A Nation Divided, c1845–1877 – Radical Reconstruction, 1867–1877 (A-level…

The idea

Radical Reconstruction fundamentally altered the South's political landscape. The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 divided the former Confederacy into five military districts, requiring states to draft new constitutions guaranteeing black suffrage before readmission. The US Army played a crucial role in enforcing these acts, protecting freedmen, and registering voters, though their limited numbers hindered total control. Southern Unionists, often derisively termed 'scalawags', collaborated with Republicans to build new state governments, facing severe backlash. Concurrently, the campaign for the Fifteenth Amendment sought to permanently secure voting rights for African American men nationwide, aiming to solidify the Republican electoral base.

What earns the marks

• Assess the impact of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 in dismantling Johnson's state governments and imposing military rule across the South.
• Evaluate the role of the US Army in maintaining order, administering voter registration, and protecting the civil rights of freedmen against white supremacist violence.
• Analyse the political and social position of Southern Unionists (scalawags) and their crucial role in forming Republican coalition governments in the South.
• Explain the motivations behind the campaign for the Fifteenth Amendment, including both the ideological commitment to equal suffrage and the partisan need to secure Republican voters.
• Discuss the limitations of Radical Reconstruction, noting how the eventual withdrawal of the army and loopholes in the Fifteenth Amendment allowed for the restoration of white supremacy.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Stating the US Army had a massive, overwhelming presence in the South.

  Put it right: The army's presence was actually quite small, often fewer than 20,000 troops for the entire South, limiting its ability to enforce policies everywhere.

• Equating Southern Unionists with Northern Carpetbaggers.

  Put it right: Southern Unionists (scalawags) were native white Southerners who supported Reconstruction, whereas Carpetbaggers were Northerners who moved South after the war.

• Believing the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed the right to vote for everyone.

  Put it right: It only prohibited denying the vote based on race, colour, or previous condition of servitude, leaving loopholes for literacy tests and poll taxes, and it excluded women.

Exam tips

• Link the military districts created by the Reconstruction Acts directly to the role of the army in facilitating the registration of African American voters.
• Analyse the Fifteenth Amendment not just as a moral victory, but as a pragmatic political strategy by Radical Republicans to maintain national power.
• Use the experiences of Southern Unionists to demonstrate that white Southern society was not entirely monolithic in its opposition to Reconstruction.