Reconstruction Unit 1.3

Differing Goals of reconstruction Republican goals of reconstruction – secure rights for African Americans Democrats goals for reconstruction – restore democrats to political power and deny rights of freedmen and republicans

Principle of American Democracy Majority rule and minority rights – The idea that the winners of elections make the rules but not at the expense of the minority's rights – IGNORED by southern Democrats during and after Reconstruction

Initial Southern Response to Reconstruction Black Codes – Laws created by southern governments during Presidential Reconstruction to keep as much of the old order as possible; African Americans were kept in slave-like conditions. Black codes established curfews, labor contracts, limits on women's rights, and land restrictions for freedman.

Black Codes White Southerners sought ways to control newly freed African Americans They wrote Black Codes to regulate civil and legal rights, from marriage to the right to hold and sell property In many ways the codes guaranteed African Americans would continue working as farm laborers African American men who were arrested for vagrancy due to unemployment h

Jim Crow Laws Legal acts designed to remove newly gained rights from African Americans (14 th and 15 th amendments) Two main aims – Segregation the enforced separation of different racial groups – Disenfranchise Attempting to remove or restrict suffrage, the legal right to vote, with a certain group

Segregation Southern states wrote segregation into their constitutions (de jure segregation) Plessy v. Ferguson – Supreme Court ruling that made segregation of separate but equal facilities legal. –In practice, the African American facilities were usually “separate-and-unequal.” –It would take until the 1965, 100 years after the Civil War ended, for Jim Crow laws to be outlawed and blacks to finally realize legal equality in America.

Disenfranchisement All-White Primary – only allowing African Americans to vote in the general election. Eight Box Law – Made voting difficult for illiterate voters Grandfather Clauses – requiring a literacy test if their grandfather could not vote before Poll Taxes – requiring an amount of money that a citizen had to pay before he or she could vote.

Disenfranchisement cont. Ku Klux Klan –In 1866 a group of white southerners created the Ku Klux Klan. –The KKK was a secret society opposed to African Americans obtaining civil rights, particularly the right to vote. –The KKK used violence and intimidation to frighten blacks. –Klan members wore white robes and hoods to hide their identities. –The Klan was known to have murdered many people.

“Boy, You ain’t a votin’ here”!

WHITE SUPREMACY

Disenfranchisement Cont. Force Acts – designed to end Klan activities in the South. They allowed federal prosecution for any interference with the rights granted by the 14th and 15th amendments. IT effectively ended Klan activities. Paramilitary Groups – citizen controlled organizations that used military tactics to intimidate and attack Republican voters in the late 1870s. Examples include the Red Shirts, and the White League Colfax Massacre – Attack and killling of 50 republican freedmen in Louisiana by the White league

Legal Challenges to the 14 th & 15 th Amendments  U. S. vs. Cruickshank (1876)  LA white supremacists accused of attacking a meeting of Blacks & were convicted under the 1870 Force Acts. The Court held that the 14 th Amendment extended the federal power to protect civil rights ONLY in cases involving discrimination by STATES.  Therefore, discrimination by individuals or groups were NOT covered.

Presidential Elections 1868—Presidential election – Democrats had nominated Horatio Seymour Johnson’s out no matter what – Republicans nominate Ulysses S. Grant War hero, but no political experience – Very close election—would have lost without black votes

The 1868 Republican Ticket

The 1868 Democratic Ticket

Waving the Bloody Shirt! Republican “Southern Strategy”

1868 Presidential Election

1872 Presidential Election

Northern Economy Panic of 1873 Overspeculation by financiers and overbuilding by industry and railroads Debtors wanted more paper money issued that wasn’t supported by gold In 1874, Grant sides with hard-money bankers

The End of Reconstruction During Grant’s second term, Radical Republicanism declining Corruption, economic problems in the north, waning interest in idealistic policies Rise of the redeemers – Term for the newly restored Democratic governments in the south in the late 1870s that wanted: States’ rights, lower taxes Reduced spending on social programs White supremacy

1876 Presidential Tickets

Election of 1876 Republicans nominate Rutherford B. Hayes Governor of Ohio Not involved with corruption of Grant Administration Democrats nominate Samuel J. Tilden Governor of New York Fought corruption of the Tweed Ring Votes contested in LA, FL, SC Tilden wins popular vote, needs only one electoral vote from one of the three states to win

1876 Presidential Election

The End of Reconstruction Special electoral commission created to decide who gets disputed votes Commission: 8 Republicans, 7 Democrats Votes 8-7 to give all electoral votes to Hayes Democrats threaten to filibuster the results, send election to the House

The End of Reconstruction Compromise of 1877 – Deal worked out between the parties – Hayes becomes President on two conditions: (1)Federal support for Republicans in the south ended immediately (2)Support the building of a Southern transcontinental railroad – Hayes complies with conditions, agrees to only serve one term

A Political Crisis: The “Compromise” of 1877

The End of Radical Reconstruction Federal Reconstruction ended in 1876 with the election of Rutherford B. Hayes to the presidency Federal Reconstruction ended in 1876 with the election of Rutherford B. Hayes to the presidency A few weeks after taking office Hayes issued an order for the removal of all federal soldiers stationed in the South A few weeks after taking office Hayes issued an order for the removal of all federal soldiers stationed in the South The end of Reconstruction led to a drastic reduction of rights for African Americans The end of Reconstruction led to a drastic reduction of rights for African Americans President Rutherford Hayes

positive results of reconstruction 1. Reunited the nation after the civil war 2. Provided education for freedmen 3. Provided aid for need southerners 4. granted rights and suffrage to freedmen

Other Positive achievements of Reconstruction Universal male suffrage Property Rights for Women Debt relief Modernized penal codes Built roads, bridges, railroads Hospitals, asylums, public schools for all Overhauled tax systems, issued bonds

negative results of reconstruction 1. Jim Crow laws removed many rights gained during reconstruction once federal troops left 2. African Americans will need to struggle for 90 years to gain full guarantees of their rights from the 14th and 15th amendments. 3. sharecropping keeps the south in poverty for generations