Kids History: Civil War Reconstruction Civil War Reconstruction History >> Civil War Much of the Southern United States was destroyed during the Civil war. Farms and plantations were burned down and their crops destroyed. Also, many people had Confederate money which was now worthless and the local governments were in disarray. The South needed to be rebuilt. The rebuilding of the South after the Civil War is called the Reconstruction. The Reconstruction lasted from 1865 to 1877. The purpose of the Reconstruction was to help the South become a part of the Union again. Federal troops occupied much of the South during the Reconstruction to insure that laws were followed and that another uprising did not occur. Broad Street Charleston, South Carolina by Unknown To Punish the South or Not Many people wanted the South to be punished for trying to leave the Union. Other people, however, wanted to forgive the South and let the healing of the nation begin. Lincoln's Plan for Reconstruction Abraham Lincoln wanted to be lenient to the South and make it easy for southern states to rejoin the Union. He said that any southerner who took an oath to the Union would be given a pardon.

He also said that if 10% of the voters in a state supported the Union, then a state could be readmitted. Under Lincoln's plan, any state that was readmitted must make slavery illegal as part of their constitution. President Johnson President Lincoln was assassinated at the end of the Civil War, however, and never had the chance to implement his Reconstruction plan. When Andrew Johnson became president, he was from the South and wanted to be even more lenient to the Confederate States than Lincoln. Congress, however, disagreed and began to pass harsher laws for the Southern states. Black Codes In an effort to get around laws passed by Congress, many southern states began to pass Black Codes. These were laws that prevented black people from voting, going to school, owning land, and even getting jobs. These laws caused a lot of conflict between the North and the South as they tried to reunite after the Civil War. New Amendments to the Constitution To help with the Reconstruction and to protect the rights of all people, three amendments were added to the US Constitution: 13th Amendment - Outlawed slavery 14th Amendment - Said that black people were citizens of the United States and that all people were protected equally by the law.

15th Amendment - Gave all people the right to vote regardless of race. Rejoining the Union New governments were formed in the South starting in 1865. The first state to be readmitted to the Union was Tennessee in 1866. The last state was Georgia in 1870. As part of being readmitted to the Union, states had to ratify the new amendments to the Constitution. Help from the Union The Union did a lot to help the South during the Reconstruction. They rebuilt roads, got farms running again, and built schools for poor and black children. Eventually the economy in the South began to recover. Carpetbaggers Some northerners moved to the South during the Reconstruction to try and make money off of the rebuilding. They were often called carpetbaggers because they sometimes carried their belongings in luggage called carpetbags. The Southerners didn't like that the Northerners were moving in and trying to get rich off of their troubles. The End of the Reconstruction The Reconstruction officially ended under the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877. He removed the federal troops from the South and the state governments took over.

Unfortunately, many of the changes to equal rights were immediately reversed. Interesting Facts about the Reconstruction White Southerners who joined the Republican Party and helped with the Reconstruction were called scalawags. The Reconstruction Act of 1867 divided the South into five military districts ran by the army. President Andrew Johnson granted pardons to many Confederate leaders. He also vetoed a number of Reconstruction laws passed by Congress. He vetoed so many laws his nickname became the "Veto President". In order to fight against the Black Codes, the federal government set up Freedman's Bureaus to help black people and to set up schools that black children could attend. Activities Reconstruction Timeline of Important Dates Congress also charters the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company, commonly called the Freedmen's Savings Bank. Apr 9, 1865 Surrender at Appomattox Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his army to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Booth Shoots President Lincoln is shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth while attending the comedy "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. He dies the next day.

Johnson Becomes President Andrew Johnson becomes the seventeenth president upon the death of Abraham Lincoln. May 1, 1865 President Johnson announces his plan of Presidential Reconstruction (1865-7). Oct 1, 1865 Pardon’s Issued Johnson's strict pardon policy has been abandoned; wealthy planters are quickly brought back into the union. By September, hundreds of pardons were being issued in a single day—some 13,000 in all. Nov 1, 1865 Southerners Slow Southern states elect former Confederates to public office at the state and national levels, drag their feet in ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment, and refuse to extend the vote to black men. Nov 1, 1865 Southern legislatures begin drafting "Black Codes" to re-establish white supremacy. Jul 7, 1865 Lincoln Conspirators Four people are hanged in Washington, D.C., after being convicted of conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. Dec 18, 1865 The Thirteenth Amendment is ratified, prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude.

Dec 1, 1865 Johnson Declares End to Reconstruction President Johnson declares the reconstruction process complete. Outraged, Radical Republicans in Congress refuse to recognize new governments in southern states. Dec 1, 1865 Union Demobilized The Union Army is quickly demobilized. From a troop strength of one million on May 1, only 152,000 Union soldiers remain in the South by the end of 1865. Dec 1, 1865 South Grows Southern towns and cities start to experience a large influx of freedmen. Over the next five years, the black populations of the South's ten largest cities will double. Dec 24, 1865 Ku Klux Klan Begins An organization primarily composed of Confederate Army veterans founds the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a terrorist group formed to intimidate blacks and other ethnic and religious minorities. It first meets in Pulaski, Tennessee. The Klan is the first of many secret terrorist organizations organized in the South for the purpose of reestablishing white authority.

Feb 2, 1866 Douglass Meets Johnson A black delegation led by Frederick Douglass meets with President Andrew Johnson at the White House to advocate black suffrage. The president expresses his opposition, and the meeting ends in controversy. Apr 9, 1866 Civil Rights Bill Congress passes the Civil Rights Bill over Johnson's veto. Johnson objects to the Bill on the grounds that blacks did not deserve to become citizens, and that doing so would discriminate against the white race. He also thought that both the Civil Rights Bill and the Freedmen's Bureau Bill would centralize power at the federal level, thus depriving states of the authority to govern their own affairs (a typical prewar philosophy of government). May 1, 1866 Racial Violence Rages Racial violence rages in Memphis, Tennessee for three days as whites assault blacks on the streets. In the aftermath, 48 people, nearly all black, are dead, and hundreds of black homes, churches, and schools have been pillaged or burned. Many more are injured. Jul 24, 1866 Tennessee is the first former Confederate state readmitted to the Union.

