At the end of the Civil War much of the South lay in ruins, and nearly four million formerly enslaved people needed legal protection, opportunity, and a hand in governing their states. This episode follows Reconstruction from the Reconstruction Acts and military districts of 1867 through the Freedmen's Bureau, the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, the rise of Black officeholders like Hiram Revels and Robert Smalls, the violence of the Klan and the Redeemers, and the disputed election of 1876 that brought the era to its end with the last federal troops leaving Louisiana in April 1877.

Key Takeaways

• The cost of the war fell hardest on the South. Between 1860 and 1870 the wealth of white Southern households declined by an estimated 60 percent, roughly 260,000 Confederate soldiers had died, and tens of thousands more came home permanently disabled.

• Congress enacted four Reconstruction Acts. The first, in March 1867, divided ten former Confederate states into five military districts under generals commanded by Ulysses S. Grant. About 20,000 federal troops, spread thinly across the South, worked to restrain violence and oversee elections.

• The Army registered a new electorate in which formerly enslaved men voted for the first time. Black voters outnumbered white voters in South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida, and the new constitutions swept away the Black Codes and expanded public education.

• “Carpetbagger” and “scalawag” compressed a complicated story. Louisiana governor Henry C. Warmoth turned an $8,000 salary into a fortune of half a million dollars or more, but Albion Tourgée helped rewrite North Carolina's constitution and later argued Homer Plessy's case against segregation.

• The Freedmen's Bureau, created in March 1865 and led by Major General Oliver Otis Howard, distributed food, ran hospitals, supervised labor agreements, supported schools, legalized marriages, reunited families, and helped Black veterans collect overdue pay.

• President Andrew Johnson opposed congressional Reconstruction. Congress overrode his vetoes, proposed the Fourteenth Amendment, and passed the Tenure of Office Act. When Johnson tried to remove Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, the House impeached him on February 24, 1868. Seven Republicans voted with the Democrats, and Johnson escaped removal by one vote.

• Black citizens took office. Hiram Revels entered the Senate in 1870 in the seat once held by Jefferson Davis. Robert Smalls, who escaped slavery in 1862 by piloting the Confederate transport Planter to the Union Navy, helped frame South Carolina's 1868 constitution and won five terms in Congress.

• In 1876 a white paramilitary force killed six Black militiamen at Hamburg, South Carolina, four of them after they had been taken prisoner. When a congressman demanded the name of Smalls's eyewitness, Smalls refused: “If he is desirous that the name shall be given in order to have another negro killed, he will not get it from me.”

• Grant defended Reconstruction, supported the Fifteenth Amendment, created the Department of Justice, and enforced the laws against the Klan, but corruption, an economic depression, and declining Northern resolve weakened him. Democrats took the House in 1874, and the Redeemers regained Southern governments through elections, intimidation, and violence.

• The disputed election of 1876 ended the era. Samuel J. Tilden won the popular vote but fell one electoral vote short; a commission divided eight to seven awarded every contested vote to Rutherford B. Hayes. Under the Compromise of 1877, Hayes ordered the last federal troops out of Louisiana on April 24, 1877.
  

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Questions & Answers (FAQ)

Q1: What were the Reconstruction Acts?

Four acts of Congress beginning in March 1867. The first divided ten former Confederate states into five military districts under generals commanded by Ulysses S. Grant, who were charged with preserving order, registering eligible Black and white male voters, and supervising conventions to write new state constitutions. About 20,000 federal troops, spread thinly across the South, oversaw elections.

Q2: What was the difference between a carpetbagger and a scalawag?

“Carpetbagger” was the insult for a Northerner who went South after the war; “scalawag” for a white Southerner who cooperated with Republicans. Some newcomers exploited office, like Louisiana governor Henry C. Warmoth, who built a fortune on an $8,000 salary. Others, like Albion Tourgée, brought legal reform, and Union veterans John T. Wilder and Willard Warner encouraged iron production around Chattanooga and Birmingham.

Q3: What did the Freedmen's Bureau do?

Created by Congress in March 1865 and led by Major General Oliver Otis Howard, the Bureau's agents distributed food, operated hospitals, supervised labor agreements, supported schools, legalized marriages, reunited families, and helped Black veterans obtain overdue pay.

