The Triumph of Congressional Reconstruction

The color line is broken. Political cartoon from 1877 by Thomas Nast portraying the Democratic Party's control of the South.

Radical Reconstruction

Radical Reconstruction was a period following the Civil War during which radical Republicans controlled Reconstruction policies, though they often clashed with President Johnson over pieces of legislation. In particular, Johnson encouraged southern states to refuse to ratify the 14th Amendment. Radical Republicans in Congress, however, led by Stevens and Sumner, opened the way for male freedmen suffrage. Figure 0 They were generally in control of Reconstruction legislation, although they often had to compromise with the moderate Republicans.

The Radical Republicans

In the immediate postwar era before the vote was granted to the freedmen, Southern political leaders renounced secession and slavery, but not white supremacy. In the elections of 1867, however, a new crop of Republican lawmakers were elected by a coalition of white Unionists, freedmen and northerners who had settled in the South.

The "Reconstruction Amendments" (13th, 14th, and 15th) were adopted in the period from 1865-1870. The 13th Amendment abolishing slavery was ratified in 1865. The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, guaranteed United States citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States. The 15th Amendment, passed in February 1870, decreed that the right to vote could not be denied on the basis of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". Voter registration and electoral laws, though, were still left up to the state.

With the Radicals in control, Congress passed four statutes known as Reconstruction Acts on March 2, 1867. For the former Confederate States to be readmitted to the Union, they had to fulfill the requirements of these Acts. Texas was excepted since it had already ratified the 13th amendment and been readmitted. Tennessee had likewise already been admitted.

The Reconstruction Acts

The first Reconstruction Act placed ten Confederate states under military control, grouping them into five military districts which would serve as the acting government for the region:

• First Military District: Virginia, under General John Schofield
• Second Military District: North Carolina and South Carolina, under General Daniel Sickles
• Third Military District: Georgia, Alabama and Florida, under General John Pope and George Meade
• Fourth Military District: Arkansas and Mississippi, under General Edward Ord
• Fifth Military District: Texas and Louisiana, under Generals Philip Sheridan and Winfield Scott Hancock

These districts placed the ten Southern state governments under the direct control of the United States Army. One major purpose was to recognize and protect the right of African Americans to vote. Under a system of martial law in the South, the military closely supervised local government, elections, and the administration of justice, and tried to protect office holders and freedmen from violence. Blacks were enrolled as voters and former Confederate leaders were excluded for a limited period. The Reconstruction Acts denied the right to vote for men who had sworn to uphold the Constitution and then rebelled against the Federal Government. As a result, while in some states the black population was a minority, the number of blacks who were registered to vote nearly matched the number of white registered voters. In addition, Congress required that each state draft a new state constitution--which would have to be approved by Congress--and that each state ratify the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and grant voting rights to black men.