Jul 30, 1866 New Orleans Riots Riots and a race massacre break out in New Orleans, Louisiana. A white mob attacks blacks and Radical Republicans attending a black suffrage convention, killing 40 people. Oct 1, 1866 Further Demobilization Union army troops are further demobilized; only 38,000 remain in the South by the fall. More than half of the ones stationed in some places, such as Louisiana, are black. Jul 16, 1866 Congress passes a third Freedman's Bureau bill, overriding another veto. Nov 1866 Presidential Reconstruction Begins RANGEEND_PRESIDENTIAL_RECONSTRUCTION Republicans win well over a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate; the election is seen as a popular referendum on the widening divide between Johnson and the Radicals. Jan 8, 1867 Black Men Vote in DC Overriding President Johnson's veto, Congress grants black male citizens in the District of Columbia the right to vote. Mar 2, 1867 Radical Reconstruction Acts Congress passes the first series of Reconstruction Acts (Military, Command of the Army, and Tenure of Office).

Congressional, or "Radical" Reconstruction commences. Mar 23, 1867 Second Reconstruction Act Congress passes the Second Reconstruction Act; military commanders in each southern district are to register all qualified adult males to vote. Mar 30, 1867 Seward’s Folly The U.S. buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million (1.9¢ per acre); this is dubbed a foolish purchase at the time, named "Seward's Folly" after the Secretary of State (William Henry Seward) who negotiated it. Aug 28, 1867 The U.S. occupies (annexes) the Midway Islands in the Pacific. Jul 19, 1867 Third Reconstruction Act Congress passes the Third Reconstruction Act. Registrars are directed to go beyond the loyalty oath by determining the eligibility of each person who wants to take it; district commanders are authorized to re-take control by replacing the preexisting state officeholders. Aug 12, 1867 Tenure of Office Act Johnson intentionally violates the Tenure of Office Act when he suspends Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton and replaces him with General Ulysses S.

Grant during a congressional recess. The Senate refuses to confirm the action, Grant returns the office to Stanton, but the President names Gen. Lorenzo Thomas to the post instead. Impeachment proceedings follow in 1868. Dec 31, 1867 Reconstruction Elections By the end of 1867, new elections have been held under the Radical Reconstruction plan in every southern state except Texas. Feb 24, 1868 Houses Impeaches Johnson The House of Representatives votes to impeach the president. Eleven articles of impeachment are drawn up for the trial, with the Senate presiding. Mar 27, 1868 Congress Removes Court Power Congress removes from the Supreme Court the power to review cases under the Habeas Corpus Act of the previous year (constitutionally, the legislative branch can determine the jurisdiction of the Court). May 16, 1868 Johnson Avoids Removal President Andrew Johnson avoids removal from office by one vote (35-19) in the Senate. He will not get the Democratic nomination in the upcoming presidential election. Jun 22, 1868 Arkansas is readmitted to the Union.

Jun 25, 1868 Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina are readmitted to the Union. Jul 14, 1868 Alabama is readmitted to the Union. Jul 28, 1868 Fourteenth Amendment Ratified The Fourteenth Amendment is ratified: it revokes the three-fifths compromise in the Constitution and creates a new federal category of citizenship. It is quite possibly the most important constitutional amendment ever ratified. Aug 11, 1868 Thaddeus Stevens, Radical Republican leader in Congress, dies at age 76. Sep 1, 1868 Black Officials Ousted Black elected officials are ousted from the Georgia state legislature; "The Negro is unfit to rule the State," the Atlanta Constitution declares. The black legislators appeal to President Grant to intervene to get them readmitted, which takes a year. Sep 28, 1868 The Opelousas Massacre in Louisiana. An estimated 200 to 300 black Americans are killed. Nov 3, 1868 Election of Ulysses S. Grant, Republican, to the presidency.

Apr 1, 1869 Texas v. White In its 5-3 Texas v. White decision, the U.S. Supreme Court declares Radical Reconstruction constitutional, stating that secession from the Union is illegal. Apr 6, 1869 First Black to Haiti Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett is appointed minister to Haiti—the first black American diplomat and the first black American presidential appointment. For many years into the future, both Democratic and Republican administrations will follow a tradition of appointing African-Americans as ministers to Haiti and Liberia. Sep 24, 1869 Black Friday Black Friday on the New York gold exchange. Financiers Jay Gould and Jim Fisk attempt to corner the available gold supply, and try unsuccessfully to involve President Grant in the illegal plan. Oct 1, 1869 Black Violence Continues Violence against blacks continues throughout the South; in October, Georgia legislator Abram Colby is kidnapped and whipped.

Dec 31, 1869 South School Progress By year's end, the Freedmen's Bureau tallies nearly 3,000 schools, serving over 150,000 students, in the South; the first public school system in the South outside of North Carolina. Jan 10, 1870 Dominican Republic Plan Grant proposes a treaty of annexation with Santo Domingo in an attempt to find land for freed slaves to settle. Under Grant's plan, freed slaves will be able to relocate to the Caribbean island (the Dominican Republic today). The treaty is opposed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, headed by Charles Sumner, and will never be confirmed. Jan 26, 1870 Virginia is readmitted to the Union. Feb 23, 1870 Mississippi is readmitted to the Union. Feb 25, 1870 Hiram Revels First African-American Senator The first African-American senator—Hiram R. Revels (Republican) of Mississippi —takes office, though he serves only one year.

Mar 30, 1870 Fifteenth Amendment Ratified The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified: universal male suffrage is now the law of the land. Mar 30, 1870 Texas is readmitted to the Union. Jun 22, 1870 Congress creates the Department of Justice. Jul 15, 1870 Georgia is the last former Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union. Dec 12, 1870 Joseph Rainey First African-American Congressman Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina takes his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first black congressman. May 31, 1870 The first of the Enforcement Acts are passed in response to KKK violence. Apr 1, 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act Congress passes the Ku Klux Klan Act, a more far-reaching reform than the Enforcement Acts. This is the first time that specific crimes committed by individuals are deemed punishable by federal law.

Oct 17, 1871 Martial Law Declared in South Carolina Grant declares martial law in South Carolina; mass arrests follow, and by the following month, prosecutors are indicting Klan members under the Klan and Enforcement Acts (the testimony of freed slaves is solicited). May 1, 1872 Liberal Republican Convention The Liberal Republican Convention meets at Cincinnati. Leaders of the group include many prominent Republicans unhappy about what they perceive as vindictive Reconstruction policies and corruption in government, which they call Grantism. New York newspaperman Horace Greeley receives their nomination. Greeley's earlier radicalism, high tariff views, and well-known eccentricity repel many who oppose Grant. The Democrats, on July 9, also nominate Greeley. May 22, 1872 Amnesty Act Grant signs the Amnesty Act, although the final legislation is less generous than he had wanted. Now only a few hundred former Confederates are excluded from political privileges.