Q4: Why was Andrew Johnson impeached?

The House impeached Johnson on February 24, 1868, for violating the Tenure of Office Act of 1867, which required Senate approval before the president could remove certain federal officeholders. Johnson had tried to remove Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. At the Senate trial, seven Republicans voted with the Democrats, and Johnson escaped removal by one vote. The act was repealed in 1887, and the Supreme Court treated it as unconstitutional in Myers v. United States in 1926.

Q5: Who was Robert Smalls?

A formerly enslaved South Carolinian who in 1862 escaped by piloting the Confederate transport Planter past the defenses at Charleston and handing it to the Union Navy. After the war he promoted public education, helped frame South Carolina's 1868 constitution, served in its legislature, and won five terms in Congress.

Q6: What happened at Hamburg, South Carolina, in 1876?

A white paramilitary force attacked a Black militia company and killed six Black men, four of them after they had been taken prisoner. Congressman Robert Smalls tried to keep federal troops in South Carolina, and when another congressman demanded the name of his eyewitness, Smalls refused to give it, saying he would not have another Black man killed.

Q7: How did the election of 1876 end Reconstruction?

Democrat Samuel J. Tilden won the popular vote but fell one electoral vote short. Rival returns came from Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina, and one elector was contested in Oregon. A special commission divided eight to seven along party lines awarded every contested vote to Rutherford B. Hayes. Under the informal Compromise of 1877, Democratic resistance subsided in exchange for the withdrawal of troops and Southern home rule.

Q8: When did Reconstruction end?

In 1877, twelve years after the war. Hayes was inaugurated on March 5, 1877, and on April 24 he ordered the last federal troops out of Louisiana. Every former Confederate state had returned to Democratic control.

The South in Ruins

At the end of the Civil War, much of the South lay in ruins. Between 1860 and 1870, the wealth of white Southern households declined by an estimated 60 percent, in no small measure due to the emancipation of Southern slaves. Roughly 260,000 Confederate soldiers had died, approximately one-fifth of the South's white men of military age. Tens of thousands more returned home permanently disabled, many missing an arm or a leg.

The Task of Reconstruction

Under Reconstruction, ten of the eleven states that had seceded would be required to write new constitutions and hold new elections. Tennessee had already been restored. The nearly four million formerly enslaved people needed legal protection, educational and economic opportunity, and a direct hand in governing their states. The challenges were monumental. The window of opportunity was narrow. By 1877, only twelve years after the war, Reconstruction had ended, leaving the nation nearly as divided as the factions that had struggled to determine its course.

The Reconstruction Acts and Military Districts

Congress enacted four Reconstruction Acts. The first, passed in March 1867, divided ten former Confederate states into five military districts. Generals under the command of Ulysses S. Grant were charged with preserving order, registering eligible Black and white male voters, and supervising conventions that would write new state constitutions. Approximately 20,000 federal troops, spread thinly across the South, worked to restrain violence and oversee elections.

A New Electorate

The Army registered a new electorate in which formerly enslaved men voted for the first time. Black voters outnumbered white voters in South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida. The conventions wrote constitutions that swept away the Black Codes, expanded public education, and promised civil equality. The new state governments rebuilt infrastructure and created schools serving poor white and Black children alike.

Carpetbaggers and Scalawags

Their enemies compressed this complicated story into two insults: “carpetbagger” for a Northerner who went South and “scalawag” for a white Southerner who cooperated with Republicans. Some Northern newcomers did indeed exploit public office. Henry C. Warmoth, a native of Illinois, became the young Republican governor of Louisiana. He received an annual salary of $8,000 but over four years in office accrued a fortune of between a half million and a million dollars. “I don't pretend to be honest,” he said of himself. “I only pretend to be as honest as anybody in politics.” But others brought capital, education, legal reform, and industry. Albion Tourgée helped rewrite North Carolina's constitution and later challenged segregation as Homer Plessy's lawyer. Union veterans John T. Wilder and Willard Warner encouraged iron production around Chattanooga and Birmingham.

The Freedmen's Bureau

The principal federal relief agency of the period was the Freedmen's Bureau. Created by Congress in March 1865 and led by Major General Oliver Otis Howard, its agents distributed food, operated hospitals, supervised labor agreements, supported schools, legalized marriages, reunited families, and helped Black veterans obtain overdue pay.

