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Transcript
The Agony of Reconstruction 1865-1877 I. INTRODUCTION Have you ever been denied something that you had a right to have? How did you feel? II. THEME Bringing an end to Civil War was, in many respects, far less difficult than reconstructing war-torn, America.1 It is often easier to make war than to make peace. III. BODY A. The Background 1. The human costs of the Civil War a. Union soldiers dead—360,000 b. Confederate soldiers dead—258,000 c. Thousands more disabled d. Unemployed returning soldiers—800,000 2. Problems in the North a. Unemployment since factories shut down b. Short economic recession 3. Problems in the South 15—B 2 a. Destruction of factories, railroads, plantations, small farms b. Burned cities c. Miles of railroad track destroyed d. Businesses and factories destroyed or dismantled e. Unemployment f. Evaporation of investment capital and labor pool (slaves) The states that experienced Reconstruction are pictured in the map to the right. B. 1 Competing Ideas About How to Implement Reconstruction Minimalists hoped for quick restoration of rebel states without protection for freed Blacks beyond the outlawing of slavery. 1. Lincoln’s Hope for Gradual Reconstruction 15—A Lincoln based his presidency on the principle that the Confederacy had no legal right to secede. His goals were lenient and conciliatory: a. Restore friendly relations as soon as possible b. Pardon to Confederates (excepting certain classes of leaders) if they swore an oath of loyalty to the Union c. Lincoln’s “Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction”—“The 10% Plan,” December 1863. It placed emphasis on forgiveness. “The problem of how to reconstruct the Union in he wake of the South’s military defeat was one of the most difficult and perplexing challenges ever faced by American policymakers.” Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, and Williams, America: Past and Present, p. 473. d. A state could be readmitted to the Union after 10% of its voters: 1) Abolished slavery 2) Subscribed to an oath of loyalty to the Union 3) Formed a government loyal to the U.S. Lincoln’s inauguration speech of 1865. The ravages of presidential responsibility (far right)2 “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.” 3 2. Congress—“Wade-Davis” Reconstruction Bill passed July 1864 15—B Radicals wanted to make readmission to the Union dependent on “loyalists” who would replace the former Confederate elite and the extension of basic American rights and citizenship to Blacks. a. Required oath of future loyalty by majority of white males b. Vote extended only to those who swore they never willingly supported the Confederacy c. Refusal to honor Confederate war debts d. States had to cancel acts of secession e. States had to abolish slavery f. Federal courts empowered to enforce emancipation “The resulting struggle between Congress and the chief executive was the most serious clash between two branches of government in the nation’s history.” 4 3. 2 Lincoln vetoed the bill—he and Congress remained in a stalemate for the remainder of the war. Although Lincoln showed some signs of compromising, “he died without clarifying his intentions, leaving historians to speculate on whether his quarrel with Congress would have worsened or been resolved.” 5 Andrew Johnson The assassination of Lincoln brought Johnson to office. a. Johnson’s personal background 1) Born in dire poverty 2) Lacked formal education—learned to read as an adult 3) Made living as tailor Matthew Brady took the photo to the far right only a few days before John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln. Quoted in Davidson, Lytle, and Stoff, American Journey: The Quest for Liberty Since 1865, p. 59. 4 America, p. 473. The policies of Lincoln’s successor, Andrew Johnson, “provoked the most serious crisis in the history of relations between the executive and legislative branches of government,” p. 474. 5 America, p. 474. 3 Andrew Johnson, 1808-1875 4) 5) 6) b. c. d. 6 Became a Tennessee Jacksonian Democrat Became spokesman for Tennessee’s non-slaveholding class Advanced from state legislator to congressman to governor and finally U.S Senator (1857) 7) Hated the Southern planter class 8) Was a fervent white supremacist 9) Personality traits a) Prickly pride b) Sharp tongued c) Intolerant of opposition d) Stubbornly refused to give an inch Johnson during the war years 1) Remained fiercely loyal to Union 2) Served as military governor of Tennessee 3) Endorsed Lincoln’s emancipation policy (not out of compassion for Blacks but as a means to destroy the hated planter class) Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction—in theory he took a hard line but in practice, he proved generous and forgiving 15—A 1) Restoration of the prewar federal system as soon as possible 2) Provisional governors in former Confederate states selected from prominent Southern politicians who had opposed succession6 3) Those governors to convene constitutional conventions at which three things had to be achieved: a) Declare ordinances of succession illegal b) Repudiate Confederate debt c) Ratify 13th Amendment abolishing slavery7 Flaws perceived in Johnson’s plan 15—A 1) Resulting state constitutions limited suffrage to whites 2) Institution of various “Black Codes” that subjected former slaves to “special regulations and restrictions on their freedom,”8 e.g.: a) Vagrancy laws i) By making African-American unemployment illegal, whites forced Blacks into disadvantageous long-term contractual arrangements with white employers Individuals who were exempt from political participation could apply for a presidential pardon. In an effort to thwart the wealthy planter class, Johnson added to the list of the disenfranchised anyone holding taxable property worth more than $20,000. 