The Era of Reconstruction and the Gilded Age: 1865-1890

What was the affect of the civil war?

620,000 people killed, 4 million emancipated slaves and the impoverished South (lost 40% of livestock)

How did Lincoln plan to reconstruct America?

Thirteenth amendment 1865: abolition of slavery

Freedmen’s Bureau: organisation that helped former slaves find work, represented them in court, only 900 agents across south

10% plan: states would be readmitted into the union if 10% of electorate agreed alliance with USA

Who was Andrew Johnson?

President 1865-1868: had been Lincoln’s VP who became President after his assassination. Was a Southern Democrat in a Republican government who was unable to compromise with the rest of the party.

Who were the Radical Republicans?

Favoured harsh treatment of south and strongly against slavery, opposed Johnson and his Reconstruction plans, Thaddeus Stevens was one of their leaders.

What did Reconstruction under Johnson look like?

Black Codes: Southern laws that limited freedom of African-Americans by not allowing them to vote to testify against white people in court, Johnson did little to stop them.

New state governments still dominated by Southern Elites: all southerners would be pardoned if they swore an oath of allegiance to the Union, not Confederate soldiers or plantation owners.

Presidential vetoes: Renewal of Freedman’s Bureau, Civil Rights Act which would allow intervention to enforce black rights

How was Congress able to achieve their version of Reconstruction?

Reconstruction Act 1967: All previous attempts at to reintegrate southern states were void and were placed under military control, Congress overrided Johnson’s veto

Fourteenth Amendment 1968: All citizens guaranteed equality before the law, secured the Civil Rights Act that Johnson had vetoed

How was Johnson brought down?

Tenure of Office Act 1867: President couldn't remove office holders without approval of the senate, would prevent the removal of Radical supporters

Impeached 1868: after he violated TOA by removing a Radical, was saved a vote as many moderates didn’t like the Radical who would replace him

Why did Johnson fail?

Wouldn’t compromise with the Radicals which caused clear party divisions.

Didn’t help African-Americans and allowed discrimination to occur.

Alienated the Moderates by his use of the veto.

Was unable to follow Lincoln’s impressive legacy

Who became President after Johnson?

Ulysses Grant (republican) President 1869-77. A war veteran which the party used to present themselves as patriotic and was seen as someone who could be easily controlled by the party. Victory was dependent on 700,000 African-American votes

What did Radical Reconstruction look like?

Fifteenth amendment 1870: prevented voting discrimination on the grounds of race

Enforcement Acts 1870-71: use of the military presence to end discrimination and enforce black rights

Amnesty Act 1872: allowed ex-confederates to return to politics

Coinage Act 1873: silver was demonetised and bimetallism ended

Civil Rights Act 1875: guaranteed equal treatment and access to public facilities

What did Southern opposition look like?

KKK founded in 1865.

Redeemers fought for the freedom of the South and attempted to reduce black vote

Colfax Massacre 1873: 150 pro-Republican freedmen were killed

Battle of Liberty Place 1874: fighting over having a Redeemer or Republican as Louisiana Governor

What scandals rocked the Grant administration?

Administration was filled with friends.

Credit Mobilier Scandal 1872: Sham construction company sold shares to congressmen who enabled company to make large profits

Whiskey Ring 1875: Distillers who bribed officials to keep liquor taxes, money may have been used in Grant's re-election campaign

Was Grant successful?

Yes: helped prevent Southern violence by use of military, passed multiple acts to help former slaves.

No: didn’t prevent the redemption of the South, military control caused greater divisions between North and South.

What was life like for African-Americans during Reconstruction?

Hiram Revels became first black senator representing Mississippi 1870.

Couples could legally marry which lead to traditional home environments.

Howard University: established 1867 as a university for African-Americans, in first five years educated 150,000#

1865 95% were illiterate, 81% in 1870 and 64% by 1890

Segregation in society as interracial marriages prohibited and black people forming their own communities

Many became involved in sharecropping: worked on land but gave share of crops to landowner, little change

What was the Corrupt Bargain Election 1876?

Electoral fraud on both sides lead to Democrats believing the election was unfair as three southern states were Republican. despite Dem. winning popular vote by 3%

Rutherford Hayes eventually awarded presidency over Democratic candidate Samuel Tilden but had to compromise.

What was the Compromise of 1877?

