American History, 1865-1900 The years after the civil war left one half of America, the north, satisfied and the other half, the south, mostly dissatisfied. Therefore the last third of the nineteenth century, 1865-1900, was a time period in which America was mending, repairing, improving, reshaping, and reconstructing its society, economy, culture, and policies. Basically it was changing everything it stood for. This continual change can be seen in the following events that took place during this time. These events are both causes and effects of why America is what it is today. These are some examples: the reconstruction of the south, the great movement towards the west, the agricultural revolution, the rise of industrialism, the completion of the transcontinental railroad, and America's growth to gaining world power. All of these are reasons and events that characterize America as being an ever-changing nation. The south was in economic and social chaos after its defeat in the war. 1865-1877 was a time period of reconstructing the south, however, it left an everlasting impression that kept the south behind for years to come. The political apprehension the south felt was due to the fact that there was no more authority and the new states had to deal with the northern states. The question was how the newly reelected Lincoln was going to bring these states back to the Union. His idea was known as the ten percent plan in which ten percent of a states qualified voter would take a loyalty oath to be readmitted into the Union. This would allow the south to get back into the main stream and find some solutions to its many problems. Unfortunately for Lincoln and unfortunately for America, Lincoln would be assainated only one month after the south surrendered. This presented America with one more hurdle to overcome, and that hurdle was to initially be jumped by the newly appointed President Johnson. As President, Johnson decided to follow Lincolns plans by granting amnesty to almost all former confederates; establishing a Provisional government; and ratifying the thirteenth Amendment to abolish slavery. However, Johnson was not the same man as Lincoln for he was quite unpopular, especially with Congress. As the south was in a transitional period, its politics were changing as well. First, the Reconstruction Act allowed blacks to v... ... middle of paper ... ...ay to the rise of big business. Americas population was increasing, many citizens were employed and making money, and more eager to spend. Some of the businesses got too big and antitrust acts, such as the Sherman anti-trust act, were passed to control the powers of monopolies and their owners. Not only were there monopolistic companies in the corporate world, there were monopolies in the railroad business as well. The control of railroads became an issue in politics over the abuses and operations of the rail systems. Soon, the federal agencies Interstate Commerce Commission was formed as the first regulatory agency to control private businesses in the public?s interest. More and more control was placed upon Americas businesses and corporations and from this grew unions, as well as conflicts between management and labor, all of which exist today. America has grown to be the country it is today not by luck, but by the fact that it has struggled in trying to become an independent nation. Regardless of the hardships, turmoil, and chaos it has gone through, the events that occurred between the years 1865-1900 have caused America to be the independent nation that it is today.
However, this was not good enough for Congress, which at the time was dominated by Radical Republicans who fervently called for social and economic change in the south, specifically the rights of blacks. They were especially concerned with guaranteeing black civil and voting rights, and criticized Lincoln for excluding this in the original plan for Reconstruction. After Lincoln’s death in 1865, Andrew Johnson turned Reconstruction on its head. He made several changes to the Reconstruction policy, nearly cutting Congress completely off from the process. Johnson began putting white supremacists in power of the Reconstruction government.
Throughout American history, politics changed with the times, forming and growing as new situations and environments took place. However, the most drastic differences occurred between 1815 and 1840. During this time, the North and South develop different economic systems, which created political differences between the regions. Between 1815 and 1840, the number of eligible voters drastically increased as politicians utilized a wider variety of campaigning methods in order to appeal to as many voters as possible, all essentially caused by economic growth. Politics grow to include universal white male suffrage, a strong national government, and nationalism versus sectionalism. Economic Growth (American System, Industrial Revolution, Sectional Economies, Internal Improvements & Inventions) caused the political party changes.
During the early 1800s, two parties were developed having different perspectives on government and the Constitution. The Democratic Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, were always characterized by following the strict construction of the constitution. The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, were characterized by following the broad construction of the constitution. The presidencies of Jefferson and Madison proved this characterization to be somewhat accurate. Although the Democratic Republicans and the Federalists did support their own ideas and views, they also did many things that contradicted them.
During the time period of 1860 and 1877 many major changes occurred. From the beginning of the civil war to the fall of the reconstruction, the United States changed dramatically. Nearly one hundred years after the Declaration of Independence which declared all men equal, many social and constitutional alterations were necessary to protect the rights of all people, no matter their race. These social and constitutional developments that were made during 1860 to 1877 were so drastic it could be called a revolution.
Johnson, having grown up in a poor southern household, sympathized with the south yet, abhorred the planter class. In his Reconstruction plan, he issued a blanket pardon to all southerners except important confederate figures who would have to personally meet with the president in order to be forgiven and given citizenship. . Slaves in America had been promised freedom, and through the Emancipation Proclamation, freedom from slavery is technically what they received.... ... middle of paper ... ...
President Johnson tried to enforce Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan. That as soon as ten percent of the population of any southern state took an oath of loyalty to the union and adopted a constitution that abolished slavery they would be readmitted to the union. The radical republicans in congress totally disagreed with Johnson. Many of the southern states in 1865 under presidential reconstruction adopted what was known as black codes. These codes restricted blacks from any participation in the rights of citizenship. Blacks were confined to an inferior position, they were not legally slaves anymore, but they had no rights of citizenship.
