Download Congress Passes Civil Rights Bill

Questions your group needs to address:
1. What do you do with (now) former prisoners of war? Discuss
this from both the Northern & Southern perspectives.
2. What do you do with former Confederate Generals? Should
they be punished?
3. What do you do with the states that seceded from the Union?
4. How do you solve financial debt?
5. What do you do with former slaves that are now free men,
approximately 4 million of them?
RECONSTRUCTION PLANS
President Lincoln
Congress
Radical Republicans vs. Moderate Republicans
President Johnson
Thomas Nast's Original "The Union Christmas" Civil War Print
This is probably the most touching and moving Abraham Lincoln print to come
out of the Civil War era. The leaf was printed on December 31, 1864, and Thomas
Nast was the artist. The print shows Mr. Lincoln standing at the door, inviting the
Southern Rebels to come in from the cold and snow, and rejoin the union.
A large banquet table has been prepared, and the table has empty chairs labeled
Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and so forth. The print has a large
banner that reads, "The Union Christmas Dinner, Peace on Earth and Good Will
Toward Men." The print has four insets, one showing Robert E. Lee offering his
surrender to Grant (something that did happen a few months later. The second
inset is captioned, "Lay Down your Arms and You Will be Welcome", which shows
Rebel Soldiers being welcomed back into the Union. The third inset presents the
Rebels as the prodigal son returning home, and the forth inset shows a soldier
bowing down to accept a pardon from Lady Liberty.
For all the pain and all the loss of the Civil War, we see by the end of 1864, there
were signs of hope. Nast creates this image of hope by showing a country tired of
war, and willing to invite their former countrymen to once again sit at the table of
fellowship and Union. Within three months of this image being made, Mr. Lincoln
was dead, assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. However, Nast's vision of a country
once again united did come to pass.
Forgive
•
Lincoln wanted to restore national
unity (speedy)
– March 5, 1865 “With Malice
toward None…”
•
Issued Proclamation of Amnesty and
Reconstruction (Dec. 1863):
– Would give a full pardon to all
southerners (except high-ranking
Confederate leaders) who would:
• Restoration of rights and
property
• swear allegiance to the
Constitution
• accept emancipation
– After 10% of the citizens of a
southern state took that oath, the
state would be readmitted.
Lincoln’s Plan
Treatment of exconfederates
“Ten Percent Plan” - South could set up government
if 10% of voters swore an oath to the Constitution
and accepted laws ending slavery
Citizenship for
former slaves
Limited enfranchisement
Civil Rights for
former slaves
13th Amendment abolished slavery,
Wanted to protect Civil Rights, but did not
offer equal rights
Suffrage for
former slaves
Limited voting rights for soldiers, and
educated freemen, but no role in shaping
the political future of the South
Economic rights
for former
slaves
Freedmen’s Bureau provided loans and
grants to purchase land, education, etc.
•Lincoln’s Ten Percent plan:
In it all southerners, except highranking Confederate officials,
could get a full pardon and
restoration of rights after taking
an oath, pledging loyalty to the
Union and accepting the end of
slavery. When ten percent of the
1860 voting population had
taken this oath, citizens could
vote in elections that would
create new state governments
and new state constitutions.
After that the state would once
again be eligible for
representation in Congress and
readmitted to the Union.
13th Amendment: Abolished Slavery
• After debating the amendment, the Senate passed it on
April 8, 1864, by a vote of 38 to 6.
• Although they initially rejected the amendment, the
House of Representatives passed it on January 31,
1865, by a vote of 119 to 56.
• President Abraham Lincoln then submitted the proposed
amendment to the states for ratification.
• Secretary of State William Henry Seward issued a
statement verifying the ratification of the Thirteenth
Amendment on December 18, 1865.
Assassination of April 14, 1865: President Lincoln was assassinated
while attending a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater
in Washington, D.C. The assassin, John Wilkes Booth, escaped with a
broken leg, but he was shot later. Lincoln was succeeded by his vice
president, Andrew Johnson.
