The End of Reconstruction, 1877 (Edexcel A-Level History): Revision Notes
The End of Reconstruction, 1877
Introduction
Reconstruction formally ended when Rutherford B. Hayes became president in March 1877. However, the process of ending Reconstruction and the reassertion of white southern control had begun several years earlier. By 1877, the hopes of achieving full civil rights and racial equality for freed slaves had largely been abandoned.
The formal end of Reconstruction in 1877 represented the culmination of a gradual process that had been underway for nearly a decade. Understanding the factors that led to this outcome is essential for comprehending how the promise of Reconstruction ultimately failed.
Turning points leading to the end of Reconstruction
The election of Ulysses Grant (1868)
The election of Ulysses Grant as president in 1868 marked an important turning point. Unlike the Radical Republicans in Congress, Grant adopted a much more moderate approach towards the former Confederate states. This shift had several significant consequences:
Congress and the Freedmen's Bureau (1869): As early as 1869, Congress refused to provide additional funding for the Freedmen's Bureau, the organisation that had been helping formerly enslaved people transition to freedom. This withdrawal of support signalled a declining commitment to protecting the rights of black Americans.
Amnesty Act of 1872: This legislation pardoned all but the most senior officers and officials of the former Confederate states. By restoring political rights to former Confederates, the act allowed them to participate in politics again and strengthened opposition to Reconstruction.
Grant's response to violence in Mississippi (1875): When the Republican governor of Mississippi requested federal troops to suppress white terror groups disrupting the 1875 state elections, President Grant refused. He claimed that the public were tired of annual autumnal outbreaks in the South. Without federal protection, the Democrats won the election through fraud and violence, which Grant himself later admitted.
Grant's refusal to send federal troops to Mississippi in 1875 represented a critical turning point. This decision effectively signaled that the federal government would no longer actively protect Republican governments and black voters in the South, paving the way for Democratic restoration through violence and intimidation.
Economic factors
In 1873, a major economic depression affected the entire United States economy. This financial crisis had important political consequences for Reconstruction:
- Northern businessmen began pressuring the federal government to normalise relations with the former Confederate states
- They believed improved relations would stimulate economic activity and help end the depression
- Economic concerns increasingly took priority over civil rights issues
The shift from civil rights to economic priorities demonstrates how financial concerns often overshadow moral imperatives in political decision-making. The 1873 depression fundamentally changed the national conversation about Reconstruction.
Violence by white terror groups
The Ku Klux Klan and other white terror groups used violence and intimidation to disrupt Republican Party rule in the South. These groups targeted both black voters and white Republicans, creating an atmosphere of fear that made it difficult to maintain Reconstruction governments.
The violence declined somewhat after 1871, partly due to the Enforcement Acts which gave the federal government power to act against terrorist organisations. However, violence also decreased because the Democrat Party, which opposed Reconstruction, had regained control of most southern states by 1875. White southerners used the term 'redeemed' to describe states where Democratic control had been restored, viewing this as a liberation from Republican rule.
Common Misunderstanding: The decline in violence after 1871 was not primarily due to federal intervention succeeding, but rather because white supremacists had largely achieved their goal of restoring Democratic control through terror. The violence had served its purpose.
The 1876 presidential election
The presidential election of 1876 proved decisive in ending Reconstruction. This controversial election exposed the growing divisions over how to handle the South.
The candidates
Democrat Party candidate: The Democrats nominated Samuel Tilden, the governor of New York state. The party opposed Reconstruction and appealed to those who wanted to end federal intervention in the South.
Republican Party candidate: President Grant's Republican administrations from 1869 to 1876 had been severely damaged by major corruption scandals. To distance themselves from these problems, the Republicans chose Rutherford B. Hayes, the reforming governor of Ohio. In a private letter written in 1875, Hayes had suggested that leaving the South alone seemed the most appropriate course of action. Hayes deliberately sought support from southern voters during the campaign.
Hayes' private letter from 1875 reveals that even before becoming the Republican nominee, he favored abandoning federal intervention in the South. This foreshadowed the policies he would implement as president.
The election controversy
The November 1876 election produced a highly disputed result that threatened a constitutional crisis:
Popular vote: Samuel Tilden won more votes overall, carrying states such as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Indiana.
Electoral college: However, American presidential elections are decided by the electoral college, not the popular vote. Tilden received 184 electoral college votes, one short of the 185 needed for victory.
Disputed votes: Hayes received fewer popular votes but won the electoral college votes in three southern states: Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina. This gave Hayes 185 electoral college votes overall, beating Tilden by just one electoral college vote.
Democrat protests: The Democrat Party protested the result, but Hayes was inaugurated as president in March 1877.
The 1876 Electoral Crisis: The Numbers
Popular Vote Results:
- Samuel Tilden (Democrat): 4,288,546 votes
- Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican): 4,034,311 votes
- Tilden's lead: 254,235 votes
Electoral College Results:
- Tilden: 184 electoral votes (needed 185 to win)
- Hayes: 185 electoral votes (exactly the majority needed)
- Hayes' margin: Just 1 electoral vote
The outcome hinged entirely on the disputed electoral votes from three southern states still under Republican control: Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina.
