Download War and Reconstruction in America 1820

War and Reconstruction in America
1820-1880
The Abolitionist Movement
This debate over slavery was the most divisive issue of the era. While southerners spoke loudly in support of slavery,
the abolitionist movement grew from a small faction in the 1820s to a powerful social and political movement by
the 1840s and 1850s. Though the abolitionists opposed slavery, they by no means advocated racial equality—most
of them wanted only gradual emancipation or even resettlement of blacks in Africa. At the time, only radical
abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison demanded immediate emancipation of all slaves.
Social Reform and Religious Revivalism
At the same time, some progressive northerners—many of them women—started social reform movements against
prostitution, alcohol, and mistreatment of prisoners and the mentally disabled. Others tried to expand women’s
rights and improve education. Many of these movements were successful in convincing state legislatures to enact
new legislation.
Linked to these reform movements was a new wave of religious revivalism that spread across America at the time.
Many new religious denominations flourished, including the Methodists, Baptists, Shakers, Mormons, and Millerites,
among others. In general, women were especially involved in these new denominations.
The Market Revolution
At the same time that these social transformations were taking place, the U.S. economy was evolving into a market
economy. New inventions and infrastructure made it much easier to transport goods around the country.
Eli Whitney’s cotton gin and system of interchangeable parts revitalized the South, West, and North. Cotton
production became a more efficient and lucrative business, so southern planters brought in more slaves to work their
fields. Cyrus McCormick’s mechanical mower-reaper revolutionized wheat production in the West, enabling farmers
to send surplus crops to northern industrial cities.
Immigration
Immigration and wage labor, meanwhile, completely transformed the North. The potato famine in Ireland and failed
democratic revolutions in Germany sent several million Irish and German immigrants to the North in the 1840s
and 1850s. Many found work as wage laborers in the new factories.
Manifest Destiny and the Mexican War
Within the United States, people were itching to move further west. Land-hungry westerners and southerners in
particular wanted more land on which to farm and plant cotton. Inspired by revivalism, many Americans began to
believe that it was their “manifest destiny” from God to push westward across the continent. Politicians were
encouraged to acquire more and more land.
Westward expansion was particularly important to James K. Polk, who was elected president in 1844. During his
four years in office, Polk acquired all of the Oregon Territory south of the 49th parallel. With his eye
on California(then a Mexican territory), he provoked the Mexican War, which the United States won handily. Under
the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the war in 1848, Mexico gave up Texas, California, and everything
in between.
The Wilmot Proviso
At the end of the Mexican War, many new lands west of Texas were yielded to the United States, and the debate
over the westward expansion of slavery was rekindled. Southern politicians and slave owners demanded that slavery
be allowed in the West because they feared that a closed door would spell doom for their economy and way of life.
Whig Northerners, however, believed that slavery should be banned from the new territories. Pennsylvanian
congressman David Wilmot proposed such a ban in 1846, even before the conclusion of the war. Southerners were
outraged over this Wilmot Proviso and blocked it before it could reach the Senate.
The Election of 1848
Even though the Wilmot Proviso failed, the expansion of slavery remained the most pressing issue in the election
of 1848. The Whigs nominated Mexican War hero General Zachary Taylor, a popular but politically inexperienced
candidate who said nothing about the issue in hopes of avoiding controversy.
The Democrats, meanwhile, nominated Lewis Cass. Also hoping to sidestep the issue of slavery, Cass proposed
allowing the citizens of each western territory to decide for themselves whether or not to be free or slave. Cass hoped
that a platform based on such popular sovereignty would win him votes in both the North and South.
The election of 1848 also marked the birth of the Free-Soil Party, a hodgepodge collection of Northern abolitionists,
former Liberty Party voters, and disgruntled Democrats and Whigs. The Free-Soilers nominated former
president Martin Van Buren, who hoped to split the Democrats. He succeeded and diverted enough votes from Cass
to throw the election in Taylor’s favor. (Taylor, however, died after only sixteen months in office and was replaced
by Millard Fillmore.)
The Slavery Debate
Although Taylor’s silence on the issue quieted the debate for about a year, the issue was revived when
California and Utah applied for statehood. California’s population had boomed after the 1849 gold rushhad
attracted thousands of prospectors, while barren Utah had blossomed due to the ingenuity of several thousand
Mormons. The question arose whether these states should be admitted as free states or slave states. The future of
slavery in Washington, D.C., was likewise in question.
