APUSH CH 24.1
The Realities and Legacies of Reconstruction 1865-1877
Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/
http://civclients.com/nehint/recon/
PART I:
Sharecropping (1865)
A sharecropper is a farm worker who pays rent with a portion (1/2) of the crop (usually cotton) he raises and who brings little to the operation besides his family labor; the landlord usually furnishing working stock, tools, fertilizer, housing, fuel, and seed, and often providing regular advice and oversight.
Positive - freedom – more than under slavery
Negative- exploitation - Without land or capital ($) freed slaves were forced to work for large landowners. Created dependence and poverty Farms rented to Blacks. Supplies sold on credit at inflated prices When crop came in, it went towards paying off debt. Crop never enough to cover debt, which just increased each year (Kept blacks poor)
Tenant Farming (1870s)
Tenant farming was historically a step on the "agricultural ladder" from hired hand or sharecropper taken by young farmers as they accumulated enough experience and capital to buy land (or buy out their siblings when a farm was inherited.)
Tenants typically bring their own tools and animals. It is distinguished from being a "hired hand" and being a sharecropper. A hired hand is an agricultural employee even though he or she may live on the premises and exercise a considerable amount of control over the agricultural work, such as a foreman.
African Americans in Southern Government
The essential reason for the growing opposition to Reconstruction, however, was the fact that most Southern whites could not accept the idea of African Americans voting and holding office, or the egalitarian policies adopted by the new governments.
Black Codes (1865)
Discriminatory laws passed in many Southern states during when the Civil War ended and Reconstruction began (Prohibited by the Civil Rights Act of 1866). Restricted freed slaves from: Voting, Serving on juries, Right to testify against whites, Marrying whites, Bearing arms in public, Holding certain jobs, Starting their own businesses, Traveling without permits
Jim Crow laws
State and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans. In reality, this led to treatment and accommodations that were usually inferior to those provided for white Americans, systematizing a number of economic, educational and social disadvantages.
Blacks' right to vote was restricted: Poll taxes (most Southern blacks were poor), Grandfather clauses and Literacy tests
As soon as blacks gained the right to vote, secret societies sprang up in the South, devoted to restoring white supremacy in politics and social life
The Ku Klux Klan
Founded in 1866 as a Tennessee social club, the Ku Klux Klan was soon transformed into an organization of terrorist criminals, which spread into nearly every Southern state. Led by planters, merchants, and Democratic politicians, the Klan committed some of the most brutal acts of violence in American history.
LYNCHING
Many blacks were lynched in the 1800 into the 1900’s. In 1895, 113 blacks were lynched. May times they were lynched for the “crime” of asserting themselves as equals.
PART 2:
Election of 1868
Ulysses Grant (Rep) a Military hero of the Civil War, defeats Horatio Seymour (Dem.) Grant led a corrupt administration, consisting of friends and relatives. Although Grant was personally a very honest and moral man, his administration was considered the most corrupt the U.S. had had at that time.
Election of 1872
Corruption during Grant’s Administration
Credit Mobilier
1872 / Credit Mobilier was a dummy construction company formed by the Union Pacific RR to provide profits from the building of the line which were distributed to “worthy” congressmen in return for political favors / The fraud was exposed in 1872. It was apparent that Vice president Schuyler Colfax had been bribed with stock. House Speaker James A. Garfield was linked to the dealings, but his participation was never proven. Despite the loss of $20 million (a huge sum in the 1870s), no prosecutions ever occurred.
Whiskey Ring
1875 / President Grant’s personal secretary, General Orville E. Babcock allegedly directed the “Whiskey Ring” by which the government was defrauded of millions of dollars in taxes through the sale of forged revenue stamps. / Indictments of more than 200 individuals, many from the Treasury department.
Indian Ring
1876 / Secretary of War William Belknap was impeached by the House for accepting bribes from companies with licenses to trade on the reservations of many Native American tribes. / Belknap was impeached by the House of Representatives, but acquitted by the Senate in August 1876
Assessment of Corruption during Grant’s Administration
These unsavory dealings led to the establishment of a Liberal Republican Party. The true villain in these scandals was the spoils system in which successful officeholders rewarded their supporters with political appointments (remember the Age of Jackson?). An ever-growing part of the population began to recognize the need for some type of civil service reform.
