The Failures of Civil War Reconstruction in the South

Introduction: The Promise of Reconstruction

After the close of the Civil War in 1865, the U.S. government initiated a wide-ranging policy of reconstruction aimed at rebuilding the American South. This policy, made up of a first and second reconstruction, offered the promise of creating enduring racial justice. The goals of the first Reconstruction included equality for Black Americans in politics, voting, and the use of public properties, while the second reconstruction promised integration, the end of Jim Crow laws, and the creation of a true biracial democracy. Yet both of these policies failed to bring about their desired goals, mainly due to the lack of economic justice for Black Americans. On October 31, 1865, the Stanton Spectator addressed this directly: "There is no problem more difficult than the future of the 'freedmen.' Half a million of ignorant and helpless people have been turned loose . . . with no capital to begin business, no skill(s) . . . and no means of providing for themselves."

The first reconstruction, designed to confront political, social, and economic conditions, commenced after 1865 and lasted until 1877. During this period, the U.S. Congress was greatly divided on several issues, including Black equality, how to rebuild the South, the re-admittance of Southern states to the Union, and the question of governmental control. Amid this turmoil, many political groups were attempting to advance their own agendas.

Political Divisions and Competing Agendas

Southern Democrats, made up of Confederate leaders and wealthy white Southerners, sought to bring an end to what they saw as Northern domination of the South. This included the initiation of Black Codes, which would limit certain rights of freed Southern Blacks. The moderate Republicans wished to pursue a policy of reconciliation between the Confederacy and the Union while ensuring that slavery was permanently abolished. The radical Republicans, composed of Northern politicians, greatly opposed slavery yet were unsympathetic toward the South and wished to maintain their majority in Congress. One of the major players throughout this period was President Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's vice president, whose primary goal was to unify the nation at all costs.

As the majority voice in Congress, the radical Republicans became the main political group setting the goals for Southern reconstruction. Their focus was on preventing slavery from regaining a foothold in the South by outlawing it through the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, which states: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude" (American Passages, 538). Yet the Southern Democrats, driven by their desire to restore power in the South, symbolically revived the conditions of slavery by passing the Black Codes as early as 1865.

Radical Republicans and the Legislative Battle

This act caused the moderate Republicans and the radicals to join forces. In 1866, a bill was passed supporting the Freedmen's Bureau, which was designed to protect freed slaves against the Black Codes. President Johnson quickly vetoed this bill, yet Congress eventually succeeded in making it law. As John Adler points out, "President Andrew Johnson opposed (strict political, legal, and constitutional requirements) . . . and advocated a quick and lenient reconstruction."

As a result of the Black Codes and President Johnson's veto of all legislation unfavorable to the South, the moderate and radical Republicans sought to enforce political equality and voting rights for all freed Blacks. During this time, many Northerners had grown sympathetic to the conditions faced by Black Americans in the South. The Republican movement to grant voting rights to all Black males was based on the assumption that Black voters would create a stable Republican party in the South, which would in effect prevent Southern Democrats from being elected in Southern states. This would allow the Republican majority in Congress to remain in power following the re-admission of Southern states to the Union.