Notes for Exam 1.docx

Chapter 15: The Era of Reconstruction (1865-1877)

• The Civil War ended in 1865, marking the end of the Civil War (Union victory) and the liberation of nearly 4 million enslaved Africans.
• Despite the victory, the war did not bring about immediate equality or end racism in the south or North.
• The abolition of slavery, economic disruptions, and human losses shattered the plantation system and upended racial relations in the South.
• Formerly enslaved people felt liberated, with Yankees being their liberators.
• Many enslaved people rushed to change their names, renaming themselves as free people.
• Violence against freed people was widespread, with federal troops finding bodies of murdered Africans; specifically, a South Carolina white man executing an enslaved mother and her children.
• The nation faced challenges in reconstructing a ravaged and resentful South while transforming formerly enslaved people intro free workers and citizens.
• The Reconstruction era (1865-1877) was a challenging and significant period in U.S. history, marked by a complex debate on the role of the federal government in ensuring civil rights.
• Some Northerners desired the return of former Confederate states to the Union, while others favored imprisoning or executing Confederate leaders and rebuilding the South.
• Some favored the federal government to focus on promoting northern economic growth and westward expansion.
• The debate revolved around who deserved citizenship, what rights all Americans should enjoy, and the role of the federal government in ensuring freedom and equality (questions still prevalent).

15.1: The War’s Aftermath in the South

• Southerners were emotionally exhausted due to the war, with a fifth of white males dying and many maimed.
• Mississippi spent 20% of its budget on artificial limbs for Confederate veterans in 1866.
• Property values collapsed, with many plantations selling them for a tenth of their value in 1860.
• Confederate money was worthless, personal savings vanished, horses and mules were killed, and farm buildings and tools destroyed.
• Southern cities like Richmond, Atlanta, and Colombia were devasted, with railroads and bridges damaged or destroyed, many were homeless or hungry.
• The countryside looked like a broad black streak of ruin and desolation.
• Between 1860 and 1870, northern wealth grew by 50% while southern wealth dropped 60%.
• Emancipation wiped out almost $3 billion invested in the slave labor system, causing the explosive growth of the cotton culture.
• Tobacco production did not regain its prewar level until 1880, sugar crop of Louisiana did not recover until 1893, and the fine economy along the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia never regained prewar levels of production or profit.
• Union soldiers were cursed and spat upon, and southern nationalists implanted a similar hatred of Yankees and defiance of northern rule in their children.
• The process of forming new state governments required determining the official status of the states that had seceded.
• The president, not Congress, would be responsible for re-forming state governments if the Confederate states had never officially left the Union.
• The reconstruction of the South would address the political, social, and economic status of the free-people.

15.2: Battles over Political Reconstruction

• Started during war and progressed through phases (First=Presidential Reconstruction).
• In 1862, Lincoln appointed army generals as temporary governors for conquered Confederate areas.
• By 1863, Lincoln formulated plan to reestablish governments in liberated states.

Lincoln’s Wartime Reconstruction Plan

• Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction issued in 1863.
• Allows former Confederate states to re-create Union government after 10% of 1860 voters swore allegiance.
• Presidential pardon granted to acquitted treason committers.
• Denied pardons to Confederate government officials, senior officers, judges, congressman, military officers, and those who abused and captured African American soldiers.

Congressional Wartime Reconstruction Plans

• Conservative and moderate Republicans supported Lincoln’s “10 percent” program, restoring pro-Union southern governments.
• Radical Republicans argued for Congress to supervise Reconstruction, instead of president, advocating for a drastic transformation of southern society.
• Radicals believed in equal rights for all people, regardless of race.
• They aimed to replace the White, Democratic planter elite with a new generation of small farmers.
• In 1864, the Radicals passed the Wade-Davis Bill, requiring a majority to declare Union allegiance before a formerly Confederate state could be readmitted.
• The bill was vetoed by Lincoln, leading to the Wade-Davis Manifesto (for Lincoln exceeding authority) .
• Despite criticism, Lincoln continued his efforts to restore Confederate states to the Union and provided assistance to freed people in the South.

The Freedmen’s Bureau

• The freedmen’s bureau was established in 1865 to assist formerly enslaved people in the aftermath of the 13^th amendment (abolishing slavery).
• The Bureau provided assistance to freedmen, their families, and their children, marking the first federal effort to provide direct assistance to people (rather than states).
• General Oliver O. Howard led the Bureau, advocating for emancipated people to choose their own employers and be paid for their labor.
• The Bureau provided medical care, clothing, shelter, and food to free African Americans, with over 20 million meals distributed by 1868 (Army officers to negotiate labor contracts).
• The Bureau also assisted in seeking justice, managing abandoned lands, and formalizing marriages and finding relatives.
• The Bureau established schools and colleges, supervising over 4,000 new schools serving almost 250,000 students in former Confederate states by 1870.
• However, the Bureau had limitations, including an insufficient number of agents across 13 states and inadequate federal troops.
• The Bureau failed to redistribute land to formerly enslaved people.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

• Abraham Lincoln’s final speech rejected calls for vengeful federal Reconstruction of the Confederacy.
• Lincoln yearned for peace with “malice toward none, with charity for all.”
• On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was shot (behind the left ear) by John Wilkes Booth, a celebrated actor and rabid Confederate at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C.
• Booth stabbed Lincoln’s military aide and jumped from the box to the stage, breaking his leg (fled the city).
• Lincoln died 9 hours later, the first president to be killed in office.
• VP Andrew Johnson escaped injury towards him as his assassin got drunk at a bar and Secretary of State William H. Seward and his son suffered knife wounds when attacked at his home.
• The government was suddenly leaderless, and the nation was overwhelmed with shock and horror.
• African American leader Frederick Douglass described Lincoln’s murder as “an unspeakable calamity.”
• Vice President Andrew Johnson became the new president shortly after Lincoln was declared dead.
• 11 days later, Union troops found John W. Booth hiding in a Virginia Tobacco barn, which was set on fire and John Booth was shot.
• Three of Booth’s collaborators were convicted by a military court and hanged.
• Lincoln’s body lay in state in Washington D.C., before being transported 1,600 miles for burial in Springfield, Illinois.
• Lincoln was laid to rest on May 4, 1865 (Black Man’s President).

Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan

• Andrew Johnson, a pro-Union Democrat, was added to Lincoln’s National Union Ticket in 1864 to help him win reelection. (Didn’t display Lincoln’s dignity or eloquence)
• Born in 1808 (North Carolina), he lost his father at three and never attended school.
• He learned to read and write at 13 (ran away) and later acquired 5 enslaved people (16-year-old wife taught him math)
• Johnson served as mayor, state legislator, governor, congressional representative, and U.S. senator.
• During the Civil War, he supported the removal of the Confederate rebellion but was also a venomous racist.
• Johnson’s Restoration Plan included a Proclamation of Amnesty in May 1865, excluding ex-Confederates and most of the White “aristocrats” he despised, with property worth more than $20,000.
  • • Lincoln only excluded ex-Confederates that were barred from presidential pardon.
    • However, he pardoned about 7,000 Confederates, whom he claimed to despise.
• Johnson appointed a Unionist as provisional governor in each southern state and required each state convention to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment. (Except for Mississippi)

Freedmen’s Conventions

• Freed people in the South, formerly enslaved, demanded citizenship, civil rights, land, and voting rights (New Orleans, Mobile, Norfolk, Wilmington, Nashville, Memphis, and Charleston).
• They organized regular meetings, elected leaders, protested mistreatment, learned federal bureaucracy, and sought economic opportunities.
• Freedmen’s conventions, organized in 1865 by emancipated Southerners and free Blacks from the North and South (missionaries) aimed to convince white men that they were part of the American republic.
• The North Carolina convention elected James Walker Hood (free Black from Connecticut) as president, advocating for harmonious living and respectful treatment of all men.
• Hood demanded three constitutional rights for African Americans: the right testify in courts, serve on juries, and carry a ballot.
• The conventions argued for the rights and immunities of African Americans, deeming any attempt to reconstruct states without these rights as gross injustice.

