The End of Reconstruction · 2015-01-22 · •In June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated by Serbian nationalists. Soon after,

The End of Reconstruction

SS8H7 The student will evaluate key political, social, and economic changes

that occurred in Georgia between 1877 and 1918

a. Evaluate the impact the Bourbon Triumvirate, Henry Grady,

International Cotton Exposition, Tom Watson and the Populists,

Rebecca Latimer Felton, the 1906 Atlanta Riot, the Leo Frank

Case, and the county unit system had on GA during this period.

b. Analyze how rights were denied to African-Americans through Jim

Crow laws, Plessy v. Ferguson, disenfranchisement, and racial

violence.

c. Explain the roles of Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. DuBois, John

and Lugenia Burns Hope, and Alonzo Herndon.

d. Explain reasons for World War I and describe Georgia’s

contributions.

End of Republican Rule in

Georgia

• In 1868, the Republican Party gained control

of the Georgia government.

• Rufus B. Bullock was elected governor.

Bullock

– wanted equal rights for African Americans.

• Most Democrats in GA did not.

– A campaign began to remove the Republicans

from power.

– During this time, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) attacked

many African Americans in Georgia.

End of Republican Rule in

Georgia

• In 1870, federal troops withdrew from

GA and the Democrats regained control

of the Georgia government.

• The Republican Party was referred to

as the Party of Lincoln, and southern

states associated it with anti-South

policies.

Bourbon Triumvirate

• Bourbon Democrats

–conservative Democrats

–controlled the Georgia government from 1872 to 1890.

• The Bourbon Triumvirate led the Bourbon Democrats.

Bourbon Triumvirate • The Bourbon Triumvirate were Alfred

Colquitt, Joseph Brown, and John Gordon.

• wanted Georgia’s economy to be industrialized, not based solely on agriculture.

• During their time in power, the cotton textile industry grew.

• Production of cottonseed oil, cattle feed, and fertilizer began.

• Atlanta became prosperous again.

Henry Grady

• Henry Grady was a

journalist from Georgia.

– called the “voice of

the New South”

– He coined the phrase

“New South”

– Increased the

circulation of the

Atlanta Constitution

from 10,000 to 140,000

Henry Grady

– He helped bring

jobs, recognition,

and investments

to the recovering

GA economy

– Grady spoke

about unity and

trust between the

North and South.

International Cotton Exposition

• The International Cotton Exposition was held in Atlanta, in 1881.

– was a fair to showcase the economic recovery of the South and to lure northern investors

– displayed equipment for making textiles.

– millions of dollars were invested in Atlanta.

– Created new jobs.

– Similar expositions would be held there in 1887 and 1895.

– Atlanta became known as the center of the New South.

Tom Watson and the Populists

• He was a wealthy man concerned about Georgia’s poor and struggling farmers.

• Small farmers in Georgia were upset because they were not prospering during this time.

• Prices of farm products were dropping.

• Farmers owed many loans and were charged high prices by railways to ship products.

• Farmers formed groups to help one another.

Tom Watson and the Populists

• The formation of these groups/alliances was called populism.

– The Farmers’ Alliance was one of these groups.

– these groups formed a political party called the People’s Party.

• Thomas Watson was a leader of the populists.

– Under Watson’s leadership, the People’s Party became powerful in Georgia.

• The Democrats worried that the People’s Party might take control. To avoid this, the Democrats won the election by breaking the law, or “stealing” the election.

Rebecca Latimer Felton

• Rebecca Latimer Felton was a writer, teacher, and reformer.

– She was an early supporter of women’s suffrage, the right to vote.

– She made speeches and wrote articles to help women win the right to vote.

– She pushed social reform at the state level.

Rebecca Latimer Felton

– helped to instate Prohibition

– ended the convict lease system, a system of leasing convicts to private businesses as cheap labor.

– In 1922 at the age of 87, Felton became the 1st woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Leo Frank Case

• Leo Frank was a Jewish man from Georgia who was lynched, or hung, by a mob because of anti-Semitism.

–Frank was accused of murdering Mary Phagan, a young girl employee.

–The governor of Georgia, John Slaton, reviewed Frank’s case and eventually decided that Frank was innocent.

Leo Frank Case

• However, anti-Semites lynched Frank before he could enjoy his freedom.

• Anti-Semitism - a belief system against Jewish people.

