The Abandonment of Radical Reconstruction 
after the American Civil War - A Northern Perspective

by

Rohland Schuknecht

Contents

I. Introduction 2

II. The deficiencies of reconstruction 3

III. The decline of radicalism and the rise of liberalism in the Republican party 7

IV. Conclusion 8

Bibliography 10

I. Introduction

The year 1877 marked the final stage of the great experiment of reconstruction. The new Republican president Hayes ordered the withdrawal of the last federal troops from the American South. The remaining Republican governments in South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana were surrendered to the white supremacist ′redeemers′.

The end of radical reconstruction established the foundations for the distinctive social, politic and economic development of the South. Although restored to the Union, the South entered into a period of economic backwardness and social oppression. The abandonment of radical reconstruction represents not only the victory of the conservative forces of the South but also the overthrow of the radicals within the Republican party in the North. If perceived as a humanitarian crusade and an attempt to establish a new social order in the South, reconstruction was indeed a failure though emancipation and civil rights for blacks were to remain part of the constitution.

This essay aims at a discussion of the causes leading to the abandonment of radical reconstruction from a Northern perspective. The rise and decline of the race issue in the North and in the Republican party in particular was closely linked with questions of party politics, economic and social issues. These issues eventually gained much more importance than the Negro question, developing their own dynamics. At the same time fundamental racial and racist paradigms remained fixed in public consciousness. Thus the end of reconstruction could be viewed as the result of political, social and economic change, the shift to industrial capitalism and the continued existence of old racial prejudice.

In which way influenced new political issues the course and the end of reconstruction? Why were Northern Republicans at last reluctant to assist their Southern counterparts in a sufficient way? The federal government failed to intervene to prevent violence and racial tensions which culminated in the takeover of the South by the Democrats. How did Northern racial attitudes and ideology influence the way in which reconstruction was performed and eventually abandoned? These crucial questions provide the broad outline for an understanding of the Northern background of the reconstruction experiment and its abandonment.

II. The deficiencies of reconstruction

The formal integration of the freed slaves into American society as full citizens represents the major achievement of the reconstruction era. If one examines the racial attitudes persistent among a wide section of Northern society towards race the granting of major civil rights to blacks appears as an astonishing fact. The small but powerful group of radicals within the Republican party appeared as advocates of the freedmen′s rights. As senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts pointed out in 1872:

"It is not enough to proclaim "liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof". Equality must be proclaimed also; and since both are promised by the great declaration [of independence], which is a national act, and from their nature they should be uniform throughout the country, both must be placed under the safeguard of national law. There can be but one liberty and one equality, the same in Boston and New Orleans, the same everywhere throughout the country."

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