The Radical Republicans

• Radical Republicans, led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner, aimed for social and political equality for Blacks during Reconstruction.
• They resented Johnson’s efforts to bring the South back into the Union quickly, viewing Confederate states as “conquered provinces” to be readmitted by Congress, not the president.
• Johnson, however, opposed federal authority expansion and allowed states to control their affairs.
• In December 1865, the U.S. Congress met, and new southern state governments resembled former Confederate governments that refused to extend voting rights to the formerly enslaved.
• Republicans denied seats to “Rebel” officials and appointed a Joint Committee on Reconstruction to develop a plan to bring former Confederate states back into the Union. (Confederate leaders were elected as Senators and congressmen)
• The committee discovered widespread white violence against Blacks in the South, with 2000 freed people killed in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1865.
• In 1866, white mobs murdered African Americans in Memphis and New Orleans, leading to a race riot in Memphis in which Blacks were murdered and their communities destroyed. (Federal troops quelled violence).
• Radical Republicans argued that these racial massacres resulted from Johnson’s lenient policy towards White supremacists.
• The race riot spurred the Fourteenth Amendment (1868), extending federal civil rights protections to African Americans.

Black Codes

• All-White southern state legislatures passed laws discriminating against formerly enslaved people.
• These “Black codes” aimed to ensure that the “ex-slave was a free Negro” (not a free man).
• Black codes varied across states, with South Carolina requiring African Americans to remain on former plantations (forced labor) and Mississippi prohibiting hunting and fishing (Dependent on whites).
• Some codes recognized Black marriages but prohibited interracial marriage.
• Violators faced life in prison.
• African Americans were barred from voting, serving on juries, or testifying against whites.
• In Mississippi, every Black male over 18 had to be apprenticed to a White, preferably a former slave owner.
  • • If they weren’t apprenticed, they would be jailed as “vagrants” and if they couldn’t pay the vagrancy fee they were jailed and forced to work for Whites as convict laborers in “chain gangs”.
• Convict leasing was used to increase government revenue and cut expenses of housing prisoners.
  • • Southern prisons were destroyed during the war and states lacked funds to rebuild them, so prisoners were rented out to White farmers and businesses. (Most were Black, except in Texas)
• Convict leasing was a form of slavery, with over 10% of Black convicts (falsely accused) dying in the job.
• The Black codes infuriated Republicans, who argued that the man made free by the Constitution is a freeman indeed.

Johnson’s Battle with Congress

• In early 1866, Radical Republicans challenged Andrew Johnson over Reconstruction policies after he vetoed a bill renewing funding for the Freeman’s Bureau (Republicans couldn’t overturn the veto).
• On February 22, 1866, Johnson criticized Radical Republicans for promoting Black civil rights, leading to moderate Republicans supporting the Radicals (deserting president).
• In March 1866, the Radical-led Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, the first federal law to define citizenship.
  • • All persons born in the U.S., (excluding Native Americans) including immigrants of children were entitled equal rights)
• Johnson vetoed the act, claiming it trespassed on states’ rights (Believed Blacks did not deserve citizenship).
• Republicans overturned the veto, causing Johnson to lose pubic and political support. (First time Congress had overturned a presidential veto of a major bill)

Fourteenth Amendment

• Passed in 1866 to clarify the legality of the Civil Rights Act. (Gained ratification in 1868)
• Guaranteed citizenship to freed people and immigrant children in the U.S. (birthright citizenship)
• Overturned Black codes prohibiting civil rights violations, deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process, and equal protection of laws.
• Granted federal government responsibility for civil rights protection and enforcement.
• Not a single Democrat in the House or Senate voted for it.
• Required ratification by all states in the former Confederacy for readmission to the Union and Congress.
• President Johnson predicted Democrats would win the November elections and nix the amendment after urging southern states to refuse ratifying the amendment.

Johnson versus the Radical Republicans

• Andrew Johnson gave over 100 speeches in 1866 on a 19-day speaking tour to win Democratic votes in the 1866 congressional elections. (Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City)
• He denounced Radical Republicans as traitors and should be hanged. (Speeches backfired)
• In Cleveland, Ohio, Johnson criticized them as “factious, domineering, tyrannical” men.
  • • Once said “I care not for dignity.”
• His remarks were criticized as “the most disgraceful speech ever delivered” by a president.
• The backlash was intense, with newspapers deeming his behavior as compromising his official character.
• The 1866 elections resulted in a devasting defeat for Johnson and the Democrats, with Radical Republican candidates winning more than a two-thirds majority (margin required to override presidential vetoes).
  • • Congressional Republicans would now take over the process of reconstructing the former Confederacy.

Congress Takes Charge of Reconstruction

• Congress passed the First Reconstruction Act on March 2, 1867, over President Johnson’s vetoes.
• The Act included three laws: the Military Reconstruction Act, the Command of the Army Act, and the Tenure of Office Act.
• The Military Reconstruction Act abolished the new governments established under Andrew Johnson’s lenient Reconstruction policies. Instead, Congress established military control over ten of the eleven former Confederate states. (Tennessee was exempted as it already ratified 14^th amendment)
• The ten other states were divided into five military districts, each commanded by an army general who acted as governor. (Only a small number of troops, mostly African Americans were dispatched)
  • • Mississippi only has 400 (Number decreased each year).
• The Act required each former Confederate state to create a constitution ensuring all adult males the right to vote. (Women still weren’t included)
• The Act also stipulated that the new state constitutions were drafted by conventions elected by male citizens of any race.
• The Command of the Army Act required the president to issue all army orders through general chief Ulysses S. Grant. (Radicals feared Johnson would appoint an Anti-black general who would be lenient towards Whites)
• The Tenure of Office Act required the Senate to approve any presidential effort to remove federal officials whose appointments the Senate had confirmed. (Prevent Johnson from firing secretary of War Edwin Stanton)
• The Congressional Reconstruction plan aimed to create a “perfect Republic” based on equal rights for all citizens.

Impeaching the President

• During the first two years of Congressional Reconstruction (changes in South), with Radical Republicans in control, Andrew Johnson was in the way, leading to Radicals wanting him to be removed from office.
• Johnson’s suspension of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, who refused to resign after criticizing Reconstruction, (violated the Tenure of Office Act) led to his imposition of impeachment (High Crimes).
  • • Fired Stanton and replaced him with Ulysses S. Grant. (Chance to impeach president as he fired Stanton without seeking Congressional approval.
• On February 24, 1868, the Republican-dominated House passed 11 articles of impeachment, primarily focusing on Stanton’s firing.
• The primary grievance against Johnson was his opposition to the policies of the Radical Republicans, which he viewed as bringing “disgrace, ridicule, hatred, contempt, and reproach” onto Congress.
• The first Senate trial of a sitting president began on March 5, 1868, with the Republicans holding a majority but not the two-thirds required to convict.
• The trial ended with the Senate voting 35-19 for conviction (one vote short for removal), with Republican Senator Edmund G. Ross casting the deciding vote in favor of acquittal.
  • • Claimed there wasn’t enough evidence against Johnson, but he actually sold his vote as the president paid him and gave his friends federal jobs.
• The effort to remove Johnson weakened public support for Congressional Reconstruction, but the Radical cause gained Johnson’s private agreement to stop obstructing Congressional Reconstruction.