John Wilkes Booth: Booth was a Southern sympathizer during the Civil
War, who plotted with six fellow-conspirators to assassinate Union
leaders. On Apr. 14, 1865, he shot President Lincoln during a performance
of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. He
escaped, but was later shot and killed.
The Assassination of Lincoln
• Plot devised by John Wilkes Booth along with
accomplices:
• Lewis Powell (Secretary of State Seward)
• George Atzerodt (VP Andrew Johnson)
• David Herold (lookout)
The Assassination
• Booth, Powell & Atzerodt were to strike at
the same time (10:00PM)
• In the balcony with Lincoln: Mary, Major
Henry Rathbone & his fiancé Clara Harris
• Booth knew the play and when laughter
would erupt.
• Shoots Lincoln point blank, stabs
Rathbone and jumps onto the stage:
– "Sic semper tyrannis!"
O Captain! My Captain!
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2
3
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5
6
7
8
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
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10
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15
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O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up -- for you the flag is flung -- for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths -- for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.
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My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
Oh Captain! My Captain!
• What does the ship represent in this
poem?
• What is the “fearful trip” that Whitman
refers to?
• What “prize” do you think Whitman is
referring to?
• Who is the captain in the poem?
For Homework
• For Monday, please write a eulogy
for President Lincoln. Imagine that
you are speaking at his funeral.
What would you say?
– What accomplishments would you
highlight?
– What qualities as a leader would you
focus on?
• Your eulogy should be two
paragraphs long (4-5 sentences a
piece).
• Due date: Monday, October 3rd
Forgive
•
•
Lincoln wanted to restore national
unity (speedy)
– March 5, 1865 “With Malice
toward None…”
Issued Proclamation of Amnesty and
Reconstruction (Dec. 1863):
– Would give a full pardon to all
southerners (except high-ranking
Confederate leaders) who would:
• Restoration of rights and
property
• swear allegiance to the
Constitution
• accept emancipation
– After 10% of the citizens of a
southern state took that oath, the
state would be readmitted.
Punish
Believed southerners should be punished
harshly.
Proposed the Wade-Davis Bill (July 4,
1864): The South could set up government
according to the following terms:
 Governor appt. by Pres. & approved
by Congress
 At least half of voters in a
conquered state take oath of
allegiance.
 Ex-Confederates would be banned
from drafting new state constitutions
(IRONCLAD OATH).
 State constitutions must abolish
slavery and grant citizenship/voting
rights to freedmen
Passed Congress on July 2, 1864.
Lincoln did not sign the bill: “southern
states should be able to choose between
both plans”
RADICAL REPUBLICANS
Group of abolitionist American politicians that proposed
harsh policies towards Confederates during the
Reconstruction Era.
Most well known Radicals:
Senator Benjamin Wade
Senator Charles Sumner
Pennsylvania Representative
Thaddeus Stevens
THADDEAS STEVENS ON RECONSTRUCTION
The President assumes, what no one doubts, that the late rebel States have lost their constitutional relations to
the Union, and are incapable of representation in Congress, except by permission of the Government. It matters
but little, with this admission, whether you call them States out of the Union, and now conquered territories, or
assert that because the Constitution forbids them to do what they did do, that they are therefore only dead as to all
national and political action, and will remain so until the Government shall breathe into them the breath of life
anew and permit them to occupy their former position. In other words, that they are not out of the Union, but are
only dead carcasses lying within the Union. In either case, it is very plain that it requires the action of Congress to
enable them to form a State government and send representatives to Congress. Nobody, I believe, pretends that
with their old constitutions and frames of government they can be permitted to claim their old rights under the
Constitution. They have torn their constitutional States into atoms, and built on their foundations fabrics of a totally
different character. Dead men cannot raise themselves. Dead States cannot restore their existence "as it was."
