1. The Presidency of Ulysses Grant

2. Ulysses S. Grant 1822 – 1885 18th President (1869–77) Republican
Won election easily, despite having no political experience
Extremely popular president but reputation tarnished by the many scandals in his administration
Died of throat cancer

3. The Fifteenth Amendment
Ratified in Feb. 1870
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

4. Carpetbaggers & Scalawags
Carpetbaggers = Northerners who moved into the South during Reconstruction, either to help or to take advantage of new opportunities
Scalawags = Southerners who supported the Republican Party and Reconstruction
Both groups were very unpopular in the South

5. African-Americans in Politics
“Black Republicans”
Many were educated blacks from the North who went South and ran for office
Thousands of freedmen took government jobs
16 would serve in Congress during the Reconstruction Era

6. Reforms help African-Americans
Black Codes repealed
Built state hospitals, orphanages, mental institutions
Rebuilt roads, railroads, bridges
Built public schools – 200,000+ freedmen attended and attendance rates for black children was 40% (High for time)
Paid for through high property taxes

7. Increasing Racial Violence in South
Many Southern whites resented the Republican governments and the newly won rights of the freed slaves
Struck out violently, but usually anonymously, by burning houses, schools, and churches and by lynching black leaders and white carpetbaggers and scalawags

8. Ku Klux Klan
Founded in 1866
Original goal was to drive out carpetbaggers and restore control of state governments to the Democratic Party
Grew to terrorize African-Americans because of their support for the Republican governments
Engaged in acts of terror, including lynchings

9. The Enforcement Acts 3 Congressional Acts
1) Made it a federal crime to interfere with a citizen’s right to vote
2) Placed federal elections under the supervision of federal marshals
3) The Ku Klux Klan Act: outlawed the activities of the KKK and similar groups – led to arrests, but only 600 convictions

10. Grant’s Troubled Presidency
Split in Republican Party over taxes and spending
Scandals in customs collection, postal contracts, and with Grant’s Secretaries of the Interior, War, & Navy as well as his Attorney General and personal secretary
The Whiskey Ring: over 100 members of Grant’s administration were taking part in a scheme to steal millions of dollars in taxes on whiskey; although not personally involved, Grant interfered in the investigation and trials to protect his friends

11. Panic of 1873
Bad investments caused the collapse of one of US’ biggest private banks
This triggered the failure of smaller banks and thousands of small businesses, putting many out of work
This plus scandals destroyed Grant’s popularity and chances for a third term

12. Election of 1876
Democrats nominated Samuel Tilden, a “law-and-order” former governor of NY
Republicans declined to run Grant again and instead ran Rutherford B. Hayes, governor of Ohio
Election was so close that Congress had to decide who was president

13. Compromise of 1877
Supposedly, Southern Democrats pledged to support Hayes as president if the Republicans promised to remove federal troops from the South and end Reconstruction
No “formal” agreement was ever recorded, but once Hayes took office, Reconstruction was ended!

14. Rutherford B. Hayes 1822 – 1893 19th President (1877-81) Republican
Chosen over Pres. Grant for the Republican nomination
Did not run for re-election
Became heavily involved in charitable works after leaving the presidency

15. Reconstruction Ends
With the withdrawal of federal troops and the final readmission of all former Confederate states, the South was once again free to begin discriminating against the freedmen

16. The “New South”
The idea that the South needed to abandon its reliance on cash crops like cotton and tobacco and industrialize
New railroads were built
Steel industry, cotton mills, and cigarette factories all opened
Still, most Southerners remained in farming

17. Sharecropping & Tenant Farming
Tenant farmer: rented land from a large landholder for a set cash fee
Sharecropper: rented land from a large landholder for a percentage of their crop
Both systems kept most blacks and many poor whites deeply in debt and with no hope of ever owning their own land

18. “Jim Crow” Laws Laws designed to prevent freedmen from voting:
Literacy tests – must be able to read to vote
Poll taxes – must pay a fee to vote
Grandfather clauses – can’t vote unless your grandfather was eligible to vote

19. The “Solid South”
Southern states would continue to vote – and vote Democrat -as a block in presidential elections for decades to come, blocking Republican initiatives for reform