A great debate ensued in Congress over the future of these three regions as Southerners attempted to defend their
economic system while Northerners decried the evils of slavery. In Congress, the dying John C. Calhoun argued
that the South still had every right to nullify unconstitutional laws and, if necessary, to secede from the Union it
created. Daniel Webster and Henry Clay, on the other hand, championed the Union and compromise. Webster in
particular pointed out that discussion over the expansion of slavery in the West was moot because western lands
were unsuitable for growing cotton.
The Compromise of 1850
In the end, the North and South agreed to compromise. Although Clay was instrumental in getting both sides to
agree, he and Calhoun were too elderly and infirm to negotiate concessions and draft the necessary legislation. This
task fell to a younger generation of politicians, especially the “Little Giant” Stephen Douglas, so named for his short
stature and big mouth. A Democratic senator from Illinois, Douglas was responsible for pushing the finished piece of
legislature through Congress.
The Compromise of 1850 , as it was called, was a bundle of legislation that everyone could agree on. First,
congressmen agreed that California would be admitted to the Union as a free state (Utah was not admitted because
the Mormons refused to give up the practice of polygamy). The fate of slavery in the other territories, though, would
be determined by popular sovereignty. Next, the slave trade (though not slavery itself) was banned in Washington,
D.C. Additionally, Texas had to give up some of its land to form the New Mexican territory in exchange for a
cancellation of debts owed to the federal government. Finally, Congress agreed to pass a newer and
tougher Fugitive Slave Act to enforce the return of escaped slaves to the South.
A Northern Victory in 1850
Though both sides agreed to it, the Compromise of 1850 clearly favored the North over the South. California’s
admission as a free state not only set a precedent in the West against the expansion of slavery, but also ended the
sectional balance in the Senate, with sixteen free states to fifteen slave states. Ever since the Missouri Compromise,
this balance had always been considered essential to prevent the North from banning slavery. The South also
conceded to end the slave trade in Washington, D.C., in exchange for debt relief for Texans and a tougher Fugitive
Slave Law. Southerners were willing to make so many concessions because, like Northerners, they truly believed the
Compromise of 1850 would end the debate over slavery. As it turned out, of course, they were wrong.
The Fugitive Slave Law
Ironically, the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act only fanned the abolitionist flame rather than put it out. Even though many
white Americans in the North felt little love for blacks, they detested the idea of sending escaped slaves back to the
South. In fact, armed mobs in the North freed captured slaves on several occasions, especially in New England, and
violence against slave catchers increased despite the federal government’s protests. On one occasion, it took several
hundred troops and a naval ship to escort a single captured slave through the streets of Boston and back to the
South. The Fugitive Slave Act thus allowed the abolitionists to transform their movement from a radical one to one
that most Americans supported.
The Underground Railroad
Even though few slaves actually managed to escape to the North, the fact that Northern abolitionists encouraged
slaves to run away infuriated Southern plantation owners. One network, the Underground Railroad, did successfully
ferry as many as several thousand fugitive slaves into the North and Canada between 1840 and 1860.
“Conductor” Harriet Tubman, an escaped slave from Maryland, personally delivered several hundred slaves to
freedom.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Another major boost for the abolitionist cause came via Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin ,
a story about slavery in the South. Hundreds of thousands of copies were sold, awakening Northerners to the plight
of enslaved blacks. The book affected the North so much that when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe in 1863, he
commented, “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!”
Franklin Pierce and Expansion
Despite the concessions of the Compromise of 1850 and the growing abolitionist movement, Southerners believed
the future of slavery to be secure, so they looked for new territories to expand the cotton kingdom. The election
of Franklin Pierce in 1852 helped the Southern cause. A pro-South Democrat from New England, Pierce hoped to
add more territory to the United States, in true Jacksonian fashion.
Latin America and the Ostend Manifesto
Pierce was particularly interested in acquiring new territories in Latin America and went as far as to quietly
support William Walker’s takeover of Nicaragua. A proslavery Southerner, Walker hoped that Pierce would annex
Nicaragua as Polk had annexed Texas in 1844. The plan failed, however, when several other Latin American
countries sent troops to depose the adventurer. Pierce’s reputation was also muddied over his threat to steal Cuba
from Spain, which was revealed in a secret document called the Ostend Manifesto, which was leaked to the public
in 1854.
