Grant Administration
• Grant appointed friends and acquaintances
with a lack of experience
– Spoils system (Jackson would approve!!!)
• Many turned out to be dishonest
– Construction company kick-back (V.P.)
– Whiskey Ring
• Bribes to IRS to avoid taxes – costs gov’t billions
– Shady land deals
Liberal Republican Party
• Wanted “honesty”
– Horace Greeley was candidate in 1872
– Lost to Grant
• died immediately after election
• What you should get out of this:
– Republican Party was split in two
• Weakened
Review
• We have discussed various reasons to support
the notion that Reconstruction was a struggle.
– When and why did Reconstruction itself collapse?
• Think: Democrats, Republicans, Government
• Rise of oppositional groups, Amnesty Act,
Republican corruption and disunity
Objectives
• Continue to trace the demise of the
Republican Party and the downfall of
Reconstruction.
• Determine if Reconstruction was a success or
a failure.
In addition…
• Panic of 1873
– Railroad company is broke, 3 million jobs lost,
currency dispute
– Greenback dispute- weren’t backed by gold
– Specie Resumption Act 1875- Gold Standard
Long story short…
• By 1874, Radical Republicanism is dissolving
– Government is struggling, Party is split, exConfederates are regaining rights
• Supreme Court itself is undermining
Republican actions!
Supreme Court Decisions
• Slaughterhouse (1873)
– Civil Rights were up to states, not federal gov’t (14th
amendment undermined)
• U.S. v. Cruikshank (1876)
– Federal government could not punish people who
oppressed blacks (undermined 14th amendment)
• U.S. v Reese (1876)
– 15th Amendment didn’t grant voting rights, just stated
grounds on which they couldn’t be taken away
• All were eventually overturned, but at the time did a
lot of damage
Equal Rights Fades Away
What causes the collapse?
• No support of the Supreme Court to enforce
laws
• Republican Party losing credibility
• Reconciliation becomes a priority
• ***Government can’t impose moral change
• All of this amounts to Civil Rights taking a back
seat!!!!!!
Democrats “Redeem” South
• 1869 -1875, Democrats regain control of state
governments
• “Redemption” = Return to power
• 1876- Congressional Reconstruction ENDS
• Recap:
– Lincoln- 1863-1865
– “Presidential Reconstruction”- 1865-1867
– “Congressional Reconstruction” – 1867-1876
Election of 1876
• Corruption = Grant is out!
• Republican  Rutherford B. Hayes
• Democratic  Tilden
– Cleaned up corrupt Tweed Ring (Boss Tweed… a story for
another day)
Election of 1876
• Tilden wins popular vote but not electoral
majority
– Votes are disputed
– Republican commission decides in favor of Hayes
• throws out votes from counties that kept voters from
the polls
– South willing to accept under one condition…
Compromise of 1877
• Withdraw troops from south (Congressional
Reconstruction Plan)
• Give South money to build a R x R
• Appoint Conservative Southerners to cabinet
Bye-Bye Republicans
• No longer controlled governments in any
Southern states
– Democrats achieved “home rule”
– Undid pro-black Reconstruction
• Restricted rights, wiped out social programs,
dismantled public schools
• RECONSTRUCTION ENDS (1877)
Review- Downfall
• Republicans gave blacks rights, but they were
not well protected
– Supreme court undermined amendments
• Radicals did not provide land reforms for freed
slaves
– Freed slaves lacked independence
– Review: Rebirth of “slavery”
• Underestimated racism
What do you think…
• Was Reconstruction a success or failure??
– Debate Activity!
• Quiz Tuesday!!! (This is your review)
• Homestretch: Trace the evolution of the Civil
Rights movement through the 1960s.