Reconstruction Era: Black Culture, Election of 1868, Grant's Presidency Scandals

Unit VI 1861-1877 Part 7

Black Culture Many Freed Blacks established their own churches, institutions Many searched for lost families and hooked up Emulated the White Middle Class Black men did not want their wives or children working in the fields did not want their wives working at all BUT of all Black women (16 and up) worked for wages

Election of 1868 Republican: Grant (war hero) 214 Democrats: Seymour 80 Open defense of White Supremacy Wanted an end to Reconstruction

The KKK formed in 1866 Nathan Bedford Forrest Terrorized Blacks AND White Southern Republicans Killed 3 members of the SC legislature and 1 congressman from Arkansas

Grant No political experience Believed the President s job was to back congress Much corruption in his government: Gave his friends important appointment They betrayed his trust Only decent appointment: Sec. of State: Hamilton Fish

Grant Scandals Credit Moblier: French-owned construction co. bought shares of Union Pacific stock and bilked the Union Pacific AND federal gov t out of millions. Tried to avoid Congressional investigation by giving certain members of congress stock Investigation anyway: Biggest crook The VP: Schyler Colfax!

Grant Scandals Whiskey Ring: Sec of the Treasury, Ben Briston discovered that whiskey distillers filed false tax reports with the help of government workers who were paid off Babcock (Grant s private secretary) was the biggest crook here

Grant Scandals The Indian Ring: Secretary of War (Belknap accepted bribes to retain Indian posts Helen Hunt Jackson: A Century of Dishonor

The Republicans Stalwarts v Liberals People in the North were getting tired of Reconstruction and Republicans knew it Stalwarts: (used to be conservatives): Committed to the economic interests of the North (Tariff, etc) Took focus away from the Freedman and the Reconstruction) Liberals: Old Radicals now claim to be opposed to the Spoils System, Opposed to corruption

Grant Fell under the spell of the Stalwarts BUT DID respond to the Liberals Grant supported a Civil Service Commission (1871) to look into a civil service based on merit nothing came of it (fear of too much democracy, Irish, Chinese scoring high on tests and getting government jobs!)

Election of 1872 Republicans: Grant 286 Liberals (Republicans) deserted the party and nominated Horace Greeley Democrats: Horace Greeley 66 NOTE: Many Southern Republicans left the party to join the Democratic Party due to the split

The Economy Panic of 1873 began with the failure of an investment company (had invested too heavily in RR building) Grant unwittingly played a role Depression lasted for 4 years

Debtors wanted inflation Debtors wanted to inflate with greenbacks Inflation would reduce the VALUE of one s debt Would increase the amount of $ in circulation

BUT Grant and Stalwarts favored sound money based on the value of gold Would favor creditors Would keep the value of the debt high

The Greenbacks Still $356 million in greenbacks in circulation from the war Remember their value had fluctuated according to Union victories Had little real value after the war so debtors tried to use it to pay off debts Creditors would not accept the greenbacks as payment

Knox v Lee The Court ruled that the Greenbacks WERE legal tender The Stalwarts (Republicans) in congress represented businessmen, bankers, etc. They will put a stop to the Greenbacks

The Specie Resumption Act 1875 Said that after January 1, 1879, Greenbacks would be taken out of circulation and replaced with gold certificates whose value was firmly pegged to the value of gold The above would keep the value of the debt high and it favored creditors .hurt debtors especially farmers

The Greenback Party Was a third party that will show up in the next three elections Never had wide-spread support But kept the issue alive

Foreign Affairs Seward s Folly 1867: Seward bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million (for all of the snow and ice anyone could ever want! A better deal than Louisiana Purchase Alaska 2 cents an acre LP 3 cents an acre

Alaska Was valuable for animal pelts, mineral resources, gold found in 1898, oil found later, naval and later air bases

1867Midway Islands 1867 the U.S. annexed Midway islands

The Alabama Claims With Seward The Johnson-Clarndon Convention .Brits agreed to pay damages BUT congress did not approve the treaty because they wanted the Brits to apologize too! 1871 Hamilton Fish Treaty of Washington The Brits paid damages AND offered an apology

The End of Reconstruction The North was getting tired of the South s and the Freedmen s problems North wanted to concentrate on its own problems Grant continued to protect the republican governments in the South (B & T s)

1872 The Amnesty Act Restored the franchise to almost all in the South SO White Southerners constituted a majority of the electorate Where Blacks WERE a majority lots of violence and intimidation