The Gadsden Purchase
Despite his failures in Nicaragua and Cuba, Pierce did have several major successes during his term. In 1853, he
completed negotiations to make the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico—30,000 square miles of territory in the
southern portions of present-day Arizona and New Mexico. In addition, Pierce successfully opened Japan to
American trade that same year.
John Brown and Harper’s Ferry
Although the economic depression of 1857–1858 put a temporary damper on the slavery debate, the radical
abolitionist John Brown quickly revived it with another violent incident. On October 16, 1859, Brown—the infamous
Free-Soldier who had killed five proslavery men at the Pottawatomie Massacre in Kansas in 1856—stormed an
arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (present-day West Virginia), with twenty other men. He hoped the raid would
prompt slaves throughout Virginia and the South to rise up against their masters.
Strangely, though, the fanatical Brown had never informed the slaves of his plan, so no uprising took place, and
Brown and his men found themselves cornered inside the arsenal. A long standoff ended with half the raiders dead
and the rest, including Brown, captured. After a speedy trial, Brown was convicted of treason and hanged. Before his
death, he announced that he would gladly die if his death brought the nation closer to justice.
Brown’s execution was met with cheers in the South and wails in the North. His raid had touched on Southerners’
deepest fear that their slaves would one day rise up against them, and many in the South viewed him as a criminal
and a traitor of the worst kind. Most Northerners, however, saw Brown as a martyr, especially after he so boldly
denounced slavery with his final words.
Democratic Candidates in 1860
Amid this tense atmosphere, the nation’s political parties convened to select their respective candidates for the
presidential election of 1860. Democrats gathered in Charleston, South Carolina, but were bitterly deadlocked on
whom to nominate. Though Stephen Douglas was the party favorite, no Southern Democrat would vote for him after
he had rejected the Lecompton Constitution in 1858. Unable to compromise, the party split: Northern Democrats
returned home and nominated Douglas, while Southern Democrats chose proslavery Vice President John C.
Breckinridge from Kentucky.
Republican Candidates in 1860
The Republicans also had trouble choosing a candidate. Senator William Seward from New York was the most
popular choice but also the riskiest because of his hard-line antislavery stance. Moreover, the Republicans knew they
needed a candidate who could win both the Northeast and the contested Northwest (now called the Midwest), where
the Democrats had a strong foothold.
As a result, the Republicans settled on the lanky Abraham Lincoln from Illinois, who had a reputation in the North for
being a moderate and a Unionist. Nonetheless, a small faction of Republicans saw Lincoln as too much of an
abolitionist and instead nominated Tennessean John Bell under the banner of the proslavery Constitutional Union
Party.
The Election of 1860
With the parties split and compromise no longer a solution, the election of1860 was less a national election that two
sectional elections. Most Southern states refused to put Lincoln’s name on the ballot or acknowledge his candidacy,
and several even vowed to leave the Union if Lincoln were elected. Few people took this secession talk seriously,
however, for the South had been making similar threats for decades.
The run-up to the election was intense as the four major candidates crisscrossed the country discussing the issues.
On top of their traditional platform of higher tariffs and internal improvements, Lincoln and the Republicans added the
promise of maintaining the Union. The Constitutional Union candidate, Bell, likewise promised to preserve the Union.
Northern Democrat Douglas delivered anti-secession speeches, and Southern Democrat Breckinridge defended
slavery.
In the end, Lincoln won a resounding victory, with 40 percent of the popular vote. He won a total of 180 electoral
votes, while the other candidates combined won 123.
Secession
A month after Lincoln’s election, legislators in South Carolina voted unanimously to secede; within several
weeks, Alabama, Florida, Georgia Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas followed suit. Despite “Honest Abe’s” reputation
in the North as a moderate, he was vilified as a radical abolitionist “Black Republican” in the South. Much to the
dismay of anxious Northerners, lame-duck president James Buchanan did nothing to address the secession crisis.
Lincoln also waited to take action until he had officially become president.
