Aim: What events led to the end of Reconstruction?

4. The End of Reconstruction By the late 1860s, Radical Reconstruction was well under way in the South. After many successes, it seemed Radical Reconstruction would continue into the near future. In the late 1860s and 1870s, however, many Americans began to grow tired of the problems presented by Reconstruction.

4.1 The Election of Grant In 1868, the Republicans chose General Ulysses Grant to run for President. The Democrats chose Horatio Seymour, former governor of New York as their nominee. The Republicans stood by Reconstruction, while the Democrats favored putting an end to it. The Democrats wanted to pull soldiers out of the South, pardon former Confederates and return all rights to the states.

The campaign was a heated one. The Republicans pointed to their war record by blaming the Democrats for starting the Civil War. The Republicans stated it was their party that saved the Union and portrayed their party as the party of patriotism. The Republicans win the Election of 1868. Grant won 26 states, with an electoral vote of 214 to 89. Grant also received over three million votes thanks to the help of newly-enfranchised Blacks. Blacks received the right to vote and voted for the Republicans.

Question 1 What position did each party take in the election of 1868?

Question 2 Who were the candidates for President in 1868? Who won the election?

Question 3 Before becoming President, Grant was the winning general in which American conflict?

Question 4 Which new group of Americans affected the United States Presidential election? Why was this possible? Which party did they vote for and for what reason?

Candidates For President-1868

Election of 1868

Ulysses Grant-18th President

4.2 Grant and Reconstruction Grant took a strong stance in favor of Radical Reconstruction. Grant passed two important bills to support his stance: (a) Force Bill (1870)‏ (b) Ku Klux Klan Bill (1871)‏ These laws gave Grant the power to use troops to end violence against Blacks and Republican governments in the South. Slowly, Grant’s support for Radical Reconstruction began to weaken. By 1872, he stopped sending troops into the south.

Question 5 How did Grant help further the cause of Reconstruction during his first term as President?

Question 6 When did Grant stop believing in the cause of Reconstruction? What action did Grant not take in his second term?

Force Bill (1870)‏ Passed after the 15th Amendment, the Force Bill allowed Blacks the right to vote because soldiers were allowed to be stationed at voting centers.

Ku Klux Klan Act (1871)‏ Passed in 1871, the Ku Klux Klan Act allowed President Grant the power to use the military to prevent the growth of the Ku Klux Klan. Slowly, the attention of President Grant began to turn to other matters besides Reconstruction. President Grant would slowly become one of the worst American Presidents in US History.

4.3 Other Interests, Other Concerns Congress, too, was becoming less concerned with supervising the South and helping the freedmen. For one thing, some of the most important Radical leaders were gone. By 1870, Henry Winter Davis, Thaddeus Stevens, and Benjamin Wade were either retired or dead.

In 1872, Congress passed an Amnesty Law that allowed most Confederate leaders the right to vote and hold office. This changed the climate of the south towards the Democratic Party. The Freedmen’s Bureau was abolished in 1872. Northerners, too, were also tired of Reconstruction. They began to focus on the following issues: (a) Indian Wars in the West (b) Purchase of Santo Domingo (c) The Depression of 1873

Question 7 What was occurring in the northern attitude toward Reconstruction in the 1870s?

Amnesty Laws Under the Amnesty Law, the United States Congress allowed ex-Confederate soldiers the right to vote in elections and restored citizenship. This law showed the end of Congressional support towards Reconstruction. This changed the lives of Blacks for the worse.

The Radical Republicans Disappear

Changing The South After the Amnesty Law was passed, southern governments slowly changed from Republican control back to Democratic control. This allowed for ex-Confederates the right to take freedoms away from Blacks in the South.

Freedmen’s Bureau Abolished

Rights of Blacks Ended Southern whites slowly began to end the freedoms granted to Blacks in the years following the Civil War. This led to segregation and the division of Southern society until 1954.

Northern Interests Change Indian Wars in the Western United States ended support for Reconstruction.

Northern Interests Change The United States Congress was looking to buy the Dominican Republic from Spain. This turned people’s attention away from Reconstruction.

Northern Interests Change Although Grant won re-election in 1872, the United States went into a great depression which lasted five years. The United States voter, in return, voted the Republicans out of office and gave the Democrats power for the first time since 1865.

4.4 Scandals Under Grant Tales of scandal in the Grant administration also diverted people’s attention away from Reconstruction. Grant was a great military leader but not a great political leader. Many people tried to take advantage of Grant’s poor leadership for their own gain. The three major scandals included:

Gould and Fisk (1869)‏ Americans learned in 1869 that two millionaires named Jay Gould and Jim Fisk bought enough gold to control its price. The two millionaires then asked Grant to see the government’s gold. This would drive up the price of gold, but Grant refused. Gould and Fisk then spread a rumor that Grant did sell the gold. This drove up the price and the two men sold their gold for profit.