7 The 13th Amendment also rendered the “Three-Fifths Compromise” null and void. As such it promised to increase Southern representation in Congress significantly. 8 America, p. 476. ii) Fines or imprisonment imposed for being idle Apprenticeship laws—denied African-Americans a choice of employers c) Denial of African-American right to testify in court d) Separate penal codes for African-Americans e) Right to bear arms forbidden in some places f) Denied right to meet after sunset in some places g) Racial intermarriage forbidden in some places h) Separation of the races in public places and facilities (e.g., hotels, restaurants, schools, churches—see F. 4. b. below) Collectively, all this appeared to be the old institution of slavery just dressed up in new clothes—a new and creative system to keep Blacks in subjugation. 3) Election of 1865 brought a number of ex-Confederate leaders to Congress (both House and Senate refused to seat these men) Congress Takes Charge a. The basic Republican position A modern democratic state must guarantee all its citizens the same basic rights and opportunities. b. Rupture between president and Congress b) 4. Johnson’s vetoes shocked moderate Republicans who heretofore had hope to work with the White House. The president thereby alienated those who might have worked with him. In early 1866, Johnson’s vetoed to two bills passed by Congress precipitating an irreconcilable break: Bill to extend life of Freedmen’s Bureau (established March 1865) The Bureau was largely run by whites It provided food, clothing, medical care, and oversaw land grants to freed slaves Civil rights bill to nullify Black Codes It sought to guarantee “full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property as is enjoyed by all white citizens” Harper’s Weekly cartoon by Thomas Nast (left) shows Johnson kicking the “bureau” with Black bodies flying out the dresser drawers. Congress later passed a modified version of the Freedmen’s Bureau bill 2) In April 1866, for the first time in U.S. history, Congress overrode a presidential veto by passing the Civil Rights Act with a two-thirds majority. Johnson’s ham-fisted attempt to form a new political party 1) He sought to forge a new coalition between Republicans who supported his plan and a reviving Democratic Party. 2) The National Union party convention met in Philadelphia, August 1866. Congressional response: 14th and 15th amendments 15—B 1 & 4 1) Congress feared Johnson would not enforce civil rights legislation 3) Congress passed 14th and 15th amendments 1) c. d. To the left, “Reconstruction—How it Works,” Thomas Nast cartoon in Harper’s Weekly. Using Shakespearian imagery that would have been familiar to mid-19th century American readers, Nast casts Johnson as Iago from Othello. A wounded Black Union veteran represents Othello. On the wall, Johnson’s slogans—"Treason is a crime and must be made odious" and "I am your Moses"—appear. At center left one sees a flurry of presidential pardons issued by Johnson to Confederate offenders; at center right, presidential vetoes abound. Below left, Columbia (representing the U.S.) pardons Robert E. Lee while below right, the Black Freedman is no so easily accommodated. A Period Contemporary Illustration Commemorating the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments a) Thirteenth Amendment—Congressional passage January 1865; ratification December 1865 Prohibited slavery in the U.S. Fourteenth Amendment9—Congressional passage June 1866; ratification July 1868 15—B 1 i) Gave federal government responsibility for guaranteeing equal rights under the law to all Americans ii) Defined national citizenship for the first time as extending to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” iii) Forbid the states from abridgement of rights of U.S. citizens or depriving “any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; not deny to any person. . . equal protection of the laws” Fifteenth Amendment—Congressional passage February 1869; ratification March 1870 15—B 4 Prohibited denial of franchise because of race, color, or past servitude b) c) The caption above reads “The ballot box is open to us.” e. Circular to left assured Freedmen that Northerners support extension of the vote to African-Americans. Congressional Plan—Radical Reconstruction, 1866-1867 15—B During these two years, Congress passed a series of acts nullifying Johnson’s program and reorganizing the South on its own terms. A Republican compromise: The program of Radical Reconstruction amounted to a compromise between real radicals10 like Charles Sumner (1811-1874, RMS— left) and Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868, R-PA—right) and the more moderate elements within the Republican Party. 