Even though there is a great chance carpetbaggers would have found a way to make money in the south if Lincoln had lived, but with Lincoln alive his 10 percent plan would have been used, therefore allowing the North and the South to have an easy reconciliation with one another. Lincoln’s reconstruction plan was really easy going: it only required 10 percent of the white male population of any southern state to sign an oath that said that they were loyal to the Union, and that southern state abolishes slavery, after this the state was allowed to create a new government and start sending its new representatives to congress.
...ights for African Americans as well as a political rights for the people, his goal was to abolish slavery and felt that “all men created equally” should uphold for everybody, everybody that was man at least. Johnson the president, in the beginning proved to be loyal to his radicals by chastising the confederacy making sure there would be repercussions for their actions. Also his amnesty plan to reinstate the south states was far harsher than that of Lincoln's. Johnson’s sanctions deprived confederacy officers, people in high power, and anyone who owned valuable assets could be subject to confiscation. The purpose was to shift political power in south and reward it to freed blacks and white southerners who stayed neutral during the war. Hahn states in his article that, “During reconstruction, black men held political offices in every state of the former confederacy”
Johnson did not do well as president because first he let personal matters and viewpoints affect his legislation for reconstruction instead of working with Congress to find a workable solution. When Andrew Johnson was young, his family was poor and the wealthy aristocrats tortured him and his friends, so “anger was directed at the Southern aristocrats, not the entire South, and he sought to transfer political power in the region from the planters to Unionist yeoman farmers and mechanics” (Miller 143). Johnson let this vengeance of destroying aristocrats get in the way of solving how to get the South back into the union by working with Republicans, because he was a “plebeian” and wasted time attempting to fulfill revenge that would fail in the end (ibid.). Johnson’s outlook on slavery also affected the way his plan for reconstruction would get through by being “an uncompromising racist” and “insist[ing] that the blacks did not deserve citizenship [,]” which shocked moderates [so much that they] voted with the radicals to override the presidential veto[,]. [and they also] refused to accept his conservative states interpretation of the Constitution, regard[ing] him as a major obstacle to restoring loyalty in the southern states” (Miller 132 and 145).
All in all, between 1860 and 1877, the constitutional and social developments have amount to a revolution. A revolution encompasses improvements and downfalls, and without a doubt, the times between 1860 and 1877 covered all of this. The revolution solidified the power of the federal government and gave new suffrage and civil opportunities for black freedmen with the reconstruction amendments. Also, at the same time, the revolution contained resentment from white men, through terrorist activities, the Ku Klux Klan, and black codes. As a result, the new constitutional and social developments changed the American nation with a revolution of good and bad.
After the Civil War, the South needed to rejoin the North to become a United States. President Abraham Lincoln was very lenient with the idea of restoring the states with the Union. He developed a plan called the Ten-Percent Plan, which proclaimed that ten percent of the southern states’ population needed to pledge to be loyal to the United States. After Lincoln’s assassination, President Andrew Johnson took over. He was much more lenient towards the South than Lincoln was, giving the South the right to regulate their actions. For example, African Americans could be controlled, but still couldn’t be bought nor sold. Slavery technically ended, but the new sharecropper sy...
Presidential Reconstruction under President Johnson readmitted the southern states using Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan and granted all southerners full acquittals, including thousands of
Aside from the presidential reconstruction, the Congressional Reconstruction was also taking place. The Congressman disagreed with both Lincoln and Johnson’s plans for Reconstruction. Their main two goals was to integrate African Americans into society by granting them citizenship and the right to vote, and the second goal was to destroy the political powers that former slaveholders had in the South. They first implemented these ideas by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 gave African Americans citizenship and forbade states from passing discriminatory laws. Although the black codes came about and Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill, Congress had the power to override his veto. This shows that even though the President is the leader of the nation, the Constitution guarantees that Congress has some measure of influence over the President and may chose to block his procedures, Check and Balances. With success, Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the country. All citizens were entitled to equal protection under law and be given their rights. The Congress agreed that if the Confederate states ratified the Fourteenth Amendment they could come back into the Union. Having not followed the Congress request, Congressed passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867. This forced the Confederate states to undergo Reconstruction as the Congress wanted. To ensure that Southerners could not change their state constitution in the future, they passed the Fifteenth Amendment and the last congressional Reconstruction law, another Civil Rights
Following the war, what lasted from 1865 to 1866 was the greatest trial that the South had to bear, not excepting the terrible ordeal of war. No people had to undergo so dark a period with such complications. The cost to the South was great, but her citizens didn't lose hope, yet began to work with a will to revoke all improper and corrupt legislation, to restore economy in public expenditures, to reduce taxation, to do away with useless offices, to make schools efficient, and to build up waste places. History will certainly condemn the legislation that entailed such misery, such corruption, and such extravagant expansion of the money of an impoverished and crushed people.
He came up with a favorable reconstruction policy for the South that had been defeated (Fuentes‐Rohwer 63). All ex-Confederates were given total amnesty, restoration of the status of the US states that had seceded. The Southern governments that were new had to be approved provided they had legislated black codes which were supportive of the preservation of slavery. Republicans fully rejected the ideas of Johnson and instead came up with radical reconstruction. They continuously overrode the vetoes by the president. The radical reconstruction held that the southern governments had no option but to give way to military rule. Furthermore, the African Americans were not denied their right to vote which was their constitutional entitlement. In March the year 1867, the congress worked round the clock to do everything it could so as to weaken the powers of Johnson. The congress enacted the Tenure of Office Act that weakened the veto of Johnson. He could not remove office bearers of federal offices including cabinet secretaries provided they had been endorsed by the senate (Fuentes‐Rohwer 66). When removing them, the president had to liaise with the