Reconstruction



Reconstruction

 

I. Background of Reconstruction

A. Reconstruction was the period in US history after the Civil War

B. Also refers to process that the Union restored relations with the Confederate states after their defeat

C. Lasted from 1865-1877

D. One of the most controversial periods in US history as many historians still debate successes and failures today

E. Problems facing South after Civil War

1. Cities like Atlanta and Richmond lay in ruins

2. Railroad system destroyed

3. North did not have nearly as much rebuilding to do

F. Questions during Reconstruction

1. How should the 11 states that seceded be readmitted?

2. How, if at all, should the leaders of the Confederacy be punished?

3. What rights should be granted to the 4 million slaves, and how should they be protected?

4. How should the war-ravaged South be rebuilt?

II. The Debate over Reconstruction

Some Northerners believed Confederate states should be treated as territories

Others thought the South still belonged to the Union

While others thought the Southern leaders but not the states should be punished

Lincoln’s Plan - December 1963 President Lincoln announced plan for Reconstruction

Offered pardon to any Southerner who took oath to the Union

 

A. 10% plan - If 10 percent of stateís voters took the oath the state could adopt new constitution and be readmitted to the Union

-10 % based on number of people who voted in the 1860 presidential election

-state’s new constitution had to prohibit slavery

-Early Congressional Reaction

-Many Northerners thought plan was too mild

-In 1864 Congress proposed that half the voters in the state had to take the oath of loyalty called the Wade-Davis bill

B. National debate over who controlled Reconstruction policy, President or Congress

-January 1865 Congress proposed the 13th Amendment

-Called for abolition of slavery throughout the nation

-In March 1865 Congress created the Freedme’ís Bureau to protect the interests of Southern blacks - Most black were homeless and/or poor

-Lacked education because Southern laws barred them from going to school

-Freedmen-‘ís Bureau worked to improved conditions for blacks Civil War ended on 4/9/1865

-Less that week after war ended Lincoln assassinated by John Wilkes Booth

Vice-President Andrew Johnson becomes President

III. The Start of Reconstruction

A. Johnson’s Plan - Offered pardons to Southerners except main Confederate leaders and wealthy Confederate supporters defeated Southern states to hold conventions to form new governments

had to abolish slavery and vow loyalty to Union in order to qualify for readmission did not offer blacks a role in Reconstruction

-13th Amendment ratified in 1865

B. The Black Codes - series of discriminatory laws passed by state governments that aimed to keep blacks at an inferior position in society

- laws included allowing employers to whip black workers and allow states to jail unemployed blacks and hire out their children

C. Violence against African-Americans

a. in 1865 and 1866 5,000 Southern blacks were murdered by whites

b. race riots in 1866 in Memphis and New Orleans

c. in 1866 Ku Klux Klan was founded

IV. The Struggle over Reconstruction

A. Many new Southern congressman were former Confederate officials

B. Congress had a Republican majority and refused to seat any of the Southerners elected from Confederate states

C. The Radicals and the Moderates

1. Radicals wanted a new Reconstruction policy

a. led by Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens

b. felt federal government needed to take strong actions to protect rights of blacks and loyal whites in the South

c. wanted to give blacks the right to vote

2. Moderates were the larger of the two groups

a. States should decide if blacks can vote

b. Supported Radicals that blacks need greater protection and that Congress should determine Reconstruction policy

D. The Civil Rights Act

1. passed in early 1866 along with Freedmenís Bureau Act

2. guaranteed many rights to former slaves but not the right to vote

3. Vetoed by Johnson; didnít think federal government should protect blacksí rights

4. Congress repassed the law and overruled the veto, this was the first major law in US history to do so

 

E. The 14th Amendment

1. passed in June 1866 by Congress

2. gave citizenship to African-Americans

3. guaranteed all federal laws would apply equally to blacks and whites

4. barred former Confederate officials from holding high political office again

5. Congress declared states must ratify 14th Amendment to be readmitted into the Union

a. Johnson urged states to reject it which many did

b. Tennessee did not, and was the first Southern state allowed back in the Union

c. In 1868 most states finally ratified the Amendment

d.