9 Section Two of the 14th Amendment expressed the Radical Republican desire to reduce congressional representation from the former Confederate states and thus preserve a Republican majority in Congress. This section penalized the South by formally reducing the Congressional representation of any state that had denied the franchise to Black males. This simultaneously assuaged the Northern concern about the increased representation that the South would receive once African-American males fully counted as part of a state’s population (i.e., the revocation of the “Three-Fifths Compromise” instituted by the Founding Fathers). 10 The radicals wanted “regeneration before reconstruction.” They hoped to impose this by means of 1) an extended period of federal military rule in the South; 2) confiscation and redistribution of large landholdings to freedmen; and 3) federal aid to help build schools and educate both Blacks and whites for citizenship. Radicals argued that secession amounted to giving up statehood and that, in turn, merited reversion of the secessionist states to territorial status (i.e., under Congressional jurisdiction). B. Edwin Stanton, 1814-1869 The Impeachment Crisis—the high point of American interest in Reconstruction issues 15—B 3—entire section below 1. The By-election of 1866 a. Johnson aggressively campaigned nation-wide for candidates who supported his program for Reconstruction b. He slandered his opponents in crude language. c. He engaged in undignified exchanges with hecklers. d. His behavior alienated Northern voters and Radical Republicans. 2. Reconstruction Act of March 1867 b. Adopt state constitution barring former Confederates from office c. Grant African-American men the vote d. Ratify the 14th amendment e. Military occupation for states until they were readmitted (all Southern states readmitted by 1871) 15—B 2 1) The South was reorganized into five military districts 2) Quick readmission to the Union could be achieved for any state that framed and ratified a constitution providing for Black suffrage. 3. Tenure of Office Act a. Background 1) Johnson sought to obstruct the implementation of radical Reconstruction 2) Congress responded with laws designed to limit presidential authority in the Reconstruction process. b. Tenure of Office Act Required approval of Senate for removal of Cabinet members or other officials whose appointment had required Congressional consent c. On February 21, 1868, Johnson dismissed the only Radical Republican Cabinet member, Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton (a Lincoln appointee) The period press mercilessly ridiculed the president, e.g., Johnson (right) in a cartoon with the caption, “This little boy would persist in handling books above his capacity” (March 21, 1867) General U.S. Grant, 1822-1885 General Lorenzo Thomas 1) 2) 3) Johnson ordered General U.S. Grant to replace Stanton Grant (eying the presidential nomination of 1868) did not comply Johnson appointed General Lorenzo Thomas to the post Ticket to the Presidential Impeachment proceedings Johnson served summons Impeachment trial managers d. 4. The House voted overwhelmingly on February 24, 1868, to put Johnson on trial—impeachment—for what representatives considered a violation of the Tenure of Office Act. 1) Impeachment is the formal accusation of the president of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” 2) Removal of president takes a subsequent 2/3rd vote in the Senate. The Trial—March 25-May 26, 1868 a. The Senate found Johnson “not guilty” by a 35-19 vote. b. Impeachment undermined any power Johnson hoped to exercise in the future The trial in progress, above. Thaddeus Stevens (right) makes final charges against the president Johnson’s trial before the Senate Johnson’s trial before the Senate 11 Harper’s Weekly Projected Outcome—Julius Caesar (Johnson) killed by the Senators11 (above) Verdict handed down (right) Like the literary allusion to Shakespeare in the Thomas Nast cartoon above (B. 4. d.), educated Americans would have been well acquainted with the implications of such a Roman scene. Edmund G. Ross, 1826-1907 Ross was a Union veteran who reached the rank of Major. 5. 6. 