The Collapse of Reconstruction

The Americans,

Chapter 12.3, Pages 393-401.

Opposition to Reconstruction

“White Southerners who took direct action against African-American participation in government were in the minority. Most white Southerners swallowed whatever resentment they felt over African Americans’ change in status. However, some bitter Southern whites relied on violence to keep African Americans from participating in politics.”

~The Americans, page 393.

Anti-Black Violence

• Ku Klux Klan – Started in Tennessee 1866

• Existed in all Southern states by 1868

– Social club for Confederate veterans

– Goal to restore white supremacy

• Klan Violence – Killed thousands,

– Burned churches, schools, & homes

• Violence Against Republicans – Assassinate Senator Stephens (NC)

• Southern Democrats – Riots before state elections 1875

– Frighten African Americans away from polls

Economic Pressure

• Klan Tries to Prevent African Americans from Economic Advancement – Attacks on African Americans who

do not work in agriculture

• Economic Necessity – African Americans lack training &

money

– Must work as wage laborers or sharecroppers

– Some white Southerners refuse to do business with African Americans who vote Republican

Legislative Response

• Enforcement Acts 1870 & 71

– Federal Supervision of Elections

– Authority to use federal troops where the Klan is active

– Grant does not enforce

– Supreme Court rules unconstitutional in 1882

• Decreased Klan activities – White supremacy restored by

1880

– No longer needed terrorist activities

Shifts in Political Power

• Amnesty Act 1872 – Restores suffrage to 150,000

former Confederates

• Freedmen’s Bureau – Expires in 1872

– Congress believes that its work is complete

• Democrats gain upper hand in the South

Scandals and Money Crises Hurt Republicans

“As Southern republicans struggled to maintain their hold on Reconstruction governments, widespread political corruption in the federal government weakened their party. During the early 1870s, scandals plagued the Grant administration. These scandals diverted public attention away from conditions in the South.”

~The Americans, page 395.

Fraud and Bribery

• President Grant – Personally Honest

– Politically Inexperienced • Naive

– Appointed friends & acquaintances to power

• Credit Mobilier Scandal – Construction Company for Union

Pacific Railroad

– Skimmed large profits from government contract • Many Republican officials were

involved

• Grant’s Vice President, Schuyler Colfax involved

Republican Unity Shattered

• Liberal Republican Party – Group of republican angered by the

corruption in government

– Split from Republican Party

• Hope to push Grant out of Office in 1872 elections

• Horace Greeley – Editor of New York Tribune

– Had supported 14th & 15th Amendments but also Universal Amnesty for Confederates

• 1872 Elections – Greeley Nominated by both Liberal

Republicans & Democrats

– Grant wins by wide Margin

– Greeley dies a few weeks later

Continued Scandal

• Whiskey Ring 1875 – IRS had taken bribes from whiskey

distillers to avoid taxes

– 238 people indicted

– Grant helps his private secretary escape conviction

• Grant’s Cabinet – Sec. of War, William W. Belknap

• Had accepted bribes to grant trade concessions in Indian territory

• Impeached then resigns

– Sec. of Navy had taken bribes from shipbuilders

– Sec. of Interior had shady dealings with land Speculators

Economic Turmoil

“As if political scandals were not enough for the country to deal with, a wave of economic troubles hit the nation in 1873.”

~The Americans, page 397.

Panic of 1873

• Economic Speculation – Economy expanding rapidly since the

Civil War

– Investors convinced that profits would increase indefinitely

– Investors borrow heavily to invest in the South

• Panic of 1873 – Philadelphia banker, Jay Cooke,

overinvests in railroads

– Cooke’s bank goes bankrupt setting off a series of Bank failures

• Stock Market temporarily collapses

• 89 railroads go bankrupt

• 18,000 companies fail by 1875

• 3million people lose jobs

• 5 year depression

Currency Dispute

• Greenbacks – Issued during the Civil War

– Paper money not backed by equal value of gold

– Increased money supply

– Helped farmers & manufacturers pay off loans

• Specie Resumption Act 1875

– Tries to withdraw greenbacks from circulation

– Returns to Gold Standard

– Causes Deflation • Makes thinks worse for those in debt

• Slows growth of business & industry

Judicial and Popular Support Fades

“In 1874, a Southern Democratic senator wrote, ‘Radicalism is dissolving—going to pieces.’ Indeed, political scandals, economic problems, and the restoration of political rights to former Confederate Democrats seriously weakened the Radical Republicans. In addition, the Supreme Court began to undo some of the social and political changes that the radicals had made.”

~The Americans, Page 397.

Supreme Court Decisions

• Weaken 14th&15th Amendments – Cases of federal vs state jurisdiction

• Slaughterhouse Cases 1873 – 14th Amendment only protects

interstate rights

• U.S. v. Cruikshank 1876 – Federal government may not

punish whites who oppress blacks

• U.S. v. Reese 1876 – 15th Amendment does not confer

suffrage automatically

– States can deny suffrage based on factors other than race • Literacy tests

• Poll taxes

Northern Support fades

• Northern Voters Grow Indifferent – Other Issues

• Panic of 1873

• Scandals

– Tired of carpetbag governments

• Republicans back away from Reconstruction – Major proponents are gone

• Thaddeus Stephens & Charles Sumner are dead

– Scalawags & carpetbaggers desert Republican Party

– Republicans lose faith that government can impose moral & social changes

Democrats “Redeem the South”

“Between 1869 and 1875, Democrats recaptured the state governments of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. As a result of redemption--as the Democrats called their return to power in the South—an the national election of 1876, congressional Reconstruction came to an end.”

~The Americans, Page 399.

Election of 1876

• Republicans – Nominate Rutherford B. Hayes

• Democrats – Nominate Samuel J. Tilden

• Results – Tilden wins popular vote

– Fails to gain a majority in electoral college by 1 vote

– 20 disputed votes

• Compromise of 1877 – Democrats concede election

– Republican agree to end Reconstruction and develop Southern Infrastructure

Home Rule in the South

• More Disputed Elections – South Carolina, Louisiana, &

Florida state elections

– Democrats gain control

• Home Rule – State governments in South

without federal intervention

– Democrats control local governments in all Southern States

– New laws passed • Cut taxes

• Wipe out social programs

• Dismantle public schools

• Restrict rights of African Americans

Legacy of Reconstruction

• Failures of Reconstruction – Congress did not adequately protect

newly granted civil rights

– Supreme Court undermined civil rights by declaring them a state matter

– Former slaves not made economically independent

• Successes of Reconstruction – Slavery abolished in all states

– 14th & 15th Amendments became part of Constitution

• Basis for future legislation

– Literacy & education among African Americans increases

• Allows economic & social progress over time