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.


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.


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?

A. Rutherford B. HayesB. William T. ShermanC. Ulysses S. GrantD. Grover Cleveland

20. What did the Fifteenth Amendment declare?

A. Slavery was no longer lawful in the United States.

B. All persons born in the United States were citizens and were entitled to equal civil rights.

C. Racial segregation in public services was banned and that African Americans could serve on juries.

D. 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.


Under the new anti-Klan bill, federal

marshals arrested thousands of

Klansmen.


Klan violence against African Americans declined, and the 1872 presidential election

was both fair and peaceful in the South.


Grant won the election and

served a second term.


21. What was the result of Grant’s anti-Klan bill?

A. Federal marshals arrested thousands of Klansmen.

B. Klan violence against African Americans increased dramatically.

C. As a result, the 1872 presidential election was both fair and peaceful in the South.

D. Membership in the Klan grew dramatically.E. 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.


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.


• 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.


The Republicans, no longer unified, became less

willing to impose tough

Reconstruction policies on the

South.


• 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.


• 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.


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


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.


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?

A. They lost the presidential elections of 1872 and 1876.

B. They were forced into the Compromise of 1877.

C. They were split into the Liberal Republicans and the Stalwart Republicans.

D. They finally regained the White House in 1877.

23. What was the Panic of 1873, and how did it hurt the Republican Party?

A. It began when several powerful Eastern banks failed.

B. The stock market temporarily collapsed, railroads failed, and many farmers were ruined.

C. Many Americans blamed the Southern Democrats for the crisis.

D. During the Panic, the nation lost interest in Reconstruction.

E. The Panic caused the Ku Klux Klan to grow even greater in numbers and power.


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.


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.


• 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?

A. It ruled that the states could deny the vote blacks for reasons other than race or color.

B. It ruled that the states alone could punish those who violated the civil rights of blacks.

C. It ruled that the states could not provide literacy tests for African American voters.

D. It ruled that the states could deny voting rights to former slaves, but not blacks who had been freed before the Civil War.

E. It ruled that the states could not provide freedmen with 40 acres and a mule.


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.

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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?

A. Removal of all federal troops from the SouthB. Federal funds for construction and

improvement projects in the SouthC. Samuel Tilden sworn in as PresidentD. Appointment of a Democrat to the

President's cabinetE. More federal land grants and loans for the

construction of railroads to the West Coast


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.


• After Reconstruction, most African Americans still lived in poverty.

• Legally, they could vote and hold public office, but few took part in politics.


• 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.


• Black schools and churches begun during Reconstruction also endured.

• Reconstruction changed society, putting African Americans on the path toward full equality.


26. How was the legacy of Reconstruction a mixed one for

African Americans?A. Protection of civil rights became part of the

U.S. Constitution.B. African Americans began continuous service

in Congress and in Southern legislatures.C. Racial prejudice against blacks began to

decline steadily.D. African Americans were on the road to full

equality.E. Black schools and churches begun during

Reconstruction endured.


27. How did Southerners continue to force African Americans to use

segregated public facilities for another hundred years?

A. By suing African Americans for violating the Cruikshank decision

B. By passing Jim Crow laws that were similar to the old black codes

C. By getting various courts to over-rule civil rights laws

D. By refusing to enforce the new 'separate but equal' laws

Documents

Lesson 18.3: The End of Reconstruction