North Or South:Who Killedreconstruction?
NorthorSouth:
ReconstructionMini-Q
Who KilledReconstruction?
"lsThis A Republican Form ofGovernment?
IsThisProtectingLife, Liberty, orProperty?"
Gii
North or South:Who KilledReconstruction?
...the slave wentfree; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery.W.E.B.Dubois
For a while, however, it had seemed that the dream of Reconstruction might be realized. The 13th Amendment ended slavery. The 14th Amendment gave black Americanscitizenship
•
1876 was an exciting year for America. It wasthelOOthanniversaryofTheDeclarationof IndependenceandAmericawasonthemove.
Homesteaders and ranchers were filling up the land west of the Mississippi River. Railroads were being built at an astounding rate. It seemed the United States was creating enough opportu nitythat all Americans and millions of immi grants could pursue their hopes for happiness just as Thomas Jefferson had envisioned 100 yearsearlier.
So it is a great irony of history thatthe
election of 1876 officially crushed the American dream for millions ofblack
Americans. This election saw Rutherford B. Hayes, the Republican candidate and eventual winner, square off against Samuel J. Tilden, the Democratic nominee. Although Tilden won the popular vote by a wide margin, election results in Aorida, South Carolina, and Louisiana were so close that a winner could not be determined. Ifthesethree states went for Hayes, he would winthe
Electoral College vote and become President.
Talk of a new Civil War was in the air as the opponents in the disputed states submitted separate sets of electoral ballots. An informal agreement, now called The Compromise of 1877, avoided the crisis by granting Hayes the Presidency. Inreturn, Hayes promised to remove the last Federal soldiers from the South, almost guaranteeing that all-white governments would rise to power.Thedream of Reconstruction was officiallydead.
and civil rights. A Military ReconstructionAct
was passed to make sure African-Americans' new rights were protected. Black churches were founded. Public schools were built for black children, and universities like Howard, Fisk, Morehouse, and Hampton were founded for black students seeking higher education. Sixteen African-Americans were elected to Congress and numerous others served at state and local levels. Finally, the 15th Amendment was ratified making it illegal to deny someone the right to vote based on race. Indeed, real progress wasmade.
However, in the early 1870s, the tide shifted.
Southern states began to elect governments dedicated to whites-only rule. Between 1870 and 1876 all but three Southern states turned back Reconstruction efforts. WhenRutherford
B.Hayes agreed to remove federal soldiers, he was simply putting an end to an already dying effort. But dying or dead, what had gone wrong? Your job is to read the documents that follow and answer the question: North or South: WhokilledReconstruction?
© 2009 TheDBQProjectThis oaaemav be reoroducedfor classroom use
335
Document A: Terrorizing "Carpetbaggers" and"Scalawags"
ContentNotes:
•The imageof theAlabamalynchingischilling,especiallyconsideringitwasdrawnasawarningto RepublicansintheSouth.Itisadirectthreatto Carpetbaggers and Scalawags whosidedwiththe freedmen.
•The KKK formed as a social club in 1866 and quickly evolved into an organization that used violence to intimidate Freedmen and any who sought to support Republican Reconstruction governments.
•The KKK and other groupsoften targeted individualsinkeypositionsofpowerincludingjudgesandgovernment officials. Since the KKK did not seethe Reconstructiongovernmentsaslegitimate,theyfelt justified in their attacks. The term "redemption," which they used to describe their efforts, literally meanssalvation.TheKKKsawthemselvesassav iorstor Southerners who were being enslaved by Reconstructiongovernments.
•Albion Tourgeeis one of the most famous of the so-called Carpetbaggers. He not only was an effective judge in a very violent area of North Carolina,hebravelywroteabouthisexperiencesandobservations,thusendangeringhimselfeven more.He also helpedstarta schoolfor blackstudents, now known as Bennett College. After ReconstructionheleftNorthCarolinaandbecame
aninfluentialwriterandeditorinColoradoandNew York.
•The Donkey is the symbol of the Democratic Party and had been since the Age of Jackson. The image, therefore, is a threat to any who support the Republcan efforts at Reconstruction. The donkey clearlylinkstheKKKtotheDemocraticParty.
336
TeachingTips:
•Discuss the Document Analysisquestions:
1.Intheimageabove,whatgrouporgroupsis theKKKthreatening?
2.According to Tourgee, what types of people are being attacked by the KKK? Why would the KKK attack thesepeople?
3.HowdoesthewaythatJohnStephenswas killedsupporttheideatheKuKluxKlanwas a terroristorganization?
4.Howdoesthisdocumenthelpanswerthe DBQquestion?
@2009TheDBOProject
DocumentA
Source: Albion Tourgee, Letter on Ku Klux Klan Activities. New York Tribune, May1870.