Sep 5, 1872 Credit Mobilier Scandal The New York Sun charges that Vice President Schuyler Colfax, vice-presidential nominee Henry Wilson, James Garfield, and other prominent politicians are involved in the operations of the Crédit Mobilier, a corporation established by the promoters of the Union Pacific railroad to siphon off the profits of transcontinental railroad construction. Ultimately, two congressmen will be censured for their part in the swindle and many other politicians will be damaged in reputation. Nov 1, 1872 Grant Reelection Reelection of Ulysses S. Grant with a landslide victory. Grant invites black people to the inaugural ball for the first time in American history. Dec 9, 1872 First Black Governor P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first black man to serve as an acting state governor in Louisiana, for one month (until 13 January 1873). He assumes the office upon the impeachment and removal of predecessor Henry Clay Warmouth, for corruption. Due to white resistance, his tenure is extremely short.

Sep 18, 1873 Panic of 1870 Financial panic and depression follow the failure of the Philadelphia investment house owned by Jay Cooke, who had helped finance the Union war effort by selling federal bonds to farmers and workers. Of the country's 364 railroads, 89 will go bankrupt. Some 18,000 businesses will fail in the next two years. Jun 1, 1874 Freedmen Bank Fails The Freedmen's Savings Bank fails, with only $31,000 to reimburse its 61,000 remaining depositors. The average loss is $20 per customer. Oct 1, 1875 United States v. Cruikshank In the United States v. Cruikshank: the Supreme Court asserts that, Fifteenth Amendment notwithstanding, the Constitution "has not conferred the right of suffrage upon anyone." The decision emphasizes that the right to vote in the U.S. comes from the states, though "the right of exemption from the prohibited discrimination" comes from the federal government. This decision echoes Minor v. Happersett, which is passed the same year.

May 10, 1875 Whisky Ring Scandal The Whisky Ring scandal is exposed; a group of public officials and liquor distillers have defrauded the federal government of millions by bribing liquor tax collectors. Orville E. Babcock, Grant's private secretary, was involved in the scandal and only acquitted through the personal intervention of the president. Nov 1, 1875 Mississippi election returns Democrats to power Mar 3, 1875 Bruce Takes Seat The first African-American to serve a full six-year term as senator, Blanche Kelso Bruce (Republican) of Mississippi takes his seat in the United States Senate. Not until 1969 would another black American begin a Senate term. Mar 4, 1875 Andrew Johnson becomes the first and only former president to serve in the Senate. Sep 4, 1875 More than twenty black Americans are killed in a massacre in Clinton, Mississippi. Jun 1, 1875 South Carolina Riots A summer of race riots and terrorism directed at blacks commences in South Carolina. President Grant sends federal troops to restore order.

Jan 1, 1876 Unemployment has risen to 14%. Nov 1, 1876 Election Too Close In the presidential election, the outcome in the Electoral College appears too close to be conclusive in the campaign of Samuel Tilden (Democrat) versus Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican). Mar 2, 1877 Hayes Wins Election but Loses Popular Vote RANGEEND_RADICAL_RECONSTRUCTION Republican Rutherford B. Hayes is declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden won the popular vote. Sep 18, 1873 Reconstruction Ends, ‘Redemption’ Begins Almost immediately after taking office, Hayes withdraws the federal troops from the South (the last states remaining under Reconstruction are Louisiana and South Carolina). The last Radical state governments collapse and the Redemption Period begins. Tennessee Project For a full list of participants, see the badge report . The Coordinator of this project is Summer Orman . Our mission is to have a foundation for all things Tennessee. From cities, to citizens, to favorite tourist spots, to cemeteries, we aim to have it all here for you in one central location.

It is not necessary that you live in Tennessee or be related to someone who lived in the state of Tennessee, in order to join. Anyone with an interest is welcome! If you would like to participate, please do the following: Ask Summer to join the project - she will request your United States History badge. Add Tennessee and US_History to your G2G tag feed. That way you'll see all of our discussions in your G2G Feed. Join our Google group at wttennessee@googlegroups.com. Please see our list of goals for a basic overview for ways you can help. Add the project template to any relevant Tennessee profiles. {{US History|sub-project=Tennessee}} gives you: ... ... ... is a part of Tennessee History. Join: Tennessee Project Discuss: Tennessee Goals Add Tennessee-related profiles, checking for existing profiles to avoid duplication. If any duplicate profiles exist, request merges, starting with the oldest generation. If profiles were loaded by GEDCOM, use WikiTree Styles and Standards to clean up residue and broken links. Search out original rather than derivative documentation and add sources. Write comprehensive, well-sourced biographies. Add the Tennessee template to the profiles along with any relevant categories.

PPP status for those profiles that meet the criteria for project protection. This will protect them from an incorrect merge. Make sure profiles of all family members are correct and documented. Profiles need to be linked to the greater WikiTree. Try to find the connection. If you live in Tennessee, please consider adding your name to the Tennessee Research Assistance page. Ongoing To-Do List Adopt a county and build a space page for it Continuous improvement of current Tennessee categories - adding as needed. Please see Summer if you need help creating a category for Tennessee. Collaboration with the Military & War Project to ensure creation and protection of notable figures in Tennessee's war history - see TN People in the Civil War Collaboration with the Notables Project for creation and protection of Tennessee Historical persons/Notables not already on WikiTree -Excellent resource People from Tennessee Work with the Tennessee Cemeteries Project to ensure Tennessee Cemeteries are photographed, indexed, and listed. Add profiles for those who obtained land grants and homesteaded in Tennessee. See the Homesteaders Project -and Land Grants by State Add military categories/templates to profiles of the Tennessee men and women who served in and/or died in the various wars and conflicts.