12 Johnson Exonerated The Issues involved a. Should the President be impeached for “political” reasons?13 1) Such action threatened the constitutional balance of powers 2) It opened the way to legislative supremacy over the executive b. If so, he/she is in fear of being removed for making an unpopular political decision Comparisons and Contrasts to Messrs. Nixon and Clinton Richard M. Nixon, 1913-1994, 37th president. Rather than face impeachment over the “Watergate Affair,” Nixon chose to resign his office. To right, his August 9, 1974 letter reads, “I hereby resign the Office of President of the United States.” C. Senator Ross (left) from Kansas denied the Radicals the 36th vote that was necessary for conviction. When later asked why he cast his “not guilty” vote, he explained that “he had come to believe that removing a president for political reasons would have degraded the presidency and put too much power in the hands of Congress.”12 President Bill Clinton ( 1946- ), 42nd president. In 1998, Mr. Clinton became the only other president besides Andrew Johnson to be impeached by the House of Representatives. And like Johnson, the Senate found him “not guilty,” although the verdict gave Clinton a much more comfortable margin. He received 54 “not guilty” votes to 45 “guilty” ones. Reconstruction in the South 1. The Setting—Freed slaves and changing social relations The Old Order changed forever—“freedmen” were neither slaves nor completely free. Their dream of “forty acres and a mule” was largely disappointed. a. Ambiguous rights to citizenship Only six states, including those in the North, allowed AfricanAmericans to vote; “Black Codes” instituted around the winter of 1866 severely restricted the rights of Blacks to vote and work b. Habits of prejudice, even in the North persisted (our knowin’ is ahead of our doin’) c. Absence of money, property, land, and friends—most freedmen were “reduced to economic dependence.”14 American Journey, p. 65. The prosecution argued “that Johnson had abused the powers of his office in an effort to sabotage the congressional Reconstruction policy.” America, p. 481. 13 The circumstance left apprenticeships and sharecropping as thinly disguised slavery. On balance, the future was bleak, a vicious cycle or system of debt and year-to-year survival. Sharecropping was an arrangement in which a landowner allowed the “sharecropper” (left and right) to work the land in exchange for a percentage (usually 50%) of the annual crop yield. The owner provided land, equipment, and sometimes money for seed while the sharecropper provided labor and paid no rent. In fact, sharecropping was often a thinly veiled form of economic servitude. 2. 3. d. Lacking literacy and job skills e. Family fragmentation Southern Resistance to Radical Reconstruction a. Untold numbers of Blacks were murdered by whites who were never brought to justice b. Whites adopted systematic terrorism and organized mob violence to prevent Blacks from voting (see H. 4. below) The Politics of Reconstruction—A Revolution a. The new players 1) Carpetbaggers—came from North to South seeking personal gain Some have described “carpetbaggers” as men of bad character who moved from the North to the South to manipulate and exploit the Black vote, political office, and economic privilege, all to aggrandize themselves. To right, a carpetbagger, supported by the bayonets of federal soldiers sent to the South to enforce Reconstruction. He weighs heavy on the back of the South (symbolized by the woman bowing under the weight of the carpetbagger and his gathered possessions). 2) Scalawags—white Southerners who supported Reconstruction 3) Freedmen—only in South Carolina did African-Americans win a majority in one House of legislature Caricature of a carpetbagger headed South to seek his fortune (above). To right, an artist’s depiction of a “Carpetbag Legislature.” 14 America, p. 484. b. c. d. D. The poor white Southern farmer: 1) Left to resort to a) Sharecropping (see C. 1. c. above) b) Tenet farming Involved renting land; buying/borrowing seed and supplies; and selling crops and pay back. 2) Expected Reconstruction policy to favor their interests at the expense of the old wealthy landowning class 3) White yeoman retained a deeply rooted resistance to “Black equality” Ascension of the Democratic Party in the South 1) Because of deep resentment against Radical Republican Reconstruction politics—and its association with loss of the Civil War—led most Southerners of means embraced the Democratic Party for the next hundred years. 2) Southerners justifiably resented the dishonesty, embezzlement, graft, bribery, and waste—all common occurrences among ruling cliques—of Radical Republican Reconstruction 15 Republican achievements during Reconstruction 1) Established South’s first adequate system of public education 2) Democratization of state and local government 3) Appropriation of funds for huge expansion of public services and responsibilities 4) Fostering economic development and prosperity through railroad construction and other internal improvements 5) Improvement of prison conditions 6) Establishment of centers for care of mentally and physically handicapped Election of 1868 and the Grant Administration Grant (right) would be the only president elected for back-toback terms of office between the administrations of Andrew Jackson (1828-1836, left) and Woodrow Wilson (1912-1920, far right) 1. 