The End of Reconstruction and the Origins of Jim Crow

Overview

Reconstruction: a reviewThe Compromise of 1877The Emergence of Jim Crow

1. Reconstruction: A Review

What’s Reconstruction?

1865: Civil War ends; North wins

Two relationships to reconsider:States vs. federal

governmentWhite Southerners vs. former

slaves

Presidential Reconstruction

Andrew Johnson (Lincoln’s VP)Tennessee Democrat; supported slavery

before Civil WarPhilosophy: give power back to Southern

statesResults:

States passed Black Codes (1865-1867)

Rise of the Ku Klux Klan (formed 1865)

Radical Reconstruction

Led by radical Republicans in CongressTwo key differences:

Gave more power to the federal governmentGave more rights to former slaves

Two key components:Reconstruction AmendmentsEnforcement Acts

The Reconstruction Amendments

13th Amendment (1865): abolishes slavery

14th Amendment (1868): Guarantees citizenship to all persons born in

the U.S.

Prohibits states from passing laws to take away a citizen’s rights

15th Amendment (1870): grants black male citizens the right to vote

The Enforcement Acts

Three laws, 1870-71Protected civil rights granted to

African AmericansCriminalized activities

associated with the KKKEnforced by federal troops

Results of Reconstruction

The Good

Citizenship rightsPolitical gainsEstablishment of schools

The Bad

No gains for womenLimited economic gains

2. The Compromise of 1877

The Election of 1876

Rutherford Hayes (Republican) vs. Samuel J. Tilden (Democrat)

Final vote was disputedHayes and Tilden agreed on the

Compromise of 1877:Hayes would become president

Federal troops would withdraw from the South

Results of the Compromise of 1877

Southern governments stopped protecting civil rightsDemocrats returned to power in Southern statesEffectively ended ReconstructionBeginning of Jim Crow

3. The Emergence of Jim Crow

Economic Inequality

Former slaves were uneducated and landless

Slavery replaced by sharecropping Families borrowed plots of land and

tools from landowners

Paid rent with a share of their crop

Laws

Passed by states, cities, and towns

Segregation lawsVoting restrictions

Literacy tests

Poll taxes

Grandfather clauses

Customs

Widespread stereotypesBlacks expected to act inferior

at all timesSome examples:

Names and titles

No social interaction as equals

Black men and white women kept apart

Violence

Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups

Targeted blacks and white supporters of civil rights

IntimidationLynchings