Chapter 13

The Meaning of Freedom,

The Failure of Reconstruction

The First Seven African Americans to Serve in the U.S.

The first seven African Americans to serve in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. Three of them—Benjamin S. Turner, Josiah T. Walls, and Jefferson H. Long—were former slaves.

I. State Constitutional Convention Delegates - Former Confederate states elect

delegates,1867-68 265 black men in ten southern states First time black men cast ballots Mostly Republicans Carpetbaggers Northern white migrants moving south to profit off

of war devastation Scalawags Scoundrels – native white southerners who hoped

for economic relief from Republican government

Constitutional Convention (cont.)

New state constitutions were progressive Constitution

All adult males vote – except Mississippi and Virginia

Statewide public education State support for private businesses

– especially railroad construction

Elections

Held in 1868 to ratify new state constitutions

Democratic responses varied Boycotted Some voted for ratification – attempt to

elect large number of Democrats Others voted against ratification

Southern black men cast ballots for the first time in 1867 in the election of delegates to state constitutional conventions. The ballots were provided by the candidates or political parties, not by state or municipal officials. Most nineteenth-century elections were not by secret ballot.

Black Political Parties White Republicans dominate 1,465 black men held political office 378 free blacks before the Civil War Most from Mississippi and South Carolina Majority of representatives in state houses

were black men Did not dominate any state politically None elected governor Six lieutenant governors 14 served in the U.S. House of

Representatives

II. The Issues

Promote the welfare of all citizens Education and social welfare Improve literacy and education for black

people Public schools Segregated (except New Orleans) Necessary education Uneven results Establish state supported schools

– The deaf, the blind, and the insane

• Criminal reform

The Issues (cont.)

Civil rights Public facilities for all people Introduce laws to prohibit discrimination Seen by white people as an attempt at

social equality White politicians defeated anti-

discrimination bills South Carolina passed but not effectively

enforced

III. Economic Issues Black politicians - Supported economic

development Enacted laws to prevent abuse of laborers Paid before or when crop sold Some even wanted to regulate laborers’

wages Protect land and property of small farmers

against seizure Republicans hoped to gain support from

white working class

Economic Issues (cont.) Land No programs to provide land to landless

- except South Carolina State land commission, 1869 Loans on generous terms 14,000 families gain land Corrupt and inefficiently managed High property taxes Forced landowners to sell

IV. Black Politicians: An Evaluation

Failed to significantly improve lives

Outnumbered by white Republicans

Could not enact their own agenda

Disagreement among black leaders

Divided by class and prewar status

V. Republican Factionalism

Southern Republicans – Factious Disagreements -Who should run and

hold political office Desperate for an office that paid a salary Ran against each other Re-nomination and re-election unusual Inexperienced leadership

VI. Opposition

White southerners Opposed black men in the political

system Did not accept the Fourteenth

Amendment Blamed Republicans for waste and

corruption Redeemers – Restore white democratic

power

VII. White Southern Opposition

Militant terrorist organizations Knights of the White Camellia The White Brotherhood The Whitecaps Remove black men from politics Accepted the use of violence Threats, intimidations, rapes, beatings, and

murder

The Ku Klux Klan Establish in Pulaski, Tennessee, 1866 Social club - Confederate veterans General Nathan Bedford Forrest Attracted all classes of white society Active in areas they could influence voting Controlled western Alabama, northern

Georgia and Florida panhandle Never appeared in Carolina and Georgia

Low Country

The flowing white robes and cone-shaped headdresses associated with the Ku Klux Klan today are mostly a twentieth-century phenomenon. The Klansmen of the Reconstruction era, like these two men in Alabama in 1868, were well armed, disguised, and prepared to intimidate black and white Republicans. The note is a Klan death threat directed at Louisiana’s first Republican governor, Henry C. Warmoth.

The Ku Klux Klan (cont.)

A campaign of violence Not well-organized or unified Reduced support for the Republican

party Eliminated leaders Benjamin F. Randolph – black chairman

of republican party, murdered Enforcement -Generally weak

Cool Down

In what ways could African Americans deal with the KKK. Why would they have problems combating the KKK?