15 Election of 1868 a. Election Issues 1) The “Money Question”—how to mange the nation’s currency a) Hard-money policy—advocated withdrawing greenbacks printed during war from circulation i) Favored by commercialism and financial interests in the East ii) Supported by intellectuals who considered government-sponsored inflation immoral and against natural economic law b) Greenbackers—favored use of paper currency i) Favored by credit hungry West These unfortunate behaviors were not, however, unique to the South. They were part of a national trend in post-war America. As an aside, the inexperience of those thrust into the “governing class” in the South put into office a host of individuals who lacked preparation for public service. ii) 2) Favored by expansion minded manufacturers c) Division within the Democratic Party prevented money question from being a central issue in the campaign of 1868 Republican Platform a) Defense of Reconstruction b) Celebration of their popular candidate Grant used his military celebrity as an elevator to the White House b. Election Results of 1868 The Republican candidate Grant garnered 214 electoral votes while the Democratic candidate, Horatio Seymour (1810-1886) received only 80. The Thomas Nast period cartoon to the left is entitled “This is White Man’s Government.” It appeared in Harper’s Weekly on September 5, 1868. Democratic governor of New York and presidential candidate of 1868 Horatio Seymour (figure farthest to the right) and two others stand atop a helpless Black man. Nast’s imagery alludes to the sentiments that compelled Seymour to argue that the Emancipation Proclamation was unconstitutional. 2. The Grant Administration a. Hard Money Men vs. Greenback Inflationists 1) Grant Administration tried to follow a middle course 2) Panic of 1873—brought economy to its knees leading debtridden farmers to switch support from hard money to greenbacks b. The Challenges of Reconstruction 1) Fifteenth Amendment passed to insure equal rights for Blacks (see B. 4. d. above) 15—B 4 The amendment still allowed states to “limit the suffrage by imposing literacy tests, property qualifications, or poll taxes allegedly applying to all racial groups.”16 Ironically, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (18151902, left) and Susan B. Anthony (18201906, right)—leaders of the mid-19th century feminist movement—actually campaigned against the Fifteenth Amendment, not because they opposed suffrage for African-Americans but because the amendment had a gender bias that excluded women from the voting process. Neither Stanton nor Anthony would live to see the fruit of their labor— the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 as the great culminating act of the Progressive Era. 2) Ku Klux Klan and Resistance to Reconstruction a) Main threat to Republican administrations in South from 1868-1872 b) Organized in Tennessee in 1866 The Klan adopted two revered cultural symbols—the cross (see vestment, far left) and the American flag (right). In light of the KKK’s mission and malice, these emblems seem woefully misappropriated. Following the Civil War, Confederate cavalry general, Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877, left) from Tennessee loaned his name to a group of enforcers within the Democratic Party—this group came to be known as the Ku Klux Klan. By 1869, Forrest dissociated himself from the group, but the stigma of his association with slavery and the KKK remains still today. c) d) e) f) g) 16 America, p. 489. Traits and Characteristics—cf. 21st century Terrorism i) Intimidated Blacks who sought to exercise right to vote ii) Adopted increasingly brutal, lawless, and utterly ruthless tactics (threats, whippings, murders, lynchings—see H. 4. below) iii) Grass roots vigilante movement (neither well-coordinated nor centralized)—it thrived on local initiative iv) Popularly supported by whites from all classes Decentralized nature of the KKK made it difficult to suppress KKK methods first used in election of 1868 Klan activity undermined Republican control and helped Democrats regain power in South by 1870 Klan appeal i) White supremacy ii) 3) Traditional Democratic and agrarian hostility to government promotion of economic development The Ultimate Failure of Radical Reconstruction a) Without the protection afforded by Reconstruction, white supremacists gradually stripped away the civil and political rights of African-Americans b) Southern capitalists and large landowners ignored the interests of the lower-class whites c) The “New South” remained vulnerable to exploitation by Northern business interests “Congressional Reconstruction prolonged the sense of sectional division and conflict for a dozen years after the guns had fallen silent. Its final liquidation in 1877 opened the way to a reconciliation of North and South.” 