F. The Reconstruction Acts (Radical Reconstruction)

1. series of laws passed in early 1867

a. abolished all Southern state governments formed under Johnsonís plan

b. divided seceded states, excluding Tenn., into 5 military districts

c. major general commanded each area with federal troops stationed to help enforce the acts

d. outlined process for 10 states not in Union to be able to rejoin

i. state election boards would register all adult black males and all qualified white males as voters

ii. voters would elect a convention to adopt new state constitution

iii. voters elect governor and state legislature

iv. state would have to ratify 14th Amendment

v. Johnson vetoed the acts but Congress easily overruled his vetoes

A. The Impeachment of Johnson

a.  Congress passed two more acts in 1867

b. The Tenure of Office Act

c. The Command of the Army Act

1. In February 1868 he violated the Tenure of Office Act when he dismissed Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton

2. Radicals demanded Johnson be removed from office

3. on 2.24.1896 the House of Representatives voted 126 to 47 to impeach the President

4. On 5.16.1886 the Senate voted 35 to 19 to removed Johnson from office

a. One vote short of 2/3 majority that is required

b. Johnson remained President

5. In 1869 Congress proposed the 15th Amendment

a. Made it illegal to deny males the right to vote because of their race

b. Ratified in 1870 by the states

H. The Reconstruction Governments

A. New state governments established under Reconstruction Acts

B. Many Southern whites protested by refusing to vote in the elections

C. Republicans won control of every new state government

D. By 1870 all former Confederate states had been readmitted to the Union

E. The Republicans of the South

1. Consisted of three main groups

- blacks

-former Northerners who became known as carpetbaggers

- Southern white Republicans were called scalawags

2. Blacks formed the largest group

3. Only 17 blacks elected to Congress during Reconstruction

4. Many carpetbaggers were former Union soldiers

- moved to south for economic opportunities

- more than 60 carpetbaggers won election to Congress

5. Most scalawags were poor whites living in hilly areas in the South

- resented plantation owners

-looked to new governments for education and jobs

F. New State Programs and Policies

1. Established the first public, tax-supported school system in most states of the South

- considered by many historians to be most significant achievement of

new state governments

a. took over schools established by Freedmenís Bureau and built more

b. blacks flocked to these schools

c. many whites refused to attend so most Southern states segregated schools by race

2. Major economic problems in South

a. Agriculture recovered slowly

b. Few could afford to launch new industry

c. Southern governments offered to aid railroad and various industries

3. Opened political process to Southern blacks

a. Banned racial discrimination

b. Guaranteed right to vote and hold political office for blacks

G. White Resistance

1. Many whites refused to support government

2. Some had land taken away from them because they were unable to pay taxes

3. Corruption angered many whites

4. Basic reason for white opposition was that most Southern whites could not accept the idea

of former slaves voting and holding office

VI. The End of Reconstruction

A. The Republicans Lose Power

1. Southern Democrats began to regain control of the South in 1869

2. use of violence to keep blacks from voting

a. President Ulysses S. Grant tired to stop it but could not

b. Played large part in Democratic victories

3. Many Northerners lost interest in Reconstruction in 1870s

4. US troops aiding governments were gradually withdrawn

B. The 1876 Presidential Election

1. led to end of Reconstruction

2. Rep. Rutherford B. Hayes vs. Dem. Samuel J. Tilden

3. outcome depended on 3 Southern states disputed electoral votes that still had Reconstruction governments

4. Hayes took office in a compromise which included an agreement to remove federal troops and officially ended Reconstruction

VII. Historiography of Reconstruction

A. Uniform and highly critical view of Reconstruction prevailed for years after

B. White Americans in both North and South had come to believe that few differences divided the sections

C. Most white Americans believed in the superiority of their race

D. The Dunning School

1. Reconstruction, Political and Economic (1907) by William A. Dunning

2. Portrayed Reconstruction as corrupt outrage perpetrated on the South by a vicious and vindictive group of Northern Republican Radicals

3. another motive was to protect Northern business interests

E. W. E. B. Du Bois

1. 1910 article and Black Reconstruction (1935)

2. Reconstruction had been an effort of the part of the masses to create a more democratic society

3. misdeeds of government greatly exaggerated

4. the governments had been expensive because they tried to provide education and services never attempted in the South before

5. due to his Marxist theory many historians dismissed his argument

F. Revisionist view

1. Vann Woodward, David Donald, Thomas B. Alexander

2. Reconstruction governments not as bad as previously assumed

3. This view had growing appeal during the "Second Reconstruction" during the civil rights movement

4. Republicans were in a genuine effort to solve the problem of race in the South

5. Corruption in South was no worse than it was in the North

6. By ending Reconstruction it consigned blacks to more than a century of injustice and discrimination

G. Recent view

1. Attempts to draw attention to what was achieved during Reconstruction

2. Former slaves used new relative freedom to build certain independence for themselves in Southern Society

3. Eric Foner compared aftermath of slavery in US to Caribbean; said it was striking how much US former slaves moved toward freedom in a short time