Republican Rule in the South

• In June 1868, Republicans allowed eight southern states to send delegates to Congress.
• Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas (remaining former Confederate states) were readmitted in 1870, requiring them to ratify the 15^th amendment.
• The amendment granted voting rights to African American men; a move echoed by Frederick Douglass.
• The amendment prohibited states from denying voting rights based on race, color, or servitude.
• Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton argued for the inclusion of women in the amendment, citing the U.S. Constitution’s inclusivity.

Prejudice against Chinese Americans

• Chinese Americans were excluded from voting in California, Nevada, and Oregon due to state laws.
• People v. Hall, an 1857 California supreme court case, deemed the Chinese as inferior and incapable of progress.
• Western states during Reconstruction favored Blacks over Asians, leading to the refusal of California and Oregon to ratify the 15^th amendment.
• Federal policies continued to bar Chinese Americans from citizenship and voting until 1943.
  • • Asian Americans were eligible for citizenship and voting in 1952.
• Native Americans were barred from citizenship until 1924, and voting rights were denied until 1947.
• Radical Republicans argued that allowing women to vote would be “destructive of her womanly qualities.”
• Women seeking voting rights would have to wait another 50 years. (Men opposed voting rights for women)

15.3: Black Society Under Reconstruction

• Garrison Frazier, a free man from Georgia, chose to live alone due to South prejudice (not among Whites).
• He and other formerly enslaved people created their own social institutions.

Freed but not Equal

• African Americans played a significant role in Reconstruction, despite the challenges posed by racism.
• Southern Blacks found employment through labor contracts with former owners, with the Freedmen’s Bureau and federal soldiers’ orders to sign labor contracts with Whites.
• Planters conspired to control wages for freedmen, leading to feeling of humiliation.
• Post-emancipation, Union soldiers and northern observers noted that formerly enslaved people remained in the South, citing a desire to remain in their homeland.

Black Churches & Schools

• African American religious life in the South transformed during and after the Civil War.
• Previously enslaved people identified with Biblical Hebrews (led out of slavery into the promised land with God), leading to the establishment of their own churches. (Blacks had to sit in the back before)
• Ministers emerged as social and political leaders, leading many African Americans to join Baptists or Methodists. (Largest denominations in the South)
• Schools were established as the “first proof” of freedom, previously Whites believed they were distractions from work and would encourage them to leave the South for better opportunities.
• The African Methodist Episcopal Church gained 50,000 members in 1866, with over 1.3 million African Americans joining Baptists by 1890.

The Union League

• The Union League, founded in 1862 by Republicans, aimed to convince freed men to join Lincoln’s party.
• By late 1863, the league had over 700,000 members in 4554 councils across the nation. (after 15^th amend..)
• The unions were organized like fraternities, meeting in various locations to protect freed people from being persecuted by White Democrats. (with formal initiations and rituals and secret meetings)
• By the early 1870s, the Union League in the South had become one of the largest Black social movements in history.
• With the Union Leagues’ help, 90% of southern freedmen registered to vote, almost all as Republicans. (Voted in record numbers, with high risks)
  • • Blacks also despised their own people who voted as Democrat.
• The union also led to the mobilization of Blacks, enabling men of color to gain elected offices for the first time in the states of the former Confederacy.
• Francis Cardozo, president of the South Carolina Council of Union Leagues, declared that South Carolina had “prospered in every respect” due to the enfranchisement of Black voters enabled by the unions. (1870)

Politics and African Americans

• Black military veterans formed the core of African American political leaders in the postwar South.
• Military service provided leadership training and opportunities for economic advancement, social responsibility, and civic leadership. (First opportunities to read and write)
• New African American voters helped elect 600 Blacks, mostly formerly enslaved people, as state legislators.
• Pinckney Pinchback, a northern free Black and former Union soldier, was elected lieutenant governor in Louisiana.
• Other African Americans were elected to high state offices, including Black senators in Congress (Hiram Revels & Blanche K. Bruce) and 14 Blacks in the U.S. House of Representatives.
• Southern Whites criticized Black politicians for being illiterate and lacking civic experience.
• Despite increased representation, major obstacles remained withing state legislators, with only South Carolina’s Republican state convention having a Black majority. (LA-evenly, Fl, VA, - more than 20%)

Land, Labor, and Disappointment

• Former enslaved people argued for land ownership, which was the foundation of freedom in the postwar South. (Given land by Union armies)
• Andrew Johnson reversed transfers of White-owned property to formerly enslaved workers.
• Freed men in South Carolina refused to reconcile with their old masters, stating they had no deeds or titles for the land they worked on, but was earned.
• Thousands of formerly enslaved workers were forced to return their farms to White owners, and it was difficult for Blacks to get loans to buy farmland.
• Freed people were left with nothing, leading to the introduction of sharecropping, a labor system where white landowners provided land, seed, and tools in exchange for a share of the crop.
• Sharecropping revealed that most White plantation owners and small farmers controlled African Americans as if they were still enslaved.
• Many freed Blacks preferred sharecropping over working for wages, but over time, most sharecroppers found themselves deeply in debt to the landowner, feeling like slavery.

Tensions Among Southern Blacks

• Differences and disputes existed among African Americans, particularly between those who owned property and those who didn’t.
• Affluent northern Blacks and the southern free Black elite opposed land redistribution to freed men.
• Political equality didn’t necessarily equate to social equality to them. (city-dwellers and mulattoes)
• Unity prevailed withing the Black community, with common concerns emphasized.
• A black member of the Mississippi state constitutional convention emphasized justice and treating all as human beings.

“Carpetbaggers and Scalawags”

• White Southerners labeled Whites who served in the Republican state governments as carpetbaggers or scalawags, who migrated to the South for political power or plantation purchases. (Cheap suitcases made out of carpets)
• Most carpetbaggers were Union military veterans, drawn to rebuild the region’s economy. (Some were corrupt opportunists)
• Other carpetbaggers were teachers, social workers, attorneys, physicians, editors, and ministers motivated by a desire to help free Blacks and poor Whites.
• Union general Adelbert Ames, who served as military governor of Mississippi, stayed in the South after the war to help formerly enslaved people develop healthy communities. (Then elected as a Republican Senator)
• Southern Democrats viewed scalawags as traitors, but they were known for their willingness to work with Republicans to rebuild the southern economy.

