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Gilded age and reconstruction (1865-90) - Coggle Diagram
Gilded age and reconstruction (1865-90)
Civil war ended in April 65 by southern force surrender, it had cost more the 6 billion dollars
After the assassination of Lincoln, Johnson had to reconstruct and unify the nation
Weaknesses of federal government: J & G and the failure of radical reconstruction
Government consisted of president, congress (senate and h o rep) and the Supreme Court.
Struggle for reconstructionn is due to ineffective government action when necessary due to their complex system of checks and balances
Reconstruction involved 2 key issues- punishment of southern states for seceding and how former slaves should be treated in southern states
Johnson reconstruction
Johnsons wished to see southern states restored to the union asap. He didnt want to punish the south and felt each state should be responsible for how it wishes to treats the former slaves
Most of congress were radical republicans who wished to see harsh measures taken against the south and legal protection for African-Americans
Congress overrode presidential power and passed a civil rights act which overrode the black codes. Johnson vetoed this but it still came into law in April 66 as the 14th amendment giving all African Americans born in the USA full citizenship
Congressional disdain for Johnson grew and he was impeached but only survived by one vote but his credibility was ruined and he was easily beaten by grant in the 68 election
Grant reconstruction
Successes- congress passed 4 reconstruction acts and placed southern states under military rule, many areas also saw expansion of social services, improvements in education
Failures-many African-Americans were voted into office but were poorly educated and lacked ability to govern effectively -entrance of carpetbaggers(greedy northern migrators) and scalawags(southerners who collaborated with new regimes) -terror from white people towards African Americans (KKK)
By end of 1870s many in the north were tired of reconstruction and the presidential election of 1877 ended in compromise. Southern democrats agreed to support republican candidate (Hayes) if troops were withdrawn and reconstruction ended. Southern states become responsible again for their own governance .
politics of gilded age, weak president's and political corruption
from 1866-96 the power was with the senate, not the president and so presidents were ineffective and weak. The house of representatives was also seen as disorderly and weak
democrats and republicans agreed on many political issues
civil service reform
role of federal government grew due to expansion and population growth
roles in government were filled with patronage. politicians had power and control and gave positions to people in return for political favours (corruption evidence). reformers called for meritocracy.
reform was successful in 1883 after the assassination of Garfield which called for the professionalisation of civil service.
Pendleton Act- 10% of government posts reserved for merit
political corruption
scandals
September 1869 a series of speculators tried to gain control of the gold market, these people were closely affiliated with president Grant, Grant was honest but appointed corrupt officials such as his secretary of state who was involved in the 1875 Whiskey Ring scandal
mugwumps
group of eastern republicans who campaigned against corruption of government. They supported Cleveland for his reputation for efficiency as Governor of New York state