RECONSTRUCTION

Unit 5 Part 8

THE GRANT
ADMINISTRATION
The Election of 1868
The Republican strategy is simple Wave the Bloody Shirt!
They run war hero Ulysses S. Grant.
Low popular vote - won due to
black vote
Grant presided over an era of
unprecedented corruption.
Credit Mobilier Scandal
Whiskey Ring
The Indian Ring

SCANDAL
Credit Mobilier Scandal Grant administration
members gave favorable land deals to railroads in
exchange for kickbacks.
Whiskey Ring involved diversion of tax revenue
between government agents, politicians and
whiskey distillers.
The Indian Ring Secretary of War accepted
bribes to open native land to traders against the
will of Congress and the Reservation System
EACH OF THESE WEAKENED AMERICAN TRUST IN

THE ELECTION OF 1872

Continuing accusations of corruption discredit Grant and the
Republican party.
Horace Greeley runs as a Liberal Republican candidate, but dies
just after the election.

GRANTS SECOND TERM

Major Economic Crisis
The Panic of 1873
Causes
Post-Civil War inflation
Rampant speculative investments in railroad construction.
Financial failures in Europe decreasing demand for US goods.

Grant attempts to combat the causes of the panic and ends up causing more
misery
1875 - Specie Redemption Act
Removes uncirculated greenbacks from circulation and moves the United States back on the gold
standard. (hurts farmers and debtors, raises the money question for the first time.
1876 - Greenback party formed and makes gains in Congress at the expense of Republicans - The
Crime of 73

THE DEATH OF
RECONSTRUCTION
Northern support for reconstructions falls.
Disheartened by the Grant administrations corruption.
Panic of 1873 - Leads to a six year depression
Concerns are focusing on westward expansion and Indian Wars.
Key Monetary issues
Should the government retire unbacked paper money?
Should war bonds be paid back in specie or greenbacks?

THE ELECTION OF 1876

One last attempt by Republicans to wave the bloody shirt.
Most Americans dont care - too worried about the economy.

Rutherford B. Hayes (R) v. Samuel Tilden

Unknown v. crusading reformer from NYC.

THE SECOND CORRUPT

BARGAIN
The Political Crisis of 1877
The election is contested with disputes over counts in FL, LA and SC.
Electoral Count Act
Create Congressional commission to perform recounts. Vote splits on party lines - 8 (R) 7 (D)

The Corrupt Bargain Part II?

Perhaps, but Freedmen get sold out either way.

The Compromise of 1877

Hayes becomes President
Federal soldiers withdrawn from the South
Southerner becomes Postmaster General
Federal money promised to rebuild Southern infrastructure.
Reconstruction Ends

THE SOUTH REBORN

With the military gone the South reverts back to pre-civil war social
structure.
SHARECROPPING BECOMES DE FACTO SLAVERY
Blacks in Southern Politics
Core voters were black veterans
Generally unprepared to participate in politics - lack of education opportunities
Though black males could vote since 1867 the 15th amendment guaranteed
federal voting rights.
Women furious they are not included!

African Americans are failed by the federal government.

Force Acts of 1870 and 1871
Designed to stop lynchings, was a complete failure.

CONT.
The Civil Rights Act of 1875
Made it a crime for any individual to deny full and equal use of public conveyances and places.
Prohibited discrimination in jury selection.

Total failure - no method of enforcement.

Last civil rights act for the next 90 years.
Declared unconstitutional.
14th amendment prohibits government violation of rights not individuals.

The South Reborn

The abandonment of Reconstruction leaves the Freedmen friendless in the South.
White Democrats are restored to power and the Carpetbagger governments collapse.
The term redemption as used during Reconstruction referred to the return of the South to
white rule. Southern democrats took the name Redeemers.

BLACK ADJUSTMENT
Subjugation in the New South
Legal codes of segregation appear - Jim Crow
laws
Blacks were also disenfranchised through
voter-registration laws, literacy tests, poll
taxes and grandfather clauses.
The Souths policy of segregation is validated
by Plessy v. Ferguson
Separate but Equal doctrine - separate, but equal
facilities are constitutional.

Economic Subjugation
Blacks are forced into sharecropping/tenant farming and
are soon unable to escape crushing debt.

Record numbers of blacks are lynched to

ensure the Souths new political and
economic order.

RECONSTRUCTION
SUCCESS? OR FAILURE?
The traditional view has been of failure
The Tragic Era

Historians Give 3 Reasons Are they valid?

Confused priorities
Opposition from Southern whites
Federal government's unwillingness to go the distance to accomplish its goals.