The Confederate States of America
Meanwhile, delegates from the seven secessionist states met in Montgomery, Alabama, in February 1861 to form
the government of the new Confederate States of America. They drafted a new constitution; chose Richmond,
Virginia, to be the new capital; and selected former Mississippi senator Jefferson Davis as the Confederacy’s first
president. (For more information about the Confederate government, see The Confederate Side)
The Crittenden Compromise
Hoping to prevent war from breaking out after the secession, Senator John Crittenden from Kentucky proposed
another compromise. He suggested adding an amendment to the Constitution to protect slavery in all territories
south of 36˚ 30', and then allowing popular sovereignty to determine whether these Southern territories became
free or slave when they applied for statehood. All territories north of 36˚ 30', meanwhile, would be free. Many
Southerners contemplated the Crittenden Compromise, but Lincoln rejected it on the grounds that he had been
elected to block the westward expansion of slavery.
Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address
As both Northerners and Southerners waited to see how Lincoln would respond, he calmly announced in his first
inaugural address that he would do nothing. Rather, he reaffirmed the North’s friendship with the South, stressed
national unity, and asked Southerners to abandon secession. Moreover, he declared that the secession was illegal
and that he would maintain the Union at all costs—but that he would make no move against the South unless
provoked.
In announcing that he himself would take no action, Lincoln placed the responsibility for any future violence squarely
on the South’s shoulders. He knew that Americans in the North would support a war only in which the Southerners
were the aggressors. Lincoln could thus continue to claim honestly that he was fighting to defend and save the Union
from those who wished to tear it apart.
Fort Sumter
Jefferson Davis, on the other hand, announced in his inaugural speech that the South might be required to use force
to secure its aims, and that spring, the South made good on its word. On April 12, 1861, General P. T.
Beauregard ordered his South Carolinian militia unit to attack Fort Sumter, a Union stronghold on an island in
Charleston Harbor. After a day of intense bombardment, Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort to Beauregard.
South Carolina’s easy victory prompted four more states—Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia—to
secede. The Civil War had begun.
Complacency in the South
The fall of Fort Sumter was not a major battle, militarily speaking: the Union troops surrendered only because they
ran out of supplies, and neither side suffered any serious casualties. However, the easy seizure of Fort Sumter
inspired complacency in the South: Southerners misinterpreted Anderson’s surrender as a sign that the Union was
weak and unwilling to fight.
Lincoln’s lack of immediate response was likewise misleading. The North appeared to do nothing for months
afterward—the next battle wasn’t fought until July—and the South interpreted this inaction as further weakness. In
reality, Lincoln used the interim weeks to ready the military and put the gears of the North’s war machine into motion.
The brutal war that followed turned out to be far different from the smooth sailing the South initially expected.
Limited War vs. Total War
Prior to 1864, both Union and Confederate commanders had waged a rather limited war, with the armies usually
fighting only each other, without inflicting damages on innocent civilians or private property. Lincoln, Grant, and
Sherman realized, however, that they would have to use a new strategy to end the war, because it was the support of
these very same civilians that was keeping the war going in the South. Only when Southern civilians demanded an
end to the war would the Confederacy lose its will to fight. As a result, Lincoln, Grant, and Sherman decided to open
up a total war in which no one was innocent and private property was fair game.
Pressure on Lincoln
As the fighting dragged on into late 1864, more and more pressure fell on Lincoln to end the war. He came under fire
from a growing number of Peace Democrats who wanted to strike a deal with the South. Commonly referred to as
“Copperheads,” after the poisonous snake, these Peace Democrats were particularly numerous in Ohio, Indiana, and
Illinois, where there were many Confederate sympathizers. They believed that Lincoln and his generals had shown
that they were incapable of restoring the Union, and many were also angry that Lincoln had made the war about
slavery and emancipation. From the other side, Radical Republicans also attacked Lincoln, claiming that he was not
harsh enough on the South.
The Election of 1864
Bitterness and uncertainty clouded the election of 1864 . Despite opposition from the radicals, the Republican
Party lukewarmly nominated Lincoln for a second term. In a surprise move, Lincoln chose as his running mate
Democrat Andrew Johnson from the re-conquered state of Tennessee, hoping that Johnson would win him votes
from pro-war Democrats in the North. Together they campaigned on a platform for the South’s unconditional
surrender. Peace Democrats nominated Lincoln’s old foe General George McClellan, who wanted peace
negotiations and settlement. In the end, Lincoln managed to win 55 percent of the popular vote.