Note:Tourgeewasawhite,NorthernsoldierwhosettledinNorthCarolinaaftertheWar.HeservedasajudgeduringReconstructionandwrotethis lettertotheNorthCarolinaRepublicanSenator,JosephCarterAbbott.
•
Source:IndependentMonitor, September 1, 1868.Alabama Department of Archives and History,Montgomery,Alabama.
©2009TheDBQProjectThisnnA mavbereoroducedforclassroomuse
337
Document B:TargetingBlack Voters and Government Officials
ContentNotes:
•ElectionsduringReconstructionweretimesof
increasedviolenceintheSouth.ManySoutherners saw the Republicans as conquerors-after all they were the party of Lincoln. Not surprisingly, FreedmenoverwhelminglyvotedfortheRepublicanticket. In 1868 President Grant won the popular vote by only 310,000 votes. 500,000 African AmericanvotesintheSouthwerethedifference.
•Harper'sWeekly was a very influentialNorthern magazine.This1876imagewasascathingattack onSoutherners'useofviolencetointimidatethe blackvote.Thesescaretacticswereusedwellinto the20thcentury,anditwasn'tuntilthe1960sthat manyblackSouthernersfeltsafeenoughtocasta vote.
•It was well known in the North and in Congress that voter intimidation was rampant in most Southernstates.Colby'stestimonywaspartofan effort to expose the cruelandillegal nature of the Klan'sactivities.CongressdidauthorizePresident Grant to use troops to suppress KKK activities. OneofGrant'sgreatesteffortsledtothearrestof 600KlansmaninSouthCarolina.Eventhoughthe celebrated event led to only 9 of the 600 men standingtrial,muchof theKlan'senergieswere limitedas itsleaderswent intohidingor fled. However, as Grant and Congress began to take less forceful measures after 1872, the ideals of RadicalReconstructionweredoomedtofail.Soon WhiteLeaguesandtheKKKremergedinfullforce.
338
TeachingTips:
•DiscusstheDocumentAnalysisquestions:
1.WhydidtheKKKattackAbramColby?
2.AccordingtoColby,whattypesofpeople make up theKKK?
.
3.What seems to be the ultimate goal of the KKK?
4.Whatisthemainideaofthecartoon?
©2009TheDBOProject
DocumentB
Source:AbramColby,testimonytoajointHouseandSenateCommitteein1872.
Note:Colbywasaformerslavewhowaselectedtothe GeorgiaStateLegislatureduringReconstruction.
Colby: On the 29th of October 1869, [the Klansmen] broke my door open, took me out of
bed,tookmetothewoodsandwhippedmethreehoursormoreandleftmefordead.They•
saidto me, "Do you think you will ever vote another damned Radical ticket?" I said, "If there
was an election tomorrow, I would vote the Radical ticket." They set in and whipped me a thousand licks more, with sticks and straps that had buckles on the ends of them.
Question: What is the character of those men who were engaged in whipping you?
Colby: Some are first-class men in our town. One is a lawyer, one a doctor, and some are farmers.... They said I had voted for Grant and had carried the Negroes against them. About two days before they whipped me they offered me $5,000 to go with them and said they would pay me $2,500 in cash if I would let another man go to the legislature in my place. I told them that I would not do it if they would give me all the county was worth ....No man can make a free speech in my county. I do not believe it can be done anywhere in Georgia.
Source: Harper'sWeekly,
October 21,1876.
Caption: "Of Course he wantsto votetheDemocraticticket"
(e):>OOQThP.DBOProiectThi nnA m\/ hArAnmrh1r.P.rlfordassroomuse
339
DocumentC:ProblemsandScandalsintheNorth
ContentNotes:
•ItisgenerallyacceptedthatUlyssesS.Grantwas not personally corrupt. However, the amount of high-level scandals that took place during his presidencyisstaggering.Manyofthemostcorrupt officialswerefriendsofGrantwhomhepersonally appointed.
•The Credit MobilierAffair involved leading Republicans,includingGrant'sVice-President,who acceptedbribes,mostlyintheformofstockfrom the dummy CreditMobilierCompany.Thiscompa nyillegallyoverpaiditselfwithcontractsawarded forbuildingasectionofthetranscontinentalrail road-
aprojectfundedinlargepartfromCongressionallandgrants.
•The Whiskey Ring involved government tax collectorswhoacceptedbribestohelpwhiskeydis tillersavoidpayingtaxes.Thiscostthegovernment millionsofdollars.Grant'sclosefriendandprivate secretary,OrvilleBabcock,wasclearlyinvolvedin the scheme, but Grant refused to believe it and protected his friend fromconvictions.
