Election+of+1868

=**Election of 1868**=

//From Maria, Kelsey, and Courtney (1st hour)//

The Election of 1868 was the first election after the __ Civil War __. There was no incumbent running for office. The previous president had been Abraham Lincoln, but he was tragically assassinated in 1865, so his vice president, A ndrew Johnson, despite attempts to be impeached (see " Johnson's Attempted Impeachment "),was in office previous to the election. The main issues that were debated during the election was how to readmit the south to the union and how to "deal" with the newly emancipated blacks. In the end, former union military leader, Ulysses Grant, won both electoral college and popular vote, defeating the former New York governor Horatio Seymour.

1 Background Information Abraham Lincoln’s assassination The End of the Civil War Reconstruction Era Congressional Recontruction The Black Codes Ratifying the 13th Amendment Johnson’s attempted impeachment Purchase of Alaska *include map that is in the book 2 The Cantidates and What They Stood For Grant, "Let us Have Peace" Seymour 3 Primaries 4 The Results 5 Afterwards Creating the 15th Amendment The Klu Klux Klan 6 Works Cited ||
 * Contents [hide]

Abraham Lincoln's Assassination


---Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 15, 1865 at a play at the Peterson House. Grant was very close with Lincoln, as he had been the general of the union army during Lincoln's presidency. Grant received this telegram from the War Department "THE PRESIDENT WAS ASSASSINATED AT FORD'S THEATER AT 10:30 TONIGHT AND CANNOT LIVE. THE WOUND WAS A PISTOL SHOT THROUGH THE HEAD. SECRETARY SEWARD AND HIS SON FREDERICK WERE ALSO ASSASSINATED AT THEIR RESIDENCE AND ARE IN A DANGEROUS CONDITION. THE SECRETARY OF WAR DESIRES THAT YOU RETURN TO WASHINGTON IMMEDIATELY" (Smith). Smith writes that, "'It was the darkest day of my life', Grant told newsman John Russell Young. 'I didn't know what it meant. Here was the Rebellion put down in the field, and starting up in the gutters. We had fought this war, now we had to fight it as assassination'" (Smith 410).

The End of the Civil War
---The Civil war was a war between the Confederates in the south and the Union in the north. The Confederates wanted to secede (separate) from the union. The main issue was slavery. The Civil War ended when Robert E Lee and the Confederates surrendered to the union army, led by Ulysses S Grant, in 1865. The 'war' might have been over, but the conflicts it caused were long from resolved. After the war, there was much concern about what would be done with the south, including how they would be readmitted into the union.

Reconstruction Era 1865-1877
---Abraham Lincoln came up with a plan called the "Ten-Percent Plan" to re-introduce the states. The plan was that once 10% of a state’s prewar population had taken an oath to loyalty, then civil government could be restored. Radicals considered the plan too lenient and called for 50% loyalty of a state’s electorate. Southern blacks during this time period volunteered their military services to the Union, reunited their families, formed churches, and perused opportunities for education and land.

Congressional Reconstruction ---The Civil Rights Act of 1886 created to counteract the Black Codes and established racial equality before the law. Johnson vetoed it on the grounds that it overstepped authority of Federal Government, but congress overrode the veto. The 14th Amendment made the Federal Government, not the states, final protector of citizen’s rights and gave due process of law. There were four Reconstruction Acts in March of 1887, where ten remaining confederate states reorganized their governments and rewrote their constitutions to include universal manhood suffrage

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---During the earliest years of the reconstruction era, slaves fought to gain independence starting very soon after the civil war; however, white landowners tried to control the labor force in a way that was very similar to slavery. Mississippi and South Carolina were the first states to pass the black codes. In Mississippi, these codes meant that blacks must have written proof of employment for the coming year and if they leave before the contract is up they had to forfeit earlier wages and were most likely arrested. In South Carolina, the codes meant that law prohibited blacks from any employment other than farming or working as servants and if they paid an annual tax of $10-$100 they could hold an occupation. Blacks were also given penalties that usually included forced plantation labor. Eventually, almost all of the southern states enacted their own black codes in 1865-1866. The codes gave a few freedoms to African Americans. The only freedoms they really had were: the right to buy property, the right to marry, and the right to make contracts and testify in court. The main purpose of black codes were to restrict their labor and activity. If blacks broke labor contracts they were subject to arrest, beating, forced labor. Apprenticeship laws forced a lot of minors into unpaid labor for white planters. These laws were passed by a political system where no blacks had a voice, and the codes were enforced by all-white police. Many people in the north argued that the codes violated the ideas of free labor. The outcome of these codes was that blacks saw little improvement in their economic and social statuses, because efforts of white supremacist forces took away the freedom/political gains they had.=====