Importance of the Election
The election of 1864 was crucial because its outcome would determine the entire direction of the war: if Lincoln won,
the war would be fought until the South had surrendered unconditionally, but if McClellan won, there would almost
surely be a settlement. The election, therefore, was also the Confederacy’s last hope for survival. Although Lincoln
believed he would lose—even though the Union was finally winning, he thought that most Northerners were against
continuation of the war—his reelection ultimately provided a clear mandate to demand unconditional surrender.
The South’s Collapse
The South, meanwhile, was spiraling into turmoil. The Union naval blockade, Sherman’s campaign in Georgia, lack of
assistance from Britain, worsening class conflicts, and the collapse of the Southern economy were taking their toll.
Thousands were deserting the army, thousands more were going hungry at home, and thousands of slaves were
fleeing to Union lines. President Jefferson Davis tried desperately to hold the Confederate government together, but
none of the states would cooperate. In the final month of the war, the Confederacy grew so desperate that it even
began to offer slaves their freedom if they would enlist in the Confederate army.
The Hampton Roads Conference
Realizing the end was near, Davis requested peace negotiations in a final attempt to save the South. Lincoln agreed,
and delegations from both sides met at the Hampton Roads Conference in February 1865. No peace agreement
was reached, however, because Lincoln was insistent on the South’s unconditional surrender, while Davis demanded
full independence.
Union Victory at Appomattox
In April 1865, Ulysses S. Grant’s forces broke through Robert E. Lee’s defenses and forced the Confederates to
retreat. The Confederate forces burned their capital city, Richmond, behind them as they retreated in order to render
it useless to the Union armies. His men malnourished and heavily outgunned, Lee chose to surrender. Several days
later, on April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant formally and unconditionally at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia.
Grant accepted the surrender and provided the Southerners food for their march home. Jefferson Davis and other
ranking Confederates, meanwhile, had been captured fleeing Virginia. The Civil War was over.
Reconstruction of the South
The Ten-Percent Plan
The process of reconstructing the Union began in 1863, two years before the Confederacy formally surrendered.
After major Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Abraham Lincoln issued the Proclamation of Amnesty
and Reconstruction in which he outlined his Ten-Percent Plan. The plan stipulated that each secessionist state had
to redraft its constitution and could reenter the Union only after 10 percent of its eligible voters pledged an oath of
allegiance to the United States.
The Wade-Davis Bill and the Freedmen’s Bureau
Many Radical Republicans believed that Lincoln’s plan was too lenient: they wanted to punish the South for
secession from the Union, transform southern society, and safeguard the rights of former slaves. As an alternative to
the Ten-Percent Plan, Radical Republicans and their moderate Republican allies passed the Wade-Davis
Bill in 1864. Under the bill, states could be readmitted to the Union only after 50 percent of voters took an oath of
allegiance to the Union. Lincoln pocket-vetoed the bill, however, effectively killing it by refusing to sign it before
Congress went into recess. Congress did successfully create the Freedmen’s Bureau, which helped distribute food,
supplies, and land to the new population of freed slaves.
Presidential Reconstruction
On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln in Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., and
Vice President Andrew Johnson became president. Presidential Reconstruction under Johnson readmitted the
southern states using Lincoln’s Ten-Percent Plan and granted all southerners full pardons, including thousands of
wealthy planters and former Confederate officials. Johnson also ordered the Freedmen’s Bureau to return all
confiscated lands to their original owners. While Congress was in recess, Johnson approved new state constitutions
for secessionist states—many written by ex-Confederate officials—and declared Reconstruction complete in
December 1865.
Progressive Legislation for Blacks
Although Johnson vetoed Congress’s attempt to renew the charter of the Freedmen’s Bureau in 1866, Congress was
successful in overriding Johnson’s veto on its second try, and the bureau’s charter was renewed. They also passed
the Civil Rights Act of 1866 , which granted newly emancipated blacks the right to sue, the right to serve on juries,
and several other legal rights. Although Johnson vetoed this bill as well, Congress was able to muster enough votes
to override it. The Radical Republicans also passed the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, and the
Fourteenth Amendment, which made freed slaves U.S. citizens.