•The Belknap Affair, also called the Indian Ring, involved Grant's Secretary of War,WilliamBelknap. Belknap accepted bribes from merchants who wantedtotradewithIndiansintheterritories.
•In 1872, a reform-minded group of liberal Republicansledby HoraceGreeleybrokeaway fromtheRadicalRepublicansandPresidentGrant. Their primary issue was government corruption, andtheybelievedthatitwasthemainproblem facingthenation-notReconstruction.Infact,theysaw Southern Reconstruction state governments ascorruptandunworthyofsupport.Greeleyopenly stated that Reconstruction had achieved its goals and the black man had to stand on his own two feet. Democrats, seeing a chance to get rid of Grant,nominatedGreeleyforPresident-whichis
ironicsinceGreeleyoncecalledtheDemocratsin theSouth"murderers...drunkards,cowards,liars, thieves."Greeleylost,butRepublicanunitywas shattered,makingitnearlyimpossibletocontinue anaggressivecampaignof Reconstructioninthe South.
340
TeachingTips:
•DiscusstheDocumentAnalysisquestions:
1.Explainthephrases"wearyof the 'Negro Question'"and"sickofcarpet-baggovern ment."
.
2.WhatisPresidentGranttryingtofindinthe barrel?
3.IfPresidentGrantwasbusywithscandals,whatislikelyto happento hisfocus on ReconstructioneffortsintheSouth?
4.Why might increasedanger about corruption ingovernmentleadtolessinterestingovern mentattemptstoreconstructtheSouth?
otherpartsofthecountry.
@2009TheDBOProject
DocumentC
Source: Gerald Danzer et al., The Americans ,McDougal Littell,1998.
•
Source: Harper's Weekly,1876
Caption:"U.S.'InForIt.'IhopeI shallgettothebottomsoon."
Note: U.S. are initials of PresidentUlyssesS.Grant.
a!l?MQThonROPrnlAr.f
Thie ,...,,.,,.,m<I\/ ho ronrnrl,, orlfnr l:::i. rnnm11!':P
341
DocumentD:PopularOpinionandRacismintheNorth
ContentNotes:
•The only way that Reconstruction was going to succeed was ifNorthernerswanted itto do so. ResistancewasstrongintheSouthasdocuments A and B show. The crusade of the Civil War left manyNorthernerswillingtocontinuetheaggres siveRadical Reconstruction policies for a while. Buteventually,fatigue,money,andthedeathof themostimportantradicals,leftmanyintheNorth exhausted andfrustrated.
•OnereasonNorthernerstiredofReconstruction hasbeentracedtotheracismthatexistedinthe North.Asblacks were being brutalized in the South,manyNorthernersturnedablindeyetothe problem,andeven began seeing blacks as the cause of their own problems. In her 2001 book, The Death of Reconstruction: Race, Labor and Politics in the Post-Civil War North, 1865-1901, HeatherRichardsonmakesaconvincingcasethat Northern public opinion changed in the early 1870s. Newspapers and cartoonist, who had originallyportrayedtheslaveasahardworking, freedom-seeking American, began to show blacks as lazy and corrupt and of low character in general. Richardson argues that the Freedmen wasinpartthevictimoftheNorthernmiddleclass becomingincreasinglyfearfulofimmigrantsand laborunions,manyofwhomadvocatedsocialist likeideas.ThisshiftinattitudetowardSouthern blacksisnot surprisinggiven that manyNorthernstateshadtightrestrictionsonblacksuffrageuntil the15thAmendmentwaspassed.
•IfNorthern racismwas the reason the FederalGovernment became less interested in Reconstruction,thenwhowasreallyresponsible for bringing Reconstruction to an end - Northernerswhowereunwillingtoforcechange,or Southernerswhousedviolenceandterrorismto resistchange?
342
TeachingTips:
•Discuss the Document Analysisquestions:
1.Accordingto the letterfrom the Boston Evening Transcript,whydidsome people believeblackswereunfittobegovernment officials?
2.HowdoestheletterfromtheBostonEvening Transcript show that racism existed in the North?
3.How do this cartoon and letter help explainwhyNorthernerslostinterestin Reconstruction?
4.Howdoestheimageabovedepictblack politiciansintheSouth?
©2009The080Project
DocumentD
Source: Heather Cox Richardson, The Death of Reconstruction: Race, Labor and Politics in the Post-Civil War North, 1865- 1901. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts,2001.
•
Northern artist's portrayaloftheSouth Carolina State Legislature during Reconstruction.
Source:Thecover ofHarper'sWeekly. March14,1874
2009TheOBOProject
Thispaemaybereproducedforclassroomuse
343
344o2009 TheoeaProject