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---The 13th Amendment was ratified December 6, 1865 (eight months after the end of the civil war). It represented the end of the struggle against slavery. Northern democrats and conservative republicans didn’t like the idea of slavery expansion, but didn’t want to outlaw it entirely. Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation declaring slaves in territory that was still in rebellion at the start of the year would be declared free forever but //thought a constitutional amendment was necessary to ensure the end of slavery.// After this amendment was passed in 1864, the republicans called for complete destruction of slavery, but democrats favored restoration of states’ rights that include the possibility for states to maintain slavery. When Georgia finally ratified it on December 6, 1865, slavery officially ceased to exist in the united states=====

Johnson's Attempted Impeachment
---Radicals were intent to impeach Johnson because they had falsely accused him of running a harem, but the Tenure of Office Act- passed over Johnson’s veto. It required president to gain the consent of the Senate before he could remove his appointees. The House of Representatives voted 126 to 47 to impeach Johnson for high crimes and misdemeanors charging him violations of the Tenure of Office Act. May 16th, 1868, Johnson had his trial. People were very interested and actually came to watch the trial. His attorneys, convinced that the Tenure of Office Act was unconstitutional, had fired Stanton. House persecutors had a hard time building a compelling case for impeachment. The house and senate failed at one vote to actually impeach Johnson

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---In 1878, Russian had overextended itself in North America. They thought another war with Britain would mean losing land. Alaska was a liability to Russia, so they wanted to sell to America to strengthen the republic as a buffer against Britain. In 1967, the Secretary of State, William Seward, signed a treaty with Russia and bought Alaska for 7.2 million. The American people were not happy because they were currently too occupied with reconstruction and internal vexations=====

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He was a great military strategist. At 5'8",he was the most popular hero to emerge from the Civil War; however, he had almost no political experience. "Senator John Sherman caught the mood [of Grant's nomination]: 'Your nomination,' he told Grant, 'was not made by our party but by the people, and in our obedience to the universal demand that our candidate should be so independent of party politics as to be a guarantee of peace and quiet'." (Smith 456). Grant had not campaigned or hoped for the nomination very much, it came more by surprise to him. He responded by saying, "All I can say is, that to whatever position I may be called by your will, I shall endeavor to discharge its duties with fidelity and honesty of purpose" (Grant). He ended his first political speech with a phrase that soon became his catch phrase: "Let us have peace". He again wrote it in his acceptance letter to be the Republican candidate. Grant truly did want peace, as he had been a huge advocate of all of the reconstruction bills.===== This election was largely based on what to do with the south and newly freed blacks after the civil war. The Republicans were in favor of Reconstruction and ... WE NEED TO SUMMARIZE THE REPUBLICAN VIEWS ON RECONSTRUCTION AND BLACK SUFFRAGE HERE. History.com says, "Besides criticizing Seymour's support for inflationary greenback currency and Blair's reputed drunkenness and his opposition to Reconstruction, the Republicans questioned the wartime patriotism of all Democrats" (history.com).

Our "extra" product: Ulysses' "Fakebook" page

Horatio Seymour

---Horatio Seymour was previously the democratic governor of New York. He served two terms: one Horatio was running with vice presedential candidate Francis P. Blair of Missouri. According to the New York Hall of Governors, "Horatio Seymour (1810–1886) was introduced to New York politics when he spent six years as Governor William Marcy’s Military Secretary. During Seymour’s first term as governor, he vetoed a bill prohibiting the sale of liquor and opposed anti-immigrant “nativism.” Elected again ten years later, Seymour criticized President Abraham Lincoln, questioned the constitutionality of the Emancipation Proclamation, and opposed the federal draft, citing a violation of states’ rights. During the Draft Riots of 1863, he sympathized with the rioters and was subsequently defeated for re-election. After the Civil War, he ran unsuccessfully for the presidency against General Ulysses S. Grant".

