Reconstruction_Essay

Outline for History Test Essays Reconstruction Plans During the Civil War as Confederate states began falling to the Union army congress didn’t know what to do with these states to bring them back into the US. Because there was nothing written in the Constitution about how to go about doing this someone had to come with a plan that would work to restore the US. President Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan He takes over the process because there is nothing written in the constitution about how to go about getting the states back in the us Because the war was still going on he wanted to make it easy for the southern states that had fallen to come back to the US because he wanted the war to be over and he wanted to be victorious If 10 % of the states population takes an oath of loyalty to the US that state was granted membership back into the US He doesn’t say much about the slaves living in those states Congress adds to Lincoln’s plan by creating and adding the 13th amendment to the constitution, this stated that slavery was illegal and they states coming back into the US had to also ratify this amendment Congress also created the freedmen’s bureau to help ex slaves out by creating schools and hospitals and helping ex slaves negotiate contracts for land and other things, this was under staffed to deal with the large number of ex slaves Lincoln is assassinated before the war ends so he is not able to make any changes to his vision of reconstruction and VP Johnson takes control, this makes the north bitterer towards the south Johnson’s reconstruction plan He wants to preserve the US at all costs He claims to be following Lincoln’s plan for reconstruction and even talks about being very tough on the South but he ends up making it very easy for them Under his plan white southerners must take an oath loyalty to the US to get their citizenship, their property rights and the right to vote back The wealthier southerners, the political leaders, and the military officials had to come to him in person and beg him for their forgiveness; he restores all of the political rights to the confederate politicians and military leaders He appoints a temporary governor to each of the 11 federate states The states must ratify the 13th amendment; cancel all confederate debts, and the state governments must pass legislation saying that they were wrong to secede from the US, and they must write a new state constitution In 1865 all the states have done what is required to become a part of the US again and Johnson says that reconstruction is over but other than ending slavery nothing else has really been done because it was such an easy process Congressional reaction Congress is not happy about what Johnson has done with the reconstruction process The Black Codes are created in the South to keep blacks from having certain rights so congress creates the civil rights bill to counteract this They then create the 14th amendment that says anyone born in the US is a citizen of the US and they are entitled to due process of law and they say that any state that wants to join the US must ratify the 14th amendment Congressional reconstruction Congress is furious with the south still and it takes the process of reconstruction away from Johnson Congress’ reconstruction plan goes much further and is much harsher on the south Everything that has happened during presidential reconstruction is null and void so none of the confederate states are part of the US yet Congress separates the south into sections and puts a military general in charge of each section, martial law is declared in these areas Each state must write another new state constitution including language that allows male ex slaves to vote, then the states must ratify the 14th amendment and they could be a part of the US again Congress also creates the 15th amendment saying that one cannot deny a citizen the right to vote based on race Reconstruction finally comes to an end when all of the republican governments are gone in the south and democrats take over the southern states again. This happens when President Hayes is elected in the election of 1876. He agrees to take the government troops out of the last three states in the south. When he does this the republican government is quickly run out by the Democratic Party. Five Major Changes Essay 2.) Explain the fears, anxieties, or problems that the five major changes in American society created and then describe the alternatives (or solutions) offered by the Knights of Labor, Farmers’ Alliance, and Populist Party. [There is no need to do more than briefly describe in a couple of sentences the actual change itself.] In the late 1880’s there are emerging changes in America’s society and economy. The nations population is more ethically and religiously diverse and more urbanized. Giant factories and industries dominate the economy and workers are now more dependent than they had ever been before. Some Americans welcome these changes brought on by the rise of big businesses and politics however they worry at the same time. Problems and Tensions generated Many people feel that Americans in general are beginning to loose their independence and their confidence in themselves. They are also worried about the disorder that they perceive all around them; the violent strikes brought on by workers frighten Americans. They fear that Americans are on the wrong moral path because saloons and brothels are flourishing in the cities. The worst thing for the consumers at this time is monopolies that are being created due to the lack of government regulation. The factories where most working class Americans worked were very dangerous places because there were no safety regualtions protecting the workers. Religious Many Americans are upset about the immorality going on all around them in the saloons and brothels and they want to do something to get America back on the correct moral path. A wave a Christian revivals sweeps through all of the cities railing against the immoralities in each particular city, such as alcohol, vice, and gambling. Knights of Labor The Knights of Labor turn into a major labor union at this time. They organize all producers into a giant union. You could join whether you were white, black, male, female, catholic, protestant, skilled or unskilled. They were against monopoly and against big business and they wanted to come up with a plan to try to help fix the crisis they are in. They want to create a completely different system than the one that already exists. Their solution is radical, to get rid of all of the non producers and completely change the American system. They want the workers to own the factories they worked in and they wanted to get rid of all the people who did nothing. Their idea goes no where so they decide that all they can do is elect people to office that they believe will help to make things better for them. The Knights of Labor grew to be a very large union but membership quickly fell. The one thing that unions had always used to get what they wanted was the strike and the Knights of Labor didn’t believe in striking because they thought that it was counter productive. Workers did not understand why they wouldn’t use strikes and big businesses and politicians did everything they could to destroy the Knights of Labor. Farmers’ Alliance Farmers at this time are facing similar problems that the factory workers were facing. They are spending more money than they are earning and they have to buy supplies on credit so they are going farther and farther into debt. They decide that their best decision is to organize into the Farmer’s Alliance. This group is most popular in the agricultural areas of the south and the west. The original main goal of the Farmers’ Alliance was to bring farmers together to meet and talk about their problems so they could try to get out of debt. The cooperative was one of the initial solutions that farmers came up with. In a cooperative farmers in a town or county would pull all of their resources and money together to buy their supplies in bulk. They would then sell their crops together at the end so that they could sell at a uniform price. This idea didn’t work well because people would violate their agreements. An even bigger solution that farmers came up with was the sub treasury. This is where every county would have a big warehouse built by the government for the farmers to fill with their crops. The government would set up a treasury office at the warehouse and when the farmers brought their crops there they would get a loan for up to 80% of what their crops was worth. With this loan they would be able to pay off all of their debts then when the price of crops was higher they could take their crops out of the warehouse to sell. This was a very simple concept that farmers believed would solve their problems. Congress however is hesitant about this idea and never give the farmers the opportunity to do this. Populist Party The Farmers’ Alliance start their own political wing known as the Populists or the People’s Party. They attempt to unite the black and white farmers, and they even reached out to the workers in the north but their attempts weren’t successful. They believed just like the Knights of Labor that the producers weren’t getting their fair share because the non producers were ripping them off. They are also worried about democracy in America and that want to somehow increase it. They believe that both the democratic party and the republican party are in the hands of big businesses. One of their core goals is a financial reform to try to help farmers get out of debt. They come up with the concept of Free Silver, the free and unlimited coinage of silver. This would put more money in our economy because the governemtn could issue more currency and this will bring interest rates down. In the upcoming election the democratic candidate William James Brian adopts the Populists idea of Free Silver and makes it his own. The populists at this point must choose whether they are going to elect their own candidate or support Brian even though he doesn’t support all of their the rest of their agenda. They decide to support him and the Populist party no longer exists after this.