Chapter 13 The Meaning of
Freedom:
The Failure of Reconstruction
1867-1877
Overview
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Reconstruction 1867-1877
Presidential Reconstruction under
Andrew Johnson
Radical Reconstruction
1868 Election
Constitutional Convention
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New State Constitutions
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AA men delegates
Southern White men boycott
3 Republican Groups attending
Conventions
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Carpetbaggers
Scalawags
AA Male Republicans
AA delegates to Conventions
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265 AA males of
1,000 elected
delegates (pic 286)
In most States AA
men made up
10-20% of
delegates
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AA were in majority
only in SC and LA
107 of 265 were
born slaves
40 served in Union
Army
Skilled
Professionals
Constitutions
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Ensured vote for all adult males except MS
or VA
Former Confederates not disfranchised
Broad Civil Rights guarantees
Some States provide 1st statewide system of
education
Private businesses and RR construction for
White Southerner support
1868 Elections
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To ratify the new constitutions and elect officials
Various White Democratic response
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Boycott elections
Vote against ratification
Voted for ratification and attempted to elect as many
Democrats as possible to office
In each State, majority ratify new State
Constitutions and elect AA men
African American Political
Leaders
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AA men gain political influence
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White Republicans dominate politics
# of AA men elected reflect a State’s
AA pop. (pic 287)
AA men did not dominate any State
politically
AA men did not run for important
offices then switch strategy
African American elected
officials
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Lt Gov P B S
Pinchback; LA
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1 month as
Governor in LA
6 others serve as Lt
Gov
Dec 1872-Jan 1873
African American Elected
Officials
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U.S. Senate
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Blanche K Bruce, MS
Hiram Revels, MS
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Completed unexpired terms
African American Elected
Officials
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Joseph Rainey
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1870 1st of 14 AA
men to serve in
House of Rep
Stats (287-288)
AA elected officials
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Well Qualified
Wealthy, former slave
owners, worked for
Freedmen’s Bureau
Professionals
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Not Qualified; diff.
levels of education or a
lack of education
Issues addressed by African
American Elected Officials
Education & Social
Welfare
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AA Literacy and
promote education
Public education
statewide
Some opposed
compulsory education
Integration?
Poll tax favored
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Supported Higher Ed
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Morrill Land Grant Act
Alcorn A&M (MS)
University of SC
Institution for the insane,
blind & deaf
Orphanages
State prisons
Medical & public
program
Revising State criminal
codes
Issues addressed by African
American Elected Officials
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Civil Rights
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Open public facilities for all (Integration)
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Division between AA & White Republicans
AA legislation to promote social equality
blocked by White Republicans &
Democrats
The Gibbs Brothers (289)
The Rollin Sisters (292)
Issues addressed by African
American Elected Officials
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Economic Issues
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Economic Development
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Laws proposed to ensure laborer payment &
wage regulation; laws failed
“Stay Laws”
Land
Business & Industry
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Railroad Expansion
African American Politicians:
An Evaluation
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Created foundation for
public education
Assistance for blind, deaf &
insane
Reform criminal justice
system
State support for economic
revival & expansion
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Failed to outlaw racial
discrimination
Could not create programs
that improved lives of
constituents
Could not enact agenda
without White Republicans;
outnumber AA politicians
Republican Factionalism
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Internal conflict between AA & White
Republicans
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Political Issues & strategies
Lack of party cohesion & discipline
Disagreement over who should run for
office
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High leadership turnover
Loss of economic security
Opposition
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White Democrats
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AA not equals
Did not accept 14th Amendment
Attacked Republican Government
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Blamed Republicans for waste & corruption
Want Redemption
The Ku Klux Klan
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Founded 1866 Pulaski, Tennessee
Grand Wizard-Nathan Bedford Forrest
Why Founded?
Membership
Where functioned?
Tactics
Effects
1st Wave of KKK/1900s/1950s/Present Day
Lynching
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Death by hanging and/or burning
Fear; make an example
Trophies, pictures, post cards
Picnic or Cookout
The Fifteenth Amendment
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Passed 1869/Ratified 1870
Person can not be deprived of the right
to vote because of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude
Enforcement Acts
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Congress passed in response to
terrorism in South
1870 Act
1871 Act
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Suspend writ of Habeas Corpus
Justice Department & Attorney General
The North Loses Interest
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Government reduces Klan violence
White Southerners
Radical Republicans frustrated with AA
Panic of 1873
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Financial crisis
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Failed businesses & financial institutions
Increased unemployment
Prices fall
1874: Democrats recapture majority in
House of Representatives
The Freedmen’s Bank
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Failed in 1874
AA lose $
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Uninsured investments
AA believed banks to be federal
agency
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Petition Congress & President for $
The Civil Rights Act of 1875
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Passed 1875;
Charles Sumner
(MASS)
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To open public
accommodations
regardless of race
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Schools, churches,
cemeteries, hotels &
transportation
Senate passes
1874
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Democrats control
legislation
Attempts to enforce
Unconstitutional
Compared to Dred
Scott
The End of Reconstruction
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Ended in violence and controversy
By 1875 White Democrats control most
former Confederate States
Violent Redemption
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1874: AA & White Republicans killed
Violence accompanies elections
“Shotgun Policy”
Hamburg Massacre
South Carolina tries Shotgun Policy
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Pres Grant sends federal troops
reluctantly
Compromise of 1877
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Presidential election
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Democrats/Republican claim win in Florida,
Louisiana and South Carolina
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Electoral vote tie
Democrats accept Hayes
Hayes promises
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Rutherford B Hayes (R) vs Samuel J Tilden (D)
not to support Republican Governors
Remove last federal troops from South
Beginning of Redemption Period
Chapter 13 The Meaning of
Freedom:
The Failure of Reconstruction
1867-1877