Reconstruction Dbq Essay

In the fall of 1867, local black leaders, ministers and Republicans mobilized large numbers of voters in the South. Southerners in Alabama united to “claim exactly the same rights, privileges and immunities as are enjoyed by white men”. 265 African Americans were elected as delegates to state conventions. However, democrats controlled the North and racial prejudice was a major concern. Blacks tried to pursue their dreams of equality, but whites wanted to keep as many features of slavery as they could. The end result of the Reconstruction was violence, brutality and election fraud.
In the election of 1868, Ulysses S. Grant won fifty-three percent of the vote and won the electoral college by a vote of 214 to 80 although he did not have any political experience. Because of this lack of experience, he at times appeared confused; he appointed men who also didn’t have the experience of a leader. Allegations of scandal and corruption plagued his administration leading to embarrassment for Grant. His second term was also filled with scandals—allegations of bribery, giving senators and representatives a retroactive pay increase, and

taking kickbacks from liquor interests for not collecting excise taxes on whiskey—indicating the inadequacies of Grant’s selection of cabinet members.
Republicans considered these scandals a liability during talk of a third term.

Rutherford B. Hayes was selected as the Republican candidate. Samuel J. Tilden was selected as the Democratic candidate. Results of the election were so close that Republicans requested a recount. The Constitution did not specify how to resolve a contested election and the House and Senate could not agree on how to count the votes, so a committee of fifteen members was created. The committee ruled in favor of Hayes by one vote. Democrats postponed tallying the vote in hopes of getting concessions from the Republicans. Their tactic worked because the ‘Compromise of 1877’ was agreed upon. The South would agree to Hayes becoming president if the North would pull the military out of the south. On March 2, 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes was elected

president.
Hayes did not abide by the agreement and remove the troops from the south. Under the Hayes administration, the Reconstruction was over. The Compromise of 1877 actually hurt former slaves. Blacks were relegated again to second-class citizens. Few African Americans continued to serve in government offices and the Republican Party no longer actively supported civil rights for blacks. White southerners who were elected passed laws that took away the rights of former slaves and passed laws that segregated the South. Whites from the North and South returned to restoring their way of life, unconcerned with the civil rights of African Americans. Any efforts to enforce laws that were applicable to all citizens of the United States during the Reconstruction were now undermine.