Wounds that Don't HealAlthough the Civil War has ended with the surrender of Confederate armies, the task of putting North and South back together will not be easy. The fighting has ended, but a chasm of distrust still separates the two regions. The 12-year period following the war is known to historians as 'Reconstruction,' but this term is misleading. It might more accurately be called the period of attempted reconstruction. Some wounds never heal. The immediate problem is how to treat Southerners who displayed apparent treason by fighting against the Union during the war. Then comes the question of how the millions of newly-freed Blacks will earn a living. |
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Reforming the Rebels The first step in allowing former Confederate states back into the Union is President Johnson's Amnesty Proclamation. This grants a blanket pardon to almost all rebels willing to sign an Oath of Allegiance. The only real exceptions are Confederate officers above the rank of Colonel, and anyone with a net personal wealth estimated to be over $20,000 (a very large sum). Beyond that, Johnson grants pardons to more than 12,000 individual ex-Confederates, who would not otherwise qualify for amnesty. Almost all Confederate soldiers are thus allowed to return to their homes, without penalty. Once back, however, they quickly begin passing 'Black Codes' to effectively strip most rights from their former slaves. | |||||||||
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Black Boondoggle? The Freedmen's Bureau is created to help former slaves adjust to their new freedom. It creates schools to help educate Blacks, and provides agents to represent Blacks in negotiations with their former masters. Whites are now required to sign legal contracts for all work, at specified wages. This is tough sledding from the beginning. Whites find that Blacks are now unmanageable, since they can no longer be forced to work. Some Blacks, it seems, believe that if they aren't required to work for their former masters, they don't have to work for anyone. They can just sit back and enjoy their freedom. Whites argued that this encourages dependence upon government support, with services that had never been available to poor Whites. | |||||||||
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White Backlash Slavery is abolished nationwide in 1865, but within two years, ex-Confederates are beginning to re-assert control over southern states. Northerners, alarmed that the Confederacy might somehow re-emerge, try to prevent this by deploying the Army. All former Confederate states are placed under military rule, temporarily suspending voting rights for most Whites, while letting all Blacks vote. During this period, many Blacks are elected to state-wide office, and a few to Congress. This results in the sudden emergence of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a secret all-white society dedicated to preventing Blacks from keeping power. It's outlawed three years later, but will re-emerge within 60 years. The dates on the map above indicate when civilian rule is restored in each state. | |||||||||
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If Only ... Much of the turmoil after the Civil War is the result of an order issued by General Sherman, before the war has even ended. After completing his March to the Sea, he orders confiscation of the entire southern coastline, from Charleston down to Florida, and extending 30 miles inland. This land, which is still supporting the Confederate war effort, is now to be re-distributed to newly-freed Black families. Each will be entitled to 40 acres, and an ex-army mule to help with farming. It is not an official government act, but rather the edict of a single general. Nonetheless, it creates the impression that the entire South will be handed over to Blacks. When Andrew Johnson becomes President, just a few months later, he promptly cancels the order. | |||||||||
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Plantations Gone The war completely destroys the southern plantation economy. The account above is condensed from a description of the post-war period, from the viewpoint of a young white woman. She has moved down to Georgia at the end of the war, to help her father attempt to restore the rice plantation he had previously run. The narrative rings true in many details, including her exasperation dealing with seemingly willing Blacks, who nonetheless find ways to avoid working. Without dependable, free slave labor, former plantation owners find it impossible to restore their old way of life. They briefly consider importing Chinese railroad workers from California, but eventually are forced to accept that traditional plantations are no longer viable. Labor costs eat up all the profit. | |||||||||