Terrorist organizations Were used to keep the Black man from the polls KKK, Knights of the White Camilla, Red Shirts, White Leagues Policed the polls and ENCOURAGED voters to vote Democratic

The Force Act (1871) aka the KKK Act Gave the President the power to : Suspend Habeas Corpus Supervise congressional elections Employ troops to protect the Black man s right to vote Did not do much good

By the time Grant left office Seven former Confederate States had been Redeemed Typically, the B & T s could not maintain power on the state level when federal troops pulled out Southern state governments fell into the hands of the Redeemers (aka the Bourbons)

Election of 1876 Aka The Compromise of 1877 Republicans were worried about the Democrats making a comeback. All Southern states but South Carolina and Louisiana were redeemed Were also concerned about the Grant Scandals Needed a squeaky-clean candidate for 1876

Republicans chose Hayes Hayes was a proponent of Civil Service Reform so he might lure Liberals back into the party A former union army officer Former governor and congressman (OHIO) Wanted to end Reconstruction The Republican party passed over Blaine (Maine) who was Speaker of the House (but shady)

Democrats chose Tilden (NY) Was a reform Governor of NY Successfully got rid of the Tweed Ring and put Boss Tweed in jail! (We will talk about the political machine later) He really WAS reform-minded

Problems with the Election 20 electoral votes were in question: One from Oregon! (one of the three electors was disqualified because he held federal office) 19 from Louisiana, SC and Florida: B & T s still there and sent in one set of returns BUT new Redeemer governments sent in different returns

The vote Dems: Tilden had 184 electoral votes Reps: Hayes had 165 If Tilden had one more vote, or if Hayes had all 20 .then we would have a winner

Heres what happened For the benefit of the American public, Congress established a special electoral commission made up of: 5 Senators 5 members of the House 5 Supreme Court Justices

Of the 10 Members of Congress 5 were Republican 5 were Democrats The Justices: 2 were Republican and 2 were Democrat and one (David Davis) was an independent .

In the meantime Hayes was meeting with DEMOCRATS behind closed doors He made lots of promises so he could become the President: Would end Reconstruction Would give Federal Patronage to South and let THEM control how $ would be spent Would build Texas and Pacific RR through South A Democrat in the cabinet

Suddenly David Davis (the independent justice) was disqualified! He was replaced with a Republican! Hayes got all 20 electoral votes! Was called His Fraudulency Tilden was robbed!

Troops were removed from the South Within 10 years, traditional ruling class was restored to power Real social change will begin to occur in the 1950 s and 1960 s with the Civil Rights Movement

New State Governments in the South Were led by the Redeemers (aka the Bourbons) Some former planters Some Northerners Merchants, RR developers, financiers, industrialists Corrupt

All New Governments Lowered taxes, cut spending, cut services Hurt Poor whites as well as Blacks All opposition to the new State Governments was crushed Most allowed White Supremacy in the South so that they could push through their own agenda without interference (industrialize in the South)

Southern Industry Expanded Textile manufacturers moved South from the North: Closer to raw materials Lower wages (mostly women workers) Lower state taxes Ample water power

Factory workers were women Women made of the wages of men Blacks not welcome in the factories Still tied to the land or other outdoor work: Mining, Tobacco and cotton plantations, lumbering

The Tobacco Processing Industry The American Tobacco Company in NC Had a virtual monopoly on tobacco processing

The Iron Industry In Alabama

RR trackage doubled 1880-1890 Due in part to Northern investors

The Convict Lease Program Robbed people of much needed work. Convicts did the work for nothing

The South was still primarily agrarian Still cotton although prices were down Food prices were up Land continued to be exhausted 1/3 or more farmers were tenants By 1900 70% of privately-owned land was lost to the crop-lien system

New Black Leaders Booker T. Washington Last half of the 19thCentury: THE ATLANTA COMPROMISE: Advised Black men to educate themselves (in a trade not in English lit), and to become an integral part of the economy AND to emulate (copy) the habits of the white middle class be patient and rights would come

W.E.B. DuBois (later) Beginning of the 20thCentury The Niagara Movement: take you rights now! 1905 with others formed the NAACP Question for later .was the advice given by Washington and DuBois appropriate to their time periods?

The Supreme Court Undermined all gains of the National Supremacy Amendments I the 1880 s and 1890 s: Court ruled that the 14thAmendment only prohibited states from discriminating not anyone else! 1898 Williams v Mississippi: Court upheld literacy tests at the polls 1896: Plessey v Ferguson: separate but equal OK

Southern Literature Continued to Romanticize the Old South Song of the South Joel Chandler