19.4 Reconstruction Ends pp. 622-626

Objectives: Describe the consequences of pardons of former Confederates. Explain why conservative Democrats helped a Republican become President in 1877.

A. Amnesty and its Effects (p. 622) Beginning in 1869, a massive amnesty program made it easier for former Confederates to regain the right to vote. The increase in white Southern voters allowed the Democratic party to make a comeback. For many white Southerners, destroying the Republican Party became a crusade.

B. Terrorism at the Polls (p. 623) Throughout the South, conservative Democrats terrorized African Americans to prevent them from voting. Carrying rifles, whites watched the polls to ensure that voters chose Democratic candidates. African Americans who dared to vote Republican ran the risk of having their crops and homes burned, or of being beaten or murdered.

C. Problems Among Republicans (p. 625) Pardons for former Confederates, along with terrorism against African American voters, weakened the Republican Party in the South. Corruption in the Grant administration also hurt the Republicans. The more recently elected Republicans were more focused on the economy than on civil rights.

D. The Election of 1876 (p. 624) In 1876 the presidential contest pitted Republican Rutherford B. Hayes against Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. The final vote was too close to call. Southerners hinted that civil war might resume if the nation denied Tilden the presidency. But in the Compromise of 1877, Southern Democrats finally agreed to accept Hayes as President on the condition that federal troops were removed from the South.

E. Aftermath of Reconstruction (p. 625) Reconstruction fell far short of providing newly-freed African Americans with the protection and rights they needed. With troop withdrawals and an end to Reconstruction governments, African Americans lost many of the gains they had made. Southern states implemented tests, taxes, and other methods to keep African Americans from voting.

F. Segregation (pp. 625-626) Separating people by race is called segregation. In the South, “Jim Crow” laws kept African Americans and whites separated in public facilities. The Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) legalized segregation as long as separate facilities for the two races were equal—but they rarely were.

Review: What impact did giving amnesty to former Confederates have on Reconstruction efforts in the South. How did the Election of 1876 bring an end to the Reconstruction era? Define segregation. Under what condition was segregation legalized in the South?