US History
A New Form of Slavery Takes Root:
Equality Is No Longer a Priority
The period of racial equality that emerged following the Civil War was short lived. Although
slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment, the oppression that accompanied slavery was still present.
While many of the rights that they had acquired still existed on paper, freedmen were unable to fight for
those rights. The political freedom that African Americans had gained was taken away. Voting rights
were stripped away from African-Americans by southerners through black codes. Elected AfricanAmerican congressmen were expelled from office (such as Henry Turner). The economic freedom that
some freedmen had acquired was also taken away. The land given to African-Americans was returned to
the Confederates who owned it before the war began. Sharecropping and the contract system ushered in
a new type of economic slavery. Freedmen were once again dependent on white landowners for food,
shelter and employment. Terrorist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan used fear and intimidation to
silence the voices of African-Americans and any whites that supported their cause. In doing so, the KKK
took away the social freedom of freedmen. In a sense, African-Americans were being enslaved in a new
kind of way.
The Republicans are Weakened:
Scandal & Depression
I never should have
appointed my friends
to government jobs!!
Throughout the early years of the Reconstruction Era, the Radical Republicans had fought hard
to ensure that freedmen would have equal rights in the United States. They outnumbered the southern
Democrats in both houses of Congress. As a result, it was easy for them to pass laws that helped former
slaves. However, that all began to change in the early 1870s. Republican and former Union General
Ulysses S. Grant was elected president in 1868. Grant did not choose his advisors well. Instead of
selecting them based on their merit, he used the spoils system. He gave government jobs to many of his
army friends and his wife’s relatives. Some of Grant’s appointees were accused of taking bribes and forced
out of office. These scandals outraged members of both the Republican and Democratic parties. This
caused the Republicans to split into two factions (just like the Democrats did in 1860). The Republicans
were no longer united and it became much more difficult for them to pass laws in Congress.
In 1873 a more serious problem prevented the Republicans from focusing on racial equality. One
of the most powerful banks in the country, Jay Cooke & Company, declared itself bankrupt. After the
collapse of the country’s largest bank, other banks began to fail. Soon afterwards, the stock market
collapsed. The event was so bad that the New York Stock Exchange was shut down for 10 days to allow
the economy to recover (which did not happen). This event, known as the Panic of 1873, caused an
economic depression that lasted for 5 years. By 1875, more than 18,000 businesses in the United States
had gone bankrupt and shut down. Unemployment and poverty became the biggest issues in the
country. Many Americans blamed the Republican Party for the economic hardships they endured
during this time. As a result, the Democrats won many congressional elections at in 1874, giving them
more power in congress. With more power in congress, Democrats were able to pass laws that favored
the South and did not protect the rights of African-Americans.
I’m broke and I
blame the
Republicans!
(weighs in…scales of justice, get it??!!)
The Supreme Court Weighs In….
The Supreme Court made several decisions that limited the rights of African-Americans during
this time. In the U.S. v. Cruikshank (1876), the court ruled that the federal government could NOT
punish people who violated the rights of African-Americans; only states had that power. This gave states
an enormous amount of power in dealing with African-Americans’ civil rights. Many southern states
would not punish people who violated African-American’s rights – as a result, violence against AfricanAmericans increased dramatically. In U.S. v. Reese (1876) the Supreme Court ruled that states had the
power to deny African-Americans their voting rights. The court ruled that the 15th Amendment did not
give all people the right to vote, it just said that they could not be denied the right to vote on the basis
of skin color. Therefore, states could deny people the right to vote according to other criteria. This led
to the passage of more black codes. These new black codes were state laws that denied AfricanAmericans the right to vote through literacy tests (only those who could read and write could vote), poll
taxes (charging people a tax to vote) and grandfather clauses (only people whose grandparents had voted
could vote). None of these laws were in “direct” violation of the 15th Amendment, because they did
deny anyone the right to vote based on “race, color or previous condition of servitude”.
The End of Reconstruction…
The end of Reconstruction came with the passage o the Compromise of 1877. The Compromise
of 1877 was a deal made between Republicans and the southern states. The presidential election of 1876
was too close to call. The southern Democratic Candidate, Samuel Tilden had 184 electoral votes and
needed only one more to win. The Republican Candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes, had 166 electoral votes.
Three southern states (with a total of 19 electoral votes) had not finished doing a recount. The
Republicans needed those electoral votes in order to win. The Democrats agreed to give Hayes and the
Republicans the votes in exchange for the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
All federal troops would be removed from the South.
The government would help to build a railroad from the South to the West Coast
The Federal government would give the South money to help rebuild
Hayes would appoint Democrats to his Cabinet
Democrats promised to respect the rights of Africans-Americans
The Reconstruction Era did result in a
reunification of the north and the south, but it
did not result in equality for African-Americans.
In fact, the inaction of the federal government
and the state governments of the South resulted
in the further oppression of African-Americans in
the U.S. The passage of the 14th and 15th
Amendments would provide a legal basis for the
Civil Rights Movement, but it would be another
80 years before it would begin.
Name:
Date:
Core:
U.S. History
The End of Reconstruction: Reflection Questions…
Directions: Use the today’s “A New Form of Slavery Takes Root: Equality is No Longer a Priority”
handout to answer the following questions in complete sentences.
Fact Check…
1. Which political party worked to increase the rights of former slaves during the early years of the
Reconstruction Era? ______________________________________________________________
2. Who was elected president in 1868? _________________________________________________
3. What two events weakened the power of the Radical Republicans in the 1870s?
a. _____________________________________________________________________
b. _____________________________________________________________________
4. What was the Panic of 1873? _________________________________________________________
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5. Briefly describe the Supreme Court’s verdict in each of the cases below:
Case
Description of verdict
U.S. v. Cruickshank
(1876)
U.S. v. Reese (1876)
6. What were poll taxes? ______________________________________________________________
7. What were literacy tests? ____________________________________________________________
8. Why weren’t poll taxes, literacy tests and grandfather clauses viewed as a violation of the 15th
Amendment? _____________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Reader Response…
1. Why do you think the author chose to subtitle this reading “A New Form of Slavery Takes
Root?” Use evidence from the text to support your response (ATITIC)
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4
Exemplary
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Insightful, well
organized, and
fluent
Deep
understanding of
text is
demonstrated
Specific
references to text
are used to
support ideas
Text references
are well
interpreted and
clearly connected
to response
3
Proficient
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Thoughtful,
organized, and
fluent
Clear
understanding of
the text is
demonstrated
Relevant
references to text
are used to
support ideas
Text references
are explained and
connected to
response
2
Progressing
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Organized and
somewhat fluent
Basic
understanding of
text is displayed
At least one
relevant example
from text is used
to support ideas
Text references
are somewhat
connected to
response
1
Beginning
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Disorganized or
confusing
Limited or no
understanding of
text is displayed
Limited or no
examples from text
are used to support
ideas
Text reference
seems irrelevant to
response