Southern Resistance

• African Americans faced increasing exploitation and abuse during Reconstruction.
• The black codes created by White state governments in 1865 and 1866 were the first efforts to deny equality.
• Whites used terror, intimidation, and violence to disrupt Black Republican meetings, target Black and White Republican leaders for beatings or murder, and prevent Blacks from exercising their political rights.
• Hundreds were killed and many more injured in systematic efforts to “keep blacks in their place.”
• Southern Whites used violence to resist Radical Reconstruction, including the formation of terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, the knights of the White Camelia, the White Line, and the White League.
• The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was formed in 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee, and began harassing Blacks and White Republicans. (Kuklos=circle or band)
• General Philip Sheridan reported that Klansmen were “terrorists” intent on suppressing Black political participation. (Supervised military district of Louisiana and Texas)

The Legacy of Congressional Reconstruction

• Racial violence led to the overthrow of Republican state governments, but their new constitutions remained in effect for years. (Later constitution incorporated many of their most progressive features)
• Republican state governments implemented innovations to protect Black voting rights and restructure legislatures.
• State offices were changed from appointed to elective positions to weaken the “good old boy” tradition of rewarding political supporters with state government jobs. (Blacks and poor White enjoyed political power)
• Republican state governments provided free public schools for the first time in most southern counties, allowed women to keep their private property rather than transfer it to husbands, rebuilt an extensive railroad network, and established public school systems open to all children, despite segregation by race.
• They also gave more attention to the poor, orphanages, asylums, and institutions for the deaf and blind for both races. (Infrastructure was repaired or rebuilt)
• African Americans achieved rights and opportunities that would be violated but never completely taken away. (Equality, own property, attend schools, learn to read and write, enter professions, and business)
• Government officials engaged in corrupt practices, with bribes and kickbacks (companies received government contracts in return for giving government officials cash or stock) commonplace. (Henry Clay)
• Southern state governments awarded money to corporations, notably railroads, under conditions that invited shady dealings and outright corruption.

15.4: The Grant Administration

• Johnson’s crippled presidency led to Republicans electing Ulysses S. Grant in 1868.
• Grant, credited with Union victory, fell out with Johnson.
• Republicans unanimously nominated Grant as presidential candidate.

The Election of 1868

• The Republican Party supported Congressional Reconstruction, with Ulysses S. Grant’s campaign slogan, “Let us have peace.” (Promise he would enforce laws and promote prosperity for all)
• Democrats criticized the Radical Republicans for subjecting the South to military despotism and Negro supremacy. (Believed it was a white man’s country and that white men should rule)
• Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour, a wartime governor of New York (dismissed emancipation proclamation), and Francis P. Blair Jr., a former Union general (racist commentor), as his running mate.
• Grant won all but 8 states and swept the Electoral College (214-80), but his popular majority was only 307,000 out of almost 6 million votes.
• Over 500,000 African American voters, mostly in the South, accounted for Grant’s margin of victory.
• Despite Klan violence and hundreds of African Americans’ deaths, Radical Republicans’ efforts to ensure voting rights for southern Blacks paid off.
• Grant, the youngest president (46), was not a great president and was passively followed by Congress.
• He showed poor judgment in his cabinet selection, favoring friendship, family, loyalty, and military service over integrity and ability. (In two terms, changed 7 cabinet positions, 24 times)
• Despite his shortcomings, Grant excelled at bringing diversity to the federal government, appointing more African Americans, Native Americans, Jews, and women than any of his predecessors during his 2 terms.

The Battle to Enforce the Fifteenth Amendment

• President Grant prioritized Reconstruction and emphasized African Americans’ civil rights.
• On March 30, 1870, he celebrated the ratification of the 15^th amendment, (through aa speech he gave I Congress) granting voting rights to African American men nationwide.
• African American leader Frederick Douglass saw the amendments (13^th, 14^th ,15^th) as a guarantee of true equality for Blacks.
• The 15^th amendment led to a violent backlash in the South, with Georgia implementing new voting restrictions (poll taxes/registration procedures).
• 4 months after 15^th amendment, the Naturalization Act of 1870 was passed, and it extended citizenship to “aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent.”
• Efforts to include Asians and Native Americans in the naturalization law was unsuccessful.

Indian Policy

• President Grant appointed General Ely Parker (Seneca Chief) as the first Native American commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1869 (served as Grant’s military secretary during the war).
• Parker faced challenges in creating policies for 300,000 Indians, many of whom were pressured by White settlers to give up their ancestral lands.
• Grant created a “Peace Policy” with Parker, focusing on the need for Indians to receive as much protection from the whites as the whites do from the Indians.
• Grant believed lasting peace could only result from Indians abandoning their nomadic tradition and relocating to government reservations, where federal troops would offer protection. (opposite)
• Grant promised to end corruption where congressmen appointed cronies as licensed government traders with access to Indian reservations (swindle Native Americans out of provisions for reservations)
• To clean up the “Indian Ring,” Grant moved the Bureau of Indian Affairs into the War Department (out of Congress) and created a Board of Indian Commissioners. (Oversee operations of the Bureau)
• Grant appointed Quakers as reservation traders, hoping their honesty, humility, and pacifism would improve the distribution of government resources.
• However, Quakers proved less able to manage Indian policy than government bureaucrats.
• Many officers and soldiers sent to “pacify” Indian peoples displayed different attitudes towards Native Americans compared to Grant.
• Abolitionist Wendell Phillips criticized the “great poison of the age” directed at both African Americans and Native Americans, but most White Americans did not care. (Indians denied citizenship)

Scandals

• President Grant’s trust in wealthy individuals led to scandals in his administration. (Awed by wealthy)
• In the summer of 1869, Jay Gould and James Fisk Jr., plotted with Abel Corbin (president’s brother-in law) to manipulate the gold market.
• The scheme aimed to create a public craze for gold by purchasing large quantities to drive up its value.
• Grant’s public association with the scheme led to false rumors of his support, causing the gold’s value to rise. (Threat: federal gov selling large amounts and deflating value)
• On September 24, 1869, (soon Black Friday) the Gould-Fisk Scheme worked, leading to a gold price stampede.
• Grant and his Treasury secretary realized the scheme and began selling government gold, leading to a price plummet to $138.
• The gold bubble collapse paralyzed financial markets and shook business confidence.
• Other scandals included the secretary of war’s wife accepting bribes from merchants trading with Indians at army posts, and whiskey distillers bribing federal Treasury agents to avoid paying excise taxes on alcohol in St. Louis.
• Grant’s personal secretary participated in the scheme, taking secret payments in exchange for confidential information.

Liberal Republicans

• Liberal Republicans, led by Senator Carl Schurz (Union War hero form Missouri), advocated for free enterprise capitalism and opposed government regulation of business and industry.
  • • Republicans were divided into Liberals (conscience Republicans) and Stalwarts (Grant Republicans)
• They championed gold coins as the only reliable currency and sought to end “Negro supremacy” in the South.
• They aimed to oust Grant from the presidency and end the “horror” of Reconstruction.
• They also sough to lower tariffs on big corporations and promote “civil service reforms” to end the “partisan tyranny” of the patronage system (political jobs for supporters).

The 1872 Election

• In 1872, Liberal Republicans (elite newspaper editors suspicious of the working class) accused the Grant administration of corruption, incompetence, and “despotism” at their national convention in Cincinnati.
• Horace Greely (champion of causes), editor of the New York Tribune, was nominated as the Democratic candidate.
• Northerners were disillusioned by Greely’s selection, while southern Democrats appreciated his criticism of Reconstruction.
• Greeley’s newspaper accused Radical Republicans of giving the vote to “ignorant” formerly enslaved people and transferring wealth to themselves.
• In the 1872 balloting, Greenly won only 6 southern states and none in the north, while Grant won 31 states and a large popular majority, gaining 56% of the votes.
• Greenly, died 3 weeks later, and Grant promised to avoid his mistakes in his first term.

