Explain why Reconstruction
failed because the North
abandoned it.
By: Tatiana, Lina, and Ashley
Thesis
Legal precedent in the Supreme Court coupled with
economic problems in the country led to Reconstruction
eventually failing.
Flaws in the 14th and 15th
Amendment...
~As the Supreme court started to see flaws in the 14th and 15th Amendments,
they started to make decisions that undermined these Amendments.
~ “During the 1870’s, the Court issued a series of decisions that undermined
both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.”1
~In US vs. Cruikshank, Mr. Chief Justice Waite stated in the Court’s decision
that “The fourteenth amendment prohibits a State from depriving any
person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; but this adds
nothing to the rights of one citizen as against another. It simply furnishes an
additional guaranty against any encroachment by the States upon the
fundamental rights which belong to every citizen as a member of society.”2
1. McDougal Littell, "Judicial and Popular Support Fade," in The American(n.p.: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005)
2. United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. (1874).
Flaws in the 14th and 15th
Amendment… (cont.)
~In the decision of the U.S. vs. Reese case Mr. Chief Justice Waite
stated that “Legal disability to vote at any such election, arising from
race, color, or previous condition of servitude, is removed by the
Fifteenth Amendment, as affirmed in the first section of the
Enforcement Act: but the Congress knew full well that cases would
arise where the want of other qualifications, if not removed, might
prevent the colored citizen from exercising the right of suffrage at
such an election”.3
3. United States v. Reese, 92 U.S. (1874).
Panic of 1873
~“In 1873, the country plunged into a severe economic
depression. Distracted by economic problems, Republicans
were in no mood to devote further attention to the South.”4
~“The total financial bloodbath cost the South...some $5.2
billion.”4
-When the North did not want to help the South with their
extreme economic problems, the Southern economy, which
was a large part of Reconstruction, failed further.
4. Eric Foner, "The Overthrow of Reconstruction," in Give Me Liberty!: An American History, by Eric Roner
(NewYork, US: W.W. Norton, 2005)
Bibliography
1. Littell, McDougal. "Judicial and Popular Support Fade."
In The American, 397-98.N.p.: Houghton
Mifflin
Company, 2005.
2. United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. (1874).
3.United States v. Reese, 92 U.S. (1874).
4.Foner, Eric. "The Overthrow of Reconstruction." In Give
Me Liberty!: An American History, by Eric
Roner,
38. New York, US: W.W. Norton, 2005.