The 1876 election revealed a fundamental tension in American democracy: the winner of the popular vote can lose the presidency through the electoral college system. This controversy nearly caused a constitutional crisis and was only resolved through political compromise that ended Reconstruction.
The final end of Reconstruction
With Hayes' inauguration in March 1877, Reconstruction officially ended. The consequences for southern Republicans and black Americans were immediate and severe:
April 1877: The last Republican Party governor in the South, in South Carolina, left office. He strongly criticised Hayes' southern policy, stating it consisted of the abandonment of southern Republicans, and especially black Americans, to the control and rule of not only the Democratic Party, but also those in the South who viewed slavery as a divine institution.
This marked the complete restoration of Democratic and white supremacist control across the former Confederacy.
The speed with which Republican governments collapsed in April 1877 demonstrates that they had been sustained primarily by federal support rather than popular legitimacy. Once that support was withdrawn, they fell almost immediately.
Duration of Republican rule in the former Confederate states
The following data shows how quickly Democratic control was restored in different states:
- Alabama: Republican rule lasted 6.5 years (1868-1874)
- Arkansas: Republican rule lasted 6.5 years (1868-1874)
- Florida: Republican rule lasted 8.5 years (1868-1877) - one of the longest
- Georgia: Republican rule lasted only 1.0 year (1870-1871) - the shortest
- Louisiana: Republican rule lasted 8.5 years (1868-1877) - one of the longest
- Mississippi: Republican rule lasted 5.5 years (1870-1875)
- North Carolina: Republican rule lasted 2.0 years (1868-1870)
- South Carolina: Republican rule lasted 8.0 years (1868-1876)
- Tennessee: Republican rule lasted 3.0 years (1866-1869) - readmitted before Radical Reconstruction
- Texas: Republican rule lasted 3.0 years (1868-1873)
- Virginia: Republican rule lasted 0.0 years (Democrats took control before formal readmission)
Patterns in the Data:
Notice that the three states with the longest periods of Republican rule - Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina - were the same three states whose disputed electoral votes decided the 1876 election in Hayes' favor. These states remained under Republican control precisely because they still had federal military protection.
Conversely, states like Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia returned to Democratic control almost immediately, showing how quickly white supremacist forces could reassert control once Reconstruction governments were established.
This data reveals that most states returned to Democratic control within just a few years, with only Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina maintaining Republican governments until the final end of Reconstruction in 1877.
Assessment of Reconstruction
Reconstruction began with the aim of reuniting a divided nation after the bitter four-year Civil War. For the Radical Republicans, it represented an opportunity to permanently change the social and political framework of the United States, particularly in the South. Their goals included full civil rights and racial equality for formerly enslaved people.
Why Reconstruction failed
However, Reconstruction failed to achieve its main aims. Instead of creating lasting change, it produced:
- A severe white southern backlash against racial equality
- Considerable racial conflict and violence
- The restoration of white supremacist control across the South
- The abandonment of black Americans and their white Republican allies
Understanding Reconstruction's Failure:
Reconstruction failed not because its goals were misguided, but because of a combination of factors: insufficient federal commitment, economic priorities overtaking moral ones, organized white violence, and the eventual abandonment of black Americans by northern politicians who grew tired of the struggle. The failure had devastating consequences that would last for nearly a century.
Different perspectives on Reconstruction
White southerners: Many white southerners viewed Reconstruction with continuing bitterness long after it ended. They regarded northern carpetbaggers (northerners who moved to the South) and southern scalawags (white southerners who supported Republicans) as figures of contempt. The period was seen as an unjust imposition on the South.
Black Americans: For black Americans, Reconstruction represented a very different experience. W.E.B. Du Bois, a leading black civil rights activist, described Reconstruction as an era when slaves were freed and for a brief moment stood in the sun, but then moved back towards slavery. This poignant assessment captures both the hope and the ultimate disappointment of the period for African Americans.
Contrasting Historical Memories:
The vastly different ways white southerners and black Americans remembered Reconstruction reflects the profound racial divide in American society. For white southerners, it was a period of humiliation and occupation; for black Americans, it was a brief glimpse of freedom and equality that was tragically snatched away. These competing narratives shaped American racial politics for generations.
Summary
Key Points to Remember:
-
Reconstruction officially ended in March 1877 when Rutherford B. Hayes became president, though the process of ending it began much earlier
-
Three key factors undermined Reconstruction: Grant's less radical approach from 1868, the economic depression of 1873 which shifted priorities, and violence by white terror groups that helped Democrats regain control
-
The contested 1876 election saw Hayes win through the electoral college despite Tilden winning the popular vote, leading to the final abandonment of Reconstruction
-
Republican rule in southern states was short-lived, lasting from as little as one year in Georgia to 8.5 years in Florida and Louisiana, with most states returning to Democratic control by 1875
-
Reconstruction failed its main aims of achieving full civil rights and racial equality, instead producing a white backlash and the restoration of white supremacist control across the South
-
The legacy of Reconstruction's failure would shape American race relations for the next century, as black Americans were systematically denied the rights and opportunities that Reconstruction had briefly promised them