The Money Supply

• Ulysses S. Grant’s second term was dominated by complex financial issues, particularly monetary policy.
• Prior to the Civil War, the economy operated on a gold standard, with state banks issuing paper money equivalent to gold coins. (Gold coins and state bank notes circulated as currency)
• Greenbacks, issues by the Federal Treasury during the Civil War, were issued to help pay for the war.
• Greenbacks (dye used on dollars) increased prices for goods and services leading to inflation (supply of money grew faster than economy).
• Post-war, the U.S. Treasury hoped to recall greenbacks to return to “hard-money” currency like gold, silver, and copper coins (viewed as more reliable and so consumer prices would decline)
• Eastern creditors (bankers and merchants) were supporters of the return to hard money as they didn’t want debtors to pay them in paper currency.
  • • Farmers opposed the return to hard money, arguing it would lead to lower prices (deflation) for their crops and livestock.
• In 1868, Democrats forced the Treasury to stop withdrawing greenbacks.
• President Grant sided with the hard-money camp, signing the Public Credit Act in 1869, which sad that investors who purchased government bonds to help finance the war effort must be paid back in gold.
  • • Led to a decline in consumer prices and sparked a debate over the merits of hard and soft money.

Financial Panic

• President Grant’s withdrawal of greenbacks led to a major economic collapse in 1873.
• Two dozen railroads stopped paying their bills, causing Kay Cooke and Company (nation’s leading business lender) to go bankrupt and close its doors on September 18, 1873.
• The Panic of 1873 resulted in a deep depression, with tens of thousands of businesses closing, 3 million workers losing jobs, banks and investment companies were shutting down, and wages slashed. (homeless)
• The depression signaled a long phase of industrial instability, with periods of prosperity followed by panics, bankruptcies, unemployment, recessions, and prolonged depression.
• The U.S. Treasury reversed course and began printing more greenbacks to increase the money supply.
• Grant’s veto of a bill to issue more greenbacks in 1874 sparked criticism and prolonged the depression.
• The veto also led to a catastrophe for Republicans in the 1874 congressional elections, halting their efforts to reconstruct the South. (House Republican went form a 70% majority to a 37% minority)

Domestic Terrorism

• President Grant initially fought to enforce federal efforts to reconstruct the postwar South, but southern resistance escalated and turned violent.
• Klansmen targeted prominent Republicans, Black and White-elected officials, teachers in Black schools, and state militias.
• In 1870, 3 White Republicans were murdered in Georgia, and an armed mob attacked a Republican political rally in Alabama, killing 4 Blacks and wounding 54.
• In South Carolina, white supremacists were especially violent, with 500 masked men lynching 8 Black prisoners and killing 30 African Americans in Meridian, Mississippi.
• Three Enforcement Acts (1870-1871) were enacted to combat political terrorism, including penalties for voting interference (president could send troops when violated), federal supervisors to monitor elections, and the Ku Klux Klan Act that outlawed activities of the KKK (1871).
• Attorney General Amos Akerman and federal troops convinced local juries to convict 1,143 Klansmen in South Carolina. (Helped to kill Klan)
• However, the Enforcement Acts were not consistently enforced, leading to an increase in violent efforts to thwart Reconstruction.
• In 1873, in Colfax, Louisiana, 140 white vigilantes (mostly ex-Confederates) led by Klansmen forced Black Republicans holed up in a courthouse to surrender, killing 81 people. (Colfax Massacre)
• President Grant declared parts of Louisiana in a state of insurrection and imposed military rule.
• Federal prosecutors used the Enforcement Acts to indict 70 Whites, but only 9 were put on trial and 3 were convicted of “conspiracy,” not murder (none were sent to prison).

Southern “Redeemers”

• The Klan’s influence on southern politics varied, with the Upper South playing a modest role in helping Democrats win local elections and the Lower South having more severe effects with Klan violence.
• In the 1873 election, Republicans cast 2,449 votes and Democrats 638 but two years later Democrats polled 4,049 votes while Republicans only had 7.
• The Democrats ousted Black legislators, closed public schools for Black children, and instituted poll taxes to restrict Black voting.
• The activities of white supremacists disheartened both Black and White Republicans.
• President Grant sought federal force to preserve peace, leading to the Civil Rights Act of 1875 which said that people of all races must be granted equal access.
• However, the Act provided little enforcement authority, leading to a wave of racial segregation in the South. (Those violated had to file in court, but the penalties of violators were small)
• The Civil Rights Cases (1883) led to the end of Republican political control in the South and the rise of all-white “conservative” parties (racial segregation) as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court taking down the Civil Rights Act as 14^th amendment focused only on the actions of state governments.
  • • Called Conservatives to distinguish themselves form Northern Democrat and called redeemers who “saved” the South from Republican control and black rule.
• Conservatives used the race issue to excite the White electorate and threaten Black voters, using trickery to rig voting.
• Republican political control ended in Virginia and Tennessee as early as 1869 and collapsed in Georgia and North Carolina a year later (even though NC had a Republican governor until 1876). Reconstruction lasted longest in the Lower South, with Whites abandoning Klan robes for intimidation in paramilitary groups such as the Mississippi Rifle Club and the South Carolina Red Shirts.

The Supreme Court

• The Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) limited the 14^th amendment’s “privileges or immunities” of U.S. citizenship. (Further eroded Congressional Reconstruction and continued discrimination)
• In 1869, Louisiana Legislature granted New Orleans slaughtering businesses to a single company to protect public health but competing butchers sued that state arguing the monopoly violated their privileges and deprived them of property without due process of law.
• The court rules that (5-4) the monopoly did not violate the 14^th amendment as its clause only applied to U.S. citizenship, not state citizenship. (States had jurisdiction over their citizens, beyond federal law)
• Dissenting Justice Stephen J. Field argued that this ruling made the 14^th amendment a “vain and idle enactment” with little scope or authority.
• United States v. Cruikshank (1876) overturned the convictions of William Cruikshank and two other White men who led the Colfax Massacre (14^th amendment only covered state actions not behavior of individuals)
• The Supreme Court struck down the Enforcement Acts, ruling that states, not the federal government, were responsible for protecting citizens from attack by other private citizens.
• These cases left freed people more vulnerable to violence and discrimination, effectively abandoning the federal government’s role in enforcing Reconstruction.

Seeking Restitution

• Henrietta Wood, a former slave, sought compensation for her forced labor.
• She was enslaved on a Kentucky plantation and later sold to a slave trader from Mississippi (Separated from her mother)
  • • Women who owned her prior freed her but the owner of the boarding houses (Rebecca Boyd) Henrietta cleaned took her for a carriage ride, where she was sold.
• She was then enslaved on Texas plantation, unaware of the Union victory until after Robert E. Lee’s surrender.
• After being freed, she returned to Cincinnati with her son, Arthur, likely raped by her Texas owner.
• In 1870, she sued slave trader Zebulon Ward for unpaid wages of $20,000.
• This settlement was the largest of its kind, enabling her to buy a house and send her son to college and law school. (Jury of 12 white men ruled in her favor in 1878 with the judge even earning $2,500.

The Contested Election of 1876

• President Grant announced his retirement in 1875, leading to a loss of confidence in his leadership (wanted to run a third term).
• James Gillespie Blaine, a former Speaker of the House, was the likely Republican candidate, but his candidacy was shattered by allegations of political favors to railroad executives in exchange for stocks.
• Rutherford B. Hayes, an anti-slavery attorney from Cincinnati and a major general from the Union army, served three terms as governor of Ohio and was a reformer.
• He was known for his “obnoxiousness” and was a civil service reformer.
• Samuel J. Tilden, a wealthy corporate lawyer and reform governor of New York, was nominated on the second ballot for the Democratic Party.
• The election hinged on 19 disputed electoral votes from Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina.
  • • At first, the victory was pointed for Tilden as he had 184 electoral votes and only needed 1 more, while the Republicans needed all 19.
    • Republicans in the 3 states had engaged in election fraud and the Democrats used violence to keep Black voters home.
    • The three states were governed by Republicans and their election boards reported a victory for Republicans.
• The Democrats challenged the results, leading to an electoral commission deciding in favor of Hayes (8-7)
• Hayes’ victory (185-184) was based on the defection of key southern Democrats who had made secret deals with the Republicans.
• The Compromise of 1877, a private bargain between Ohio Republicans and powerful southern Democrats, promised that if Hayes, was named president, he would remove all federal troops from the South (marked end of Reconstruction).

