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The Presidency of Ulysses Grant

The Presidency of Ulysses Grant. Ulysses S. Grant. 1822 – 1885 18 th President (1869–77) Republican Won election easily, despite having no political experience Extremely popular president but reputation tarnished by the many scandals in his administration Died of throat cancer.

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The Presidency of Ulysses Grant

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  1. The Presidency of Ulysses Grant

  2. Ulysses S. Grant • 1822 – 1885 • 18th President (1869–77) • Republican • Won election easily, despite having no political experience • Extremely popular president but reputation tarnished by the many scandals in his administration • Died of throat cancer

  3. The Fifteenth Amendment • Ratified in Feb. 1870 • The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

  4. Carpetbaggers & Scalawags • Carpetbaggers = Northerners who moved into the South during Reconstruction, either to help or to take advantage of new opportunities • Scalawags = Southerners who supported the Republican Party and Reconstruction • Both groups were very unpopular in the South

  5. African-Americans in Politics • “Black Republicans” • Many were educated blacks from the North who went South and ran for office • Thousands of freedmen took government jobs • 16 would serve in Congress during the Reconstruction Era

  6. Reforms help African-Americans • Black Codes repealed • Built state hospitals, orphanages, mental institutions • Rebuilt roads, railroads, bridges • Built public schools – 200,000+ freedmen attended and attendance rates for black children was 40% (High for time) • Paid for through high property taxes

  7. Increasing Racial Violence in South • Many Southern whites resented the Republican governments and the newly won rights of the freed slaves • Struck out violently, but usually anonymously, by burning houses, schools, and churches and by lynching black leaders and white carpetbaggers and scalawags

  8. Ku Klux Klan • Founded in 1866 • Original goal was to drive out carpetbaggers and restore control of state governments to the Democratic Party • Grew to terrorize African-Americans because of their support for the Republican governments • Engaged in acts of terror, including lynchings

  9. The Enforcement Acts • 3 Congressional Acts • 1) Made it a federal crime to interfere with a citizen’s right to vote • 2) Placed federal elections under the supervision of federal marshals • 3) The Ku Klux Klan Act: outlawed the activities of the KKK and similar groups – led to 3000+ arrests, but only 600 convictions

  10. Grant’s Troubled Presidency • Split in Republican Party over taxes and spending • Scandals in customs collection, postal contracts, and with Grant’s Secretaries of the Interior, War, & Navy as well as his Attorney General and personal secretary • The Whiskey Ring: over 100 members of Grant’s administration were taking part in a scheme to steal millions of dollars in taxes on whiskey; although not personally involved, Grant interfered in the investigation and trials to protect his friends

  11. Panic of 1873 • Bad investments caused the collapse of one of US’ biggest private banks • This triggered the failure of smaller banks and thousands of small businesses, putting many out of work • This plus scandals destroyed Grant’s popularity and chances for a third term

  12. Election of 1876 • Democrats nominated Samuel Tilden, a “law-and-order” former governor of NY • Republicans declined to run Grant again and instead ran Rutherford B. Hayes, governor of Ohio • Election was so close that Congress had to decide who was president

  13. Compromise of 1877 • Supposedly, Southern Democrats pledged to support Hayes as president if the Republicans promised to remove federal troops from the South and end Reconstruction • No “formal” agreement was ever recorded, but once Hayes took office, Reconstruction was ended!

  14. Rutherford B. Hayes • 1822 – 1893 • 19th President (1877-81) • Republican • Chosen over Pres. Grant for the Republican nomination • Did not run for re-election • Became heavily involved in charitable works after leaving the presidency

  15. Reconstruction Ends • With the withdrawal of federal troops and the final readmission of all former Confederate states, the South was once again free to begin discriminating against the freedmen

  16. The “New South” • The idea that the South needed to abandon its reliance on cash crops like cotton and tobacco and industrialize • New railroads were built • Steel industry, cotton mills, and cigarette factories all opened • Still, most Southerners remained in farming

  17. Sharecropping & Tenant Farming • Tenant farmer: rented land from a large landholder for a set cash fee • Sharecropper: rented land from a large landholder for a percentage of their crop • Both systems kept most blacks and many poor whites deeply in debt and with no hope of ever owning their own land

  18. “Jim Crow” Laws • Laws designed to prevent freedmen from voting: • Literacy tests – must be able to read to vote • Poll taxes – must pay a fee to vote • Grandfather clauses – can’t vote unless your grandfather was eligible to vote

  19. The “Solid South” • Southern states would continue to vote – and vote Democrat -as a block in presidential elections for decades to come, blocking Republican initiatives for reform

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