Whose especial duty is it to do it? In whom does the Constitution place the power? Not in the judicial branch of
Government, for it only adjudicates and does not prescribe laws. Not in the Executive, for he only executes and
cannot make laws. Not in the Commander-in-Chief of the armies, for he can only hold them under military rule
until the sovereign legislative power of the conqueror shall give them law. Unless the law of nations is a dead
letter, the late war between two acknowledged belligerents severed their original compacts and broke all the ties
that bound them together. The future condition of the conquered power depends on the will of the conqueror. They
must come in as new states or remain as conquered provinces. Congress . . . is the only power that can act in the
matter.
Republican’s Plan
Treatment of ex- Punish the ex-confederates; proposed
confederates
“Wade Davis Bill” - South couldn’t set up
gov’t until majority took the Ironclad Oath
Citizenship for
former slaves
Full citizenship…who will enforce?
Civil Rights for
former slaves
Equal Rights, passed the Civil Rights act of
1866 and eventually the 14th Amendment
Suffrage for
former slaves
Full Suffrage and 15th Amendment
Continued the Freedman’s Bureau,
Economic rights providing $ and education to former
for former
slaves, give them land from former slave
owners
slaves
Congress continues to Act
Freedman’s Bureau
• Was created in March 1865 to aid the millions of southerners
left homeless and hungry by the war.
• Distributed millions of free meals to black and white refugees-Set up hospitals
• Brought thousands of white southerners back onto farms to
make a living again.
• Served as an employment agency
• Operated schools (By 1869, hundreds of schools for African
Americans had been established in the South)
– Built schools and provided teachers to give blacks the education they had
been denied under slavery
– Helped establish colleges for black students, including Howard University,
Hampton Institute, Atlanta University, and Fisk University
Congress Passes Civil Rights Bill
• First Civil Rights law in nation’s history
• Declared that everyone born in the U.S. was a
citizen with full civil rights; however, it still did
NOT guarantee voting rights – Sound Familiar?
• This law was written to overturn the 1857 Dred Scott
ruling and to nullify the recently enacted black
codes.
• “If the President (now Andrew Johnson) vetoes the
Civil Rights Bill, we shall be obliged to draw our
swords.”
--Ohio senator
Not this Time!
• Johnson vetoes the bill, arguing that it would
centralize power in the federal government.
• This veto eroded any support he had had in
Congress—Moderates and Radicals unite:
Congress overrode the veto of the Civil Rights
Act.
Congress passed a new Freedman’s Bureau
Bill, overriding Johnson’s veto yet again.
The Fourteenth Amendment
(Ratified 1868)
• Congress attempted to answer all of Johnson’s
Constitutional objections to the Civil Rights Bill with
the 14th Amendment:
1. Required states to extend equal citizenship to
African Americans and all people “born or
naturalized in the U.S.”
2. It denied states the right to deprive anyone of
“life, liberty, or property without due process
of law.”
3. It promised all citizens the “equal protection
of the laws.”
The 14th Amendment
• Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
thereof, are citizens of the United States and of
the State wherein they reside. No State shall
make or enforce any law which shall abridge the
privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States; nor shall any State deprive any person of
life, liberty, or property, without due process of
law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws.
Fourteenth Amendment (Cont’d)
• DID NOT GUARANTEE AFRICAN AMERICAN VOTING
RIGHTS
• It did, however, reduce the representation of any state that
did not allow its adult male citizens to vote.
– The more African American men who were not allowed to vote, the
fewer representatives that state could send to Congress
• If the Southern states accepted this amendment, they
could enter the Union: TENNESSEE
• Johnson campaigned heavily against this amendment.
15th Amendment
• Section 1. The right of citizens of the
United States to vote shall not be denied
or abridged by the United States or by any
State on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude.
• Section 2. The Congress shall have
power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation
Post Civil War
Civil Rights Act: This act was passed in Congress with nearly unanimous Republican
support in March 1866, and it attempted to redress the issue of slavery by defining all
persons born in the nation as citizens. It also specified the rights of citizens, the right to
sue, make contracts, give evidence in court, hold, convey, and inherit property.