Jim Crow Laws

• The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments increased the rights of African Americans after the Civil War.

• When formerly Confederate states rejoined the Union, they had to first agree to honor the amendments.

Jim Crow Laws

• Most, however, only followed the Thirteenth Amendment – no more slavery.

• The southern states did not honor the other Amendments because they feared equal rights for African Americans.

• Southern states regularly denied rights to African Americans.

Jim Crow Laws • Georgia and other

southern states passed state and local legislation called Jim Crow laws.

• Jim Crow laws mandated the segregation of African Americans and whites.

– Signs were hung in public places designating “Whites Only” for some public places and “Colored Only” for others.

Plessy V. Ferguson

• Some African Americans challenged the Jim Crow laws in court.

• The most famous challenge was between Homer Plessy and a railroad company in Louisiana.

• The company tried to make Plessy move from a “Whites Only” passenger car. Plessy, however, refused and was arrested.

Plessy V. Ferguson

• In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed with Plessy.

• The court ruled that segregation was not against the Constitution.

• This idea became known as “separate but equal,” which meant that it was legal for states to keep the races separate as long as there were equal facilities for both races.

– Most public facilities, however, such as hospitals and schools, were not of the same quality for African Americans as those for whites.

Disenfranchisement

• Disenfranchisement - the act of denying a person the right to vote

– Disenfranchisement of African American men was accomplished partly by poll taxes, property tests, and literacy tests. A poll tax was a fee that a voter had to pay to vote. A voter also had to demonstrate that he owned property.

Disenfranchisement

• Formerly enslaved men were given the right to vote by the Fifteenth Amendment.

• Many southern whites felt this right was a threat to their way of life.

• Southern states made it more difficult for African American men to vote.

• Poll taxes and property tests prevented many poor people, including African Americans, from voting.

Disenfranchisement

• In order to vote, people were required

to pass a literacy test, which

determined their ability to read and

write.

– Most African Americans could not pass

this test because under slavery, they had

not been allowed to learn to read and write.

• These laws also prevented poor,

uneducated whites from voting.

Disenfranchisement

• Southern lawmakers did not want to lose the votes of whites.

• They passed a law called the grandfather clause.

– The grandfather clause stated that if a person had an ancestor who could vote before 1867, he will be allowed to vote.

• Since 1867 was the first year that African Americans were allowed to vote, the grandfather clause only helped whites.

Disenfranchisement

• White primaries also denied African

American men the right to vote.

– A primary is an initial election when

the voters of a political party

nominate candidates.

• In many states, the Democratic

Party would not allow African

Americans to be members.

County Unit System

• In 1917, Georgia established the county unit system. This was a way to give votes in primary elections.

–Each county was given a certain number of votes, called unit votes.

–Three categories: urban, town, and rural.

County Unit System

–The candidate who received the most votes in a county won all of the unit votes given to that county.

–This system did not always represent what the population wanted.

–As a result, the county unit system was eventually abolished.

Racial Violence

• Race riots and the terrorist activities of the KKK increased at this time. As African Americans gained more power, whites reacted with fear and violence. Often, whites would attack African Americans in groups, such as in the race riots in Atlanta in 1906. Such events occurred throughout the South. This violence continued for decades, with lynching becoming an increasingly common event throughout the South. Not until the civil rights movement of the 1960s, would violence against African Americans slow in the region.

Civil Rights Advocates

• During the years between 1877 and 1918,

many significant changes in civil rights took

place in the state of Georgia. Many civil

rights advocates of this period were

educators, however, businesspeople also

played a role. In the approximately fifty years

following the Civil War, colleges in Georgia

had begun to serve African Americans. The

availability of education for former slaves

was a great advance in civil rights.

Booker T. Washington

• (1856-1915)

• Was born into slavery.

• Grew up during Reconstruction

• Educated by a freedmen’s school.

• Championed education for other African Americans.

• In 1881 Washington headed the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. – a college that prepared African

Americans for agricultural and domestic work.

Booker T. Washington (cont.) • Became a well known

educator and thinker.

• Explained the idea of accommodationism (blacks and whites work separately for a mutually beneficial relationship) at the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. – He encouraged African

Americans to embrace jobs in agriculture, mechanics, commerce, and domestic service.

– Believed seeking social equality was a mistake.

– Believed progress would come gradually (should not be forced).

Booker T. Washington (cont.)