Collaboration with the Native American Project to ensure the preservation of Tennessee's strong Native American heritage; ensure profiles are linked to TN. - see also 1851 Chapman Rolls and TN Cherokee by Blood Profiles To-Create Montgomery Bell , "Montgomery Bell (January 3, 1769, Chester County, Pennsylvania – April 1, 1855, Dickson County, Tennessee) was a manufacturing entrepreneur who was crucial to the economic development of early Middle Tennessee. He was known as the "Iron Master of the Harpeth" and the "Iron Master of Middle Tennessee". Today he is remembered mostly for founding one of the largest non-sectarian all-boys private secondary schools in the United States, which bears his name." [2] Powhatan Maxey, Sr., Powhatan Maxey, Jr, and wives. (See obit here and Wikipedia bio here ) - these will need PPP. Adelicia Hayes Franklin Acklen Cheatham ,plantation owner and business-woman Editing Pre-1700 and Project Protected Profiles There is a lot of unproven, speculative, and just plain wrong information out there in the genealogy world.

In the 19th century, standards of genealogical proof were more relaxed than today, and dubious links to specific families and locations in England were often based on nothing more than a similar-sounding name. Please don't take it personally if we ask for verification, or point you to an article where a cherished family claim was disproved! Please see: Project Participation and Certain Profiles . If you have encountered a pre-1700 profile that is related to or protected by the Tennessee Project, and you wish to make any significant changes to a profile, the project coordinator should be contacted prior to editing. For minor edits and corrections on the profile, we do ask you to collaborate with us on your proposed changes by contacting the profile manager first. We will be happy to work with you! In particular, we are interested in making sure profiles are consistent with our project guidelines, and WikiTree guidelines. To edit these profiles, we will ask you to complete the Pre-1700 Quiz . Related Free-Space Projects Vaughns Gap, Tennessee ; One Place Study on the community of Vaughns Gap in Davidson County, Tennessee.

Coordinator: Elizabeth Gatlin Tennessee Floods of 2010 - (in development) - joint project with Worldwide Disaster Project , to showcase the disastrous flooding in Tennessee that began on May 1, 2010. Massacre at Cavett's Station - (in development) A project dedicated to telling how the Cavett family was murdered by Cherokee and Creek Native Americans; an event which led to the abandonment of a greater plan to attack and destroy the city of Knoxville, Tennessee. The Bell Witch Haunting - (In development) This tells the story of the Bell family of Robertson County, Tennessee. "In 1817, after moving to present day Robertson County, Tennessee, John encountered a strange-looking animal sitting in the middle of his corn field and attempted to shoot it. Soon after, his family began to hear noises in and around their home, such as knocking, scratching, and sounds of animals fighting. [3] This started what would become one of America’s most famous ghost stories, and best-known poltergeist case. The entity was named The Bell Witch; it haunted the Bell family from 1817 - 1821.

The Bell Witch was so well known, it attracted the attention of future U.S President General Andrew Jackson in nearby Nashville, who decided to visit the Bell family to investigate. General Jackson and his party left after only one night, after which he famously said "I'd rather fight the entire British Army than to face the Bell Witch." [4] Future Sub-Project Ideas & Resources The Great Smoky Mountains - A project to showcase the beauty of this historical, majestic natural wonder. State Resources SparkNotes: Reconstruction (1865–1877): Key People & Terms Key People & Terms Lincoln’s Ten-Percent Plan: 1863–1865 People John Wilkes Booth A well-known stage actor and fanatic supporter of the South who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, during a performance at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. After Lincoln’s death, Vice President Andrew Johnson became president. Ulysses S. Grant Union general and Civil War hero who went on to defeat Horatio Seymour in the presidential election of 1868.

Nicknamed “Unconditional Surrender” due to his hard-nosed war tactics, Grant joined the Republican Party and entered politics during the Reconstruction years. He served briefly as secretary of war after Andrew Johnson fired Edwin M. Stanton but resigned after Congress forced Johnson to reinstate Stanton. Although Grant himself was an honest man, his cabinet was corrupt, and numerous scandals, such as the Fisk-Gould gold scheme, Crédit Mobilier, and the Whiskey Ring, marred his presidency. He retired after his second term. Horace Greeley Former New York Tribune editor who ran for president in the election of 1872. The Democrats and Liberal Republicans both nominated Horace Greeley for president that year because they both desired limited government, reform, and a swift end to Reconstruction. This political alliance, however, ultimately weakened the Liberal Republicans’ cause in the North, because most Americans still did not trust the Democratic Party. In the election, Ulysses S. Grant easily defeated Greeley. Rutherford B. Hayes Republican governor from Ohio and presidential nominee who ran against Democrat Samuel J. Tilden in the election of 1876.

Republicans chose Hayes because he was virtually unknown in the political world, had no controversial opinions, and came from the politically important state of Ohio. In the wake of the scandals associated with Ulysses S. Grant’s presidency, Hayes’s clean political record made him a sound candidate. Although Hayes received fewer popular and electoral votes than Tilden in the election, he nonetheless became president after the Compromise of 1877 . Andrew Johnson Former governor and senator from Tennessee who became president after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Lincoln chose Johnson as his running mate in the 1864 election in order to persuade the conservative border states to remain in the Union. Johnson, neither a friend of the southern aristocracy nor a proponent of securing rights for former slaves, fought Congress over passage of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Bill of 1866 . Johnson also believed that only he, not Congress, should be responsible for Reconstruction, recognizing new state governments according to the Ten-Percent Plan without Congress’s consent. The House of Representatives impeached Johnson in 1868 for violating the Tenure of Office Act, but the Senate later acquitted him.

Abraham Lincoln Former lawyer from Illinois who became president in the election of 1860 and guided the Union through the Civil War. In 1863, after several significant Union victories, Lincoln proposed the Ten-Percent Plan for Reconstruction of the South. He was unable to carry out the plan, however, because he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of war under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. A former Democrat, Stanton joined the Republicans and went on to support Radical Reconstruction in the South. Johnson and Stanton butted heads on Reconstruction policy, however—so much so that Radical Republicans in Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act in 1867, requiring Johnson to seek Congress’s permission before removing any congressionally appointed cabinet members. When Johnson ignored the act and fired Stanton, Republicans in the House countered by impeaching Johnson. Samuel J. Tilden A former New York prosecutor who ran for president against Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876.

Tilden first became famous in 1871 when he brought down New York City politician William “Boss” Tweed on corruption charges. Although Tilden received more popular votes than Hayes in the election of 1876, he fell one electoral vote shy of becoming president, leaving the election outcome disputed and unresolved. Ultimately, Democrats and Republicans reached the Compromise of 1877 , which stipulated that the Democrats concede the presidency to Hayes in exchange for a complete withdrawal of federal troops from the southern states. William “Boss” Tweed A corrupt New York Democrat who was exposed in 1872 by prominent lawyer and future presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden. “Boss” Tweed controlled most of New York City, promising improved public works to immigrants and the poor in exchange for their votes. Although Tweed was eventually prosecuted and died in prison, the Tweed Ring came to exemplify the widespread corruption and graft in northern politics during the Reconstruction era and the Gilded Age that followed.

