Lesson 4: The Aftermath of Reconstruction

Key Idea

By the mid-1870s, Northern support for Reconstruction was fading. A severe economic depression, the Panic of 1873, and political scandals shifted the nation's focus away from the South. Many Americans grew tired of the effort and expense of maintaining federal authority there.

The disputed presidential election of 1876 led to the Compromise of 1877. In this informal deal, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes became president. In return, he removed all remaining federal troops from the South. This withdrawal marked the end of Reconstruction, allowing white Democratic "Redeemer" governments to regain control.

Key Idea

After Reconstruction, Southern governments passed laws to stop African American men from voting. These laws were written to get around the Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed the right to vote regardless of race.

States required voters to pay poll taxes or pass difficult literacy tests. Since many African Americans were poor sharecroppers and had been denied education, these rules effectively blocked them from voting. This process of taking away voting rights is known as voter disenfranchisement.

Key Idea

After Reconstruction, Southern states passed Jim Crow laws to enforce racial segregation. These laws separated Black and white people in nearly all public spaces, including schools, trains, and restaurants.

This system of segregation was challenged in the 1896 Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson. The Court made a landmark ruling that segregation was constitutional as long as the separate facilities for each race were of equal quality.

Key Idea

After the Civil War, the plantation system collapsed, but land ownership remained largely in the hands of a few wealthy whites. Without money to buy their own land, many freed African Americans and poor white farmers turned to a system called sharecropping.

In this system, landowners allowed farmers to use a plot of land in exchange for a "share" of the crop at harvest time. However, farmers often had to buy seeds, tools, and food on credit with high interest rates. By the time they sold their crops, the money earned was rarely enough to pay back what they owed. This created a cycle of debt that kept many Southerners poor and tied to the land, unable to leave or improve their lives.