Thirteenth Amendment: The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified
in 1865. It prohibited "slavery or involuntary servitude except as punishment for crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." This amendment guaranteed
freedom for African Americans.
Fourteenth Amendment: The Fourteenth Amendment was passed in 1868. It said that
no state can make or enforce any law which "deprives any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law." Also, states could not "deny to any person within
its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Fifteenth Amendment: Secretary of State Hamilton Fish ratified the Fifteenth
Amendment to the Constitution of United States on March 30, 1870. This amendment
explicitly forbid denial of the right to vote for citizens "on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude."
Johnson Becomes President
(April 1865)
• Began life as a poor tailor
• Owned 5 slaves until 1862 (Tenn. Rebels)
• Racist:
“…inferior to the white man in point of intellect…better
calculated in physical structure to undergo drudgery and
hardship.”
• Democratic Senator (Tenn.)
• Only Southern Senator to support the Union
(held aristocratic planter class responsible for
secession)
• Becomes Pres. In April 1865; Congress not due
in session until December
Johnson’s Plan
Treatment of exconfederates
Full Pardons, except rich plantation
owners who would have to apply
individually (eventually pardoned)
Citizens for
former slaves
No citizenship
Civil Rights for
former slaves
No Civil Rights
Suffrage for
former slaves
No Suffrage, African Americans should
not be involved in politics
Economic rights
for former
slaves
Allowed for the Black Codes, former
slaves should go back to work for their
former masters.
Johnson’s Plan



Pardoned many ex-Confederates (14,000)
Returned confiscated land to exConfederates.
Set easy terms for readmission to the
Union
1. States had to nullify their acts of
secession (South Carolina and
Georgia)
2. States had to abolish slavery
(ratify13th Amendment)
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude,
except as a punishment for crime whereof
the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or any
place subject to their jurisdiction.
3. States had to refuse to pay
Confederate government debts (this
was intended to punish southerners
who had financed the war)
Why did many Americans consider
President Johnson’s plan unfair?
• It allowed former Confederates to go unpunished.
• It allowed former Confederates to take office and control
state legislatures
• It allowed for these new state governments to enact black
codes that restricted the rights of freedmen.
• It led to ex-Confederates getting elected to Fed. Govt.
(Elections of 1865)
– 15 of 80 Senators and House of Reps had served in Confederate
Army (10 were generals)
– Another 16 had served in judicial and civil posts
– Another 9 had served in the Confederate Congress
– Alexander Stephens had served as VP of the Confederacy
Johnson Vetoes Bill
• In February 1866 Congress passed the Freedman’s
Bureau Bill to extend the life of the agency
• Surprisingly, Johnson VETOED the bill, citing
constitutional and financial reasons:
– “It was never intended that the Freedmen should be
fed, clothed, educated, and sheltered by the United
States.”
– Johnson disagreed with allowing the Bureau to deal
with cases involving discrimination or infringement of
civil rights---(claimed this should be left to the courts)
Congress (Republicans) Vs. Johnson
• Republican-dominated Congress refused to seat the
southern representatives.
• In early 1866, Congress began hearings on conditions in
the South.
• Witness after witness presented evidence of postwar
violence
– African Americans recounted stories of murder and
the burning of churches, homes, and schools
• A move was made by Republicans to extend the life of
the Freedman’s Bureau
Race Riots
• May 1, 1866 two carriages collided on the
streets of Memphis
– Police officers arrested the black driver but not the
white driver
– Blacks protested; white mob gathered
– Led to a 3-day riot in which white rioters (mainly
police officers and firefighters) killed 46 African
Americans and burned 12 schools and 4 churches
Events causing Conflict b/w Johnson & Senate
1. Vetoes Freedmen’s Bureau Bill
2. Vetoes Civil Rights Bill of 1866 which
declared every one born in U.S. a full citizen
with civil rights
3. 14th Amendment - Granted rights of citizenship
to all people born or naturalized in the U.S.
