Reconstruction:

In 1865, many events happened that year that paved the way for America's existence. Slavery ended! Enslaved African Americans were freed! However, the question was asked, "How are we going to coexist with Black people?" White Americans, rich and poor, had a great deal of disrespect towards Black people because of the stereotypes that were being spread around about them. The relationship that Blacks had with Whites were not positive ones in most situations and the government was doing whatever they could to "keep Blacks in their place". Today, we will explore how the Federal government of the United States transitioned Blacks after they were set free and we will also look at how State governments, mostly Southern, made it even more difficult to for Blacks to live in America.

The End of The Civil War:

In 1861, the American Civil War began. Many textbooks will tell you that the war started because of States' rights. Though true, the fight was against States' Rights to have slavery. When Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States, the Southern states thought that Abraham Lincoln was going to abolish slavery, but he had no ambition to do so. "Lincoln said during the Civil War that he had always seen slavery as unjust" (NPR.org). But, Lincoln would also say in a speech in 1862, "If I could save the union without freeing any slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that." (Digital History). Abraham Lincoln was in a tough situation because as the sitting President, some of the states decided that they no longer wanted to be apart of the United States. This would cause major issues of treason and acts that the newly formed Confederate States would do to the United States. South Carolina was the first state to succeed from the union stating, "We, therefore, the People of South Carolina, by our delegates in Convention assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, have solemnly declared that the Union heretofore existing between this State and the other States of North America, is dissolved, and that the State of South Carolina has resumed her position among the nations of the world, as a separate and independent State; with full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do." (Avalon Project). This would be the beginning of the Civil war, which was the bloodiest war that America saw. The death toll of the war was about 750,000 people. The seven states to succeed from the union were Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Georgia. Six days after the Civil War ended, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, 1865. The man whose executive order rid the United States of slavery was killed and now the government had to figure out what to do with Blacks. What would the United States be without slavery? How would newly freed Blacks fit into a world that was not written for them? That is what the Federal Government was tasked to figure out.

What Did the Federal Government Do?

After the war ended, the Southern states that succeeded from the union had to return to the union under some stipulations created by the United States. Andrew Johnson was sworn into presidency after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865 and wanted to punish the Confederates for leaving the Union and waging war on the United States. Receiving praises for his harsh punishments towards the Confederates, Johnson had a change of heart. Johnson did not want to punish all of the Confederates, just the wealthy ones who had the power in the Confederacy. Johnson, however, did not punish all Southerners for the Civil War. He blamed wealthy and powerful politicians for the conflict. Johnson began to reunite the Union as quick as possible and granted the political rights back to the people of Southern States but the people who held control in the Confederacy had to sign their allegiance back to the United States and request pardons specifically from Johnson himself. During the end of 1865, Johnson pardoned hundreds of applicants daily. According to Ohio History Center, "He granted pardons to roughly 90 percent of the people who asked for them." By December 1865, Johnson also had allowed 10 of the 11 seceded states back into the Union. His only conditions were that the states adopt a constitution that went against secession, acknowledged the end of slavery, and rejected any debts that the states had entered into during the Civil War.

The Legislative branch of government was upset and angered that Johnson did not give harsher punishments to the Southern states that were returning to the Union. They felt that their punishments should be harsher and that they should not be allowed back into Congressional seats of the United States House of Representatives. Congress and President Johnson went back and forth trying to come to an agreement as to what to do to the states and leaders of the Confederacy. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was vetoed by Johnson but Congress voted against the veto and it became law. The Civil Rights Act says that anyone who was born in the United States could make contracts, own property and vote. This meant that Black people who were born in America could vote and make contracts. After the Congressional votes, Republicans now ruled the House and this would cause many laws to be enacted about how to deal with the Southern States. Firstly, a law was passed called, The Reconstruction Act, which split up the South into 5 different districts where Martial Law would be in place to make sure that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 was being followed and obeyed. Also, the succeeded states could not come back to the Union until they wrote and approved of new Constitutions that said that they would ratify and approve of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments which ended slavery and made it so that African Americans were of legal citizens. Ulysses S Grant became President in 1869 and he approved the idea that African Americans had protection from groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.

How Did The Public Feel About Reconstruction?

