The period of rebuilding that followed the Civil War became known as
Reconstruction. A major concern during Reconstruction was the condition of
the approximately 4 million freedmen (freed slaves). Most of them had no homes,
were desperately poor, and could not read and write. The word also refers to the
process by which the Union restored relations with the Confederate states after
their defeat. Reconstruction lasted from 1865 to 1877 and was one of the most
controversial periods in the nation's history. Scholars still debate its
successes and failures. To help the freed slaves and homeless whites,
Congress established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. The
agency, better known as the Freedmen's Bureau, operated from 1865 until 1872. It
issued food and supplies to blacks; set up more than 100 hospitals; resettled
more than 30,000 people; and founded over 4,300 schools. Some of the schools
developed into outstanding black institutions, such as Atlanta University (now
Clark Atlanta University), Fisk University, Hampton Institute, and Howard
University. In spite of its achievements, the Freedmen's Bureau did not solve
the serious economic problems of African Americans. Most of them continued to
live in poverty. They also suffered from racist threats and violence and from
laws restricting their civil rights. All these problems cast a deep shadow over
their new freedom. The legal restrictions on black civil rights arose in 1865
and 1866, when many Southern state governments passed laws that became known as
the black codes. These laws were like the earlier slave codes. Some black codes
prohibited blacks from owning land. Others established a nightly curfew for
blacks. Some permitted states to jail blacks for being jobless. The black
codes shocked a powerful group of Northern congressmen called Radical
Republicans. These senators and representatives won congressional approval of
the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The act gave African Americans the rights and
privileges of full citizenship. The 14th Amendment. In June 1866, Congress
proposed the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which gave citizenship to
blacks. It also guaranteed that all federal and state laws would apply equally
to blacks and whites. In addition, the amendment barred former federal and state
officeholders who had supported the Confederacy from holding high political
office again. None of the defeated Southern states had yet been readmitted
into the Union, and Congress declared that none could rejoin until it ratified
the 14th Amendment. Johnson urged the states to reject the amendment, and all
the former Confederate states except Tennessee did so. Tennessee then became the
first of the 11 defeated Southern states to be readmitted into the Union. The
14th Amendment was finally ratified by the required number of states in
1868. Temporary gains. The policies of the Radical Republicans enabled
African Americans to participate widely in the nation's political system for the
first time. Congress provided for black men to become voters in the South and
called for constitutional conventions to be held in the defeated states. Many
blacks attended the conventions held in 1867 and 1868. They helped rewrite
Southern state constitutions and other basic laws to replace the black codes
drawn up by whites in 1865 and 1866. In the legislatures elected under the new
constitutions, however, blacks had a majority of seats only in the lower house
in South Carolina. Most of the chief legislative and executive positions were
held by Northern white Republicans who had moved to the South and by their white
Southern allies. Angry white Southerners called the Northerners carpetbaggers to
suggest that they could carry everything they owned when they came South in a
carpetbag, or suitcase. African Americans elected to important posts during
Reconstruction included U.S. Senators Hiram R. Revels and Blanche K. Bruce of
Mississippi and U.S. Representatives Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina and
Jefferson Long of Georgia. Others were Oscar J. Dunn, lieutenant governor of
Louisiana; Richard Gleaves and Alonzo J. Ransier, lieutenant governors of South
Carolina; P. B. S. Pinchback, acting governor of Louisiana; Francis L. Cardozo,
secretary of state and state treasurer of South Carolina; and Jonathan Jasper
Wright, an associate justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court. Most of them
had college educations. By the early 1870's, Northern whites had lost
interest in the Reconstruction policies of the Radical Republicans. They grew
tired of hearing about the continual conflict between Southern blacks and
whites. Most Northern whites wanted to put Reconstruction behind them and turn
to other things. Federal troops sent to the South to protect blacks were
gradually withdrawn. Southern whites who had stayed away from elections to
protest black participation started voting again. White Democrats then began to
regain control of the state governments from the blacks and their white
Republican associates. In 1877, the last federal troops were withdrawn. By the
end of that year, the Democrats held power in all the Southern state
governments. The Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave the vote
to all male citizens regardless of color or previous condition of servitude.
African Americans became involved in the political process not only as voters
but also as governmental representatives at the local, state and national level.
Although their elections were often contested by whites, and members of the
legislative bodies were usually reluctant to receive them, many African American
men ably served their country during Reconstruction.
Pictured here are Senator Hiram R. Revels and Representatives
Benjamin S. Turner, Josiah T. Walls, Joseph H. Rainey, Robert Brown Elliot,
Robert D. De Large, and Jefferson H. Long.