Denied states the right to deprive anyone of life,
liberty, or property without due process
Result: Former Confederates Enact
Black Codes
• Resembled pre-Civil War slave codes
– i.e. Mississippi only substituted the word
“freedman” for “slave”
• Varied from state to state
• Aimed to prevent African Americans from
achieving social, political, and economic
equality
Examples of Black Codes
• African Americans could not hold meetings unless whites were
present
• Forbade them to travel without permits, own guns, attend schools
with whites, sit on juries, etc…
• Reestablished white control over labor
– Forced African Americans to return to the fields…
• Some states required blacks to only work as servants;
• Some states required blacks to pay taxes to work in other
occupations.
– Several states required blacks to sign long-term labor contracts
(those who refused could be arrested)
– Apprenticeship laws: Most states allowed judges to bind black
children to white employers if they deemed the parents unable to
support them (thousands of black children worked for planters)
EFFECTS OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON’S RECONSTRUCTION
PLAN ON FORMER CONFEDERATES AND THE EFFECTS
OF THE BLACK CODES ON FREEDPEOPLE
PRESIDENT JOHNSON’S RECONSTRUCTION PLAN

BENEFITS TO FORMER CONFEDERATES
● Blanket pardon for most rebels
● Easy terms of readmission to the Union;: states had to nullify their acts of
secession, abolish slavery, and refuse to pay war debts

FORMER CONFEDERATES ENACT BLACK CODES

EFFECTS OF CODES ON AFRICAN AMERICANS
● Tried to deprive freed people of equality
● Re-established white control over African American labor
RECONSTRUCTION ACT OF 1867
Help is on the way!!!
The Freedmen
Bureau – agency
developed to help the
homeless and the
hungry
Carpetbaggers
Northern Republicans
who moved South
during
Reconstruction
Scalawags - Name
given to southerners
who now backed
reconstruction and
helped with the
rebuilding process
Joint Committee of
15 established by
Congress to examine
successes and
failures of
reconstruction
RECONSTRUCTION ACT OF 1867
Abolished state governments formed under Andrew Johnson’s plan
Divided the ten Confederate States into 5 military districts – each
governed by an army commander and patrolled by federal troops to help
enforce the acts.
Outlined how a state would
be readmitted to the union:
Hold a convention
Write a new constitution
 allow black men to vote
Elect a governor and a
state legislature
Ratify the 14th
Amendment
At the same time the Reconstruction Acts
were passed, the Tenure of Office Act is
passed to limit the power of the President. The
Also passed the Command of the Army Act
to prevent the president from issuing military
orders except through the commanding
general, Ulysses S. Grant. (Who could not be
removed without the approval of the Senate).
TENURE OF OFFICE ACT STATES:
Senate must approve the removal of an
official.
Johnson challenged this by firing Secretary
of War – Edward Stanton
THEREFORE:
President Johnson violates the Tenure of
Office Act
Tenure of Off. Act → Johnson Fires Stanton → Johnson violates Act → Impeachment
Article II Section 4
Conviction of treason, bribery, and any
other high crime or misdemeanor
Step #1 - The House charges president
with crime by majority vote
Step # 2 – Certain House members act
as lawyers and prosecute the president /
Senate acts as jury and listens to charges
Chief Justice of Supreme Court (Salmon
P. Chase) acts as judge
Step # 3 – Senate votes – if 2/3rds vote
guilty the president is removed from office
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
Reasons House impeached Johnson
Articles 1-8: Charged Johnson with
illegally violating the Tenure of Office
Act – prohibited the President from
removing any appointed govt. official
without Senate approval
Article 9: Accused Johnson of
violating the Command of the Army
Act – required Johnson to issue all
military orders through the General of
the Army instead of dealing directly
with military governors in the South
Article 10-11: Accused Johnson of
making “inflammatory and scandalous
speeches.”
Reasons Senate Acquitted Johnson
• Weak case against Johnson
• Failure to prove that Johnson was
guilty of “bribery, treason, or other
high crimes and misdemeanors.”