4. African-Americans won a measure of individual and community autonomy

VIII. Effects of Reconstruction

A. Union was restored and rebuilding of the South began

B. Public school systems established in South

C. Failed to solve economic problems of blacks or South as a whole

D. made Southern whites firm supporters of the Democratic party

E. failed to bring racial harmony to the South

F. whites refused to share political power so blacks set up own churches and other institutions rather than try

and join white society

G. blacks gradually lost the rights they had gained

H. By early 1900s Southern states had laws to prevent blacks from voting like literacy tests and poll Taxes

plus other violations of rights

 

 

Brief Reconstruction Timeline

- 1861-1865 American Civil War

- 1863 January 1st Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln frees all slaves in rebel-held areas

In December Lincoln announces his Ten Percent Plan for Reconstruction

- 1864 Congress proposes Wade-Davis Bill - Lincoln vetoes Wade-Davis Bill

- 1865 January Congress proposes 13th Amendment to US Constitution

-April 9th the Civil War ends

-April 15th President Lincoln is assassinated,

-Vice-President Andrew Johnson assumes Presidency

-In May Johnson announces his own Reconstruction plan

-During summer and fall new state governments were formed throughout the South under Johnsonís plan

-In December the 13th Amendment is ratified

-Congress returns from long recess, refuses to seat members from former Confederate states

- 1866 Race riots in Memphis and New Orleans, white mobs kill blacks

-Ku Klux Klan formed in Tennessee

-Congress passes Freedmenís Bureau Act and Civil Rights Act overriding Presidential Vetoes

-June Congress passes 14th Amendment

-Debate over who controlled Reconstruction policy Congress or President

- 1867 In March Reconstruction Act passed over Presidentís veto

-Congress passes Tenure of Office Act and the Command of the Army Act

- 1868 President Johnson dismisses Secretary of War Edwin Stanton

-House of Representatives impeach Johnson on 2/24

-May 16 he is spared conviction and removal from office by one vote in the Senate

-14th Amendment is ratified

-Ulysses S. Grant elected President

- 1869 Congress passes 15th Amendment

-Democrats regain control of Tennessee and Virginia

- 1870 15th Amendment is ratified

-Republican control ends in North Carolina

- 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act passed

-Georgia goes under Democratic rule

- 1872 Grant re-elected as President

- 1874 Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas come under Democratic control

- 1876 Mississippi comes under control of Democrats

-Rutherford B. Hayes wins disputed election over Samuel J. Tilden

- 1877 Hayes becomes President and withdraws federal troops from Florida, South Carolina and Louisiana

Reconstruction of the South ends

 

 

The Successes and Failures of Reconstruction for the Equality of Slaves

 

-Failures

• Freedmen's Bureau

• required former slaves and their owners to sign contracts

• Issued food and supplies to blacks

• Created more than 100 hospitals

• Resettled more than 30,000 people

• Created more than 4300 schools

• Didnít solve the serious economic problems for African Americans

• - still lived in poverty

• suffered from racist threats and violence and from laws restricting their civil rights

• Required slaves to plant and harvest crops

o Resembled the same old treatment of slaves

• Bureau Contracts

• Gave workers a lien on crops they raised to protect their due wages

• Courts, however took the side of the whites usually

 Black Codes - Passed by legislators of southern states

• Said that former slaves could now own property, witness, sue, be sued, and marry

• Really just enforced the inferiority of blacks

• Blacks were punished for breaking labor contracts

• The freed people continued to be sources of labor like before the war

 

• Dred Scott Case

• dealt with the legal right of a black to become a citizen of the United States

• While still on free territory, Scott had been allowed to marry a woman who was also a slave

• after an attempt at self-purchase, Scott brought suit in the state court on the grounds that residence in a free territory released him from slavery

• Supreme Court of Missouri, however, ruled that upon his being brought back to territory where slavery was legal, the status of slavery reattached to him and he had no standing before the court

• Chief Justice Roger Taney gave his opinion that no African American, whether free or a slave was a citizen of the U.S. or entitled to privileges by the constitution

• Slaughter House Case of 1873

• Said that states could define the rules by which its citizens could conduct their lives

• -First posed the problem of defining state citizenship as against U.S. citizenship

• Disobeyed the 14th amendmentís guarantee that no person could be deprived of his liberty without due process of law

