Lesson 18.3: The End of Reconstruction

Lesson 18.3: The End of Reconstruction Today’s Essential Question: How successful was Reconstruction in bringing equality for African Americans?

Vocabulary • redeemer – a rescuer • poll tax – a tax that must be paid before you are allowed to vote • literacy test – voter must prove his ability to read and write before being allowed to vote • legacy – what is left behind for future generations • segregation – separation or division into similar groups

Check for Understanding • What is today’s Essential Question? • If a redeemer is a savior, what does it mean to redeem? • Who is hurt most by a poll tax? • What can a poor man leave as his legacy?

What We Already Know After his impeachment, the Republican Party would not choose Andrew Johnson for as their candidate for president in 1868.

What We Already Know Violence by the Ku Klux Klan and other racist Southern terrorist groups was not being addressed by state and local governments, who were sympathetic to their goal of keeping African Americans from enjoying their full civil rights.

What We Already Know A period of great economic growth, such as that enjoyed in the two decades after the War of 1812, is often followed by a severe financial depression called a panic.

The Election of Grant • Republican candidate Ulysses S. Grant won the presidency in 1868 with 214 electoral votes. • Although his Democratic opponent received only 80, the popular count was much closer.

The Election of Grant • Grant’s slim majority of only 306,000 votes highlighted freed-men’s role in the Republican victory. • Despite attacks by the Ku Klux Klan, about 500,000 African Americans voted in the South, and most voted for Grant.

The Fifteenth Amendment • As a result, Radical Republicans worried that Southern states might try to keep African Americans from voting in future elections. • To prevent this, Radical leaders proposed the Fifteenth Amendment.

The Fifteenth Amendment • This amendment stated that citizens could not be stopped from voting “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” • The amendment became law in 1870, and gave voting rights to African American men in the North as well as the South.

The Fifteenth Amendment • Because the Fifteenth Amendment did not apply to women, many white women were angry. • Why couldn’t they vote when black men—former slaves—could? • Suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton protested the idea of uneducated immigrants and freedmen “who never read the Declaration of Independence” making laws for educated white women.

The Fifteenth Amendment • Most African-American women were not as angry. • To them, it was important for African Americans to gain voting rights, even if that meant only men at first.

Get your whiteboards and markers ready!

19. In 1868, who became the first Civil War general to be elected U.S. president? • Rutherford B. Hayes • William T. Sherman • Ulysses S. Grant • Grover Cleveland

20. What did the Fifteenth Amendment declare? • Slavery was no longer lawful in the United States. • All persons born in the United States were citizens and were entitled to equal civil rights. • Racial segregation in public services was banned and that African Americans could serve on juries. • The right to vote should not be denied on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Grant Fights the Klan • During President Grant’s first year in office, Ku Klux Klan violence continued. • As a result, Grant asked Congress to pass a tough law against the Klan.

Grant Fights the Klan Under the new anti-Klan bill, federal marshals arrested thousands of Klansmen.

Grant Fights the Klan Klan violence against African Americans declined, and the 1872 presidential election was both fair and peaceful in the South.

Grant Fights the Klan Grant won the election and served a second term.

21. What was the result of Grant’s anti-Klan bill? • Federal marshals arrested thousands of Klansmen. • Klan violence against African Americans increased dramatically. • As a result, the 1872 presidential election was both fair and peaceful in the South. • Membership in the Klan grew dramatically. • Grant won the election and served a second term. Choose all that are true!

Scandal and Panic Weaken Republicans Soon, however, support for the Republicans and Reconstruction weakened as a series of scandals hurt the administration and caused divisions in the Republican Party.

Scandal and Panic Weaken Republicans President Grant had appointed his former army friends and his wife’s relatives to many government positions, and several were soon found to be corrupt.

Scandal and Panic Weaken Republicans • Bribery and other scandals deeply outraged many Republicans. • In 1872, some Republican officials broke away and formed the new Liberal Republican Party. • Those who remained loyal to the party no matter what were known as Stalwart Republicans.

Scandal and Panic Weaken Republicans The Republicans, no longer unified, became less willing to impose tough Reconstruction policies on the South.

Scandal and Panic Weaken Republicans • In 1873, several powerful Eastern banks ran out of money after making bad loans, and soon a financial panic swept the country. • In the Panic of 1873, banks across the land closed and the stock market temporarily collapsed. • The panic caused an economic depression, a time of low business activity and high unemployment.

Scandal and Panic Weaken Republicans • The railroad industry, which relied on banks for loans, saw 89 of the country’s 364 railroads go broke within a year. • Railroad failures left Midwestern farmers with no way to move their crops, and many farmers were ruined.

