The years between 1877 and 1900 were very eventful, and there were seven different Presidents that led the United States throughout these years. Though each President played a role in one way or another, the five most effective U.S Presidents were James Garfield, Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, and topping the list is Rutherford B. Hayes. A truly effective president invokes change with new policies or proposals, and that is exactly what Hayes did as the 19th President of the United States. The two events that Hayes made that made him so effective were The Compromise of 1877 and The Great Railroad Strike of 1877. After the Civil War had ended, conflict did not stop with the South, as the fight went from war to the political world. In order for the Democrats to allow Rutherford B. Hayes into office, he had to agree to pull the troops out of the South, allow Democratic control again, and to have a Democrat in the cabinet (ushistory.com). This was the most controversial election in history. With President Hayes agreeing to the terms, this agreement became known as the Great Compromise. This effectively and officially ended the Reconstruction era of in the South that had gone …show more content…
Hayes really played a role in was The Great Railroad Strike of 1877. In the summer of 1877, pay for workers, and hours to work were significantly cut because of the struggling economy (americanhorizons). Workers didn’t respond nicely, as they stopped working and started a 45 day protest that didn’t allow anyone to operate the trains. This is where Rutherford B. Hayes stepped in, by sending federal troops to Pennsylvania to use force and put an end to the strike. It was violent as more than 100 people were killed and a thousand more were arrested (rankfile.org). President Hayes didn’t totally resolve the dispute and it may have not been done in the best way, but the people did head back to work and the strike ended because of his
Workers became “more numerous, better organized, more disciplined, and more successful” even though employers tried to stop them (Who Built America 113). Many of these workers led strikes for better hours, better wages and better conditions. When comparing the 1800s to today, we see that strikes were very effective, an example of this is shown in the 8-hour movement. Unions helped win “more than 60 percent of the strikes waged in 1889 and 1890” (Who Built America 113). Due to these workers, employees now face fewer obstacles. Whenever workers felt as though they were being taken advantage of they could “refuse to work, if they withdraw their cooperation, every social institution can be brought to a halt” (Brecher 5). Without workers, the employers will have no one to complete products therefore not being able to make a profit. Subsequently, employees will have leverage over the employers so they can finally sit down and negotiate their conditions. This was shown in the Michigan Central Railroad where workers fought for their wages to increase by two dollars. The workers exhibited their resistance when “streetcars, wagons, and buggies were stopped; tanneries, stoneworks, clothing factories, lumberyards, brickyards, furniture factories, and a large distillery was closed in response to roving crowds” (Brecher 31). The result of this strike was “victorious, and 2 dollars a day became the standard wage in Galveston” (Brecher 31). This strike was important because it exhibited to others that if they unite then they can achieve better conditions. If the workers did not unionize they would not have achieved equality in the workforce and better wages and conditions. Without resistance, these workers would have never gotten negotiations or the necessities they need. Even if workers lost because of outside interference they eventually had the power to change the minds of
After the conclusion of America’s Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln pitched the idea of “Reconstruction,” which would bring the southern states back into the Union. President Lincoln, according to many radical Republicans, was too gentle on the south. The government was divided on how to solve the issue of readmitting the southern states back into the Union. In addition to that, the government was not certain on what rights to enumerate to the newly emancipated slaves. These issues became more difficult to solve after President Lincoln was murdered. Lincoln’s successor, Vice President Andrew Johnson, was a Tennessee Democrat that lacked respect of the Republican Congress. The legislative and executive branches of the American government
It ended the reconstruction era because of the presidential election and created an attempt to compromise between parties. This lead to an unwritten withdrawal of troops from the south that was to protect African Americans. The reason for withdrawal was the Republicans effort to make amends with the Democrats. Pulling the troops from the south allowed loopholes for the south to keep African Americans from being equals. Example being, the Jim Crow laws that caused much distress to African Americans and created major segregation.
This nullified the Missouri Compromise, which pleased the South since there was a possibility that slavery could expand. This intensified conflict between the North and the South and angered Democrats, Whigs, and Free-Soilers (Davidson pp 393). (http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112391/kansas-nebraska_act.htm) With the election of anti-slavery President Abraham Lincoln, the South became paranoid that the North planned to change their way of life, which led many of the Southern states to secede from the Union. (http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/civil-war-overview/statesrights.html) Lincoln wouldn’t tolerate secession and offered to “pardon” to the majority of Southerners with their return to the Union and conformity to the Emancipation Proclamation. Southern blacks were given educational and voting rights and opportunities for educational and economical advancement; the Southern elites then enforced the use of “paramilitary tactics”. Racism was also a factor in the North, which led Northerners to espouse some Southern viewpoint in regards to egalitarianism. This was the end of the Reconstruction Era and allowed the South to “turn the tables” on the North. Democrats were able to regain control of the Legislative and Judicial branches of government. (http://history.ncsu.edu/projects/cwnc/exhibits/show/second-redemption/redemption-1877)
The Union won!This is great for the north, however what is next for the Confederate army. With slaves becoming freedmen and the south destroyed after total war, a lot was to be done after the civil war. A solution to this was Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a period in american history from 1865 to 1877 lasting twelve years (Foner). Reconstruction after the war caused many social, political, and economic changes to the newly formed union.