Johnson’s “Swing Around the Circle”
Many southerners reacted violently to the passage by Congress of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the two
amendments. White supremacists in Tennessee formed the Ku Klux Klan, a secret organization meant to terrorize
southern blacks and “keep them in their place.” Race riots and mass murders of former slaves occurred in Memphis
and New Orleans that same year.
Johnson blamed Congress for the violence and went on what he called a“Swing Around the Circle,” touring the
country to speak out against Republicans and encourage voters to elect Democrats to Congress. However, many of
Johnson’s speeches were so abrasive—and even racist—that he ended up convincing more people to
vote against his party in the midterm elections of 1866.
Radical Reconstruction
The Congress that convened in1867, which was far more radical than the previous one, wasted no time executing its
own plan for the Radical Reconstruction of the South. The First Reconstruction Act in 1867divided the South
into five conquered districts, each of which would be governed by the U.S. military until a new government was
established. Republicans also specified that states would have to enfranchise former slaves before readmission to
the Union. To enforce this order, Congress passed the Second Reconstruction Act, putting the military in charge of
southern voter registration. They also passed the Fifteenth Amendment, giving all American men—including former
slaves—the right to vote.
Johnson’s Impeachment
In an effort to limit Johnson’s executive powers, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act in 1867, which required
the president to consult with the House and Senate before removing any congressionally appointed cabinet
members. Radicals took this measure in an attempt to protect Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, a carryover from
Lincoln’s cabinet and a crucial figure in military Reconstruction. When Johnson ignored the Tenure of Office Act and
fired Stanton, Republicans in the House impeached him by a vote of 126–47. After a tense trial, the Senate voted to
acquit the president by a margin of only one vote.
The Black Codes and Ku Klux Klan
Despite sweeping rights legislation by Radical Republicans in Congress, southern whites did everything in their
power to limit the rights of their former slaves. During Presidential Reconstruction, white supremacist Congressmen
passed a series of laws called the black codes, which denied blacks the right to make contracts, testify against
whites, marry white women, be unemployed, and even loiter in public places. Violence by the Ku Klux Klan became
so common that Congress had to pass the Ku Klux Klan Act in1871 to authorize military protection for blacks.
Carpetbaggers, Scalawags, and Sharecroppers
Countless carpetbaggers (an epithet for northerners who moved to the South after the war) and scalawags (an
epithet for white Unionists and Republicans in the South) flocked to the South during Reconstruction and exerted
significant influence there. Although in many respects they achieved their goals of modernizing and Republican-izing
the South, they eventually were driven out by Democratic state politicians in the mid-1870s.
Most former slaves in the South, meanwhile, became sharecroppers during the Reconstruction period, leasing (NOT
OWNING) plots of land from their former masters in exchange for a percentage of the crop yield. By 1880, more
than 80 percent of southern blacks had become sharecroppers. As tenants on land owned by white, previously slave
owning men, African Americans were left vulnerable to laws passed in favor of land owners—especially after Federal
troops left the South, and the ideals of the Civil War and the 14 th amendment went with them.
Grant’s Presidency
To the Radicals’ delight, Johnson finally left the White House in 1868, when Republican Ulysses S. Grant was
elected president. Grant’s inexperience, however, proved to be a liability that ultimately ended Radical
Reconstruction. Because Grant had difficulty saying no, many of his cabinet posts and appointments ended up being
filled by corrupt, incompetent men who were no more than spoils-seekers.
As a result, scandal after scandal rocked Grant’s administration and damaged his reputation. In 1869, reporters
uncovered a scheme by millionaires Jim Fisk and Jay Gould to corner the gold market by artificially inflating gold
prices. Schuyler Colfax, vice president at the time, was forced to resign for his complicity in the Crédit Mobilier
scandal in 1872. The president lost even more credibility during his second term, when his personal secretary
helped embezzle millions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury as a member of the Whiskey Ring.