The Panic of 1873
Farmers and debtors, feeling an economic pinch, wanted to continue the use of greenbacks (paper currency not backed in gold). It was in their interest to foster inflation, which would make it easier for them to pay off their debts. paper currency issued during Civil War caused inflation. The postwar period was one of frenetic, unregulated growth with the government playing no role in curbing abuses. More than any other single event, the extreme overbuilding of the nation’s railroad system laid the groundwork of the Panic and the depression that followed. Recovery was not realized until 1878.
Pressure from business interests and creditors in the postwar period led to an effort to retire the greenbacks. These forces did not want to receive payments in cheap money and opposed any government policy that would lead to inflation. By 1867, the wartime economic boom was over. Farmers and debtors, feeling an economic pinch, began agitation to halt the notes' retirement. It was in their interest to foster inflation, which would make it easier for them to pay off their debts.
A compromise was reached in which $356 million worth of greenbacks would remain in circulation. Neither side was fully pleased with this result.
Election of 1876
By 1872, most white males had regained right to vote, Southern states returned to much how they had been before Reconstruction.
Rutherford B. Hayes - liberal Republican, Civil War general, received only 165 electoral votes. Samuel J. Tilden - Democrat, received 264,000 more popular votes that Hayes, and 184 of the 185 electoral votes needed to win.
Votes for four Southern states disputed House of Representatives created special electoral commission to decide election Commission was supposed to be neutral, but 8 of the 15 were Republicans. 20 electoral votes were disputed, and an electoral commission decided that Hayes was the winner - fraud was suspected.
The Fallout from the Election of 1876
What was the unofficial vote result in the three southern states in dispute?
State / Tilden / Hayes
Florida / 24,434 / 24,340
Louisiana / 83,723 / 77,174
South Carolina / 90,896 / 91,870
How was the electoral dispute resolved?
In December 1876 the House and Senate passed resolutions creating a fifteen man Electoral Commission charged with resolving the electoral crisis. The Electoral Commission was comprised of five senators, five house members, and five Supreme Court justices.
How did the Electoral Commission proceed?
Hearings started on February 1, 1877. The panel decided on each state separately. All decisions were made on a party-line vote:
February 9 / Florida to Hayes / 8 to 7
February 16 / Louisiana to Hayes / 8 to 7
February 23 / Oregon to Hayes / 8 to 7
February 27 / South Carolina to Hayes / 8 to 7
What were the certified vote counts for the three disputed states?
Tilden / Hayes
Florida / 22,927 / 23,894
Louisiana / 70,508 / 75,313
South Carolina / 90,896 / 91,870
What was "the Compromise of 1877?"
Historian C. Vann Woodward coined the phrase in his 1951 book Reunion and Reaction. Professor Woodward outlines the agreement below:
#1 Troops will be recalled from the statehouse property in the three states.
#2 Funds will be provided to build the Texas and Pacific Railroad.
#3 A southerner will be appointed as Postmaster General.
#4 Funds will be appropriated to rebuild the economy in the South.
#5 The solution to the race problem will be left to the state governments.
Who negotiated this "Compromise?"
Advocates of this theory believe that representatives of both parties met at the Wormley Hotel in Washington, DC on February 26, 1877. The terms of the agreement were negotiated at this meeting.
As reconstruction ended, South returned to conservative policies Redeemers Conservative, Antebellum-style Southern politicians
/ YOUR NOTES:
Directions: Individually over the material and write “brainstorm” notes/information in the column to the right. Using your knowledge from 23.1 Homework which you did over the weekend, come up with possible answers to each of the following prompts. Be prepared to discuss and contribute to a group discussion on this material.
Group 1: Despite the efforts of the Reconstruction Amendments to the constitution and the Force Acts, which of the following were the most restrictive barriers in keeping African Americans from achieving equality in the Post-Civil War United States. (Pick the 2 most significant/ be sure to recognize the most significant of the 2 categories you do not choose)
- Economic
- Political
- Judicial
- Social
Group 2: What events from 1868 to 1877 led to the abandonment of federal reconstruction attempts in the South by 1877? Was Reconstruction a TOTAL failure? Explain.
8
Active Participation Marks______
(keep a tally of times you participate in discussion)
Passive Participation Score:______