“The battle was done, the buglers were silent. Boneweary and bloodied, the American people, North and South, now faced the staggering challenges of peace.” After the Civil War, no one knew what to do next. The terrible conditions of the South after the war made it so no one wanted to participate in such a situation. When President Abraham Lincoln held office, he knew that the Union must be reassembled while treating the blacks respectfully which began the period of Reconstruction. Throughout this period, four presidents held office each trying to reform the poor conditions of the United States. Reconstruction ended when President Rutherford Hayes forced the Union troops to retreat from the southern states as a
The Compromise of 1876 marked the end of Reconstruction. In this compromise, Rutherford B. Hayes agreed to accept Democratic control over the entire South, in return for the presidency, and Democrats in Congress agreed to his
The period after the Civil War was a very difficult time in the United States' history. This time was known as the Reconstruction period and it was a very controversial time. There were many issues that had to be addressed such as what to do with the free blacks in the south and how states would be readmitted to the Union. This era saw the rise of the Radical Republicans. The government was going through changes, southerners were going through changes, and blacks were going through changes. Whites in the south were left without people to work their plantations. Slavery was indeed a very important topic during this time. Many of the reconstruction plans that were proposed required states to prohibit slavery in order to be readmitted to
The purpose of the compromise was that southern democrats would only accept Hayes as the president and give back the civil rights to the African Americans in the south after some of their demands were met, for instance the withdrawal of federal troops form confederate states, appointment of a southern democrat to Hayes cabinet, industrialization of south and the construction of another intercontinental railroad. Under the compromise the democrats agreed not to block Hayes election victory for
After the tragedy of Lincoln's death, Vice President Andrew Johnson stepped up into the presidential position and started his own plans for reconstruction; his too, would turn out to be a failure. He supported hardcore Democratic principles and restoring Southern power. He brought in the remaining states back into the constitution. He divided the power of planters and restricted there voting He created the idea of "blanket pardons" which allowed Southern states that had abolished slavery and repealed their articles of secession to re-assume their powers of government and elect representatives to the Congress. This all backfired because while the south was happy and the Blacks weren't voting under Johnson, the Radical Republicans were angered and more conflict was started. The whole idea of everyone being happy wasn't working at all with anyone. Johnson was the second to go, being the first impeached president ever.
The seven Presidents of the Gilded Age from 1876-1900, mainly focused on domestic affairs. Only a little interest was given to foreign affairs. The Presidents of the Gilded Age efforts included closing out Reconstruction, strengthened the federal government’s authority within the United States and help to keep America out of a depression. Some of the foreign affairs of the later years of the Gilded Age included participation in The Pan American Congress.
Prior to Civil War, distinct Northern and Southern cultures had been established; The free North occupied the commercial industry, while the slavery-based South undertook an agricultural occupation. The South and the North began to fight over right and wrong. The major issue was regarding slavery, as the South wanted to preserve slavery while, the North wanted to get rid of it. These conflicts rose into sectional antagonism and eventually put the United States and President Lincoln in a loophole. During the Civil War however, Lincoln made some extremely controversial decisions, that resulted in a reduction of the sectional antagonism present, and the United States became truly “one nation.”
There was a dispute over who won the election in 1876; the electoral votes were exceptionally close, and Samuel B. Tilden won the popular vote. Democrats threatened to filibuster if Tilden was not made president. The Compromise of 1877 allowed Rutherford B. Hayes to become president in exchange for all federal troops being pulled out of the southern states Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina. In addition, the appointment of a Southern Democrat to Hayes’ cabinet, the construction of an additional transcontinental railroad to boost the economy in the south. Finally, the right to deal with African Americans without northern interference The Compromise of 1877 adequately ceased the Reconstruction Era.
There are many varying opinions on our Nations leaders and their leadership skills and qualities. The following is being written about one of the presidents of the United States of America, who in the writer’s humble opinion deserves the title of “The Worst President Before 1877”; this person would be James Buchanan. Looking at our Nation’s history the following can be observed: James Buchanan was a very passive leader because his style was laissez-faire and he did not really lead per se. He was the last president before the civil war. His attitude toward leading our nation was so laid back and indecisive that this leads us to believe that he was not only a
The Civil War was a time of fighting within the United States brought on by many events including the Missouri Compromise, abolition movement, presidential election of 1860, secession of Southern states, and other occurrences. Most Southern states seceded from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America. The big divide stemmed from the differing positions on slavery. The North had been gradually abolishing slavery and did not depend on such free labor in the way the South did. The agricultural dependant economy of the South relied on African American labor. Therefore, each side feared the stance the government would take on the issue of slavery and how that would affect the economy and politics of the nation. From 1861 to 1865, the