Scandal and Panic Weaken Republicans The depression lasted about five years and by 1875, more than 18,000 companies had folded and hundreds of workers had lost their jobs.

Scandal and Panic Weaken Republicans As the party in power, the Republicans were blamed for the crisis, and as a result, Democrats won victories in the 1874 congressional and state elections.

Scandal and Panic Weaken Republicans In the middle of the depression, Americans grew tired of hearing about the South’s problems as the nation began to lose interest in Reconstruction.

22. What effect did scandals in the Grant administration have on the Republican Party? • They lost the presidential elections of 1872 and 1876. • They were forced into the Compromise of 1877. • They were split into the Liberal Republicans and the Stalwart Republicans. • They finally regained the White House in 1877.

23. What was the Panic of 1873, and how did it hurt the Republican Party? • It began when several powerful Eastern banks failed. • The stock market temporarily collapsed, railroads failed, and many farmers were ruined. • Many Americans blamed the Southern Democrats for the crisis. • During the Panic, the nation lost interest in Reconstruction. • The Panic caused the Ku Klux Klan to grow even greater in numbers and power. Choose all that are true!

Supreme Court Reversals To make matters worse for the Republicans, the Supreme Court began to undo some of the changes that had been made in the South.

Supreme Court Reversals In an 1876 case, U.S. v. Cruikshank, the Court ruled that only the states, not the federal government could not punish individuals who violated the civil rights of African Americans. Since many Southern state officials would not punish those who attacked African Americans, violence against blacks increased.

Supreme Court Reversals • In U.S. v. Reese, the Court ruled that the Fifteenth Amendment did not give everyone the right to vote — it merely listed the grounds on which states could not deny the vote. • States could prevent African Americans from voting for other reasons, such as poll taxes and literacy tests. • These Court decisions weakened Reconstruction and blocked blacks’ efforts to gain full equality.

24. In what ways did the Supreme Court weaken Reconstruction? • It ruled that the states could deny the vote blacks for reasons other than race or color. • It ruled that the states alone could punish those who violated the civil rights of blacks. • It ruled that the states could not provide literacy tests for African American voters. • It ruled that the states could deny voting rights to former slaves, but not blacks who had been freed before the Civil War. • It ruled that the states could not provide freedmen with 40 acres and a mule. Choose all that are true!

Reconstruction Ends • In the 1876 presidential election, Democrat Samuel J. Tilden ran against Republican Rutherford B. Hayes. • The race was very close, and in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida the votes were so close that both parties claimed victory.

Reconstruction Ends • A special commission of eight Republicans and seven Democrats made a deal that became known as the Compromise of 1877. • Hayes became president and, in return, the Repub-licans compromised with the Southern Democrats on several issues.

The Compromise of 1877 • Land grants and loans for the construc-tion of railroads linking the South to the West Coast • Federal funds for construction and improvement projects in the South • A Democrat on Hayes’ cabinet. • A promise from Democrats to respect African Americans’ civil and political rights. • Removal of federal troops from the South

Reconstruction Ends • The removal of federal troops from the South was a very serious demand. • Without federal troops to enforce civil rights laws, it was very unlikely the Southerners would keep their pledge to respect the civil rights of African Americans.

Reconstruction Ends • After the 1876 presidential election, the Recon-struction governments in the South collapsed. • Northerners simply grown tired of spending money and energy to protect African Americans from Southern whites. • The Democrats returned to power, believing that they were the redeemers, or rescuers, of the South.

25. What demands did Southern Demo-crats make in the Compromise of 1877? • Removal of all federal troops from the South • Federal funds for construction and improvement projects in the South • Samuel Tilden sworn in as President • Appointment of a Democrat to the President's cabinet • More federal land grants and loans for the construction of railroads to the West Coast Choose all that are true!

The Legacy of Reconstruction • Historians still argue about the success of Reconstruction. • The nation did rebuild and reunite, but Reconstruction did not achieve equality for African Americans.

The Legacy of Reconstruction • After Reconstruction, most African Americans still lived in poverty. • Legally, they could vote and hold public office, but few took part in politics.

The Legacy of Reconstruction • They continued to face widespread violence and prejudice. • For almost 100 years, Southerners would use ‘Jim Crow’ laws, similar to the black codes, to enforce racial segregation between whites and blacks.

The Legacy of Reconstruction • During this period, however, African Americans did make lasting gains. • Protection of civil rights became part of the U.S. Constitution. • The Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments would provide a legal basis for civil rights laws of the 20th century.

The Legacy of Reconstruction • Black schools and churches begun during Reconstruction also endured. • Reconstruction changed society, putting African Americans on the path toward full equality.

Lesson 18.3: The End of Reconstruction