• Personal dislike of potential
presidential successor (Benjamin
Wade)
• Fear that impeachment would
weaken future presidents and
threaten checks and balances
Ku Klux Klan:
secret terrorist organization formed by
6 ex-confederates soldiers
The Grand Wizard: (Head of the Klan)
Nathan Bedford Forrest
THE KKK
A REACTION TO RECONSTRUCTION POLICIES AND
RADICAL REPUBLICANS
ORIGINS
•
The Ku Klux Klan, or KKK,
was started by exconfederate soldiers that
were concerned about the
effects of Radical
Republican plans to
reconstruct the south.
•
Its name comes from the
Greek work kyklos, meaning
circle. This refers to the tight
knit bond between members.
•
The passage of the
Reconstruction Amendments
(13th ,14th, and 15th) alarmed
many Southerners as they
saw them as threatening to
the power of whites in
society.
TACTICS OF THE KKK
• The KKK used violence to wage a war on
freedmen and Radical Republican whites in
the South.
• Intimidation and threats were commonplace,
and when necessary, hanging and other
forms of murder and violence were used.
• In a Louisiana parish where the Republicans
had a 1,000 person majority, not a single
Republican voted in the 1868 elections.
TACTICS
CONTINUED
• The KKK would
routinely raid homes
at night, dragging out
family members and
beating them for
intimidation. Very
effective because the
word spreads
quickly. Is it worth
dying to vote?
• They essentially
acted as a
“paramilitary” group,
operating at the
fringes of the law.
Portion of KKK application
questions for members
•
Did you belong to the Federal army during the late war, and fight against the South
during the existence of the same?
•
Are you opposed to Negro equality, both social and political ?
•
Are you in favor of a white man's government in this country ?
•
Are you in favor of Constitutional liberty, and a Government of equitable laws instead
of a Government of violence and oppression?
•
Are you in favor of maintaining the Constitutional rights of the South?
•
Are you in favor of the re-enfranchisement and emancipation of the white men of the
South, and the restitution of the Southern people to all their rights, alike proprietary,
civil, and political?
•
Do you believe in the inalienable right of self-preservation of the people against the
exercise of arbitrary and unlicensed power?
Led murders on Republicans – killing many
whites and blacks that sided with the
Republican Party
Klansmen burned schools, homes,
churches
These events led to the
Enforcement Acts (document):
designed to help protect against the KKK
THE END OF THE FIRST KKK
• The violence reached such a fever pitch that
the Federal government had to step in to
prosecute KKK members when states would
not.
• The Force Acts (1870): These acts banned
the use of Terror or Bribery to deny someone
the right to vote based on their race.
• The original KKK was essentially wiped out
within a year of passage of the Force Acts
because of the threat of Federal prosecution.
KKK 3 Main Objectives:
During Reconstruction
1. Prevent Blacks from voting
2. Destroy Republican Party
3. Frighten African
Americans political leaders
Strange Fruit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFIficim0ds
THE END OF
RECONSTRUCTION
ECONOMIC CRISIS
AND THE ELECTION’s
OF 1868, 1872 & 1876
General Ulysses Grant received a unanimous vote on the first ballot at the Republican
convention. Grant's Democratic opponent was Horatio Seymour of New York. Grant did
not campaign and made no promises. Seymour broke with tradition and campaigned
actively in the North.
The Republicans promised continued radical reconstruction in the South, while the
Democrats promised swifter reintegration of the South. The Democrats attacked the
Republicans for reconstruction and attacked Grant for being a drunkard. The Republicans
claimed the Democrats were going to give up all that was accomplished in the Civil War.
Ultimately, it was Grant's personal popularity that determined the election.
ELECTION OF 1868:
Reconstruction policy in the aftermath of the Civil War was the key issue of the 1868 campaign.