• - Associate Justice Samuel Freeman Miller stated that the purpose of the amendment was fundamentally to protect the rights of blacks, not to arrogate to the federal government the entire domain of civil rights in the separate states

 

• Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

• Leader was Nathan Bedford Forrest

• Organization of white men determined to intimidate their black neighbors and force them into submission

• Secret terrorist organization that originated in the southern states during the period of Reconstruction

• Klansmen regarded the Reconstruction governments as hostile and oppressive

• - Believed in the innate inferiority of blacks and therefore mistrusted and resented the rise of former slaves to a status of civil equality and often to positions of political power

• Klansmen terrorized public officials in efforts to drive them from office and blacks in general to prevent them from voting, holding office, and otherwise exercising their newly acquired political rights

•

• Mississippi Plan

• method by which whites broke the power of administrators that protected blacks

• idea was to reestablish white domination

• led to a loss of political freedom by blacks

 

Successes

• Thirteenth Amendment

• Ratified in December of 1865

• Abolished slavery throughout the United States

• Fourteenth Amendment

• said that American Citizenship is all persons born in the United States

• No citizen could be deprived of life, liberty, property without due process of law

• Voting rights and the numerical basis for the distribution of members of the House of Representatives among the states are also addressed

• guaranteed that all federal and state laws would apply equally to blacks and whites

• Fifteenth Amendment

• forbade the states to deny the right to vote "on account of race, color, or previous conditions of servitude."

• Didnít guarantee all blacks the right to vote

o States could set their qualifications for voters

• Civil Rights Bill

• Designed to enforce the 13th amendment to the constitution

 

• Tenure of Office Act

• Designed to keep Johnson from using power of appointment to destroy those who opposed his views on Reconstruction

• It helped prevent him from influencing his views of Reconstruction in the south

 

• Ku Klux Klan Act

• Created to bring those who attacked black people into federal courts

• Though it was a noble effort, white men still won anyway

 

• Charles Sumner

• - Supported black suffrage

• Believed that blacks needed to vote for their own protection

 

Atlanta Compromise

• Booker T. Washington's 1895 speech made sweeping concessions to the white desire for segregation and abandoned the reconstruction demand for black equality.

• He emphasized economic opportunity (equality) rather than political and civil rights.

• He identified himself and his people with the industrial and social order established by the conservatives.

• He also preached patience, conservatism, and the primacy of material progress to African Americans.

•

 

 

 

 

 Reconstruction Study Guide

1. What was the role of the Freedmen's Bureau? Who was the head of the Bureau?

 

Congress created the Freedmenís Bureau, originally called the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands in March 1865. Its responsibilities included those common of a welfare agency, such as the provision of food, shelter, and medical aid for the destitute, the education of freedpeople, the establishment of free labor arrangements in former plantation areas, and the securing of justice for blacks in southern legal proceedings. Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard was head of this Bureau from its beginnings. In its quest to equally divide land, President Andrew Johnson's policy of pardoning large numbers of Confederates and restoring their land frustrated this project. The bureau's education policy was more successful. Working with private aid societies, it had helped establish nearly three thousand schools by 1869. It contributed, too, to the founding of black colleges and normal schools.

 

2. What was the true purpose of the Black Codes?

Southern laws called Black Codes were passed in the aftermath of emancipation in order to control the newly freed black labor force. Mississippi and South Carolina passed the first and toughest measures late in 1865, and other southern states soon followed. Their provisions varied from state to state, but typically they stipulated that freed-people could rent land only in rural areas - a means of keeping them on the plantations. All in all, the true purpose of the black codes was to keep black people at an inferior position. Although they were granted marriage, the right to sue and be sued, and also the right to serve on a jury, the blacks were not allowed for interracial marriage, and artisans had to buy special permits. The black codes severely restricted the activities of the freed people. It allowed for the freed peoples to continue being a dependent and dependable source of farm labor, as they had been when they were slaves.

 

3. What was the difference between Thaddeus Steven's and Charles Sumner's plans for the freedmen?

 Thaddeus Stevens worried that the Southern white farmers would use their power to steal the freed black manís vote. He became a large supporter for the reorganizing of the South in the views of the radicals. He felt that the freedmen should be given land, which would be confiscated from the Confederates. Stevens was hoping that these areas could progress similar to the Sea Islands and South Carolina coastal areas.

Charles Sumner also argued from the radical viewpoint, but he argued for the viewpoint of suffrage. Sumner, as well as many other radicals, believed the African Americans needed the right to vote in order to protect themselves. The blacks in the South were in agreement with this idea and even held a mock election to show their need for universal suffrage.

