Download Johnson`s trial before the Senate

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.