The End of Reconstruction American history

Goals Students will be able to: Terms to know: Review the causes and consequences of the Civil War. Assess the influence of significant people ore groups on Reconstruction Distinguish the freedoms guaranteed in the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. Analyze the sharecropping system and debt peonage Terms to know: Redeemer, Rutherford B. Hayes Compromise of 1877

Grant’s Corruption Despite Grant’s promises that he would stand strong with Radical Republicans, his presidency was marred by corruption He gave high-level advisory positions to friends who would later use their power to make money on their own His Vice President, Schuyler Colfax, was later found to be involved in a scheme to steal profits from the Union Pacific Railroad Grant unfortunately did very little to root out much of the corruption that existed, choosing instead to look the other way Individuals such as William “Boss” Tweed, stole millions of dollars from the New York City treasury He also lead massive voting fraud rings He was eventually arrested in 1873

Why Did Reconstruction End? Many of the issues that drove Reconstruction began to fade into the background by the 1870s Rebuilding the southern economy became a focus and the cost of military operations was very expensive. The Freedmen’s bureau was also dissolved in 1872, weakening the programs that helped newly freed slaves The Supreme Court also helped bring about the end of Reconstruction The Slaughterhouse Cases helped to restrict the impact of the 14th amendment by stating that the federal government had to right to control how a state chose to define the rights of citizens who resided there The court also ruled that the 14th amendment only protected those from the government and not from other citizens This ruling prevented large groups of whites from being punished for killing large groups of African Americans at political rallies

Why Did Reconstruction End? The return of southern whites to government also signaled an end to Reconstruction Southern Democrats and more moderate Republicans began to formulate plans to limit the plans of the Radical Republicans These groups agreed that segregation was the way that the South should progress These individuals became known as the Redeemers, politicians who aimed to “repair” the South in the eyes of Congress This was furthered by the election of rich southern whites into the role of governors and the return of Confederate leaders to the U.S. Congress.

The Official End of Reconstruction The Compromise of 1877 is what officially ended Reconstruction After a contested election, where it appeared that Samuel Tilden had been elected as president, the election came down to contested votes A compromise was reached in which Hayes became president, in exchange for the removal of the military districts in the South This was the official end of Reconstruction

Evaluating Reconstruction Some of the positives that came out of the Reconstruction period include: Tax supported school systems, an infusion of federal money to modernize railroads, expanded crops, a transition to a wage economy, increased black voting rights, an end to slavery, new black avenues for growth Even though there were positives, many issues that existed in American society were not fixed through the reconstruction process Women still did not have equality within a system that had just granted African Americans the right to vote This did however lead to strong female leaders taking on the role of Suffragist Women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton fought aggressively for women’s rights in society Racial issues were also not eradicated, as the courts and the government continued to institutionalize racial inequality throughout society

Reconstructions Impact on Government The process of Reconstruction also had a great impact on how governments functioned Looked at as the party that freed the slaves, white southerners refused to join the party This pushed the Republican party to be a symbol for Big Business throughout the country This also pushed the Democratic party to try and balance the diverse needs of the northern industrialists and southern farmers There were also effects on state and federal power The country continued to debate about who had more power, the federal government or state governments This is a debate that has existed since the earliest iteration of American government and is a debate that we continue to have into modern times