The End of Reconstruction

• By 1877, the Democrat controlled House of Representatives refused to fund federal troops in the South, leading to the collapse of the Republican government. (no longer protecting the new rights of Blacks)
• President Hayes admitted to corruption in southern voting in the 1878 congressional elections but refused to send federal troops.
• The Democrats banned the use of federal troops to enforce civil rights in the former Confederacy.
• Without federal troops, African Americans couldn’t retain their newly won civil rights.
• New White Democratic state governments rewrote their constitutions, ousted “carpetbaggers, scalawags, and black,” and cut spending.
• White supremacists, continued to prevent Blacks from voting, holding office, or sharing the same railcar.
• State colleges and universities that admitted Blacks reversed themselves.
• In an 1876 speech to the Republican National Convention, Frederick Douglass recognized the victory of the Civil War but questioned the freedom of Black men.

15.5: Reconstruction Significance

• The 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th amendments extended personal and political equality to African Americans.
• Frederick Douglas proclaimed in 1870 “We have all that we asked, and more than we expected” after the 15^th amendment’s passage.
• Despite not providing true social equality or substantial economic opportunities, the amendments laid the foundation for future advances in equality and civil rights (for women and minority groups)
• The 14^th and 15^th amendments granted Blacks theoretical equal rights, and the federal government assumed responsibility for equal treatment.
• Abraham Lincoln’s vision for a reconstructed America remains relevant and urgent today.

Ch. 19: Seizing an American Empire (1865-1913)

• Americans prioritized domestic development, western settlement, and domestic policies over foreign affairs.
• Post-Civil War, isolationism (stay out of conflicts around the world) dominated public opinion, influenced by America’s geographic advantages (wide oceans east and west and weak countries in the west)
• Business and civil leaders urged U.S. officials to acquire territory outside North America, redefining the concept of manifest destiny (regions of western hemisphere, even in the Pacific and Asia).
• Americans sought distant territories as “colonies” without intending them to become states, justifying imperialism.
• The concept of manifest destiny also took on racial meaning, with many Americans agreeing with Theodore Roosevelt that the U.S. needed to expand globally “on behalf of the destiny of the Anglo-Saxon race.”
• Prominent political and business leaders argued that rapid industrial development required foreign territories for access to raw materials and expanded naval force for international trade.
• The U.S. expanded its territorial possessions both within and beyond the Western Hemisphere, becoming and imperial ruler in 1898.
• Despite opposition, most Americans sided with future president Theodore Roosevelt, who believed the conquest of “backward peoples” benefited civilization and mankind.

19. 1: Toward the New Imperialism

• British economist J. A. Hobson emphasized imperialism as a significant factor in Western politics in 1902.
• The United States, a latecomer to European imperialism, was a key player in the imperialism.
• European nations, including the United States, had established colonial governments and exploited colonies economically. (Also dispatched Christian missionaries for conversion)
  • • British, French, Belgians, Italians, Dutch, Spanish, & Germans had conquered most of Africa and Asia
• In the late 19^th century, influential officials encouraged expansion beyond North America, including senators Albert J. Beveridge (Indiana), Henry Cabot Lodge (Massachusetts), assistant secretary of the navy Theodore Roosevelt, and naval captain Alfred Thayer Mahan (President of U.S. Naval War College, RI)
• Mahan argued that modern economic development required a powerful navy, foreign commerce, colonies, and global naval bases.
  • • Published The Influence of Sea Power upon History 1660-1783, in which he argued Great Britain had demonstrated national greatness from naval power.
    • Also championed building a Central American Canal to connect Atlantic to Pacific and spread Christianity.
• Mahan’s ideas were widely circulated, leading to the construction of 11 new steel battleship, making America’s navy the third most powerful in the world behind Great Britain and Germany.
• Claims of racial superiority reinforced the new imperialist spirit. (Americans believed Anglo-Saxon was dominant and others like Native American and African Americans were inferior)
• Prominent Americans used social Darwinism to justify economic exploitation, territorial conquest, and racial segregation. (Only the strongest survive)
• In the late 19^th century, these factors excited imperialist fervor in the United States, with belief that the United States was the most advanced and powerful nation in the world.

19.2: Expansion in the Pacific

• In 1866, Secretary of State William H. Seward predicted the US’s economic domination on the Pacific Ocean and its islands and (Asia) continents. (Had to remove foreign powers from northern Pacific Coast to gain access to region’s valuable ports)
• Seward attempted to acquire British Columbia, a territory between Russian-owned Alaska and the Washington territory. (Later learned of Russia’s desire to sell Alaska)
• In 1867, Seward bought Alaska for $7.2 million, removing Russian imperialism in North America.
• Alaska’s vast deposits of gold and oil made it a significant bargain. (Influence British Columbia to join)
• Seward also wanted the Hawaiian Islands, a unified kingdom since 1795, with a large population of American Christian missionaries and a profitable crop, sugarcane.
• In 1875, Hawaii signed a trade agreement with the US (Hawaiian sugar to enter country duty-free in exchange that none of Hawaii’s territory would be leased or granted to another nation), leading to a boom in sugar production based on cheap immigrant workers (Chinese, Japanese, and American).
  • • By the 1890s, native Hawaiian population had been reduced to a minority due to smallpox and other diseases, making Asian Americans the most numerous ethnic groups.
• In 1891, Queen Liliuokalani tried to restore “Hawaii for the Hawaiians” by restricting political power of U.S. planters in the islands.
  • • Hawaii’s White population (Haoles) revolted and overthrew the monarchy when U.S. ambassador John L. Stevens brought in marines to support the coup in January 1893.
• Queen Liliuokalani’s surrender in 1893 led to the U.S. annexing Hawaii.
• As he was leaving the presidency Benjamin Harrison sent a draft treaty annexing Hawaii to the Senate.
• Grover Cleveland tried to restore the queen to power but met resistance from the haoles. (Investigations)
• On July 4, 1894, the government they controlled created the Republic of Hawaii, which included in its constitution a provision for American annexation.
• In 1897, President William McKinley sought an excuse to annex Hawaii (manifest Destiny), leading to the U.S. taking control of Hawaii in 1898. (Over protests of resenting native Hawaiians).

19.3: The Spanish-American War

• The annexation of Hawaii, set off imperialist push in Cuba (a Spanish colony 90 miles SE of Florida)
• Intervention aimed at outrage at Spanish brutal imperialism.

The Cuban Independence Movement

• Cubans repeatedly revolted against Spanish rule in the second half of the 19^th century. (suppressed)
• Cuba was a major export market for Spanish goods (Spain’s oldest colonies), and American sugar and mining companies invested heavily in Cuba (U.S. traded more with Cuba than the Spanish).
• On February 24, 1895, Cubans rebelled against Spanish troops, leading to the Cuban War for independence (1895-1998).
• American newspapers, William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal and Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World, competed for readers with sensational headlines about Spanish atrocities in Cuba (real + fake).
• Hearst believed newspapers could shape public opinion and legislation (not only report on events), leading to yellow journalism (exaggerating and making up events).
• Hearst aimed for a war against Spain to elevate the United States to world-power status.
• Protestant organization also campaigned for war in Cuba due to antagonism towards Catholic Spain.

