Chapter Fifteen Pages 523-533

Grant Administration- election of 1868- Republican

o Shitty president
o War hero and loved until his failed presidency
o Little political experience
emocrats founded their campai!n on the defense for "hite supremacy and "ere
opposed by the Southern republicans and their ne" political allies the northern
capitalists
### terrori$ed these people and tried to convince them not to vote
%apitalists "anted to foster industrial !ro"th in American politics
Stal"arts established their dominance by tryin! to shift the concern of the
capitalists from the freedman and their ri!hts and influence in the industry to the
industry itself
o Republicans and other democrats hated and tried to lessen Grant&s appointive po"er and
became disillusioned "ith the president&s handlin! of reconstruction and its corruption
and all that other shit
Grant has do"n syndrome
'thers critici$ed him because he imposed no tax reduction in a country
that "as sufferin! social and economically
o Liberal Republicans
(issed at the spoils system or patrona!e system
Gave political freedoms and positions to relatives or friends of those "ho
supported the !overnment financially and that "ere politically ali!ned
"ith the president
o )ventually "on and fou!ht for a civil service commission that
hired administration based on *)R+,
o Middle class people expected the positions in government
(eople critici$ed that this system "ould put into place
unfit leaders because of the stereotype that came "ith
hired minorities of African Americans and also due to the
character of those "ho served durin! the reconstruction
time
'thers ar!ued that this elitist reform "ould limit
democracy and restrict !lobal participation as "ell as limit
po"er of the hi!h social classes
-ut this "as the entire point
)lected Greeley to try and defeat !rant
Lost and he died
o Scandals
%redit *obilier
.nion (acific stoc/ holders
-ribed members of con!ress to allo" the tax a!encies to accept bribes
and accept fraud0fla"ed production numbers and contracts to their
production companies
o ,his "ay con!ress made money and the *obilier made even
more money
-en1amin 23 -risto"
Grant&s third treasury secretary
o iscovered that some of his officials and a !roup of distilers
operatin! as a 4"his/ey rin!5 "ere cheatin! the !overnment out
of taxes by fillin! false reports
Amon! those "as the presidents private secretaries6
'rville ) -abcoc/
William W3 -ec/nap had received a bribe to o"n a "hite
employee on an +ndian reservation in office
4+ndian Rin!5
o Greenback !estion
(anic of 1878
Grant suc/s
+nvested too much money into 9ay %oo/e and %ompany6 railroad
construction
o Waste of money6 failure6 and caused hu!e amounts of debt and a
depression "hich lasted for four years
%hose to deal "ith the debt as a 4sound currency5 "hich
dealt "ith the value of !old and it /ept the dollar value
hi!h and their debt hi!h
%ould have inflated the currency to lo"er the debt
but "anted to /eep the interests of the ban/s and
other creditors :surprise surprise;- this "as referred
to as 4Greenbac/s5- currency of the sort issued
durin! the civil "ar- :hence the title Greenbac/
<uestion;
o ,his idea "as deeply opposed by
republicans
Greenbac/s eventually formed their o"n political party called the
=ational Greenbac/ (arty
o >avored silver currency
o 2u!e debate for years to come over the or!ani$ation6 distribution6
and value of the American currency
o Republican iplomacy
William 23 Se"ard and 2amilton >ish
Secretaries of state
ealt "ith forei!n affairs and succeeded !enerally
o Se"ard bou!ht Alas/a from Russia for 73? million dollars
4Se"ards >olly5
%ritici$ed because people thou!ht it "as a barren
"asteland
Annexed the tiny mid"ay islands next to 2a"aii
Ar!ued that Alas/a had !ood fishin! and potential
resources such as !old
>ish dealt "ith -ritain because they had violated the neutrality acts
durin! the civil "ar by allo"in! )n!lish shipyards to build ships for the
confederacy
o emanded compensation for dama!e caused
#no"n as 4Alabama claims5
Se"ard had tried to !et the claims but failed