17 c. Period The Historiographical Debate over Reconstruction “A central issue of Reconstruction was the place of Blacks in American life after slavery.”18 Popular Images Interpretation Reconstruction in the South was an “unholy alliance” between: Corrupt Northern carpetbaggers [C. 3. a. 1) above] out to profit at the expense of a prostrate South White Southern opportunists, a.k.a., “scalawags” [C. 3. a. 2) above] Black demagogues The result was an “orgy of misrule.”19 Early-20th Century Columbia University historian, John W. Burgess (left) popularized the negative view of the Reconstruction outlined in the above, right-hand box. He graphically described the Reconstruction process as “the most soul-sickening spectacle that Americans have ever been called upon to behold. . . here was government by the most ignorant and vicious part of the population for the vulgar, materialistic, brutal benefit of the governing set.”20 A cinematic presentation of just this view appeared in 1915 when moviemaker, D. W. Griffith (above) popularized the image in his Birth of a Nation. In this movie, leering Blacks devised devilish plots to oppress, subjugate, and humiliate Southerners. The movie represented the Ku Klux Klan as the guardian of white civilization. During these years, historians continued to reflect the view that men like Burgess and Griffith expressed—“that efforts to enforce equal rights for Blacks after the Civil War had been a grave mistake. . . . The biases of mainstream historiography served to justify the Jim Crow system [images to the left] of the South by portraying Blacks as unqualified for citizenship.”21 19151940s Water fountain for A Black removed “Colored Only” (above). from his seat on the train (left). The so-called “Jim Crow laws” instituted in the postWar South established a legacy of segregation that endured for more than a century after the official emancipation of the slaves. 17 America, p. 494. America, p. 490. 19 America, p. 490. 20 Cited in America, p. 490. 21 America, p. 491. 18 A “Colored Waiting Room” (left) and sign for segregated Rest Rooms (above) Not everyone during the years between World Wars I and II embraced received opinion regarding Reconstruction. Among the minority who argued for a colorblind democracy was W. E. B. DuBois (1868-1963, left). In 1935, DuBois published his revisionist volume, Black Reconstruction in America. In this book, DuBois proposed that Reconstruction failed because white racism and economic interests overwhelmed the momentum toward universal manhood suffrage that the Emancipation Proclamation, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Fifteenth Amendment had set in motion. 1920s and 1930s The revisionism of the Fifties and Sixties “rejected the exaggerations, distortions, and racist assumptions of the traditional view.”22 White liberal historians like Kenneth M. Stampp reinterpreted the Reconstruction era in a way that finally rejected tolerance of segregation. Stampp’s volume The Era of Reconstruction, 1865-1877 (1965, left) supported the Black struggle for equality. Rather than assailing the Radical Republicans of the mid-19th century, revisionist historians praised their idealism. Meanwhile, Black scholars such as John Hope Franklin (right) focused on the achievements of the constructive policies and positive achievements of Black Reconstruction era leaders. In this new schema, white and Black Republicans become the heroes and white Southerners the villains. 1950s and 1960s 1970s and 1980s The PostRevisionist View Historians again portray carpetbaggers and scalawags in a negative light—as selfish opportunists. This school of historians emphasize the pro-business economic policies implemented at the expense of social justice. These writers depict the Black politicians of the period as self-interested legislators who failed to work for the best interests of their impoverished constituents. “Reconstruction failed because it was inadequately motivated, conceived and enforced. . . . An underlying racism. . . prevented white Republicans from identifying fully with the cause of Black equality. . . . [There remained a] gulf between class interests of those in charge of implementing and managing Reconstruction and the poor people of the South who were supposed to be its beneficiaries. The basic issue raised by Reconstruction—how to achieve racial equality in America—has not yet been resolved.”23 d. Carl Schurz, 1829-1906 E. Rise of a “Liberal Republican Party” In 1872, reform-minded Republicans broke with Grant and formed a third party. Senators like Carl Schurz (left) supported two main things: 1) reform of the civil service in hopes of putting a brake on the corruption of the patronage system, and 2) laissez-faire economic policy that ended high tariffs. Election of 1872 In spite of concerns with corruption, most Republicans supported Grant in 1872. Greeley’s campaign failed to inspire support. The incumbent Grant garnered 56% of the popular vote and received the opportunity to extend his administration another four years. 22 23 America, p. 491. America, p. 491. The new party nominated editor of the New York Tribune Horace Greeley (1811-1872, left) as their presidential candidate even though he did not support the main party platform. Greeley promised to restore selfgovernment in the South and bring an end to Radical Reconstruction. F. Reasons Grant’s Administration failed 1. Grant allowed corruption within the administration a. Financial buccaneer Jay Gould sought to corner the gold market—he used the aid of Grant’s brother-in-law b. Vice-president Schuyler Colfax participated in the Crédit Mobilier scandal—a fraudulent scheme to siphon off profits that stockholders in the Union Pacific Railroad should have received c. The Whiskey Ring conspiracy Orville E. Babcock, 18351884 d. Sins of Omission vs. Sins of Commission 2. 