Radical Reconstruction

“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States; and such citizens, of every race and color, without regard to any previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall have the same right, in every State and Territory in the United States, to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, and give evidence, to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property, and to full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property, as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, and penalties, and to none other, any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, to the contrary notwithstanding.” 39th Congress, April 9th 1866. 

Welcome to Civics and Coffee. My name is Alycia and I am a self-professed history nerd. Each week, I am going to chat about a topic on U.S history and give you both the highlights and occasionally break down some of the complexities in history; and share stories you may not remember learning in high school. All in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of coffee. 

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Hey everyone, welcome back. 

After a disastrous start to the process of reconciling the nation, members of Congress were determined to ensure newly emancipated Black Americans received the rights and privileges they had long been denied. For several years between 1866 and the end of reconstruction in 1877, Republicans in Congress worked to pass several pieces of legislation, including a few constitutional amendments. Their efforts put them head to head with southern-sympathizer President Andrew Johnson and caused quite the backlash throughout the south. 

So what was Radical Reconstruction? How did it impact the lives of Black Americans? And what caused it to end? 

Grab your cup of coffee, peeps. Let’s do this. 

As I touched on during the last episode on reconstruction a few weeks back, Andrew Johnson acted quickly in implementing his vision for how to best reunify the country. Taking advantage of the Congressional recess, Johnson announced his plans for reconstruction in a couple of proclamations, providing lenient conditions for re-entering the union and largely restoring the rights of former Confederate leaders. This surprised the majority Republican Congress who  wanted stricter parameters for any former Confederate state seeking to rejoin the country.  Johnson rebuffed pressure by members of congress who asked the President to consider delaying his actions until they were back in session or call for a special session so the executive and legislative branches could work in collaboration.

Feeling dismissed and frustrated by what they saw as President Johnson’s lack of leadership, republicans in congress decided to wrestle control from Johnson and implement their vision for a newly reconstructed country. They started by refusing to seat the newly approved southern delegates and, in January 1866, introduced the Civil Rights Act, a portion of which I read at the top of the episode. Introduced by Illinois Senator Lyman Trumbull, the bill was intended to protect the civil rights of all Americans, particularly those of newly emancipated Black Americans. Referring to the bill as the most important piece of legislation since the thirteenth amendment, Trumbull was clear in why it was necessary, saying quote: “that amendment declared that all persons in the United States should be free. This measure is intended to give effect to that declaration, and secure to all persons within the United States practical freedom. There is very little importance in the general declaration of abstract truths and principles unless they can be carried into effect, unless the persons who are to be affected by them have some means of availing themselves of their benefits,” end quote. 

President Johnson was of a different opinion. In writing his veto message, Johnson questioned whether the bill was truly needed asking quote: “whether it is necessary that they should be declared citizens in order that they may be secured in the enjoyment of the civil rights proposed to be conferred by the bill,” end quote. John also objected to the fact that several southern states were not represented when the bill was passed and used that as another reason to object to the bill. Ultimately, Johnson’s veto was overridden by Congress, who passed the law on April 9th, 1866. This marked the first time the United States passed civil rights legislation and established that all people born inside the United States, with the exception of Indigenous Americans, were citizens of the country and were entitled to fundamental rights of citizenship.

So why, if the Civil Rights Act of 1866 established birthright citizenship, was the fourteenth amendment needed? Well, members of Congress realized how precarious reconstruction efforts were. They knew that laws were vulnerable to repeal and considering nearly a dozen former confederate states had yet to be seated, members understood that the law could be replaced at any moment. A constitutional amendment, however, was much more difficult to overcome and was not reliant on the whims of any one Congress. But we will get into the details of the 14th Amendment in a future episode. 

Johnson’s showdown with Congress did not go well for the President and during the midterm elections in 1866, Republicans won in a landslide. This, according to the Republican members of Congress, gave them - and not Democratic President Andrew Johnson - a mandate to implement their vision for reconstruction. Once in office, Republicans basically restarted the reconstruction process, beginning with the Reconstruction Act of 1867. 

The bill aimed to put the federal government in control of former confederate states by dividing them into military districts. Each district would be monitored by a military officer who was responsible for ensuring peace, civil rights protection, and dealing with any criminal issues. The bill also required that any new state constitutions created in these former confederate states had to be approved by Congress and, going further, had to guarantee the voting rights of all men regardless of race. Once they met these qualifications, they would be allowed to send representatives to be seated in Congress. 

Again, President Johnson sought to veto the legislation. And again he was overridden when Congress voted to approve the bill on March 2, 1867. According to historians Eric Foner, Kathleen DuVal, and Lisa McGirr, in overriding the presidential veto, the reconstruction act of 1867 quote: “inaugurated America’s first real experiment in interracial democracy,” end quote. The reconstruction acts of 1867 and 1868 inspired Black Americans to politically organize and these gatherings had an impact as people began to take action by running for office and joining clubs like the union league I mentioned a few episodes back. More than 600 African Americans served in state legislatures during reconstruction, a monumental figure considering the level of oppression and intimidation they faced throughout the south. 

Former confederate states rewrote their constitutions between 1868 and 1869 at state conventions. For the first time in American history, these state constitutional conventions had substantial black representation. Their presence had an impact as many of the constitutions drafted included provisions such as state-funded public education, orphan asylums, and homes for the insane. The constitutions also included things like eliminating property qualifications to hold office, and outlawing whipping as a form of legal punishment. Although African Americans enjoyed an increased role in political life, most of the highest offices remained under white control. 

