The Problems of Peacemaking

The aftermath of the war left the South completely destroyed. The South lost its slaves, property, money, and the war. It left them with almost no personal property and many faced starvation and homelessness. The South lost nearly 20% of its adult white male population that left many in mourning. Those that were left began to romanticize the war and its leaders. Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis were treated as religious figures.

The Destruction of the South from the Civil War. Web. 15 Dec 2010. http://petercooper.info/LargePics/DestituteSouth.jpg.

Four million Southern slaves emerged from slavery after the war. Some served as servants, teamsters, and laborers for the Confederates. Others had fought as soldiers for the Union while others served as spies/scouts for the Union. Many took the opportunity to escape their captivity through the confusion that the war created. Although many stayed in the South and set up their own communities, churches, and schools instead of staying in white controlled communities. The federal government kept troops in the South after the war to provide protection and preserve order.

Civil War and Reconstruction. Web. 15 Dec 2010. http://faculty.umf.maine.edu/walter.sargent/public.www/web%20103/freedman1.jpg.

In March 1865, the Freedman’s Bureau was created as an army agency and was headed by General Howard. It helped to create schools, settle blacks on their own land, and they even helped some poorer whites. The main problem with its creation was that it was only allowed to operate for a year. Radical Republicans in Congress wanted the Confederate leaders to be punished. However, President Lincoln wanted to grant amnesty to white Southerners except to high-ranking officials of the Confederacy. The Southerners would then have to pledge loyalty to the government and accept that slavery was over. Once 10% of voters in 1860 took the oath, those voters could then set up a state government. He also wanted to give blacks the right to vote who were educated, owned property, and had served in the Union army. However Radical Republicans did not like President Lincolns plan. SO they passed the Wade-Davis Bill in July of 1864. It authorized the president to appoint a temporary governor to each Southern state. Once a majority of white males took the pledge, the governor could call up a state constitution convention to write a new constitution. Each constitution had to abolish slavery, disfranchise Confederate leaders, and repudiate Confederate debts. Afterwards, Congress would readmit those states to the Union. Lincoln died in April of 1865 so no one is for certain what would have happened with his plan. Andrew Johnson took office soon after his death. He offered amnesty to those Southerners who took the oath of allegiance. But the rest of his plan resembled the Wade-Davis Bill. To be readmitted, a state had to abolish slavery, revoke its secession ordinance, ratify the 13^th Amendment, and repudiate all debts from the Confederacy.



Brinkley, Alan. American History: A Survey. 13th ed. 1. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 2009. 406-410. Print.