Liberal Republicans and the Election of 1872
The discovery of new scandals split the Republican Party in 1872, as reform-minded Liberal Republicans broke
from the ranks of moderates and radicals. The Liberal Republicans wanted to institute reform, downsize the federal
government, and bring a swift end to Reconstruction. They nominated New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley as
their party’s presidential candidate (he agreed to run on the Democratic Party’s ticket as well). Though already
marred by scandal, Grant easily defeated Greeley by more than 200electoral votes and 700,000 popular votes.
The Depression of 1873
In 1873, the postwar economic bubble in the United States finally burst. Over speculation in the railroad industry,
manufacturing, and a flood of Americans taking out bad bank loans slid the economy into the worst depression in
American history. Millions lost their jobs, and unemployment climbed as high as 15 percent. Many blacks, landless
whites, and immigrants from both North and South suffered greatly, demanding relief from the federal government.
Republicans, refusing to give in to demands to print more paper money, instead withdrew money from the economy
by passing the Resumption Act of 1875 to curb skyrocketing inflation. This power play by Republicans prompted
northerners to vote Democrat in the midterm elections of 1876, effectively ending Radical Reconstruction.
Striking Down Radical Reconstruction
By the mid-1870s, Democrats had retaken the South, reseating themselves in southern legislatures by driving blacks
and white Unionists away from the polls and employing violence and other unethical tactics to win state elections.
Most northerners looked the other way during this period, consumed by their own economic hardships.
In the late 1870s and early 1880s, a conservative Supreme Court also struck down much of the civil rights
legislation that Radical Republicans had passed. In the 1873 Slaughterhouse Cases, the Court ruled that the
Fourteenth Amendment safeguarded a person’s rights only at a federal level, not at a state level (in rulings ten years
later, the court further stipulated that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibited racial discrimination only by the U.S.
government, not by individuals). In 1876, the Court ruled in United States v. Cruikshank that only states and their
courts—not the federal government—could prosecute Ku Klux Klan members under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.
The Disputed Election of 1876
As the election of 1876 approached, Democrats nominated Samuel J. Tilden, a lawyer famous for busting corrupt
New York City politician William “Boss” Tweed in 1871. Tilden campaigned for restoration of the Union and an end
to government corruption. The Republican Party, on the other hand, chose the virtually unknown Rutherford B.
Hayes. Many Northern voters, tired of Reconstruction and hoping for more federal relief because of the depression,
voted Democrat. Ultimately, Tilden received 250,000 more popular votes than Hayes, and 184 of the 185 electoral
votes needed to become president—thus ending the Reconstruction of the South. When Democrats won, federal
troops left the South, leaving Southern states to dictate racist laws once again.
The Compromise of 1877
With the election result hanging in the balance, Congress passed the Electoral Count Act in early 1877, creating a
fifteen-man commission—eight Republicans and seven Democrats—to recount disputed votes in South Carolina,
Louisiana, and Florida. Not surprisingly, the commission determined by an eight-to-seven vote that Republican
Rutherford B. Hayes had carried all three states. Resentment and political deadlock threatened to divide the country,
but both parties were able to avoid division and strike a deal with the Compromise of 1877 . Democrats agreed to
concede the presidency to the Republicans in exchange for the complete withdrawal of federal troops from the South.
Hayes became president, withdrew the troops, and ended Reconstruction.
Questions:
1. What is an abolitionist?
2. In what ways did religious revivalism impact abolition?
3. How did immigration change/shape the question of slavery in America?
4. How did expansion into the west impact the slave question/ tension in America?
5. What was the Compromise of 1850?
6. What were fugitive slave laws?
7. What happened at Harper’s Ferry? Why is it significant?
8. Why was Lincoln’s election to presidency so controversial?
9. What was the Civil War? Why was it fought? (interpretive)
10. What was the critique of Lincoln’s handling of the war?
11. What is secession? What does it mean to “cede” from the union?
12. What was the Reconstruction?
13. What is the 13th Amendment?
14. What is the 14th Amendment?
15. Re-Cap: What IS an AMENDMENT?
16. What is the Ku Klux Klan? What was its influence on legislation (laws) and shaping the South?
17. How did the white southerners react to the Civil Rights legislation of 1866?
18. What were the “black codes”?
19. What is a “sharecropper”?
20. What were two opposite outcomes of the Reconstruction?
21. How did the economy shape how Americans felt about the continued Reconstruction and
enforcement of important laws throughout the South?