Terms Black Codes Laws that were passed across the South in response to the Civil Rights Act of 1866 , restricting blacks’ freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and legal rights, and outlawing unemployment, loitering, vagrancy, and interracial marriages. The codes were one of many techniques that southern whites used to keep blacks effectively enslaved for decades after the abolition of slavery. Some black codes appeared as early as 1865. Carpetbaggers A nickname for northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War, named for their tendency to carry their possessions with them in large carpetbags. Though some carpetbaggers migrated to strike it rich, most did so to promote modernization, education, and civil rights for former slaves in the South. Some carpetbaggers had influential roles in the new Republican state legislatures, much to the dismay of white southerners. Civil Rights Act of 1866 A bill that guaranteed blacks the right to sue, serve on juries, testify as witnesses against whites, and enter into legal contracts. The act did not give blacks the right to vote, because most Radical Republicans in 1866 remained unconvinced that black suffrage was a necessity.

When more Radicals were elected to Congress that autumn, however, they did consider making black suffrage a requirement for a state’s readmission into the Union. The act eventually led to the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Civil Rights Act of 1875 A bill that forbade racial discrimination in all public places. The act was the Radical Republicans’ last legislative effort to protect the civil liberties of former slaves. Democrats in the House opposed the bill from the outset and consequently made sure it remained largely ineffectual. Civil Rights Cases of 1883 A series of Supreme Court cases that countered Radical Republican legislation passed during Reconstruction and severely restricted blacks’ civil liberties. The Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional, citing the fact that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibited racial discrimination by the U.S. government but not by individuals. The decision was used to justify racist policies in both the South and the North. Compromise of 1877 A political agreement that made Rutherford B. Hayes president (rather than Samuel J. Tilden) in exchange for a complete withdrawal of federal troops from the South, effectively ending Reconstruction.

When neither Hayes nor Tilden won enough electoral votes to become president, the election fell into dispute, and Congress passed the Electoral Count Act to recount popular votes in three contested states. The special counting committee determined by just one vote that Hayes had received more votes in the three states and was therefore the next president of the United States. Democrats accused the Republican-majority committee of bias, so the Compromise of 1877 was struck to resolve the political crisis. Crédit Mobilier A dummy construction company formed in the 1860s by corrupt Union Pacific Railroad officials who hired themselves as contractors at inflated rates to gain huge profits. The railroad executives also bribed dozens of congressmen and members of Ulysses S. Grant’s cabinet, including Vice President Schuyler Colfax. Eventually exposed in 1872, the affair forced many politicians to resign and became the worst scandal that occurred during Grant’s presidency. Depression of 1873 An economic depression—caused by bad loans and overspeculation in railroads and manufacturing—that turned the North’s attention away from Reconstruction. Poor whites and blacks were hit hardest, and unemployment soared as high as 15 percent.

The depression helped southern Democrats in their quest to regain political prominence in the South and diminished the reelection prospects for Republican candidates, who advocated hard-money policies and little immediate economic relief. Indeed, Democrats swept the congressional elections of 1874 and regained the majority in the House of Representatives for the first time since 1856, effectively ending Radical Reconstruction. Fifteenth Amendment A constitutional amendment, ratified in 1870, that gave all American men the right to vote, regardless of race or wealth. The amendment enfranchised blacks and poor landless whites who had never been able to vote. Radical Republicans required southern states to ratify the amendment in order to be readmitted into the Union. The amendment’s ratification angered many suffragettes who were fighting for a woman’s right to vote. First Reconstruction Act A bill, passed by Radical Republicans in Congress in 1867, that treated Southern states as divided territories. Sometimes called the Military Reconstruction Act or the Reconstruction Act, the First Reconstruction Act divided the South into five districts, each governed by martial law. It was the first of a series of harsher bills that the Radicals passed that year.

Fourteenth Amendment A constitutional amendment, drafted by Radical Republicans in 1866 and ratified in 1868, that ensured that the liberties guaranteed to blacks in the Civil Rights Act of 1866 could not be taken away. Like the Civil Rights Act, the Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to all Americans regardless of race (except Native Americans, who did not gain full citizenship until the twentieth century). The amendment consequently reversed the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott v. Sanford decision of 1857. Freedmen’s Bureau A government agency established by Congress in 1865 to distribute food, supplies, and confiscated land to former slaves. Although the bureau’s worth proved questionable because of corruption within the organization and external pressure from southern whites (including President Andrew Johnson), it successfully established schools for blacks throughout the South. Ku Klux Klan (KKK) A secret society formed in Tennessee in 1866 to terrorize blacks. Racist whites formed the KKK as a violent reaction to Congress’s passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 . Within a few years, the Klan had numerous branches in every southern state.

Klansmen donned white sheets and threatened, beat, and even killed “upstart” blacks. Congress finally passed the Ku Klux Klan Act in 1871 to curb Klan activity and restore order in the South. Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 A congressional bill passed in response to widespread Ku Klux Klan violence throughout the South. The Klan had been intimidating, beating, and murdering blacks in every southern state since 1866, and many blacks, though newly enfranchised, avoided the polls out of fear for their lives. Although violence spiraled out of control by the late 1860s and early 1870s because state legislatures turned a blind eye, the Ku Klux Klan Act restored order in the South in time for the elections of 1872. Liberal Republicans A political party that was formed prior to the elections of 1872 by Republicans who disagreed with moderate and Radical Republican ideologies. The Liberal Republicans campaigned on a platform of government reform, reduced government spending, and anti-corruption measures. They also wanted to end military Reconstruction in the South and bring about a swift restoration of the Union. Military Reconstruction Act See First Reconstruction Act.

