U.S. HISTORY

CHAPTER 12-3

THE COLLAPSE OF

RECONSTRUCTION

OPPOSITION TO RECONSTRUCTION

In 1866, the Ku Klux Klan was formed

It was originally a social club for Confederate veterans

As it spread throughout the South, however, it goal became to restore white supremacy

OPPOSITION TO RECONSTRUCTION

They used violence to keep African Americans from voting

From 1868-71, the Klan killed thousands of men, women and children, most of whom were black

The Klan also killed whites who helped African Americans in anyway

OPPOSITION TO RECONSTRUCTION

The terror tactics kept blacks from voting

By 1876, white Democrats took power 8 southern states

These Democrats were known as “Redeemers”

Redeemers were those who brought back southern power

OPPOSITION TO RECONSTRUCTION

To stem the violence, Congress passed a series of Enforcement Acts in 1870 & 71

They provided for federal supervision of elections in Southern states

Congress also passed the Amnesty Act in 1872

This returned the right to vote and hold federal offices to Confederates barred in the 14th Amendment

This undercut Republican governments in the South, as these Confederates almost all voted Democratic

THE GRANT ADMINISTRATION

President Grant’s Administration was very corrupt

Grant could not distinguish honest people

Many of his family, staff & cabinet peddled their influence with the President in return for cash

One such scandal was the Credit Mobilier Scandal

THE GRANT ADMINISTRATION

The Union Pacific Railroad formed its own construction company

It was called Credit Mobilier

The railroad officers used Credit Mobilier to overcharge on government contracts

THE GRANT ADMINISTRATION

They reaped huge sums in personal profits

To prevent investigation, the company gave stock to those who could protect them

These included members of Congress and Grant’s Vice President

THE GRANT ADMINISTRATION

In 1875, the Whiskey Ring was exposed

Internal-revenue collectors accepted bribes from whiskey distillers

These distillers wanted to avoid paying taxes

The ring defrauded the government of millions of dollars

THE GRANT ADMINISTRATION

Of the 238 persons indicted in the scandal, one was Grant’s private secretary General Orville E. Babcock

Grant could not accept his secretary was guilt and helped him avoid conviction

In 1876, the Secretary of War William W. Belknap was impeached by the House

He had accepted bribes from merchants who wanted to keep trade concessions in Indian Territory

The Grant Scandals hurt the Republican party

THE SUPREME COURT The Supreme Court also set back

reconstruction

The Slaughterhouse cases decided most civil rights were protected by the state, rather than the federal government

U.S. v. Cruickshank ruled the federal government had no power to punish whites who oppressed blacks

In U.S. v. Reese, the court ruled the 15th Amendment only limited the type of discrimination states could not use

THE SUPREME COURT

All of these cases limited the 14th and 15th Amendment rights

The Grant Scandals, Supreme Court set backs and Southern resistance caused Northerners to retreat from Reconstruction

THE COMPROMISE OF 1877The 1876 Election was between

Democrat Samuel Tilden & Republican Rutherford B. Hayes

Tilden won popular vote, but was 1 vote short in electoral college

There were accusations of voter fraud

THE COMPROMISE OF 1877

An electoral commission was formed to decide the election

The commission decided on party lines and Hayes won

THE COMPROMISE OF 1877 To keep nation from violence, a

compromise was reached

According to the compromise:1)Democrats accepted Hayes as

President2)Republicans agreed to remove

federal troops from the south

AFTER RECONSTRUCTION

The South became similar to what it was before Civil War

Whites returned to power

Segregation, separation of the races, became the way of life

AFTER RECONSTRUCTION

The South passed “Jim Crow” laws

These laws legally segregated blacks from whites

The 14th and 15th amendments were just ignored