The Republicans rallied behind the most successful Union general of the war, Ulysses S. Grant,
and chose Schuyler Cofax, Speaker of the House , as his running mate. Horatio Seymour,
governor of New York, selected as the Democrats’ standard-bearer, criticized the Republican
Reconstruction program had objected to their granting of rights to the freed slaves. The
Republicans wer skeptical of the wartime patriotism of the Democrats. The former slaves
contributed to the Republican victory, with many of them exercising their right to vote for the first
time.
ELECTION OF 1872:
Horace Greeley, New York Tribune editor, was the choice of the Liberal Republicans; the
Democrats endorsed him for the sake of expediency. Greeley ran on a platform of civil service
reform and an end to Reconstruction. Grant, the Republican incumbent, also supported civil
service reform and protection fo the rights of the ex-slaves. Grant won the largest Republican
popular majority of the century. Greeley died after the elections but before the meeting of the
presidential electors, and his votes were distributed among several Democratic candidates.
THE PANIC OF 1873
• There was a banking panic which caused
thousands of businesses to close.
• Thousands of people lost their jobs and
protested in the streets of several large
cities.
• Many of the jobless were new immigrants,
and they were an important part of the
Northern economy.
EFFECTS OF PANIC OF 1873 ON
SOUTHERN RECONSTRUCTION
• Northern leaders in the government had to
respond to the economic problems, and
focus efforts on helping the economy.
• Immigrants made up a large numbers of
voters, they had to be helped.
• All of this meant that Reconstructing the
South was no longer the highest priority
for the national government.
THE ISSUES OF THE ELECTION
OF 1876
• Immigration was a big issue for both
candidates, new Americans needed to be
represented too.
• Republicans wanted to continue to control
the South through military reconstruction.
• Democrats wanted reconstruction to end,
and pull the military out.
• 82% of people who could vote actually
voted in the election (pretty high)
WHAT TO LOOK FOR ON THE
ELECTION MAP
• In what regions did each candidate get
their votes from?
• From what regions would you expect each
party to get it’s votes from?
• Why do you think that the election was as
close as it was?
• What state was the most important one for
the candidates?
ELECTION OF 1876
RESULTS OF THE ELECTION
• There was a dispute over electoral votes,
and the congress decided who would win.
• The democrats gave the votes to Hayes,
but demanded that he end Reconstruction.
• Hayes, the Republican, was given the
votes and the presidency.
• He was nicknamed “Rutherfraud” B.
Hayes due to the election controversy.
WHY THE ELECTION ENDED
RECONSTRUCTION
• The Republicans wanted the presidency,
and the only way that the Democrats
would give up the votes was if the
President agreed to end Military
Reconstruction.
• Hayes agreed to pull the military out of the
South, and with no army to enforce rules,
many gains made by the freedman were
given up to power hungry, racist,
Southerners.
ELECTION OF 1876:
The nation had tired of Reconstruction policies that kept federal troops in the South and the
scandals that had occurred during Grant’s administration. The economic depression that
followed the panic of 1873 further troubled the Republican party. The Republicans nominated
Rutherford B. Hayes, governor of Ohio, as a reform candidate. His Democratic opponent,
Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York, also promised change. Tilden won the popular vote
majority but fell one vote short of the electoral majority of 185 needed to win. Hayes took 165
electoral votes. Twenty votes were disputed – nineteen from three states that still had
Republican governments (South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida), and one from Oregon.
Republican officials in the three southern states charged that racist electoral rules were used
to take the black vote away from Hayes. The parties submitted two differing sets of electoral
returns from these states and each claimed victory. Congress, split along party lines, was
unable to decide the issue impartially. To determine the authenticity of the disputed returns, a
fifteen-member electoral commission made up of ten congressmen and five U.S. Supreme
Court justices was set up. The commission, composed of eight Republicans and seven
Democrats, voted strictly along party lines, awarding the disputed votes and the presidency to
Hayes. In return for a peaceful inauguration, the Republicans removed all federal troops from
the southern states in what is known as the Compromise of 1877, which ended
Reconstruction.