>ish settled the claims "ith the ,reaty of
Washin!ton "hich provided for international
arbitration of the claims and in "hich -ritain
expressed re!ret for the escape of the Alabama
from )n!land
o Abandonment and Reconstruction
=orth became obsessed "ith their o"n problems and reconstruction in the South
be!an to become an annoyin! idea rather than a important one
-asically Grant embedded republican reconstructional !overnments not
so much to enforce racial e<uality or rebuild the South but more to
maintain Republican po"er in the South and prevent a democratic
reemer!ence
o Sent troops to maintain po"er of republican !overnments
,his failed because conservative democrats often
overturned the republican temporary !overnments and
o Southern States Redeemed
White dominated southern states re!ained political po"er easily
-lac/ dominated states "ere still controlled by the "hites throu!h violence and
intimidation
###
o *ost effective
o %ostumes and shit
o Run by General =athan -edford >orest
o 4*idni!ht Rides5 @ terrori$ed blac/ areas and cities
o A lot considered them patriotic
o >ou!ht for "hite supremacy
#ni!hts of the White %amellia
(aramilitary or!ani$ations
o Red Shirts and White Lea!ues
%onvince and force "hites to 1oin the democratic party
and exclude blac/s from political participation
)conomic (ressure
o (lanters refusin! to loan land or sell land to blac/s
o %reditors refusin! blac/s
o -lac/s refused resources and 1obs unless submittin! to "hite
supremacy
o #u #lux #lan Acts :)nforcement Acts;
La"s "hich basically allo"ed the federal !overnments and >ederal district
attorneys to prosecute crimes that disputed civil ri!hts !uaranteed to freedmenA
also military use to maintain these ri!hts "as no" allo"ed
-asically6 it lessened violent discrimination
### members "ere arrested
### activity dramatically lessened
o Wanin! =orthern %ommitment
,hrou!h the fifteenth amendment and the failure of reconstruction Radicals
be!an to loo/ at the South "ith "anin! interest and assumed that "ith the ri!ht
to vote6 they could ta/e care of themselves
Also blamed the economic disparity on the blac/s "hich revived 4Social
ar"inism5
o ,hat people "ere impoverished because of their o"n "ea/ness
and disadvanta!es
o ,his influenced !overnments to basically !ive up on the blac/s
and further i!nore reconstruction
o Support for land distribution "aned after 1878
o Lac/ of money and treasury caused state and local !overnments
to stop specific social services "ea/enin! the former slaves even
more
187B6 democrats "on control of the 2ouse of Representatives for the first
time since 1861
o 'nly three states left republican- South %arolina6 Louisiana6 and
>lorida
Republican influence "as <uic/ly fadin! in late 187C&s
o %ompromise of 1877
1876 election
Rutherford -3 2ayes "on office over Grant because he fuc/in! suc/ed
>ormer union army officer6 !overnor6 and con!ressman
o ,he election results "ere disputed and a commission "as formed
%ommission composed of five senators and five
representatives
%on!ressional dele!ation had five democrats and five
republicans
%ourt dele!ation "ould be composed of t"o republicans6
t"o democrats6 and an independent
+ndependent "as usually a 1ustice "ho sided "ith
republicans
Rutherford "as selected
*any compromises "ere made after this bet"een both
parties at Washin!ton&s Wormley 2otel
Southern democratic leaders "or/ed "ith
republicans to accept 2ayes as president and
i!nore a democratic filibuster attempt to void the
results
o ,his "as the 4%ompromise of 18775
%ompromise pointsD
o Withdra"al of troops
o Appointment of at least one southerner to
cabinet
o %ontrol of federal patrona!e
o Generous internal improvements
o >ederal aid for ,exas and (acific Railroad
o (eople accused him of !ivin! local !overnmental po"er to "hite
southern democrats because they allo"ed him to be president
2oped to build a 4ne" Republican5 or!ani$ation in the
South dra"n from Whi!!ish conservative "hite !roups
and committed to some modest acceptance of African
American ri!hts3
,he parties !ave up on reconstruction and as a result6 the
African AmericansE