U.S. HISTORY
CHAPTER 12-3
THE COLLAPSE OF
RECONSTRUCTION
OPPOSITION TO RECONSTRUCTION
In 1866, the Ku Klux Klan was formed
It was originally a social club for Confederate veterans
As it spread throughout the South, however, it goal became to restore white supremacy
OPPOSITION TO RECONSTRUCTION
They used violence to keep African Americans from voting
From 1868-71, the Klan killed thousands of men, women and children, most of whom were black
The Klan also killed whites who helped African Americans in anyway
OPPOSITION TO RECONSTRUCTION
The terror tactics kept blacks from voting
By 1876, white Democrats took power 8 southern states
These Democrats were known as “Redeemers”
Redeemers were those who brought back southern power
OPPOSITION TO RECONSTRUCTION
To stem the violence, Congress passed a series of Enforcement Acts in 1870 & 71
They provided for federal supervision of elections in Southern states
Congress also passed the Amnesty Act in 1872
This returned the right to vote and hold federal offices to Confederates barred in the 14th Amendment
This undercut Republican governments in the South, as these Confederates almost all voted Democratic
THE GRANT ADMINISTRATION
President Grant’s Administration was very corrupt
Grant could not distinguish honest people
Many of his family, staff & cabinet peddled their influence with the President in return for cash
One such scandal was the Credit Mobilier Scandal
THE GRANT ADMINISTRATION
The Union Pacific Railroad formed its own construction company
It was called Credit Mobilier
The railroad officers used Credit Mobilier to overcharge on government contracts
THE GRANT ADMINISTRATION
They reaped huge sums in personal profits
To prevent investigation, the company gave stock to those who could protect them
These included members of Congress and Grant’s Vice President
THE GRANT ADMINISTRATION
In 1875, the Whiskey Ring was exposed
Internal-revenue collectors accepted bribes from whiskey distillers
These distillers wanted to avoid paying taxes
The ring defrauded the government of millions of dollars
THE GRANT ADMINISTRATION
Of the 238 persons indicted in the scandal, one was Grant’s private secretary General Orville E. Babcock
Grant could not accept his secretary was guilt and helped him avoid conviction
In 1876, the Secretary of War William W. Belknap was impeached by the House
He had accepted bribes from merchants who wanted to keep trade concessions in Indian Territory
The Grant Scandals hurt the Republican party
THE SUPREME COURT The Supreme Court also set back
reconstruction
The Slaughterhouse cases decided most civil rights were protected by the state, rather than the federal government
U.S. v. Cruickshank ruled the federal government had no power to punish whites who oppressed blacks
In U.S. v. Reese, the court ruled the 15th Amendment only limited the type of discrimination states could not use
THE SUPREME COURT
All of these cases limited the 14th and 15th Amendment rights
The Grant Scandals, Supreme Court set backs and Southern resistance caused Northerners to retreat from Reconstruction
THE COMPROMISE OF 1877The 1876 Election was between
Democrat Samuel Tilden & Republican Rutherford B. Hayes
Tilden won popular vote, but was 1 vote short in electoral college
There were accusations of voter fraud
THE COMPROMISE OF 1877
An electoral commission was formed to decide the election
The commission decided on party lines and Hayes won
THE COMPROMISE OF 1877 To keep nation from violence, a
compromise was reached
According to the compromise:1)Democrats accepted Hayes as
President2)Republicans agreed to remove
federal troops from the south
AFTER RECONSTRUCTION
The South became similar to what it was before Civil War
Whites returned to power
Segregation, separation of the races, became the way of life
AFTER RECONSTRUCTION
The South passed “Jim Crow” laws
These laws legally segregated blacks from whites
The 14th and 15th amendments were just ignored