Plans Of Reconstruction

Black codes were one of many ways the states got around the federal government's amendments. These codes were laws that applied to African American people in the state. All of these codes were very restrictive and demining. They stopped African Americans from doing a lot of things such as owning or renting a house or apartment in the town of Opelousas. Many other towns had such laws that stopped African americans from living in town, coming into town, and even having meetings in town.

The Black Codes were passed by the southern states after the Civil War. These codes were designed to go against the 13th Amendment. These codes were put into place to put restrictions on the blacks. These codes limit the rights of blacks to own or buy certain properties. It restrict how they were socially or economically by only allowing them to have jobs in which they were still a farmer or a servant. These codes also made stern suggestions to others who employed blacks to only pay them the bare minimum. Any blacks wishing to farm crops on their own and work must pay a revenue between $10-$100. Although, the northern blacks were enraged by this, it took a long time for change to come with the 14th and 15th Amendmants.

Initially, came Abraham Lincoln’s presidential reconstruction plan. This plan was known as the Ten Percent Plan. It stated that a southern state could re-enter into the Union in which they succeeded from if they acquire 10 percent of voters who swear an oath of allegiance to the Union. This was from the election of 1860 during the voter rolls. Once these voters swore an oath to the Union, they could then elect and draft in chosen delegates to do things such as draft state constitutions as well as create new governments for states. All the southerners who weren’t official government or army officers were granted pardons, and also had been granted protection of their private property. This did not include their slaves. Overall, Lincoln’s plan

Despite the black codes had provided rights such as the marriage legalization and the ownership of property, they violated the free labor principle and denied the African-Americans the right to vote, and sue any white man. Foner (2014) found “In response to planter’s demands that freed people be required to work on the plantations, the Black Codes declared that those who failed to sign yearly labor contracts could be arrested and hired out to white landowners” (p. 570) . In fact, it was a totally failure of what freedom was supposed to be.

     Imagine yourself wrongly convicted of a crime. You spent years in jail awaiting your release date. It finally comes, and when they let you out, they slap handcuffs around your wrists and tell you every single action you do. In a nutshell, that’s how the Black Codes worked. The southerners wanted control over the blacks after the Civil War, and states created their own Black Codes.

In 1864, Lincoln’s plan was to issue a proclamation of amnesty and reconstruction for those areas of the Confederacy occupied by Union armies. Lincoln also planned and required the ten percent of the voting population of each state from the 1860 election. This requirement established that the

Finally, Lincoln granted pardon to any Confederate official who would swear his support to the Union.

As the Reconstruction Era began, a plan was already thought of to put an end to the the Era. A plan was proposed by Abraham Lincoln was known as the 10 Percent Plan in 1863. The central idea of it, “...pardoned any former Confederate who would take an oath to support the Constitution. The parbon offer

The purpose of the black codes was to keep black people from voting. The result was the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which prohibited using race as a reason to prevent people from voting. The emancipation of black slaves in post Civil War America did not run smoothly. Though the slaves had been freed in name, many did not feel secure about giving black people rights. The black codes prevented black Americans from voting and restricted their

When the Civil War ended and slaves were free, Black Codes were established by states. Black Codes were specifically made to limit the freedom of African Americans and forced them to work in poor conditions with low wages. As explained by

Under this plan the south was divided into five districts. Excluding Tennessee because they had already been readmitted into the Union. Each of the districts were headed by a general. The main goal of the leader was to increase voter registration of blacks and to see to it that white confederates did not get back into office as they were before. The new voters would then vote on a new constitution that allowed blacks to vote. If the majority of the voters ratified the new constitution and the fourteenth amendment then the state would be eligible for readmission to the Union. These bills covered the objectives of Radical Republicans. They called for universal suffrage, made it likely that republicans would be put into office in southern states, and they set the standards for readmission. The south had to suffer the consequences of being defeated. To ensure their acts, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act which prohibited the president from removing certain officeholders without the permission of the Senate. President Johnson deliberately violated this by firing Secretary of State Edwin Stanton. President Johnson was tried for impeachment but the Senate could not convict him.

1: Black Codes: A body of laws, statutes, and rules enacted by southern states immediately after the Civil War to regain control over the freed slaves, maintain white supremacy, and ensure the continued supply of cheap labor.

Abraham Lincoln based his reconstruction program on bringing the seceded states back into the Union as quickly as possible. It states in chapter 17 of our textbook that “His Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction of December 1863 offered “full pardon” and the restoration of property, not including slaves, to white Southerners willing to swear an oath of allegiance to the United States and its laws, including the Emancipation of Proclamation. Prominent Confederate military and civil leaders were excluded from Lincolns offer, though he indicated that he would freely pardon them.” Lincoln did not want to punish the South but like

The Black Codes was masked slavery. Other than some new, small leniencies, Mississippi succeeded in making laws that that still controlled African Americans. These Sections were created for the South to bend the rules by exploiting children. These laws were aimed at minors under the age of 18 that were orphans or whose parents were unable to financially provide for them. At this point, the child would be placed back in the “care” of their former master or mistress. These codes stated that the best interest of the minor was to be protected, that they were to be fed, clothed, treated humanely; taught to read if under the age of fifteen and to receive medical attention when sick. In return, the minor, or apprentice would be bounded by indenture until the age of eighteen for a female and twenty one for a male. It was also acceptable for the former owner to chastise under what was allowed for punishment by the common law. If the child were to escape, it was permitted to place the child in jail if refused to return. That only discharge from a master/mistress would be possible if the courts believed the apprentice had a good cause to quit. Those are just few examples to begin with. These codes essentially worked to separate the races in all aspects of life from children to adults, such as marriage, which would result in life in prison if wedded to a white person. They also were not allowed to own any type of weapon unless they served in the United States military, and were to be fined and possibly imprisoned to even drinking liquor to a level of intoxication. Over all, these are just a few of the examples that were laws to “freed” men to be kept

The plans for Reconstruction offered by Abraham Lincoln were to give a full pardon to the people that took an oath of honor and loyalty to the United States, so long as they promised to uphold all new federal laws regarding slavery. While doing this he would temporarily exclude those who held offices of high confederate and military positions. He would then allow each state to elect members to Congress, after they had 1/10 of the participating voters from the 1860 election take the oath within the state. The goal of Abraham Lincoln's Reconstruction plan was to end the war quicker and reunite the north and south.