The Political Path to War

• President Grover Cleveland initially avoided military involvement in the Cuban War for Independence.
• After his inauguration in March 1897, President William McKinley maintained neutrality and a sympathetic stance towards the rebels.
• Later that year, Spain offered Cubans autonomy (self-government without formal independence) in return for ending the rebellion, but the rebels rejected it.
• On January 25, 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine docked in Havana, (capital) Cuba, supposedly on a courtesy call, but was actually sent to protect American life and property.
• A letter from Dupoy de Lome, the Spanish ambassador to the U.S., was stolen by a Cuban spy, and the New York Journal revealed that it criticized McKinley for his indiscretions and urged war.
• The explosion and sinking of the U.S. battleship Maine, a tragic disaster, increased the likelihood of war as Americans wer convinced that the Spanish destroyed the ship.
• Despite outraged public opinion and Republican “jingoists.” (Roosevelt and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge) McKinley refused to rush into war.
• With increased pressure, on April 11, McKinley asked Congress for authority to use armed force in Cuba to end fighting there, and on April 20, Congress demanded the withdrawal of Spanish forces.
• After the U.S. began blocking Cuban ports, Spain declared war on April 24, and Congress passed its own declaration of war. (Broke diplomatic ties with the U.S.)
• The Teller Amendment to the war resolution denied any U.S. intention to annex Cuba. (Ensure Cuban independence)
• President McKinley called for 125,000 volunteers to supplement the 28,000 men already serving in the U.S. army. (Among first to enlist was Theodore Roosevelt)
• Despite the casual beginning and enthusiastic support, the conflict against Spain generated unexpected and far-reaching consequences. (War to free Cuba became a way to gain an empire)

“A Splendid Little War”

• The war with Spain lasted 114 days, but it transformed the US’s global role.
• Commodore George Dewey, commander of the U.S. Asiatic Squadron, won the battle at Manila Bay in the Philippine islands, a colony controlled by Spain for over 300 years after Roosevelt urged Americans to engage warships in the Philippines in case the U.S. went to war in Cuba.
• Dewey’s victory was viewed as a military execution, sparking celebrations in the U.S.
• Meanwhile, Emilio Aguinaldo (leader of Filipino nationalist independent movement) declared the Philippines independent from Spain on June 12.
• Dewey’s forces accepted the surrender of Spanish troops on August 13.
• The American victory led to President McKinley and Senator Lodge expressing their determination to protect the Philippines.
• Aguinaldo’s dream of Filipino independence was soon crushed by U.S. forces.

The Cuban Campaign

• While Commodore Dewy was defeating the Spanish in the Philippines, the war in Cuba reached a climax with the Spanish army 5 times as large as the U.S. Army, at the start of the war.
• President McKinley’s call for volunteers inspired nearly a million men to enlist, with 200,000 accepted.
• Among the new recruits were 10,000 African American soldiers, mostly northerners. (South were less eager to enlist as they were oppressed)
• The U.S. Navy blockaded the Spanish fleet inside Santiago Harbor, while 17,000 American troops assembled at Tampa, Florida.
• The First Volunteer Cavalry, known as Rough Riders, was the most flamboyant unit, led by Theodore Roosevelt. (All were young and good riders)
• On June 22, 1898, the 578 Rough Riders landed at the undefeated southeastern tip of Cuba, leading to chaos. (Most of unit’s horses had been mistaking self elsewhere and the Rough Riders had to walk.
• On July 1, about 7,000 U.S. soldiers took the fortified village of El Caney.
• A small unit led by Theodore Roosevelt on horseback and including the Rough Riders on foot seized nearby Kettle Hill. (Larger force attacked San Juan Hill)
• Captain Bucky O’Neill, a member of the unit, was killed instantly by a Spanish bullet that hit his jaw.
• Roosevelt became a home-front legend for his headlong gallop towards the Spanish defenders.
• Roosevelt requested a Congressional Medal of Honor for his exploits, which was not received.
  • • Bill Clinton awarded the medal posthumously in 2001.
• Other U.S. soldiers in Cuba were less enthusiastic about the terrors of modern warfare.

Spanish Defeat & Concessions

• On July 3, the Spanish navy attempted to evade the American fleet while trapped at Santiago, but it led to the destruction of Spanish ships by modern American fleet.
• On July 25, an American force took control of Spanish-held Puerto Rico, despite minor resistance.
• On July 26, the Spanish government sued for peace, and Spanish forces surrendered in Cuba.
• On December 10, the United States and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris, granting Cuba independence and the U.S was to annex Puerto Rico and continue occupying Manila. (Pending power transfer in Philippines)
• The Treaty ended the Spanish empire in the Americas (started by Columbus 4 centuries earlier), paving the way for the United States to establish its own empire.
• Over 60,000 Spanish soldiers and sailors died due to wounds or disease, while 5,462 American died, with 379 in battle among 274,000 Americans who served in the war. (Most died from unsanitary conditions)
• John Hay, the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, acknowledged Roosevelt’s trial by fire, calling the conflict a “pleasant war.”

19.4: Consequences of Victory

• The victory in the Spanish-American War boosted American self-confidence and the belief that the US was destined to reshape the world.
• In 1885, Reverend Josiah Strong’s book, “Our Country,” emphasized the US’s superior civilization and its potential to spread globally under manifest destiny.
• Strong argued that the US had a Christian duty to expand its influence globally, citing the growth of international trade due to America’s missionary evangelism and racial superiority.
• Europeans recognized the US’s significant entry into the world stage, with the Times of London predicting a profound change in US attitude and policy.
• The acquisition of America’s first imperial colonies created moral and practical problems, including the challenge of imposing forced U.S. rule on natives and global defense of distant territories.

Taking the Philippines

• The Treaty of Paris dismantled the Spanish empire, leaving the Philippines’ political status unresolved.
• American business leaders wished to keep the area’s 400 islands and 9 million people to penetrate China’s markets with its huge population
• American missionary organizations, mostly Protestant, favored annexation as they viewed the Philippines as a base to spread Christianity.
• After US control, the Roman Catholic Church’s status as the Philippines’ official religion was ended and made English the official language, allowing Protestant missionaries to start evangelical activities.
• President McKinley argued that annexing the islands was necessary for national glory, expanding commerce, racial superiority, and Christian evangelism.
• American negotiators offered Spain $20 million for the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam, with the last serving as a coaling station for Pacific ships.
• The US also annexed Hawaii in 1898 and claimed Wake Island (between Guam and Hawaii), a vital link in a future transpacific telegraph cable. (In 1899, Germany and US agreed to divide Samoa Islands)

Debating the Treaty

• By early 1899, the Senate had not ratified the Treaty of Paris with Spain due to growing opposition to a global American empire.
• Anti-imperialists argued that annexing the former Spanish colonies would violate the Constitution’s principle of self-governing rather than being colonial subjects.
• Senator George Hoar warned that approving the treaty would make the United States a vulgar, commonplace empire that controlled subject races. (Inconsistency of liberating Cuba, but annexing Philippines)
• Senator Albert Beveridge of Indiana championed U.S. imperialism, arguing that democracy only applies to those capable of self-government. (Believed Filipinos were incapable)
• Theodore Roosevelt declared that Filipinos were “wild beasts” who would benefit from American-imposed discipline.
• William Jennings Bryan, a prominent Democratic leader, withdrawn his opposition, arguing that endorsing the treaty would open the way for future Philippines’ independence. (Convinced to support Treaty)
• President McKinley insisted on the United States taking control of the islands as an act of “benevolent assimilation.” (Had no intention of granting independence to the Philippines)
• The Filipinos declared their independence in January 1899, and named Emilio Aguinaldo president, but an American soldier fired on Aguinaldo’s nationalist (insurrectos) forces. (Philippines Pleaded for ceasefire as they acknowledged the fighting began accidently, but was rejected)
• The Philippine Republic officially declared war against the United States on June 2, marking an American war of conquest at odds with the founding principle of the United States (self-governance).