Removed federal troops from the South which ended Reconstruction and allowed Redeemers to take control to form the ‘Solid South’.

What were the issues facing the government between 1877-1890?

Politics was based on patronage and the spoils system: supporters and friends given positions. Stalwarts were Republican faction lead by Roscoe Conkling, senator of New York who supported patronage.

Absence of a strong President: one term Presidents

Issues over tariffs

What did Hayes do during his Presidency?

President 1877-81

Removed Chester Arthur from his position as Collector of the Port of New York who was a key supporter on Conkling to reduce Stalwart power.

Timber and Stone Act 1878: allowed purchase of land unfit for cultivation for mining and lumbering

How did James Garfield become President?

Republican party was split between the Stalwarts (wanted comeback of Grant) and Half-breeds (wanted reform). Garfield chosen as a compromise but appointed Chester Arthur as VP to show unity within the party. Only won by 9000 votes.

What did Garfield do in 1881?

Provoked Conkling to resign over a Half-breed being chosen as Collector of Port of New York.

How did Chester Arthur go about reform?

President 1881-85 after Garfield’s assassination by a Stalwart Supporter.

Pendleton Act 1883: promoted meritocracy by awarding government jobs based on merit and work upwards.

Mongrel-tariff 1883: wanted to lower the tariff by 25% which was unusual for Republicans, only lowered by 1.47%

Began naval expansion: Naval war college established

Reform alienated Stalwart allies

Who was the first Democratic president since the civil war?

Grover Cleveland president 1885-1889

Won by 60,0000 votes due to support of ‘Mugwumps’, Republicans who didn’t like their candidate James Blaine

Vetoed more bills than Johnson such as pensions for war veterans although number of pensions did increase under Harrison from 490,000 in 1889 costing $89 million, to 966,000 costing $175 million by 1893

Against corruption and groups such as Tammany Hall, a Democratic faction

What acts were carried out under Benjamin Harrison?

Republican President 1889-1893

McKinley Tariff 1890: raised average duty on imports to 50%, designed to protect industries from foreign competition.

Sherman Anti-trust act 1890: Ensured fair competition to prevent trusts from being used to organise a monopoly

Why did people move west?

Manifest Destiny: Americas God-given right to live on the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Pioneers: held Jeffersonian ideas of yeomanry (independent farmers) to escape industrialisation.

Miners: gold rushes in Nevada 1859 and Dakota 1874

Cattle farmers: Cowboys, around (20%) were African-Americans, livelihood threatened by creation of ranches

How important were railroads in Western expansion?

First transcontinental railroad, Union Pacific, completed 1869 which enabled easier travel and goods transportation to the west.

90% railroad workers were Chinese immigrants

Railroad mileage increased from 35,000 miles 1865 to 200,000 miles 1893

Railroad companies sold land, which were used for farming and the establishment of towns (National Pacific railroad company sold 483,000 acres in 1873 for $5 each)

How were farmers aided in moving west?

Homestead Act 1862: Offered 160 acres for a $10 fee, as long as they lived on the land for 5 years and cultivated it

600,000 had claimed homesteads by 1890

1865 10 million lived on farms which rose to 25 million by 1890

Development of barbed wire in 1873 allowed creation of ranches

How important was Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis?

Theorised, after the frontier declared closed in 1890, that the availability of unsettled land throughout American history was the most important factor in determining American values.

Symbolised the struggle of individuals and a lack of a class system

However the frontier wasn’t about individuals: Granger movement, government involvement

Hierarchy present in form of railroad companies

How significant was Western expansion?

Caused the destruction of Native American life

Allowed for the growth of the populist movement as well as the temperance and women’s suffrage movement

Developed American identity through frontier experience

End of frontier lead to the end of isolationist sentiment as they began to expand beyond north America

How involved was the government in the destruction of Native American culture?

Treaty of Fort Laramie 1868: promised that Americans would not enter the Sioux’s sacred Black Hills, overlooked when gold was found 1874, caused Battle of Little Bighorn

BLB 1876: Sioux defeated an army lead by General Custer

Dawes act 1887: Reservation land was broken up into small holdings to break up tribes, lost 60% land in 20 years

Carlisle Institution: example of a boarding school to ‘civilise’ Native American children

Wounded Knee Massacre 1890: soldiers killed more than 200 Sioux despite surrendering, end of Ghost Dance

Why was Native American society destroyed?

