Sketching Out the End of Reconstruction

Sketching Out the End of Reconstruction Enough is Enough

Four Reasons For End of Reconstruction • General Amnesty Act of 1872 • Grant’s Presidency • Panic of 1873 • Recall of troops in 1877

General Amnesty Act of 1872 • South claims US isn’t a democracy because they cannot elect some Democrats - Valid Point • Congress allows former CSA officials to hold public office • Southern Democrats take hold of state positions

Ulysses S. Grant’s Presidency • President Grant’s (a Republican) cabinet is corrupt and scandals break out • People move away from Republican party as a result • Grant thought of as one of worst Presidents

Panic of 1873 • US economy goes into a severe recession (2 million unemployed of 36 million) • People increasingly choose Democrats to try to fix the problems

U.S. Troops Recalled • Army that Congress sent to South to supervise Reconstruction were called back in 1877 by President Rutherford B. Hayes • Effectively ends supervision in the South • Southern Democrats (segregationists) are now in control

When the Federal Government Left the South Alone, What Happened?

Blacks‘ dreams for justice ends at the close of Reconstruction at the end of the 19th century

WARNING:You are going to be mad at the next few slides. Remember, it is not my fault - I just tell you about it!

Voting Restrictions Poll Tax - a fee to vote (stops poor from voting) Literacy Tests - Had to read a paragraph to vote (Blacks given harder passages) Grandfather Clause - You could avoid a poll tax or literacy test if your grandfather voted prior to 1867. Blacks were poor, uneducated, and had no grandfathers who voted. These laws stopped Blacks (Republicans) from voting, allowing Democrats to gain control

Segregation • Jim Crow laws - Laws that forced separation of whites and Blacks • Separating the races is called segregation • Examples of Jim Crow laws • Separate areas in theaters, restaurants, and railcars • Different schools for whites and Blacks

Supreme Court on Segregation • Several cases went to Supreme Court saying that segregation and Jim Crow laws were in violation of the 14th Amendment • Court rules the 14th Amendment only pertains to government actions, so private people and businesses can segregate

Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) • Supreme Court hears case of Homer Plessy being arrested for refusing to leave a “whites only” railcar • Decision - Arrest is upheld. Furthermore, the Court states that segregation is legal as long as there are “Separate but Equal” facilities • “Equal” means that both Blacks and whites have access to the object (example - black water fountain is rusty emitter of dirty water, white fountain is great = legal - they both have a water fountain

Reconstruction Successes • Southern economy rebuilt and more diverse (not just cotton anymore) • Education in place for both whites and blacks • Black colleges and universities created • Blacks received temporary rights in government and society

Reconstruction Failures • Blacks lose rights at the end of the Reconstruction Era • Sharecropping is the main job of blacks in the South (not much better than slavery) • Governments in the South run by racist leaders and supported by courts • Jim Crow South established - no future for blacks

Sketching Out the End of Reconstruction