 

4. What argument did the moderates in Congress use to get support for the Civil Rights Bill in the North?

 To get support for the Civil Rights Bill in the North, the moderates in Congress argued that if the Black Southerners were not safeguarded in their own region, they could be expected to leave and come North. In the North, more policies were in place to protect the rights of the black freedmen. If they were not protected in the South, what would stop them from going north. Northerners did not want a mass exodus of blacks from the South up to the North for many reasons, partly because of the devastating effect it would have on the national economy. Therefore, the Civil Rights Bill was easily passed using this persuasion.

 

5. Why were the Republicans afraid to solely rely on an act of Congress to grant citizenship to the freedmen?

The Republicans were afraid to solely rely on an act of Congress to grant citizenship to freedmen because then the decision would be subject to Supreme Court review. Less than a decade earlier, Chief Justice Roger A. Taney, in the Dred Scott decision, had announced that a black person could not be a citizen of the United States. Now Congress proposed that the federal government guarantee the principle of equality before the law, regardless of race, against state violation. With this still fresh on their minds, Republicans were weary of relying on the government and Congress to grand citizenship to freemen.

 

6. Explain the major sections of the 14th amendment.

The 14th amendment contained three major sections:

 Section I: Defined American citizenship as " All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."

Section II: States cannot pass laws which abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.

Section III: Life, liberty and property cannot be taken away from any person without due process.

Section IV: States cannot deny anyone of equal protection

Section V: Southern states must enfranchise all men, or else they would lose seats in the House of Representatives proportional to the amount of people they excluded.

Section VI: Anyone who supported Confederacy and broke oath to uphold Constitution could not take office.

 

7. Under the Reconstruction Act what must a state do to have Congress admit the state's representatives?

 Under the tenure of the Reconstruction Act, each state that seceded from the Union during the Civil War must have presented to Congress an acceptable constitution in line with American frameworks and needed to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment. Until these actions were taken by the state, they were not allowed back into the Union of the United States.

 

8. What was the issue that precipitated Andrew Johnson's impeachment charges?

 There were a few events that lead to the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. First, while Congress was in summer recess Johnson removed Stanton from the secretary of war position and replaced him with Ulysses S. Grant. The Senate then, however, refused to consent to Stantonís removal. Grant fled the position due to the fact that he felt he might have a chance to run for president in the next election and he did not want to be involved in such a scandal. The most important action of Andrew Johnson was that he resolved to test the constitutionality of the Tenure of Office Act, and told Congress that he would maintain his rights as president, regardless of all consequences. Congress was led to believe that Johnson had hopes of using the army to remove the Reconstruction Acts of the South, which would be against a specific law set by Congress. All in all, Johnsonís acts precipitated his impeachment.

 

 9. What did the Supreme Court rule in ex parte Milligan?

In ex parte Milligan, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that neither Congress nor the president had the power to create military courts to try civilians in areas remote from war. This was a powerful issue at this time being the fact that it was immediately following the end of the Civil War, where numerous men who fought for the Confederation army were being tried and punished for going against the Union. This decision cast great doubt on the Freedmanís Bureau and their courts that were being held in the South.

 

10. What was the Supreme Court ruling in the Slaughter-House Cases of 1873? What impact did this have on the lives of freedmen?

The Supreme Court ruled that states could define the rules by which its citizens should conduct their lives-- in this specific case, butchers could be required to use a central slaughterhouse-- despite an appeal of individual citizens to the new Fourteenth Amendment. This impacted the lives of freedmen drastically due to the fact that it made the Fourteenth Amendment impotent and they were deprived of federal protection of many of their basic civil rights for many decades. Lawyers in the South took advantage and used the ruling of the court to deprive the freedmen in the South of federal protection for most of their civil rights.

 

11. What is the significance of Promontory Point, Utah during the post war period?

Promontory Point, Utah, was the place at which the East and West tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad met the Central Pacific Railroad in 1869. A gold spike was driven into the connecting tracks in Utah. The importance of this event is that it marked the first time people could travel from coast to coast in only one week by rail.

 

12. What is meant in politics at this time by the phrase "waving the bloody shirt"?

Waving the bloody shirt was a move made by the Republicans against the Democrats during the presidential election of 1868. The Republicans were focusing on their own valor during the Civil War, in essence by waving their bloody shirts towards the Democrats, who were thought to have played a treasonistic role during the war. All in all, this was basically politicians using their war record to better their chances politically.