• called for whites to take the initiative in improving social and economic relations between the races.

• His ideas of shared responsibility and the importance of education over equality came to be known as the Atlanta Compromise.

W.E.B Du Bois

• (1868-1963)

• A prominent professor at

Atlanta University in 1897.

• Criticized the idea of

accommodationism.

– Believed the idea accepted the

racism of whites.

• Thought Blacks should fight

for total racial equality.

W.E.B Du Bois

• Founded the Niagra

Movement.

– Civil Rights Activists

gathered at Niagra Falls

and listed demands,

which included the end

of segregation and

discrimination.

W.E.B Du Bois

• Activists of the Niagra

Movement founded

the National

Association for the

Advancement of

Colored People

(NAACP).

• Du Bois took a

leadership position

with the NAACP.

Similarities Differences Differences

Booker T. Washington W.E.B Du Bois

Both were civil

rights activists

who fought to

educate African

Americans and

advance African

American rights.

Both were

prominent

educators at

major universities.

Headed the Tuskegee

Institute. Believed in

accommodationism.

Encouraged Blacks to

embrace domestic

jobs (i.e. agriculture,

mechanics, etc.).

Believed progress

should be gradual.

Believed in shared

responsibilities for

Whites and Blacks in

improving social and

economic relations.

Gave the Atlanta

Compromise speech.

A professor at

Atlanta University.

Disagreed with

accommodationism.

Thought Blacks

should fights for

total social equality.

Founded the Niagra

Movement which

sought to end

discrimination and

segregation. A

prominent

leader/member of

the NAACP.

John and Lugenia Hope

• John and Lugenia Burns Hope devoted their time advancing civil rights and education for African Americans.

• John Hope – became the first African

American president of Morehouse College in 1906.

– became the first African American president of Atlanta University.

• Atlanta University became the first college in the nation to offer graduate education for African Americans.

– supported public education, healthcare, job opportunities, and recreational facilities for African Americans.

John and Lugenia Hope

• Lugenia Hope:

– Worked for many organizations to assist

African Americans in GA.

– created the first woman-run social welfare

agency for African Americans in GA.

– was a member of the National Association

of Colored Women (NACW).

World War I

• In June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated by Serbian nationalists. Soon after, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Within a few months, the allies of these countries had joined the war. World War I had begun.

• There were several causes for World War I. These included ethnic and ideological conflicts, nationalism, and political and economic rivalries.

World War I

Franz Ferdinand Gavrilo Princip

World War I

• Ethnic Conflicts:

– An ethnic group is a group of people that shares a

common and distinctive culture. Usually, they

also share the same language and religion. Ethnic

Conflicts are often the cause of wars.

• A major ethnic conflict existed in what was

called the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

– This large empire consisted of many ethnic

groups, but only the Austrians and the

Hungarians had the right to vote.

World War I

• Ideological Conflicts:

• An ideology is a system of ideas that guides individuals, social movements, or groups of people.

– weltpolitik is a German word that means “world politics.” The Germans believed they deserved to be equal partners with other leading world powers such as Great Britain.

• Germany had conflicts with all the other major European powers except Austria-Hungary

World War I

• Nationalism:

–devotion and loyalty to one’s

own ethnicity or country of

origin.

World War I

• In the 19th century, many nationalist movements led to a widespread struggle for independence. This was especially true in the Balkans. Serbia was at the center of the nationalist movements in the Balkans. Austria-Hungary was considered an enemy of Serbia because of the desire of the Serbs in Austria-Hungary to unite with Serbia and create a larger Serbian state.

Georgia’s Contributions to WWI

• Soldiers from many states came to

Georgia to receive military training at

Camp Benning, Camp Gordon and Fort

McPherson.

• Textile mills made fabrics for military

uniforms.

• Railroads carried arms, ammunition and

soldiers to ports where ships set sail to

Europe.

Georgia’s Contributions to WWI

• Many residents planted “victory gardens”

to raise their own vegetable so that there

would be more food for soldiers & military.

• Women volunteered to work for the Red

Cross, to welcome soldiers, to knit and sell

war bonds.

• 3,000 young people from Georgia died in

World War I.

Georgia’s Contributions to WWI

• The entry of the United States into the was

helped to defeat the Central Powers and

end the war.

• On November 11, 1918 the war officially

ended when both sides signed an

armistice.

• Armistice: an agreement to stop fighting.