Section 3

Protecting Civil Rights

VIII. The Fifteenth Amendment

Forbade states from excluding citizens from voting “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

Does not guarantee the right to vote Women Poll taxes Literacy tests Property qualifications

The Fifteenth Amendment

This optimistic 1870 illustration exemplifies the hopes and aspirations generated during Reconstruction as black people gained access to the political system. Invoking the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and John Brown, it suggests that African Americans would soon assume their rightful and equitable role in American society.

IX. The Enforcement Act Northern response to southern terrorism Increased federal authority 1870 Act

– Outlawed disguises and masks Ku Klux Klan Act, 1871 Federal offense to interfere with: Voting, hold office, serve on jury Authorize President to send in federal troops Suspend the writ of habeas corpus (rights to be

brought before a judge and not be arrested and jailed without cause)

X. The North Loses Interest

Northern commitment weakened Other issues Patronage, veterans benefits, tariffs Economy Panic of 1873 – Economic Depression Violence Racism Southern redemption

XII. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 “Full and equal enjoyment” Prohibit racial discrimination Public facilities, conveyances, theaters,

and others No attempt to enforce U.S. Supreme Court ruled

unconstitutional, 1883

XIII. The End of Reconstruction Reconstruction ended just as it started, with violence and

controversy. Violent Redemption In every Louisiana election, 1868-1876 Colfax Massacre Blacks hid in small town in defense of democratic takeover Held out for three weeks Easter Sunday 1873 – well armed white mob attacked,

killing 105 Worst single day bloodshed during reconstruction

End of Reconstruction con.

White League – 1874 Louisiana, white takeover of city

Murdered blacks, attacking courts Whites refused to pay taxes to republican

state government President Grant sent in federal troops to New

Orleans after 3,500 White Leaguers attacked and wiped out the black militia and Metropolitan Police.

Continued Violence 1875 Mississippi Shotgun Policy Mississippi declared open war on black

majority No longer feared federal government Masks and hoods discarded Republicans fled the state, others murdered Late 1874, 300 black people were hunted

down 1875 – 30 teachers, church leaders,

republican officials were murdered Black voters hid on election day

Dates of Readmission and Reestablishment

Once conservative white Democrats regained political control of a state government from black and white Republicans, they considered that state “redeemed.” The first states the Democrats “redeemed” were Georgia, Virginia, and North Carolina. Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina were the last. (Tennessee was not included in the Reconstruction process under the terms of the 1867 Reconstruction Act.)

Map 13–1. Dates of Readmission of Southern States to the Union and Reestablishment of Democratic Party Control

More Violence Hamburg Massacre, July 1876 Rifle clubs – demanded disarming of black militia Battle over armory 29 blacks taken prisoner 5 black leaders shot in cold blood Seven white men indicted for murder Zero convictions Federal troops sent to South Carolina South Carolina adopts “Shotgun Policy”

Hamburg Massacre cont.

Republicans running for office harassed Registered democrats attacked, beat

and killed blacks to prevent from voting. Democratic leaders gave direction: “In speeches to negroes you must remember that

argument has no effect on them. They can only be influenced by their fears, superstitions, and selfishness…Treat them so as to show them you are a superior race and that their natural position is that of subordination to the white man.”

The End of Reconstruction (cont.) The Compromise of 1877 Election 1876 Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, won popular election by

250,000 Rutherford B. Hayes, needed nineteen electoral votes,

167-185 Election fraud – 20 electoral votes were disputed Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina, both sides claimed

victory Republican North and Democratic South compromise Hayes wins Removal of federal troops “The whole South – every state in the south had got into

the hands of the very men that held us as slaves”

The Election of 1876

The Election of 1876

Although Democrat Samuel Tilden appeared to have won the election of 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes and the Republicans were able to claim victory after a prolonged political and constitutional controversy involving the disputed electoral college votes from Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina (and one from Oregon). In an informal settlement in 1877, Democrats agreed to accept electoral votes for Hayes from those states, and Republicans agreed to permit those states to be “redeemed” by the Democrats. The result was to leave the entire South under the political control of conservative white Democrats. For the first time since 1867, black and white Republicans no longer effectively controlled any former Confederate state.

XIV. Conclusion – Do not need to write

“A revolution but half-accomplished”--Carl Schurz, 1865

Despite the gains, freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote, Reconstruction was not a success

Bloody era Persistent racism Black people not prepared for roles in

government

Work on Unit 7 Study Guide