  

13. What was the Democratic answer to the greenback controversy? How did this answer impact the 1868 Presidential election?

 The Democratic answer to the greenback controversy was the "Ohio Idea" sponsored by Congressman George H. Pendleton, which demanded that the notes be reissued to redeem outstanding war bonds not explicitly requiring redemption in gold. This reduced the value of these war bonds in the long one and impacted the 1868 Presidential election by causing the democrats to lose when Horatio Seymour supported.

  

14. Describe the Alabama Claims and explain how they were settled?

 The Alabama claims were brought by the United States against Great Britain for the damage caused by several Confederate warships built in Liverpool during the Civil War, most notably the commerce raiders Alabama and Florida. British and U.S. diplomats worked out the Johnson-Clarendon Convention of 1869, recommending a commission to review the Alabama claims, but this proposal met overwhelming defeat in the Senate, where Charles Sumner, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, spoke passionately against it. He maintained that the British were accountable not only for private citizens' losses but for all the costs of the war after Gettysburg, on the grounds that the Confederates were defeated by then except for their maritime operations. in 1871 Secretary of State Hamilton Fish negotiated the Treaty of Washington, calling again for an arbitration panel. The arbitrators met in Geneva in 1871-1872. They dismissed the "indirect" claims for war costs but granted the full amount of private compensation requested, $15 million.

 

15. Explain how the Grant Administration badly damaged the moral and ethical reputation of the office of the Presidency.

 The Grant administration was involved in a number of schemes that hurt the office of the President, primarily by the members of his cabinet. Foremost, it was found that members of Congress had accepted bribes in terms of stocks, so they would not investigate a company known as Credit Mobilier. This company diverted profits from the building contracts of the Union Pacific Railroad to the Union Pacific promoters. Involved in this scandal were Vice President Schuler Colfax, future president James A. Garfield, and Congressman Henry Wilson. Another instance of damage was done by the Presidentís brother-in-law, who had supposedly given information to James Fisk Jr., and Jay Gould, so that they could corner the gold market. The price of gold was increasing substantially until Grant found that his wife and sister were involved in speculative gold accounts. At this point Grant and Treasurer George Boutwell sold $4 million in gold. This hurt the market, and the day became known as Black Friday. It was too little and too late for Grant to save the name of his administration.

 

 16. How did the Mississippi Plan lead to a loss of the newly gained political power attained by the freedmen?

 The Mississippi was derived by the Southern Democrats, mainly white supremacists, who wanted to re-establish white domination over a country in which they felt that blacks were gaining too much power. These men, instead of staying away from politics, looked to dominate the black vote and remove black men from offices. Their slogan read "Carry the election peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must." Black men running for office were being murdered, and the stories of their deaths were systematically reported to near by towns to strike up fear. When Election Day came, there was no need for violence, because the intimidation had run its course.

  

17. Explain what the "electoral crisis" of 1876 was and what role the Compromise of 1877 played in solving it.

 The electoral crisis of 1876 was a problem felt through the entire nation. Rutherford B. Hayes, the Republican nominee was running against Samuel J. Tilden of the Democrats. The Democrats seemed to be favored to win the election, and when the electoral votes had been counted, Tilden reigned superior with 185 over Hayes 165, yet Tilden needed 1 more electoral vote to win. Twenty votes were being disputed, and the Republicans and Democrats both cast a separate set of votes, one in which all 20 were for Tilden, and one in which all 20 were for Hayes. A system was devised in which seven Democrats, seven Republicans, and the Supreme Court justice would vote on which ballots counted. The Republicans won 8-7. The Compromise of 1877 was set up between southern leaders and Hayes. The leaders realized that Tilden would loose, and states that they would help with the electoral crisis and possibly future political help if Hayes supported the home rule in Southern States. Hayes agreed with this policy. Hayes followed through with the removal of troops from the South and turned over two states to Conservative control. Also he appointed a Democrat to his cabinet, and allowed him to freely pass out position.

  

18. What was the Atlanta Compromise?

 The Atlanta Compromise was a famous speech given in Atlanta in 1895 by Booker T. Washington in front of mainly dominant whites. Booker made sweeping concession to the white desire for segregation, abandoned the Reconstruction demand for black equality, emphasized economic opportunity rather than civil rights, and identified himself and his people with the social structure set up by the Conservatives. Black critics rejected this speech, claiming that it was more of a capitulation than a compromise.

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