Presidential Reconstruction President Andrew Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction, which lasted from 1865–1867. Johnson, a Democrat from Tennessee, allowed southern states to reenter the Union, but only after 10 percent of the voting population took loyalty oaths to the United States. Johnson’s Presidential Reconstruction was similar to Lincoln’s Ten-Percent Plan, though Johnson pardoned thousands of high-ranking Confederate officials. Johnson was also a critic of the Freedmen’s Bureau and attempted to do away with the program. Presidential Reconstruction ended when Radical Republicans took control of Congress in 1867 in the wake of Johnson’s “Swing Around the Circle” speeches. Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Reconstruction proposal to boost support for the war in the North and persuade the South to surrender. The proclamation outlined Lincoln’s Ten-Percent Plan, which declared that secessionist states could be readmitted into the Union after 10 percent of voters swore their allegiance to the U.S. government. Radical Reconstruction The period from 1867–1877 when Radical Republicans controlled the House of Representatives and the Senate, advocating for civil liberties and enfranchisement for former slaves.

The party, known for its harsh policies toward the secessionist South, passed progressive legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1866 , the First and Second Reconstruction Acts, the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, the Civil Rights Act of 1875 , and the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. Radical Republicans A Reconstruction-era political party known for its progressive legislation and harsh policies toward the South. The Radical Republicans passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 , the First Reconstruction Act, the Second Reconstruction Act, the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, the Civil Rights Act of 1875 , and the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. Radical Republicans in the House also impeached President Andrew Johnson in 1868 but were unable to secure enough votes for a conviction in the Senate. Reconstruction Act See First Reconstruction Act. Resumption Act An act that was passed in 1875 to reduce the amount of currency circulating in the economy during the Depression of 1873 . Although the Resumption Act proved beneficial in the long run, its short-term effects on many Americans were detrimental.

Democrats used these hard times to gain votes: Samuel J. Tilden ended up receiving more popular votes than Rutherford B. Hayes in the disputed election of 1876. Scalawags White Unionist Republicans in the South who participated in efforts to modernize and transform the region after the Civil War. Though many scalawags had influential roles in the new state governments, southern whites deemed them traitors. Second Reconstruction Act An act passed by Radical Republicans in 1867 that put federal troops in charge of voter registration in the South. Sharecropping An agricultural production system in the South through which wealthy landowners leased individual plots of land on plantations to white and black sharecroppers in exchange for a percentage of the yearly yield of crops. Blacks preferred this system to wage labor because it gave them a sense of independence and responsibility. Ironically, though, sharecroppers had less autonomy than wage laborers, because high debts bound them to the land, and most former slaves worked on plots owned by their former masters. By 1880, most southern blacks had become sharecroppers.

Slaughterhouse Cases A series of Supreme Court cases (involving a New Orleans slaughterhouse) that effectively rendered the Fourteenth Amendment useless. The justices ruled that the amendment protected citizens from rights infringements only on a federal level, not on a state level. This decision allowed state legislatures to suspend blacks’ legal and civil rights as outlined in the Constitution. “Swing Around the Circle” The name for a group of speeches in which President Andrew Johnson blamed Radical Republicans for the slowness of Reconstruction and race riots in the South after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 . Johnson traveled across the country, speaking out against Republicans, pro-war Democrats, blacks, and anyone else who challenged him. Consequently, his often-abrasive speeches further tarnished the Democratic Party’s already scarred reputation and persuaded many northerners to vote Republican in the congressional elections of 1866. Ten-Percent Plan Abraham Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction, under which secessionist states could be readmitted to the Union only after 10 percent of their voting population took a loyalty oath to the Union. Lincoln agreed to pardon most Confederates but made no provision for safeguarding the rights of former slaves.

Many Radical Republicans believed his plan was too lenient. Tenure of Office Act A bill that Congress passed during Andrew Johnson’s presidency that required Johnson to consult Congress before dismissing any congressionally appointed government official. When Johnson ignored Congress and fired Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, the Radical Republicans in the House impeached Johnson on the grounds that he had violated the Tenure of Office Act. Although Johnson technically did violate the act, the Radicals impeached him primarily out of revenge, angry that he had excluded Congress from the Reconstruction process. The Senate later acquitted Johnson, so he was not removed from office. Thirteenth Amendment A constitutional amendment, ratified in 1865, that abolished slavery in the United States. Southern states were required to acknowledge and ratify the amendment before they were readmitted to the Union. United States v. Cruikshank An 1876 Supreme Court case that severely restricted Congress’s ability to enforce the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. The Court ruled that only states, not the U.S. government, had the right to prosecute Klansmen under the law.

Without the threat of federal prosecution, the Ku Klux Klan and other racist whites had free reign to terrorize blacks throughout the South. Wade-Davis Bill An 1864 bill that stipulated that southern states could reenter the Union only after 50 percent of their voters pledged allegiance to the United States. Radical Republicans passed the bill in response to Abraham Lincoln’s Ten-Percent Plan, which they believed was too lenient. Lincoln ultimately pocket-vetoed the bill, so it did not come into effect. The Wade-Davis Bill was the first of many clashes between the White House and Congress for control over the Reconstruction process. Whiskey Ring A group of government officials who embezzled millions of dollars of excise tax revenue from the U.S. Treasury. The Whiskey Ring scandal damaged President Ulysses S. Grant’s reputation and affected central figures in the White House—the president’s own personal secretary was indicted in the conspiracy but was acquitted after Grant testified to his innocence. Tennessee in the American Civil War - Herve Leger Dress Sale with Low Price and Fast Shipping! Herve Leger Dress Sale with Low Price and Fast Shipping!

Jul 302016 To a large extent, the American Civil War was fought in cities and farms of Tennessee, as only Virginia saw more battles. Tennessee was the last of the Southern states to declare secession from the Union as a substantial portion of the population were against secession, but saw more than its share of the devastation resulting from years of warring armies criss-crossing the state. Its rivers were key arteries to the Deep South, and, from the early days of the war, Union efforts focused on securing control of those transportation routes, as well as major roads and mountain passes such as the Cumberland Gap. A large number of important battles occurred in Tennessee, including the vicious fighting at the Battle of Shiloh, which at the time was the deadliest battle in American history (it was later surpassed by a number of other engagements). Other large battles in Tennessee included Stones River, Chattanooga, Nashville, and Franklin. Although the state became a part of the Confederacy, East Tennessee was strongly pro-Union before secession, and strongly pro-Union Tennesseans remained there and existed in pockets throughout the state during the war.