Nomadic and settler lifestyle were incompatible

Development of railroads took away land and made all of America easily accessible

Destruction of Buffalo: over 10 years 38 million killed

Federal government not willing to accept treaty terms

Forced Americanisation

How was the South doing during this time?

Agricultural disadvantages: cotton prices from 11 cents a pound in 1875 to less than 5 cents 1894

Ideas about the idealised New South and era of prosperity, spread by journalist Henry Grady

Birmingham, Alabama: Became an important centre for iron and steel manufacturing, one of the only prospering southern cities

What was life like for African-Americans in the South?

Kansas Exodus 1879-80: Estimated around 50,000 African-Americans migrated to Kansas

Mississippi lynching: 1889-1918 373

Jim Crow Laws: legalised racial segregation in southern states in varies public facilities such as 1887 Florida law which implemented separate railroad accommodation

Southern Homestead Act 1866: 46 million acres of land opened up for purchase in the South but only 4000 African-Americans gained land

United States versus Cruikshank 1875: 14th amendment didn’t protect African-Americans against discrimination by individuals, only state governments

Why did immigration to America increase?

10 million immigrated to US in Gilded Age from Europe

1825-1925 1/3 of Norway’s population moved to America

Came due to there not being enough jobs in their country, fleeing persecution, propaganda

Settled in communities in major port cities such as Little Italy in New York and Chinatown in San Francisco

What were the reactions towards immigration?

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882: Congress banned Chinese immigration as it increased job competition

Nativism: protecting the interests of native-born inhabitants against those of immigrants

Orange Riots 1870-71: riots between Irish Protestants and Catholics in New York

What were attitudes towards foreign policy before the civil war?

Monroe Doctrine 1823: US was to avoid becoming entangled in European wars unless American interest was threatened.

Exceptionalism: idea that the USA is inherently different from other nations and is superior to them

Continentalism: consolidation of US to occupy the north America continent

Followed a policy of isolationism and detached themselves from foreign issues

What foreign policy acts were carried out during this period?

Alaska Purchase 1867: Purchased from Russia for $7.2 million by Secretary of State William Seward, many thought it was a waste of money but it provided a gateway to Asia and developed Western ports

Acquirement of Midway Island 1867: developed army presence

Burlingame Treaty 1868: promoted trade with China and stimulated immigration

Fenian Raids 1866-71: raids on Canada by an unofficial Irish American nationalist organisation

Alabama claims 1872: Britain forced to pay $15.5 million after supporting the confederacy and causing damages

Was America moving away from isolationism?

Yes: starting to gain territory abroad, Western expansion at home showed desire to acquire more land, US external investment increased 7 fold between 1860-1914

No: No large territorial gains made or any involvement in wars, no attempts at gaining colonies or starting an Empire

Why did the US economy grow post Civil War?

Abundance of raw materials such as oil, timber and gold

New technological advancements and inventions

Laissez-faire attitude supports business growth

Development of transport allows goods and materials to be transported

Increase in immigration developed industrial work force

Who were the robber barons?

Cornelius Vanderbilt: controlled New York Central and Hudson River Railroad (1877 worth £100 million)#

Andrew Carnegie: Carnegie Steel Company

J.D Rockefeller: founded Standard Oil 1870, by 1872 had bought up 22 of its competitors in Cleveland Massacre

What were the affects of the robber barons?

Dominated the economy and political climate by becoming powerful

Got rid of competition and small businesses that were unable to compete with them

How did America industrialise?

30% of all manufactured goods were produced by US by 1900

Thomas Edison invented incandescent lightbulb 1879

America produced 360,000 tons of steel 1875 and 60 million tons by 1900

Bessemer process: introduced 1880s and enabled mass production of high quality steel

Still agrarian focus: wheat 500 million bushels, corn 1500 million bushels in 1880

What was trade unionism like in this period?

1860-1890 number of industrial workers increased from 885,000 to 3.2 million

Women made up 35% of work force by 1890

Knights of Labour formed 1869 lead by Terence Powderly and by 1880s had 100,000 members, 10% of whom were women. Powderly wanted total ban on Chinese imm.

American Federation of Labour formed 1886 by skilled workers who left KoL. Had 1.6 million members by 1904 and leader, Samuel Gompers, believed that women undercut wages

Haymarket strike 1886: in Chicago police killed 4 who were protesting for the 8 hour day