UNDOING RECONSTRUCTION APUSH - Spiconardi

Sharecropping & Tenant Farming Landowners rented land to farmers who usually supplied them with farming tools and a crude house, farmers grew crops for landowners and kept a small percentage, often not enough to sell. Farmers often lived in poverty

Sharecropping

“My boy, we’ve toiled and taken care of you long enough – now you’ve got to work” Harper’s Weekly, July 29, 1865

Overthrow of Reconstruction Much of the South opposed Reconstruction and the new state governments Declared the governments to be Corrupt Examples of “black supremacy” Tax heavy In order to restore white supremacy, southerners turned to violence

Ku Klux Klan A terrorist organization founded in Tennessee in 1866 Served as the military arm of the Southern Democratic Party Committed acts of violence and terror against Blacks White Republicans (judges, teachers, politicians) In 1873, the Klan attacked Colfax, LA with a small cannon

Ku Klux Klan Grant dispatches federal marshals to arrest members of the KKK Many were put on trial By 1872, the Klan ceased to exist (until 1920s)

Waning Northern Interest in Reconstruction Reasons Media depictions of southern governments being a mass of “black barbarianism” and corruption Panic of 1873 North too worried about economic problems to care about the South Democratic gains in Congress Democrats took control of the House in 1874 Supreme Court Rulings Slaughterhouse Case (1873) Court ruled that most of the rights of citizens remained under state jurisdiction

Bargain of 1877 Republican controlled Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana claimed voter fraud and voter intimidation Declared these three states electoral votes go to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes Redeemer Democrats submitted their own electoral votes for Samuel J. Tilden

Bargain of 1877 The Constitution did not provide guidelines for this situation An electoral commission worked out a deal in which Hayes would be president under the following conditions: A democrat would be appointed to the cabinet Federal aid would be given to Texas to build a railroad Republicans would not interfere in the South’s local affairs Most Union troops would be removed The “Solid South” was restored