The Vice President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, was a Tennessee Union loyalist, as were a number of congressmen and state politicians. On the Confederate side, significant leaders included noted cavalryman Nathan B. Forrest and corps commanders Leonidas Polk and Benjamin F. Cheatham, as well as Governor Isham Harris. Initially, most Tennesseans showed little enthusiasm for breaking away from a nation whose struggles it had shared for so long. In 1860, they had voted by a slim margin for the Constitutional Unionist John Bell, a native son and moderate who continued to search for a way out of the crisis. A vocal minority of Tennesseans spoke critically of the Northern states and the Lincoln presidency. “The people of the South are preparing for their next highest duty– resistance to coercion or invasion,” wrote the Nashville Daily Gazette on January 5 Moncler Lionel Down Jacket Navy $1,110.00 $225.00 , 1861. The newspaper expressed the view that Florida, Georgia, and Alabama were exercising the highest right of all by taking control of all forts and other military establishments within the area– the right to self-defense.

A pro-secessionist proposal was made in the Memphis Appeal to build a fort at Randolph, Tennessee, on the Mississippi River. Governor Isham G. Harris convened an emergency session of the Tennessee General Assembly in January 1861. During his speech before the legislative body on January 7, he described the secession of the Southern states as a crisis caused by “long continued agitation of the slavery question” and “actual and threatened aggressions of the Northern States … upon the well-defined constitutions rights of the Southern citizen.” He also expressed alarm at the growth of the “purely sectional” Republican Party, which he stated was bound together by the “uncompromising hostility to the rights and institutions of the fifteen Southern states.” He identified numerous grievances with the Republican Party, blaming them for inducing slaves to run off by means of the Underground Railroad, John Brown’s raids, and high taxes on slave labor. Harris agreed with the idea of popular sovereignty, that only the people within a state can determine whether or not slavery could exist within the boundaries of that state. Furthermore, he regarded laws passed by Congress that made U.S.

territories non-slave states as taking territories away from the American people and making them solely for the North, territories from which “Southern men unable to live under a government which may by law recognize the free negro as his equal” were excluded. Governor Harris proposed holding a State Convention. A series of resolutions were presented in the Tennessee House of Representatives by William H. Wisener against the proposal. He declared passing any law reorganizing and arming the state militia to be inexpedient. The centrality of the question of slavery to the secession movement was not doubted by people at the time of the Civil War, nor was it ignored by the contemporary press. Especially in the case of the pro-slavery papers, this question of the possibility of the eventual granting of equal rights for people of color was not couched in diplomatic phraseology: “The election, be it remembered, takes place on the 9th, and the Delegates meet in Convention on the 25th instant. If you desire to wait until you are tied hand and foot then vote for the men who advocate the ‘watch and wait’ policy.

If you think you have rights and are the superiors of the black man then vote for the men who will not sell you out, body and soul to the Yankee Republicans- for men who would rather see Tennessee independent out of the Union, then in the Union subjugated.”[emphasis in original] On February 3, 1861, the Knoxville “Whig” (a pro-Union newspaper) published a “Secret Circular” that had mistakenly been sent by its authors to a pro-Union Tennessee U.S. Postmaster. In it was revealed a comprehensive plan by pro-slavery Tennesseeans and others to launch a propaganda and terror campaign to convince Tennesseans that the strength of the pro-secessionist movement was overwhelming: “Dear Sir— Our earnest solicitude for the success of the Great Southern Rights movement to secure an immediate release from the overwhelming dangers that imperil our political and social safety, will we trust, be a sufficient apology for the results which we beg to impose on you. The sentiment of the Southern heart is overwhelming in favor of the movement. Light only is wanted that men many see their way clearly and the prayer of every true patriot will eventually be realized. Tennessee will be a unit.

Although the time be so very short, this object may yet be accomplished, if a few men only, (the more the better, however) in each county, will devote their entire energies to it during the canvass for Delegates. We earnestly beg your attention, therefore, to the following suggestions: “[…] We can, we must, carry our State. Our hearts would link within us, at the bare thought of the degradations and infamy of abandoning our more Southern brethren united to us by all the views so sympathy and interest, and of being chained to the car of Black Republican States, who would themselves despise us for our submission; and worse than all, by moral influences alone, if not by force of legal enactment destroy our entire social fabric, and all real independence of thought and action. Your own good judgment will suggest many things we can not now allude to. [emphasis added] Very Respectfully, [Signed]Wm. Williams, Chm’n./S. C. Goethall [?], Sec’y,/Andrew Cheatham/J. R. Baus [?]/R. H. Williamson/G. W.

Cunningham/H Wellensteyn Men Feuerland Roll Collar Hooded Padded Jacket Dark Coffee $349.00 . M. Cheatham, W. S. Peppin “States Central Southern Rights Anti-Coercion Committee” In Memphis, Unionists held two torchlight processions to honor their cause. The secessionists replied with their own demonstrations and a celebratory ball. That week, on February 9, the state of Tennessee was to vote on whether or not to send delegates to a State Convention that would decide on secession. The General Assembly convened by Governor Isham Harris did not believe it had the authority to call a State Convention without a vote of the people. In February 1861, 54 percent of the state’s voters voted against sending delegates to a secession convention, defeating the proposal for a State Convention by a vote of 69,675 to 57,798. If a State Convention had been held, it would have been very heavily pro-Union. 88,803 votes were cast for Unionist candidates and 22,749 votes were cast for Secession candidates.

That day the American flag was displayed in “every section of the city,” with zeal equal to that which existed during the late 1860 presidential campaign, wrote the Nashville Daily Gazette. The proponents of the slavocracy were embarrassed, demoralized and politically disoriented but not willing to admit defeat: “Whatever may be the result of the difficulties which at present agitate our country – whether we are to be united in our common destiny or whether two Republics shall take the place of that which has stood for nearly a century, the admired of all nations we will still bow with reverence to the sight of the stars and stripes, and recognize it as the standard around which the sons of liberty can rally […].

And if the remonstrances of the people of the South-pleading and begging for redress for years-does not in this critical moment, arouse her brethren of the North to a sense of justice and right, and honor demands a separation, we would still have the same claims upon the ‘colors of Washington, great son of the South, and of Virginia, mother of the States.’ Let us not abandon the stars and stripes under which Southern men have so often been led to victory.” “On the corner across from the newspaper office, a crowd had gathered around a bagpipe player playing Yankee Doodle, after which ex-mayor John Hugh Smith gave a speech that was received with loud cheers. In a letter to Democratic senator Andrew Johnson, the publisher of the Clarksville (TN) Jeffersonian, C.O. Faxon, surmised that the margin by which the “No Convention” vote won would have been even greater, had Union men not been afraid that if a State Convention were not called then, then Isham Harris would have again called for a State Convention when more state legislators were “infected with the secession epidemic” […] ” Gov Harris is Check mated [sic].

