Chronological History of the American Civil War

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Reconstruction under President Johnson, as Lincoln’s successor, proposed a very lenient policy toward the South. He pardoned most Southern whites, appointed provisional governors and outlined steps for the creation of new state governments. Johnson felt that each state government could best decide, how they wanted blacks to be treated. Many in the North were infuriated that the South would be returning their former Confederate leaders to power. The administration of President Andrew Johnson in 1865 and 1866 with new southern state legislatures passed restrictive “black codes” to control the labor, and behavior of former slaves and other African Americans. By 1867, new elections brought RADICAL REPUBLICANS to power. They wanted to punish the South, and to prevent the ruling class from continuing in power. They passed the "Military Reconstruction Acts of 1867", which divided the South into five military districts and outlined how the new governments would be designed. Under federal bayonets, blacks, including those who had recently been freed, received the right to vote, hold political offices, and become judges and police chiefs. They held positions, that formerly belonged to Southern Democrats. Voting rights for former Confederate soldiers are denied. It was the Radical Republicans, who impeached President Johnson in 1868. The Senate, by a single vote, failed to convict him, but his power to hinder radical reform was diminished. Not all supported the Radical Republicans. Many Southern whites could not accept the idea that former slaves could not only vote, but hold office. It was in this era, that the Ku Klux Klan is organized at the law offices of Thomas M. Jones in Pulaski, Tennessee. Unable to protect themselves, Southern blacks and Republicans looked to Washington for protection. After ten years, Congress and the radicals grew weary of federal involvement in the South. Then with the withdrawal of Federal troops 1877, brought renewed attempts to strip African-Americans of their newly acquired rights. “Jim Crow laws” would bring separate, but equal rights to the races until finally in 1964, the remaining Jim Crow laws are overruled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act would outlaw discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It also ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public. 150 plus years later the South’s economic future is still in trouble today. In 1860, when 7 of the 10 states with the highest per capita wealth join the Confederacy, today only one state, Virginia still is ranked in the top 10, while 5 Southern states are at the bottom 10 in per capita income. The classic example is Mississippi, which ranked No. 1 in 1860, and 50th in the 2010 census. Even today, the South still suffers from lack of education, poverty, drugs and rising crime rates. There is no quick fix to any of these problems. I do believe these answers will start in the home with education and discipline. “It is not often that nations learn from the past, even rarer that they draw the correct conclusions from it.” ― Henry Kissinger The Civil War changed our nation forever, for better or worst. It brought new ideas, and ways of doing things. It made America grow and expand with new discoveries. I also feel writing this series has done that for me as well. I hope reading it has for you, too. I learned something new every time I sat down to write, I hope you have, too.

Thank you for your attention!

Ken Savage