3. In 1875, the American public learned that federal revenue officials had conspired with distillers in a scheme that defrauded the government of millions from dollars in tax revenue on the liquor trade. Orville Babcock (left), the president’s private secretary, and Secretary of War William Belknap (right) were both implicated. William E. Belknap, 1829-1890 Belknap Bribery Scandal 1) In addition to his involvement in the Whiskey Ring, Belknap had taken bribes for the sale of Indian trading posts. 2) Grant vigorously tried to protect Belknap in what amounted to a 19th century version of a government “cover-up.” “There is no evidence that Grant profited personally from any of these misdeeds of his subordinates. Yet. . . he failed to take firm action against the malefactors, and even after their guilt had been clearly established, he sometimes tried to shield them from justice.” 24 Grant was inconsistent and hesitant with use of presidential power. Grant’s “Southern Policy” failed—Republican regimes in the South were corrupt and tottering. “The Northern electorate would no longer tolerate military action to sustain Republican governments and Black voting rights. . . . Reformers charged that a corrupt national administration was propping up bad governments in the South for personal and partisan advantage.”25 The declining Northern interest in Reconstruction was a product of evidence that corrupt carpetbaggers, scalawags, and freedmen had pursued policies that actually impeded Reconstruction goals plus a growing sentiment that the South should be allowed to run its own governments. The deaths of Republican leaders (see B. 4. c. above) Charles Sumner (1874) and Thaddeus Stevens (1868) allowed less highminded men assume control of the Republican party. These hard-boiled manipulators came to be known as “spoilsmen” or “politicos”—men whose selfinterest and greed caused the Grant administration to lose Roscoe Conkling, James G. Blaine, credibility with reform-minded Schuyler Colfax, 18231829-1888 Jay Gould, 1836-1892 1830-1893 Republicans. 1885 4. 5. G. 24 25 America, p. 495. America, p. 493. Grant’s highest priority was to be loyal to old friends and the politicians who supported him. Grant lacked a clear sense of duty. Election of 1876 and the Hayes Administration 15—D—entire section below 1. Dispute over electoral vote Like the election of 2000, the candidate winning the popular vote lost the election. a. b. c. d. e. Samuel J. Tilden, 1814-1886 2. In the period cartoon to the left, Election of 1876, Democratic Party candidate Tilden cries "Boo Hoo! Ruthy Hayes's got my presidency, and won't give it to me." The caricature highlights the controversy over the electoral vote. American voters, tired of government corruption, wanted a restoration of integrity and honesty. Republicans chose Hayes, untainted by Grant’s scandals. Democrats selected Tilden who, as New York governor, had taken on Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall. By 1974, when president Richard Nixon (center) resigned in the midst of the Watergate scandal, Republicans had positioned Gerald R. Ford (right) to take the presidency, largely because of his unimpeachable reputation. Tilden won the popular vote. Returns from South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana were contested. For months, the election’s outcome was in doubt bringing the nation to a political crisis. Congress appointed a special electoral commission to determine who won. 1) The commission had seven Democrats, seven Republican, and one independent. 2) When the independent resigned, a Republican received the 15th seat on the commission. 3) The commission’s subsequent support for Hayes had to be ratified by both houses of Congress. 4) The Democratic House threatened to filibuster, delaying the selection beyond the date for the inauguration (which would throw the decision into the House of Representatives). 5) Republican leaders brokered a secret deal with Southern Democrats striking the so-called “Compromise of 1877.” a) The last federal troops were to be withdrawn from the South. b) “Home Rule” was to be given to the South. c) Vague promises were made regarding federal support for Southern railroads and other internal improvements. Hayes received the presidency Rutherford B. Hayes, 18221893—19th president takes oath of office (right) Compromise made by Hayes that ended Reconstruction a. Federal aid to build new Southern railroads b. Federal aid to build flood controls along the Mississippi River c. d. Removal of last federal troops from the South (April 1877) Promise from Southerners to treat African-Americans fairly, protect their rights In fact, Hayes abandoned Southern Blacks “to their fate. . . . [Moreover,] the entire South was firmly under the control of white Democrats. The trauma of the war and Reconstruction had destroyed the chances for a renewal of two-party competition among white Southerners.”26 H. The New South 15—C 1. Rule of the “Redeemers”—late-1870s-1880s—a combination of: a. The restored planter class of the Old South b. Those of middle class origin and outlook who favored commercial interests and industrial development over agrarian groups c. Professional politicians Joseph E. Brown (1821-1894, left) was a dramatic representation of the professional politician who emerged in the aftermath of the Civil War and Reconstruction. These men blew with the prevailing political winds. In his long career, Brown was a secessionist, the governor of Georgia during the war, a scalawag Republican, and finally a “Redeemer” from the Democratic Party. 