Chapter 17 Reconstruction and the
New South
(1865-1896)
Section 4 Change in the South
t
i
o
n
Which of the following is most important to
gaining freedom and equality?
A. Education
B. Money
C. The right to vote
D. The right to run for
government office
0%
A
A. A
B. B
C.
0% C0%
D. D
B
C
0%
D
i
o
n
How did the South change politically,
economically, and socially when
Reconstruction ended?
Grant’s Administration
• During Grant’ administration,
Northerners began losing
interest in Reconstruction
• It was time for the South to
solve its own problems
• Radical leaders began to
disappear from politics
(Thaddeus Stevens died)
• Southerners felt they knew
how to deal with African
Americans
• Southerners protested what
they called the “bayonet
rule”
• The use of federal troops to
support Reconstruction
governments
Republican Revolt
• 1870s- Rumors of
corruption in Grant’s
administration and in
Reconstruction
governments spread
• Some Republicans split
the party over the issue
of corruption
• Another broke away over
Reconstruction
• Called themselves the
Liberal Republicans
• Nominated Horace
Greeley to run against
Grant in 1872
• Grant was reelected
Amnesty Act
• Pardoned most former
Confederates
• Full rights were granted
including voting
• Most were in the
Democratic party
• Democrats soon gained
control of state
governments in the
South
• The KKK helped the
Democrats take power by
terrorizing Republican
voters
Republican Problems
• 1873- A series of political
scandals came to light
• One scandal was with the
vice president
• These scandals damaged
the Grant administration
and the Republicans
• Grant and the nation also
endured a severe economic
depression
• Started with the Panic of
1873 when a series of bad
railroad investments forced
the powerful banking firm of
Jay Cooke and Company to
declare bankruptcy
Panic of 1873
• Forced small banks to close
and the stock market to
plummet
• 1000s of businesses shut
down
• Tens of 1000s of Americans
were out of work
• Blame for the hard times fell
on the Republicans
• Congressional election of
1874- Democrats gained seats
in the Senate and House of
Representatives
• This weakened Congress’
commitment to Reconstruction
• And on protecting African
American Rights
Election of 1876
• The Republicans wanted
someone besides Grant
• Republicans wanted to
win back Liberal
Republicans and unite the
party
• The Republicans
nominated Rutherford B.
Hayes, governor of Ohio
• Hayes was honest and
had moderate views of
Reconstruction
• Democrats nominated
Samuel Tilden, governor
of New York
• Tilden gained fame by
fighting corruption in New
York City
Election of 1876 Continued
• Tilden looked like the
winner (250,000 more
votes)
• 4 states had disputed
results and kept the
outcome in doubt
• Tilden had 184 electoral
votes.
• 1 short of winning
• Hayes needed all 20 of
the disputed votes to win
• A commission was set up
to decide and they voted
8 to 7 to award all 20
votes to Hayes
Compromise of 1877
• Democrats in Congress
threatened to fight the decision
• Republicans and Southern
Democrats reportedly met in
secret to work out an
agreement
• March 2, 1877- Hayes was
declared the winner
• The Compromise of 1877The new government would
give more aid to the South
• Republicans would withdraw
all remaining troops from
Southern states
• The Democrats promised to
maintain African American
rights
A New Policy
• In his Inaugural Address,
Hayes declared that what
the South needed most
was…
• The restoration of “wise,
honest, and peaceful local
self-government”
• Hayes decided to let the
Southerners handle racial
issues
• The federal government
would no longer attempt
to reshape Southern
society
• Reconstruction was over
Democrats in Control
• Large landowning
Democrats took power
• But also merchants,
bankers and other business
leaders who supported
economic development
• They called themselves
“Redeemers”
• They redeemed the South
from Republican rule
• They adopted conservative
policies (lower taxes and
reduced government
spending)
• They cut services from
Reconstruction (Including
public education)
• These policies dominated
Southern politics into the
1900s
Rise of the New South
• Southerners looked to
develop a strong
industrial economy
• This “New South” would
have industries based on
the region’s abundant
coal, iron, tobacco,
cotton, and lumber
• Textile and iron mills
sprang up across the
South
• Industry grew because
there was a cheap and
reliable workforce
• Factory workers put in
long hours for low wages
• The railroad system was
rebuilt and doubled in 10
years (1880 to 1890)
• Agriculture remained the
South’s main economic
activity
Rural Economy
• Supporters of the New
South wanted to have
the small farms raise a
variety of crops rather
than cotton
• But most went to
unprofitable
sharecropping
• Debt caused problems
for poor farmers
• To repay debts, farmers
grew cash crops
• Main crop was cotton
• Too much cotton was
produced and prices
fell
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A
Divided
Society
Dreams of justice faded for African
Americans when Reconstruction
faded
The 15th Amendment prohibited
states from denying the right to vote
because of race
Southerners found a way to get
around this Amendment
Southerners required a poll tax
(many African Americans and poor
whites couldn’t vote)
Another approach was to make
prospective voters take a literacy
test (Had to read difficult parts of the
Constitution)
Literacy tests also kept some whites
from voting so some states passed
grandfather clauses
If your father or grandfather voted it
gave you the right to vote
These laws and threat of violence
caused African American voting to
decline drastically
Jim Crow Laws
• By 1890s segregation
was a common feature of
the South
• The South passed Jim
Crow laws that required
African Americans and
whites to be separated in
almost every public place
• 1896- Plessy v.
Ferguson- Segregation
was legal as long as it
was equal
• “Separate but equal”
• The facilities were in no
way equal
• White violence rose
including lynching
Reconstruction’s Impact
• Reconstruction was a
success and a failure
• It helped the South rebuild
its economy
• But most of the South
remained agricultural and
poor
• African Americans gained
greater equality, created
their own institutions, and
shared in governments
with whites
• Their advancements did
not last
• Civil rights leader W.E.B.
Du Bois said “The slave
went free, stood a brief
moment in the sun; then
moved back again toward
slavery”
i
o
n
How did the South change politically,
economically, and socially when Reconstruction
ended?
-Politically: power shifted to Democrats, who
instituted conservative policies
-Economically- developed more industries,
agriculture included sharecropping and tenant
farming as well as large plantations
-Socially- laws created segregation and limited
African American voting rights, white violence
against African Americans increased
Chapter 17 Section 4 Quiz
• THE LAST ONE!
Most former Confederates were
pardoned by the
A. Confederate Act.
B. Amnesty Act.
C. Fifteenth
Amendment.
D. Fourteenth
Amendment.
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Am
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Ac
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Ac
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25% 25% 25% 25%
Reconstruction ended with the
A. Amnesty Act.
B. Compromise of
1877.
C. Civil Rights Act of
1875.
D. Fifteenth
Amendment.
ee
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h
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Farmers thought that the quickest
way to repay debt was to grow
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sugarcane.
cash crops.
tobacco.
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As a means of keeping poor people and
African Americans from voting, many
Southern states required
A. a crop tax.
25% 25% 25% 25%
B. Jim Crow laws.
C. Reconstruction
laws.
D. a poll tax.
What type of society did Southern states
form by passing the Jim Crow laws?
A. an integrated
society
B. a healthy society
C. a segregated
society
D. an economic
society
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