How the public felt about Reconstruction is interesting at best. First, you have to separate Americans into two groups, Northerners and Southerners. Southerners were displeased about not only losing the war but they were also losing their slaves and African Americans were gaining freedom and the same rights that they had. Terrorist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan rose up and had more people sign up than Black people ever imagined. As Black Americans were able to run for government offices, the Klan grew angrier. Blacks however, did their best to become successful with what they were given, which was not that much. Black people began buying land, being paid for the work that they did, voting, running for government offices and winning those elections and creating their own towns so they could get away from their former slave owners. During Reconstruction, 16 African Americans served on the United States Congress and over 600 of them would hold government offices across the country. Hiram Revels was the first African American to be elected in the United States Congress and ironically, took the seat that Jefferson Davis vacated before the Civil War. Black people were protected by the military groups and the amendments ratified after the Civil War, however, White Americans were displeased. Northerners were happy that they won the war of America, though they felt that the military presence in Southern States were unnecessary. They wanted their family members back home. They did not see why the military had to protect Black people. Many were confused as to what to do about the enslaved after they were freed. Some Northerners did not want Black people to have the same rights that they did and some Northerners felt that it was best to send Black people back to Africa where their ancestors lived. No one knew how to deal with the invisible issue of Blacks and all Black people wanted was freedom and equal rights.

What Went Wrong?

The question of what went wrong is a good one. If the United States government cared so much about Black people after the Civil War, why is it that there had to be a Civil Rights movement? Why do we currently have a Black Lives Matter movement if Reconstruction were to have been successful? If we want to look at what went wrong for Reconstruction to not do what it was meant to do, we have to look into the culture of not only what was happening in the late 1830s throughout after Reconstruction, but we also have to look at how people were portraying and saying about Black people. To do this, we need to define the term, Jim Crow. Jim Crow is a fictional character brought about by racist minstrel shows. These shows would have actors act, dance and sing like a "stereotypical Black person". These actors and actresses would paint their faces Black and pretend to be them in order to create a satirical comedy play. Thomas Dartmouth Rice was one of the first people to portray this character known as Jim Crow and he would become popular among play goers. White Americans being the only people who could afford tickets to these plays got a kick out of watching Black people look so stupid and acting so foolish. Jim Crow became more of a meaning of law than just a made up character used to make an entire race look idiotic. The meaning of Jim Crow began to take a shift after the Civil War ended. To make matters worse, there were laws being written by Southern states to prevent Black people from having the same rights that White people had. Jim Crow had a different meaning to Black people than the White people who loved making fun of the character. Jim Crow was the beginning of Segregation.

In 1877, Reconstruction ended. This meant that troops were sent out of Southern states and this would cause violence to happen to Black people. Not only were Black people being killed by White people, they would also begin being arrested in mass numbers for minor offenses. These minor offenses were written into law after the military was pulled out of Southern states. Black Codes were written for the soul purpose of Black people being sentenced to prison for tiny minor offenses and being forgotten by the state. These Black Codes began in 1865 and were being put to work as quickly as they were written. These laws included, being arrested if you could not prove that you had a job, congregating after a certain time and not being able to testify for their own court cases. Unwritten laws would soon follow, like not being able to look a White person in the eyes or stepping off of the sidewalk if a White person was walking past you. If you did these things that you were not supposed to do, you would be subjected to beatings, harassment or even lynching. Lynching will be covered in another blog post, but just know, lynchings were going on in many parts of the country, not just Southern states. Mississippi and South Carolina's Black Codes were some of the most harshest in the country and Virginia Supreme Court even says that "any prisoner is a slave to the state" in the 1870s. After Blacks were imprisoned, they had their rights taken away from them. Black women could not vote either way because of their race and gender, but if you could not prove that you were educated or employed, you were not able to vote either. Even more damning is if you went to prison, the right to vote or own property was also taken away from you.

Conclusion:

Enslaved African Americans experienced some of the most harshest treatments that has ever happened to a race of people. After they were considered free people, White people did not want anything to do with them and as a society, we must learn from the mistakes of our ancestors. Black or White, our ancestors did some questionable things and we must be mature and respectful of others as our ancestors were not. Though we must all learn from the pain from our ancestors, we must also not forget it. We as the people cannot allow the Government to keep a certain race, gender or anyone's sexual orientation prevent them from having the rights, liberties and freedoms that others are able to have. We cannot allow the real history of America be hidden from people because it is an uncomfortable history to tell. The era of Reconstruction was a nice attempt to bring African Americans into a society where no one wanted them and as historians, we can argue about whether it would have worked if military continued their presence longer in the South or if the racist mindset that White people had towards Black people already prevented each race from coming together. Either way, it is important to have these types of discussions based on the facts. At Reconstructing Black Facts, we will reteach the facts, and try to help people understand what happened in American history and help them to not repeat the history. Thank you for reading and I hope to speak to you soon!

https://www.npr.org/2010/10/11/130489804/lincolns-evolving-thoughts-on-slavery-and-freedom

https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=393

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_scarsec.asp

https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/statistics-civil-war

https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Reconstruction

https://www.fjc.gov/history/timeline/civil-rights-act-1866

https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/black-leaders-during-reconstruction

https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1851-1900/hh_1871_04_20_KKK_Act/

https://www.crf-usa.org/brown-v-board-50th-anniversary/southern-black-codes.html

https://www.vera.org/reimagining-prison-web-report/american-history-race-and-prison