The Union maj[ority] in the State will almost defy computation [.] So far as heard from the disunionist have carried by a single precinct. The Union and American [Nashville, TN pro-secessionist paper] Stands rebuked and damned before the people of the State” On March 7, the Memphis Daily Appeal wrote that the abolitionists were attempting to deprive the South of territories won during the U.S.-Mexican War. It pointed out that the slave states had furnished twice as many volunteers as the free states and territories, though it did not note that slave states were the ones who most supported the war. On March 19, the editors of the Clarksville Chronicle endorsed a pro-Union candidate for state senator in Robertson, Montgomery, and Stewart counties. On April 2, the Memphis Daily Appeal ran a satirical obituary for Uncle Sam, proclaiming him to have died of “irrepressible conflict disease,” after having met Abraham Lincoln.

One Robertson County slave owner complained that she could not rent her slaves out for “half [of what] they were worth” because “the negros think when Lincoln takes his last, they will all be free.” With the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, followed by President Abraham Lincoln’s April 15 call for 75,000 volunteers to put the seceded states back into line, public sentiment turned dramatically against the Union. Historian Daniel Crofts thus reports: Governor Isham Harris began military mobilization, submitted an ordinance of secession to the General Assembly, and made direct overtures to the Confederate government. In June 8, 1861 referendum Peuterey Men Outwear Jacket Khaki Beige $689.00 $159.00 , East Tennessee held firm against separation, while West Tennessee returned an equally heavy majority in favor. The deciding vote came in Middle Tennessee, which went from 51 percent against secession in February to 88 percent in favor in June. Having ratified by popular vote its connection with the fledgling Confederacy, Tennessee became the last state to formally declare its withdrawal from the Union.

According to the Memphis Appeal newspaper, Tennessee’s secession was motivated by the state’s desire to continue the institution of slavery: For it and its perpetuation we commenced and have kept at war. East Tennessee was a stronghold of Unionism; most slaves were house servants—luxuries—rather than the base of plantation operations. The dominant mood strongly opposed secession. Tennesseans representing twenty-six East Tennessee counties met twice in Greeneville and Knoxville and agreed to secede from Tennessee (see East Tennessee Convention of 1861.) They petitioned the state legislature in Nashville, which denied their request to secede and sent Confederate troops under Felix Zollicoffer to occupy East Tennessee and prevent secession. East Tennessee thus came under Confederate control from 1861 to 1863. Nevertheless East Tennessee supplied significant numbers of troops to the Federal army. (See also Nickajack). Many East Tennesseans engaged in guerrilla warfare against state authorities by burning bridges, cutting telegraph wires, and spying for the North. East Tennessee became an early base for the Republican Party in the South. Strong support for the Union challenged the Confederate commanders who controlled East Tennessee for most of the war. Generals Felix K.

Zollicoffer, Edmund Kirby Smith, and Sam Jones oscillated between harsh measures and conciliatory gestures to gain support, but had little success whether they arrested hundreds of Unionist leaders or allowed men to escape the Confederate draft. Union forces finally captured the region in 1863. General William Sherman’s famous March to the Sea saw him personally escorted by the 1st Alabama Cavalry regiment, which consisted entirely of Unionist southerners. Despite its name, the regiment consisted largely of men from Tennessee. Many battles were fought in the state, most of them victories by the larger Union forces. Control of the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers was important in gaining control of Tennessee during the age of steamboats. Tennessee relied on northbound riverboats to receive staple commodities from the Cumberland and Tennessee valleys. The idea of using the rivers to breach the Confederate defense line in the West was well known by the end of 1861; Union gunboats had been scanning Confederate fort-building on the twin rivers for months before the campaign. Ulysses S. Grant and the United States Navy captured control of the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers in February 1862 and held off the Confederate counterattack at Shiloh in April of the same year.

Capture of Memphis and Nashville gave the Union control of the Western and Middle sections. Control was confirmed at the battle of Murfreesboro in early January 1863. After Nashville was captured (the first Confederate state capital to fall) Andrew Johnson, an East Tennessean from Greeneville, was appointed military governor of the state by Lincoln. During this time, the military government abolished slavery (but with questionable legality). The Confederates continued to hold East Tennessee despite the strength of Unionist sentiment there, with the exception of strongly pro-Confederate Sullivan and Rhea Counties. After winning a decisive victory at Chickamauga in September 1863, the Confederates besieged Chattanooga but were finally driven off by Grant in November. Many of the Confederate defeats can be attributed to the poor leadership of General Braxton Bragg, who led the Army of Tennessee from Shiloh to the Confederate defeat at Chattanooga. Historian Thomas Connelly concludes that although Bragg was an able planner and a skillful organizer, he failed repeatedly in operations, in part because he was unable to collaborate effectively with his subordinates. The last major battles came when the General John Bell Hood led the Confederates north in November 1864.

He was checked at Franklin, and his army was virtually destroyed by George Thomas’s greatly superior forces at Nashville in December. Refugees poured into Nashville during the war, because jobs were plentiful in the depots, warehouses and hospitals serving the war effort, and furthermore the city was much safer place than the countryside. Unionists and Confederate sympathizers both flooded in, as did free blacks and escaped slaves, and businessmen from the North. There was little heavy industry in the South but the Western Iron District in Middle Tennessee was the largest iron producer in the Confederacy in 1861. One of the largest operations was the Cumberland Iron Works, which the Confederate War Department tried and failed to protect. Memphis and Nashville, with very large transient populations, had flourishing red light districts. Union wartime regulations forced prostitutes to purchase licenses and pass medical exams, primarily to protect soldiers from venereal disease. Their trade was deregulated once military control ended. Fear of subversion was widespread throughout the state. In West and Middle Tennessee it was fear of pro-Union activism, which was countered proactively by numerous local Committees of Safety and Vigilance from 1860 to 1862.

They emerged as early as the 1860 Presidential election, and when the war began activists developed an aggressive program to detect and suppress Unionists. The committees set up a spy system, intercepted mail, inspected luggage, forced the enlistment of men into the Confederate Army, confiscated private property, and whenever it seemed necessary lynched enemies of the Confederacy Top Selling Bottega Veneta Intrecciato Ayers Nappa Zip Around Two-Tone Wallet Orange

Question: Which Rocky Top state was the first Southern state to be readmitted to the Union following the end of the civil war?
Answer: Tennessee