The government then released its gold and it dropped the price of gold while ruining the financial livelihood of many Americans. Seeing that this occurred under the administration of President Grant, Americans blamed Grant and the Republicans for their woes.

Gould and Fisk Corner the Gold Market (1869)‏

Credit Mobilier In 1872, the Credit Mobilier scandal broke. The Credit Mobilier Construction Company was formed by the leaders of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, which had been awarded contracts to build the transcontinental railroad. Huge profits went to railroad executives and members of the United States Congress who had accepted stock in the company for certain favors. People became incensed when the Congress blocked all investigations into the matter.

Credit Mobilier Scandal Schuyler Colfax-The Vice President of the United States was bribed with stock. The Credit Mobilier Scandal broke in 1872. The scandal allowed for members of Congress to make huge profits by selling tracts of land to the Union Pacific Railroad Company. This scandal affected the second term of President Grant

The Whiskey Ring This scandal affected a member of Grant’s Cabinet, Treasury Secretary W.A. Richardson, who was found to be dishonest. Another member of Grant’s staff, his private secretary, Orville Babcock, who was part of the Whiskey Ring. The Whiskey Ring was a group of revenue officers and distillers formed to cheat the government out of tax money.

When the ring was discovered, the government had lost billions of dollars. This led to War Secretary, W.W. Belknap’s resignation. He was about to be impeached for taking bribes.

The Whiskey Ring Another scandal linked to the Grant Administration. Members of Grant’s Cabinet were either indicted or forced to resign. Grant was able to protect his private secretary Orville Babcock from any criminal charges.

Support of President Grant President Grant received support from Thomas Nast, a leading political cartoonist of the era. In this picture, Nast is showing his hatred that the Democrats are using the President as a scapegoat for the problems that occurred during his administration. President Grant is an example on how in history, a military hero does not usually become a great President. Grant retired from the presidency in 1876. He is buried in New York City.

Grant’s Tomb, Harlem, NYC

Question 8 What did Gould and Fisk attempt to do?

Question 9 Who was involved in the Credit Mobilier Scandal?

Question 10 Which cabinet members were indicted in the Whiskey Ring?

Question 11 Where is Ulysses Grant buried?

4.5 Election of 1876 The administration of President Grant severely weakened the Republican Party, which had already lost power in the Southern State Governments. By 1875, only three states-Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina-remained under Republican control. Against this background, the Election of 1876 is to take place.

Republicans Lose the South Due to the political scandals of Grant’s administration, the state governments in the south slowly went back to the Democratic Party. This is a major issue in the Election of 1876.

The Candidates-1876 Samuel Tilden-Democrat Rutherford Hayes-Republican

The Results of the Election The results of the election were disputed. Tilden won the popular vote while three states could not declare a winner of the popular vote. This was a major crisis for the Constitution.

Tilden won a majority of the popular vote, but a question arose over the electoral vote. Both parties claimed victory in Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina. The matter would be settled in Congress. The Congress established a panel of fifteen government officials-five from the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate and the United States Supreme Court.

The commission voted eight to seven-making Hayes the 19th President. The matter had to be settled in the United States Congress. On March 2, 1877, the Democrats reached a compromise for Congress to make a decision regarding the commission’s report. The Democrats accepted Hayes as President as long as the Republicans would pull the remaining troops out of the South. This spelled the end of Reconstruction.

Question 12 What southern states were under Republican control in 1876?

Question 13 Who were the candidates for President in 1876?

Question 14 How was the Election of 1876 decided?

Question 15 Which President in your lifetime was similar to President Hayes, in that, he won the election even though he did not win the popular vote?

A Disputed Election

The Similarities Between 1876 and 2000 Total 50,456,002 47.87% (Bush) (Gore) 50,999,897 48.38%

4.6 The Plight of Southern Blacks The real losers of the Compromise of 1877 were southern blacks. The last Radical governments were no longer protected by the federal government. One by one, they were replaced by the Democrats. Many people called these new southern governments “Redeemers”, or saviors of the South.

As southern Democrats came into power, blacks began to lose their political rights. Violence between blacks and whites increased with many blacks being lynched. Blacks lost their economic power. When Blacks were promised on free land, the federal government never gave them any, and many remained poor in a new system called sharecropping.

Question 16 Why was it hard for blacks to prevent the loss of their rights?