Several northern men moved to the south immediately after the war, hoping to take advantage of a new southern economy. Many were former union soldiers, several of whom were also Freedmen’s Bureau agents, who simply decided to restart their lives in the south rather than venturing north. But for the southerners who disagreed with their presence, these former union soldiers were painted as carpetbaggers - men who simply packed up their lives into a suitcase and sought to live in the south to apparently take advantage of the spoils offered by public office. Anyone who opposed immediately restoring white supremacy in southern state governments were painted with these nicknames, including native born white Republicans who were loyal to the union and did not own slaves, who opponents called scalawags.

While corruption was widespread throughout the south during reconstruction, no one race, region, or party held a dominant position. The simple fact was that exploding state budgets and the potential money grab that came with it attracted less than honorable characters to government work. Despite the corruption, several states made incredible strides toward establishing and protecting the rights of Black Americans. A number of states passed laws banning discrimination for things like hotels and railroads and this, historians argues quote: “established for the first time at the state level a standard of equal citizenship and a recognition of Blacks’ rights to a share of public services,” end quote. 

But it was this extension of rights that prompted opposition to reconstruction. The idea that African Americans - men and women who were recently considered nothing more than a piece of property - could and should enjoy the same privileges as white Americans was abhorrent to more than a few individuals. To them, extending the franchise and providing equality before the law to Black Americans amounted to an attack on their rights and privileges. This was unacceptable and some believed that the only way to restore and maintain white supremacy in all facets of southern life was to thwart reconstruction. 

Attempts to undercut reconstruction led to a number of secret societies throughout the former confederate south. The goal of these groups was simple: prevent Black Americans from voting and undermine the political process and organization of the Black community by attacking and assassinating public officials. While not the only organization to exist, the Ku Klux Klan took on a major role in intimidating potential voters. Described by politicians as a military arm of the southern democratic party, Klan members unleashed a reign of terror throughout the south, orchestrating home invasions and beatings all intended to depress voter turnout and to restore the idea of black subservience. 

Southern governments lacked the resources and manpower to adequately deal with groups like the KKK, leading several of them to appeal to Congress who adopted three enforcement acts between 1870 and 1871 outlawing terrorist societies. But as I’ve mentioned in prior episodes, by the time Congress and the federal government took action, much of the damage was already done. 

Support for reconstruction began to wane by the 1870s as the more radical members of Congress left and were replaced with individuals who did not share the same commitment to Black equality as their predecessors. Many of these newly elected congressmen felt that the federal government had done its part by freeing enslaved individuals, making them citizens, and giving them access to the franchise. Everything else, they believed, would have to come from the Black community pulling itself up by its bootstraps, so to speak. This led to a split within the Republican party, leading to the creation of the Liberal Republicans. 

And while there is some validity in the sentiment that government support could and should not last forever, it is important to remember the context under which the federal government began pulling back. Yes, the government extended civil rights, but there was a little enforcement of these rights on behalf of Black Americans and their vote continued to be depressed by the intimidation of groups like the KKK. And yes, they were citizens who could engage in a contract and testify in court, but they had no resources to draw upon. Southern laws on the books before the civil war prohibited teaching enslaved individuals how to read and write. Without education, Black men were largely unable to read and therefore were susceptible to signing lopsided labor contracts, locking them into an unfair wage. Lastly, emancipating enslaved individuals did not grant them access to land. While the federal government initially considered distributing confiscated land, this policy was quickly repealed and left many formerly enslaved individuals without a home or alternative means to ensure their economic survival. The failure to map out some sort of strategy that guaranteed Black Americans access to land grants is one of the largest contributors to the failure of reconstruction.  

The lack of motivation on behalf of Congress at least partially reflected the feelings of their constituents. Poor white farmers, burdened by the increase in state taxes to fund reconstruction efforts quickly became disillusioned when their station did not improve, causing them to pull their support from the Republican party. And residents of the north were growing tired of what felt like the federal government’s constant intervention into southern politics. Even newspapers once supportive of reconstruction began to speak out against Black equality and calling on African Americans to start pulling their own weight. 

A recession in 1873 further diminished support for reconstruction policies, particularly in the southern half of the country where the recession was felt the hardest. State governments throughout the former confederacy adopted several measures aimed at reinvigorating the economy and moving away from agriculture and investing in things like factories and railroads. Unfortunately, these did not lead to robust returns and caused many voters to doubt whether Republican politicians could reshape and rebuild a new southern economy. 

In the 1874 midterm elections, Democrats made extensive gains, capturing the House of Representatives for the first time since the Civil War. As the House controls the purse strings, it became clear quickly that further investment into reconstruction was in peril. The final piece of Reconstruction legislation was the Civil Rights Act of 1875 which guaranteed Black Americans equal treatment on public transportation and public accommodations. Perhaps a sign of the diminishing support for reconstruction, the bill failed to provide any mechanism to enforce the law, thereby allowing segregation to become entrenched throughout the south, and further supported by federal law in the 1896 Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson established the separate but equal doctrine. 

Radical reconstruction sought to remake the south and to uplift a group of citizens who had been denied their civil liberties for a century. Although they fell short of their lofty goals, southern republican governments did accomplish some amazing feats such as instituting free public education. By the 1870s, half of southern children were attending school and African Americans demonstrated their commitment to education by establishing several historically black universities, including Alabama A&M, Jackson State University, and Spelman. 

The period known as Radical Reconstruction saw a federal government committed to uplifting newly freed Black Americans through landmark legislation. Despite the significant advances in civil rights and political representation, the era ultimately faced fierce opposition, leading to violence, disenfranchisement, and the establishment of Jim Crow laws. Radical reconstruction may have stumbled in its quest for equality, but its legacy continues to challenge us to consider one question: how do we ensure that the promise of freedom and justice is fulfilled for all?

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Thanks, peeps. I will see you next week. 

Thanks for tuning and I hope you enjoyed this episode of Civics & Coffee. If you want to hear more small snippets from american history, be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening and I look forward to our next cup of coffee together. 

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