Johnson Against Congress

Meanwhile, President Andrew Johnson opposed congressional efforts at Reconstruction. Led by Radical Republicans, Congress overrode his vetoes and proposed the Fourteenth Amendment, which made citizenship a guarantee for Black Americans. Congressional leaders, including Thaddeus Stevens, resorted to constitutionally questionable means to restrain their political enemy in the White House. They passed the Tenure of Office Act of 1867, which required Senate approval before the president could remove certain federal officeholders. When Johnson attempted to remove Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, who was sympathetic to the Radicals, Stanton refused to step down.

Impeachment: One Vote Short

On February 24, 1868, the House impeached Johnson for violating the Tenure of Office Act. The trial became a constitutional struggle, with former Union general Benjamin Butler and the ailing Thaddeus Stevens leading the prosecution. Conviction requires two-thirds of the Senate, but seven Republicans voted against party lines and joined the Democrats in opposing it. Johnson escaped removal by one vote. As for the Tenure of Office Act, it was repealed in 1887, and in Myers v. United States in 1926 the Supreme Court treated it as unconstitutional.

Black Citizens Take Office

In 1867 and 1868, the newly organized Southern electorates began choosing Black citizens for offices once reserved entirely for white men. Hiram Revels entered the U.S. Senate in 1870, occupying the seat once held by Jefferson Davis. Robert Brown Elliott, Joseph Rainey, and others defended voting rights and equality under law.

Robert Smalls

Few lives better reveal Reconstruction's possibilities than that of Robert Smalls. In 1862, Smalls escaped slavery by piloting the Confederate transport Planter past defenses at Charleston and handing it over to the Union Navy. After the war, he promoted public education, helped frame South Carolina's 1868 constitution, served in its legislature, and won five terms in Congress.

The Hamburg Massacre, 1876

In 1876, a white paramilitary force attacked a Black militia company in Hamburg, South Carolina, and killed six Black men, four of them after they had been taken prisoner. Congressman Robert Smalls responded by trying to prevent federal troops from being removed from South Carolina. When another congressman demanded the name of an eyewitness whose account Smalls had introduced, Smalls refused: “If he is desirous that the name shall be given in order to have another negro killed, he will not get it from me.”

Grant, the Fifteenth Amendment, and the Klan

Across the South, political participation unfolded amid relentless intimidation as the Ku Klux Klan and similar organizations attacked Black voters, Republican officials, and Northern teachers. Congress authorized federal intervention, producing approximately 3,000 indictments and hundreds of convictions. Ulysses S. Grant entered the presidency in 1869 committed to defending Reconstruction and the rights of Black Americans.

He supported the Fifteenth Amendment, which protected Black men's right to vote, signed legislation that created the Department of Justice, and enforced congressional laws against the KKK. Yet corruption within his administration, a national economic depression, and declining Northern resolve weakened his position. By the end of his presidency, federal protection of Reconstruction was receding.

The Redeemers

Democrats captured the House in 1874, while self-described “Redeemers” regained Southern governments through elections, intimidation, and violence. Black citizens increasingly found themselves unable to cast the ballots the Constitution guaranteed.

The Election of 1876

The disputed presidential election of 1876 brought the Reconstruction era to its end. Democrat Samuel J. Tilden won the popular vote but fell one electoral vote short of victory. Rival electoral returns emerged from Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina, while the eligibility of one Republican elector was contested in Oregon. A special commission, divided eight to seven along party lines, awarded every contested vote, and the presidency, to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes.

The Compromise of 1877 and an Unfinished Freedom

In the informal and still-debated understanding known as the Compromise of 1877, Democratic resistance to Hayes subsided amid Republican assurances that the new administration would withdraw troops protecting the remaining Republican state governments and pursue Southern “home rule.” Hayes's public inauguration ceremony took place on March 5, 1877. On April 24, the new president ordered the last federal troops out of Louisiana.

Every former Confederate state had returned to Democratic control, and the nation had answered emancipation with an unfinished freedom. On the one hand, slavery was gone, and Black citizenship and voting rights had been written into the Constitution. On the other hand, segregation, disfranchisement, and racial terror would soon spread across the reconstructed South.