The Philippine-American War (1899-1902)

• The Philippines-American War was a brutal American effort to suppress Filipino nationalism, involving 126,000 U.S. troops and resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Filipinos and 4,234 American soldiers.
• Racism and atrocities were rampant, with soldiers burning villages, tortured and executed prisoners, and imprisoning civilians in overcrowded concentration camps. (While there was racism towards Africans)
• The war resulted in the collapse of organized Filipino resistance, with Aguinaldo pledging allegiance to the U.S. government on April 1, 1901 and accepting the authority of the United States over the Philippines.
• The debate over imperialism continued in the U.S., with groups like the American Anti-Imperialist League formed in 1899 (Andrew Carnegie financed the league, with two previous presidents agreeing)
• The war was seen as a threat to the United States’ modern civilization and was opposed by Senator Hoar, who argued against annexation. (No power of Federal government to acquire territory)
• Southern Democrats feared that giving civil rights to people of color in the Philippines would undermine White supremacy in America. Ministers viewed imperialism as un-Christian.

Organizing the Former Spanish Territories.

• The imperialists won the debate over the status of the territories acquired from Spain.
• Senator Albert J. Beveridge argued that the U.S. economy was producing more than it could consume and use, leading to the creation of new markets for American-controlled colonies.
• On July 4, 1901, the U.S. military government in the Philippines gave way to civilian control, with future president William Howard Taft becoming the governor. (Same idea made by British for U.S. colonies)
• In 1902, Congress passed the Philippine Government Act, transforming the Philippines into an American-controlled colony, not eligible for statehood. (1901: U.S. gov in Philippines gave way to civilian control)
• In 1917, the Jones Act affirmed America’s intention to grant the Philippines independence, but this didn’t happen until 1946.
• Puerto Rico was acquired to serve as a U.S. outpost guarding the Caribbean Sea.
  • • • On April 12, 1900, the Foraker Act established a government on the island and residents were declared citizens of Puerto Rico, and not made U.S. citizens until 1917.
• In Cuba, the U.S. fulfilled its promise of independence by restoring order, organizing schools, and improving sanitary conditions.
• Dr. Walter Reed’s work led to effective control of the disease yellow fever worldwide and proved that mosquitoes carry yellow fever. (Head of the Army Yellow Fever Commission in 1900)
• In 1900, on President McKinley’s order Cubans drafted a constitution modeled on that of the U.S., but the Platt Amendment restricted Cuba’s independence.
  • • Amendment required Cuba to never sign a treaty with another country and that it acknowledge the right of the US to intervene in Cuba whenever it saw fit.
• American troops remained in control of Cuba until 1902 and returned several times (1912, 1917, 1920) to suppress insurrections. (Cuba had to allow U.S. to establish a naval base at Guantanamo Bay)

“Unincorporated Territories”

• In Downes v. Bidwell (1901) the Supreme Court clarified rights of newly acquired territories.
• “Incorporated” territories: Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Oklahoma, New Mexico received full protections of the Constitution.
• “Unincorporated territories” Guam, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Samoa were according to justices “inhabited by alien races” incapable of appreciating America’s constitutional values.

Imperial Rivalries in East Asia

• The First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) led to European nations exploiting China’s weakness.
• Russia, Germany, France, and Great Britain established spheres of influence in China.
• The British requested the US to preserve China’s territorial integrity against further imperialist actions.
• The US government decided to act unilaterally after the defeat of Spain and the acquisition of the Philippines.
• Secretary of state John Hay’s Open Door Policy was outlined in 1899, stating that China should remain an “Open Door” to European and American trade.
• The policy was rooted in American businesses’ desire to exploit and dominate Chinese markets and appealed to those opposed to imperialism.
• The policy had little legal standing and was not enforced by the U.S.
• A new Asian crisis arose in 1900 when Chinese nationalists, known as Boxers, revolted against foreign involvement in China.
• Hay refined the Open Door Policy to preserve Chinese territorial and administrative integrity and ensure equal and impartial trade with all parts of the Chinese Empire.

19.5: Roosevelt’s “Big Stick” Democracy

• Theodore Roosevelt’s global role transformation included the emergence of the United States as a world power post-Cuba war.
• Expansion of Constitution and executive power to ensure acceptance of global role.
• Pushing reluctant nation to center stage of international events.

Rise to National Prominence

• Born in 1858 in New York City, Roosevelt grew up in a wealthy family.
• He graduated from Harvard with honors in 1880 and was a highly active individual.
• Roosevelt was a boxer, wrestler, mountain climber, hunter, and outdoorsman.
• He was a voracious reader, natural scientist, historian, and moralist.
• After winning election to the New York legislature, Roosevelt wrote 38 books on various subjects.
• Tragically, his mother and his wife died of typhoid fever and kidney failure in 1884.
• After the loss, Roosevelt moved west to the Dakota Territory, becoming a cowboy.
• He served as a federal civil service commissioner and head of New York City’s police commissioners.
• In 1896, he campaigned for William McKinley and won the governorship of New York in 1898.
• Roosevelt became the most prominent rising Republican leader in the nation.

From Vice President to President

• Democrats favored William Jennings Bryan, focusing on American imperialism.
• Republicans favored McKinley and named Roosevelt, known an “Mr. Imperialism,” as vice presidents.
• Roosevelt opposed Bryan’s “communistic and socialistic doctrines” and criticized his supporters.
• McKinley and Roosevelt won by 7.2 million to 6.4 million popular votes and 292 to 155 electoral votes.
• McKinley’s second term ended tragically when anarchist Leon Czolgosz shot him.
• Theodore Roosevelt became the new president on September 14, 1901.
• Roosevelt was the youngest president but had extensive experience in public affairs.
• He was known for his energy, activity, and self-righteousness, delivering speeches on moral and patriotic virtues.
• Roosevelt’s forceful temperament was evident in his handling of foreign affairs, advocating for the United States to control other regions and bring “law, order, and righteousness” to “backward peoples.”

The Panama Canal

• French company, led by Ferdinand de Lesseps, spent $300 million and 20,000 lives on a canal across Panama from 1881 to 1887.
• The US government requested to purchase the partially completed canal, a canal zone 6 miles wide, in exchange for $10 million to Colombia.
• The Hay-Herran Treaty in 1903 ratified the treaty, but Colombian Senate remained demanding $25 million.
• President Roosevelt aided Panamanian rebels and signed a treaty extending the Canal Zone.
• The US received “in perpetuity the use, occupation and control” of the Canal Zone for a $10 million down payment and $250,000 a year.
• The canal opened on August 15, 1914, two weeks after the outbreak of the Great War in Europe.