Rachel Cohen, Alison Leibowitz, Aisling Shea, and Karen Yee

1. The discrepancies within the Republican party impaired and ended Reconstruction, as a result of the incongruent values held by leaders within the party regarding the priorities of the country. Rachel Cohen, Alison Leibowitz, Aisling Shea, and Karen Yee

2. Grant Administration Scandals • Grant administration- Early 1870s scandals troubled the Grant administration- this redirected public attention away from the South. • Grant was considered an amiable and honest fellow, but he was not politically experienced. He was unable to grasp that others might use him to their political advantage. • Starting in 1872, scandals associated with Grant’s administration were exposed to the public • New York Sun exposed the Credit Moblilier affair→ a construction co. gained large profits President Schuyler Colfax • 1872 a group of republicans formed the Liberal Republican Party with the goal of beating Grant in the presidential election • Liberal Republican Party elected editor of New York Tribune, Horace Greeley, as their presidential candidate. • Horace Greeley→ agreed with the Radical Republican’s opinions surrounding abolition and the importance of the 14th and 15th Amendments. BUT he believed that there should be “universal amnesty for Confederates and… an end to military rule in the South… [and that] former slaves [should] fend for themselves.”1 • 1872 Greeley lost the presidential election to Grant by a wide margin: “Mr. Greeley... is now opposing the renomination of Gen. Grant. But as usual the party quietly ignored Mr. Greeley, and elected the man the people chose.”2 • Even though they didn’t win, they weakened the Radicals’ hold over the Republican Party by breaking down the Republican unity and disproving their infallibility. 1 Gerald A. Danzer, "Reconstruction and Its Effects," in The Americans(Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2007), 395-396. 2 "The Defection of Horace Greenley," New York Times (New York), March 28, 1872, Front Page.

3. Split In The Party Radical Republicans: • Radical leaders include Thaddeus Stevens from the house and Charles Sumner from the senate • Did not want revenge, “they emerged instead as idealists”3 • Radical Republicans “demanded immediate civil and political equality for blacks.”4 • The radicals wanted the social structure of the South to be changed before it was restored to the Union. • Most Republican Radicals were united in their opposition to Johnson's Reconstruction Plan. • “Republican Radicals also had their struggles as they attempted to convince Northern states to support their plan.” • Many of these states did not believe in racial equality • Eight states rejected bills granting blacks the right to vote. • Radical republicans also believed that “the Confederate leaders should be punished for their roles in the Civil War.” • During the war, Radicals were critical of Lincoln because they felt that his reconstruction plan was too lenient, among other complaints.5 • Never a cohesive group, only united by their common opinion on equality for blacks 3 Eric Forner, The New View of Reconstruction, (Forbes, Inc, 1983), 236. 4Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: An American History, second seagull ed. (New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005), 505. 5Linda Moss Mines, Reconstruction: Summary Outline, (1996).

4. A Split In The Party Continued Liberal Republicans: • Included Republican founders like Lyman Trumbull and prominent editors and journalists. • “[Liberal] republicans were in no mood to devote further attention to the south” • Liberals believed that power in the South should be returned to the regions “natural leaders.” • In 1872 the Liberal Republican party formed when a prominent group of Republicans “alienated by corruption within the Grant administration [believed that] the growth of federal power during and after the war needed to be curtailed” • “The liberal attack on Reconstruction, which continued after 1872, contributed to the resurgence of racism in the North. • Resurgent Racism offered a convenient explanation for the alleged ‘failure’ of Reconstruction.” • “The liberal republicans did not oppose the rights of freed slaves, but they felt as though they had done enough to support them through the new amendments and the wanted to focus more on expanding westward.”6 • Liberal republicans did not necessarily disagree, with the radicals, but they decided to take a different, more moderate approach. • “Moderate (liberal) Republicans wanted to protect ex-slaves from exploitation and guarantee their basic rights but were unprepared to push for full political equality.” 6Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: An American History, second seagull ed. (New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005), 505. 7Linda Moss Mines, Reconstruction: Summary Outline, (1996).

5. Bibliography Danzer, Gerald A. "Reconstruction and Its Effects." In The Americans, 395-96. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2007. New York Times (New York). "The Defection of Horace Greenley." March 28, 1872, Front Page. Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Second Seagull ed. Vol. 2. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005. 505-506. Mines, Linda M. "RECONSTRUCTION: Summary Outline," 1996. Foner, Eric. The New View of Reconstruction, Forbes, Inc, 198, 236.