fifteenth Amendment
 * The 15th amendment was drafted by Republicans.
 * Women still couldn't vote.