2. 3. 26 27 America, pp. 495-496. America, p. 496. Redeemer Ideology These new leaders “can perhaps best be understood as power brokers mediating among the dominant interest groups of the South in ways that served their own political advantage.”27 a. Points of difference 1) The agricultural class supported Old South agrarianism 2) The forward thinkers promoted New South industrialism b. Points in common 1) Laissez-faire economic policy Low taxes and freedom from government regulation was a policy that both planters and businessmen agreed upon. 2) White supremacy Appealed to racism c. Redeemer regimes were more economical than Reconstructionist ones partly because they cut back appropriations for public education and public services. Perpetual dependence of small white farmers The notorious “crop lien” system a. Local merchants advanced farmers credit at high rates of interest during growing season. b. The creditors had the right to take possession of the resulting harvested crop. c. Farmers were increasingly buried in debt. 4. d. Many small farmers lost their homesteads and were reduced to tenancy. Abuse of African-American suffrage and civil rights a. The white ruling class intimidated Republican Black voters through: 1) Threatening loss of jobs 2) Eviction from tenant farms 3) Physical abuse (e.g., whippings, beatings, lynchings) 4) b. Control of the electoral machinery through which the whites could stuff ballot boxes, discard unwanted votes, or report fraudulent totals 5) Establishment of complicated and discriminatory voting requirements (e.g., literacy tests, poll taxes) In sum, these tactics made a mockery of the 15th Amendment Jim Crow Laws “Jim Crow” may have been the creation of a minstrel show performer—one Thomas “Daddy” Rice—of the 1830s. Rice used charcoal paste or burned cork to blacken his face and danced a jig while singing to the song, “Jump Jim Crow.” Rice’s skit represents one 19th century stereotypical image of Black inferiority. “The wave of segregation laws passed around the turn of the century. . . served to remind them [Blacks] constantly that they were deemed unfit to associate with whites on any basis that implied equality.” “The dark night of racism that fell on the South after Reconstruction seemed to unleash all the baser impulses of human nature. Between 1889 and 1899, an average of 187 Blacks were lynched every year for alleged offenses against white supremacy.”28 Between 1899 and 1918, there were more than 3,000 deaths from lynching in America. c. Jim Crow laws barred African-American from certain jobs or access to various public facilities like restaurants or hotels [see I. 2. b. 2) c) above]. Supreme Court Decisions and Civil Rights—1875-1896 Supreme Court Decisions Affecting Black Civil Rights Case / Date Hall v. DeCuir, 1878 United States v. Harris, 1882 Civil Rights Cases of 1883 Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 Williams v. Mississippi, 1898 28 America, pp. 498-499. Judgment Struck down Louisiana law prohibiting racial discrimination by common carriers (e.g., railroads, steamboats, buses). Declared federal laws to punish crimes like murder and assault unconstitutional; local government given responsibility in these areas. Struck down Civil Rights Act of 1875. The 14th Amendment judged silent on racial discrimination by private citizens. Upheld Louisiana statute requiring “separate but equal” accommodations on railroads; declared segregation was not necessarily discrimination. Upheld state law requiring literacy test as voting requirement. d. G. These acts gutted the Reconstruction amendments and left “Blacks virtually defenseless against political and social discrimination.” 29 Southern vulnerability to Northern business interests that loaned money for Southern improvements. Unfinished Business “By the late 1880s” there existed a “spirit of sectional reconciliation.” Both Northerners and Southerners moved toward “celebrating their common Americanism. ‘Reunion’ was becoming a cultural as well as political reality.”30 IV. 29 America, p. 499. America, p. 500. 31 America, p. 500. 30 “Whites could come back together only because Northerners had tacitly agreed to give Southerners a free hand in their efforts to reduce Blacks to a new form of servitude.” 31 Conclusion—True (de facto) Equality vs. Legislated (de jure) Equality The 14th and 15th amendments set a standard, a goal—true equality. Over and against the laws that these amendments established, there still existed the reality of a centuries-long patterns of racism. Equality among the races, as well as respect between them, is a matter of the heart. Racism and discrimination cannot be legislated away overnight.