Reconstruction 1869-1877

GOVERNMENT

1868 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION First election after the Civil War 294 electoral college votes available, 148 needed to win Ulysses Grant (Republican) – ‘Let us have peace’ Horatio Seymour (Democrat) – Blatant racial emphasis Grant won 214 electoral college votes and 26/34 states However, he only won 52% of the popular vote Grant won 500,000 black votes

CORRUPTION: CONTEXT Grant was a good war hero, but blind to political forces and influences He was intimidated by the intellectual politicians around him Grant preferred to watch horseraces… He passively followed Congress Didn’t consult anybody on who to put in his Cabinet

CORRUPTION: EXAMPLES 1869: two railway entrepreneurs (Jay Gould and Jim Fisk) met with Grant’s brother-in-law to corner the nations gold market (buy large quantities of gold and as a result control the price of it). However, this would raise depressed farmers prices. On black Friday (September 24t) Grant ordered the treasury to sell $4 million worth of gold, and the bubble burst. 1872: Credit Mobilier (construction company) milked the Union Pacific Railroad for exorbitant fees to line the pockets of insiders who controlled both firms – the shareholders were left holding the bag (of which 13 were congressmen). Only 2 were censured. Other scandals included Grant’s cabinet. Grant’s secretary of war, had accepted bribes from merchants who traded with Indians. He was impeached, but resigned in time to elude trial. Post office contracts went to carriers who offered the highest kickbacks In St. Louis a ‘Whiskey Ring’ bribed tax collectors to milk the government of millions in revenue Grant’s private secretary accepted large sums of money in return for inside information. There is no evidence that Grant was personally involved, but his poor choice of associates and gullibility earned him widespread censure.

Post office contracts went to carriers who offered the highest kickbacks In St. Louis a ‘Whiskey Ring’ bribed tax collectors to bilk the government of millions in revenue Grant’s private secretary accepted large sums of money in return for inside information. There is no evidence that Grant was personally involved, but his poor choice of associates and gullibility earned him widespread censure.

THE REDEEMERS A group of Southern Democrats during the Reconstruction era Pursued a policy of redemption – which sought to oust Radical Republicans They attacked Republican corruption, but were mostly in disagreement with their attempts to include blacks in American society KKK – intimidate blacks and Radical Republicans In the deep south other paramilitary groups emerged e.g. South Carolina Red Shirts Scalawags and Carpetbaggers move under pressure to the Democrat party 1869 Republicans lose control of Virginia and Tennessee 1876 Republicans only remained in Louisiana, South Carolina and Florida 1874 Mid-term elections – Democrats win control of the House of Representatives https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nowsS7pMApI&t=98s 8.22mins

1876 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION One of the most contentious/controversial presidential elections in American history Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) vs Samuel Tilden (Democrat) 369 electoral college votes, 185 needed to win Tilden won 50.9% of the vote, Hayes won 47.9% Tilden won 184 electoral votes to Hayes's 165 20 votes unresolved (disputed in four states. In the case of Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina, each party reported its candidate had won the state, while in Oregon one elector was replaced after being declared illegal for being an "elected or appointed official“). This was a problem because the Constitution did not outline what to do in this situation, and if Congress could make a decision – the Democratic House and Republican Senate would be unable to make a decision Hayes becomes President…

1877 COMPROMISE The Compromise of 1877 was a purported informal, unwritten deal that settled the intensely disputed 1876 presidential election On January 29th 1877, the two houses decided to set up a special electoral commission that would investigate and report its findings. There was 15 members, 5 from the House, Senate and Supreme Court. 7 Democrats, 7 Republicans and Justice David Davis as the swing man (leaning towards the Democrats). However, Davis becomes Senator for Illinois and is therefore replaced with Republican Joseph P Bradley Hayes was awarded the White House over Tilden on the understanding that Hayes would remove the federal troops from all Confederate states. Federal troop support was essential for the survival of Republican state governments in South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana. As soon as the troops left, many white Republicans also left, and the "Redeemer" Democrats took control… Reconstruction was over