Brief PowerPoint about the end of Reconstruction and the social issues left in its wake

1. T H E A M E R I C A N S S E C T I O N 1 2 . 3
Reconstruction Comes to An
End

2. Southern Resistance Increases
Socially
 Carpetbaggers: Southern
Democrats name for
Northerners that come
South
 Scalawags: Name for
Southerners who joined the
Republican Party
 Rise of the KKK (Ku Klux
Klan)
“Is This A Republican Form of
Government?"
Harper's Weekly, September 2, 1876

3. Southern Resistance Increases
Politically:
 Black Codes: racist state laws
that limited freed slaves’ rights
 Poll taxes (pay to vote) [does
affect poor whites as well]
 Literacy test [also affects white
voters]
 Grandfather Clause (if your
grandfather could vote in 1860,
no poll tax or literacy test)
 Amnesty Act – returned the right
to vote and old office to many
former Confederates
 Attempts to stop resistance:
 Enforcement Acts:
 Oversee elections
 Send troops against the KKK

4. Southern Resistance Increases
• White supremacists killed important
Reconstruction leaders and used
violence to prevent African-Americans
from participating in politics and
achieving economic independence
1) The rise of the Ku
Klux Klan and other
white supremacy
groups
• Democrats, who were opposed to
Reconstruction, used violence to take
over state government from
Republicans, who supported
Reconstruction
2) The use of
intimidation against
Republican voters in
Mississippi, Florida,
South Carolina, and
Louisiana

5. Southern Resistance Increases
• Increased democratic power in the
South by adding thousands of eligible
Democratic voters
• Removed an important source of
African-American support in the South
3) Congress’
approval of both
the Amnesty Act
and the end of
the Freedmen’s
Bureau

6. Public Opinion Changes
 Corruption up, people
think money is being
wasted
 Credit Mobilier Affair
 Whiskey Ring
 Belknap Bribery
 Panic of 1873: people more
worried about the economy
than punishing the South
 Currency dispute: poor
want more money printed
 Supreme Court is
dominated by racists

7. Changes in the Republican Party
 White southern
‘scalawags’ not
committed to
protecting African-
Americans
 The party splits over
corruption
 Republicans v. liberal
Republicans

8. Changes in the Republican Party
• Diverted public attention in the North
from what was happening in the South
• Decreased support for Republicans
(and their Reconstruction efforts)
4) The exposure of
widespread
corruption in the
Grant
administration
• Weakened the Radical’s hold over the
Republican Party
• Lack of party unity made it harder for
Radicals to impose Reconstruction
5) The formation of
the Liberal
Republican Party
and the
presidential
campaign of 1872

9. Public Opinion Changes
• Diverted public attention in the
North from what was happening in
the South
• Weakened support for Radicals to
impose Reconstruction
6) The Panic of
1873, economic
depression, and
currency
controversies

10. Supreme Court Interpretation
 U.S. v. Cruikshank
14th Amendment does not
involve people
discriminating against
people; only the
government discriminating
 U.S. v. Reese
undermined idea all black
males can vote: ruled the
15th Amendment didn’t give
right to vote, simply listed
grounds on which states
could not deny right to vote

11. Supreme Court Interpretation
• Undid specific social changes
accomplished by Reconstruction
• Stripped the federal government of
much of its power to protect the civil
and voting rights of African-Americans
7) The Supreme Court
decisions handed
down in the
Slaughterhouse cases,
US v. Cruikshank, and
US v. Reese
• Weakened Radical Republican
leadership
8) The deaths of such
Radical Republican
leaders as Charles
Sumner and Thaddeus
Stevens

12. Election of 1876
Republican- Hayes of Ohio
v.
Democrat – Tilden of NY
• Tilden won popular vote,
needs 1 electoral vote more
• Florida’s 20 electoral votes
uncertain b/c of KKK
violence
 So…the electoral college
can’t render a verdict!

13. Compromise of 1877
 Hayes became president
 Democrats allow it b/c
troops will leave the
South
 Result: “Redemption” –
White Southerners
regain control of the
South
**White Supremacy and
Home Rule Restored**

14. Compromise of 1877
• The end of Reconstruction
• Withdrew federal troops from
Louisiana and South Carolina thereby
restoring Democrats to power
• Established home rule throughout the
South allowing reversal of many
Reconstruction reforms
9) The Compromise
of 1877 (the political
deal reached
between supporters
of Hayes and
Tilden)

15. Common Core Practice
1. This cartoon depicts
conditions
a) before the Civil War.
b) during the Civil War.
c) during Reconstruction.
d) None of the above.

16. Common Core Practice
2. What did the Ku Klux
Klan believe?
a) African Americans should
not vote or hold office.
b) African Americans had a
right to an education.
c) White Southerners were
better off after the Civil
War.
d) The courts were the best
place to resolve racial
differences.

17. Common Core Practice
3. The Ku Klux Klan and
the White League
intimidated blacks
through
a) lynching.
b) burning schools and
churches.
c) murder.
d) All of the above.

18. Common Core Practice
4. What point of view does
this cartoon present?
a) It favors the Ku Klux
Klan.
b) It is neutral toward the
Reconstruction South.
c) It opposes the Ku Klux
Klan.
d) It was a recruitment
poster for the Ku Klux
Klan.