Horatio's Fakebook page:

Our fakebook pages were created using [] and are in no way associated with any social networking site. They are purely educational.

Democratic
In 1868, the Democratic National Convention was held at Tammany Hall in New York City between July 4 and July 9. This convention was important in the fact that it was the return of Democratic Party politicians from the Southern States who had previously not been a part of the conventions in some earlier elections because their states weren't officially apart of the Union. Of the states admitted at the time, there were politicians from Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana. Texas, Mississippi, and Virginia were still not admitted to the Union and could not send anyone. Also Nebraska had been admitted to the Union on March 1, 1867. The front runner in the early balloting was George H. Pendleton, who led on the first 15 ballots, followed in by in a varying order of the unpopular Andrew Johnson, Winfield Scott Hancock, Sanford Church, Asa Packer, Joel Parker, James E. English, James Rood Doolittle, and Thomas A. Hendricks. Johnson, who had just narrowly survived impeachment, won 65 votes on the first ballot, which was less than one-third of the total necessary for nomination and he subsequently lost his bid for election as president. On the fourth ballot, Chairman Horatio Seymour, former governor of New York expectantly received nine votes from North Carolina. This caused “loud and enthusiastic cheering”, but Seymour refused saying, "I must not be nominated by this Convention, as I could not accept the nomination if tendered. My own inclination prompted me to decline at the outset; my honor compels me to do so now. It is impossible, consistently with my position, to allow my name to be mentioned in this Convention against my protest. The clerk will proceed with the call."’

 There were numerous indecisive ballots; the names of John T. Hoffman, Francis P. Blair, and Stephen Johnson Field were placed in nomination. However, none of these candidates gained substantial support. The opposing candidates battled it out through twenty-one ballots; the East against the West, and the conservatives against the radicals. The two leading candidates were determined that the other should not receive the nomination, because of the two-thirds rule of the convention, a compromise candidate was needed. Seymour had hoped it would be Chief Justice Salman P. Chase, but on the twenty-second ballot, the chairman of the Ohio delegation announced, "at the unanimous request and demand of the delegation I place Horatio Seymour in nomination with twenty-one votes-against his inclination, but no longer against his honor." However, Seymour didn't want the nomination and after the rousing cheers died down he said, “"I have no terms in which to tell of my regret that my name has been brought before this convention. God knows that my life and all that I value most in life I would give for the good of my country, which I believe to be identified with that of the Democratic party..." Then someone yelled, "Take the nomination, then!" "..but when I said that I could not be a candidate, I mean it! I could not receive the nomination without placing not only myself but the Democratic party in a false position. God bless you for your kindness to me, but your candidate I cannot be." Seymour then left to cool off and no sooner than when he left the hall, the Ohio chairman cried that his delegation would not accept Seymour’s declination. Utah’s chairman rose to say that Seymour was the man. While Seymour was waiting in the vestibule, the convention finally nominated him unanimously.

The Democratic platform was "immediate restoration of all states to their rights in the union . . . equal taxation . . . one currency . . . reduction of standing army and navy . . . expulsion of corrupt men . . . And we do declare and resolve, That ever since the people of the United States threw off all subjection to the British crown, the privilege and trust of suffrage have belonged to the several States, and have been granted, regulated, and controlled exclusively by the political power of each State respectively, and that any attempt by congress, on any pretext whatever, to deprive any State of this right, or interfere with its exercise, is a flagrant usurpation of power, which can find no warrant in the Constitution; and if sanctioned by the people will subvert our form of government, and can only end in a single centralized and consolidated government, in which the separate existence of the States will be entirely absorbed, and an unqualified despotism be established in place of a federal union of co-equal States; and that we regard the reconstruction acts so-called, of Congress, as such an usurpation, and unconstitutional, revolutionary, and void" (Democratic Platform).

Republican
The 1868 National Convention of the Republican Party was held in Crosby’s Opera house, Chicago on May 20 to May 21, 1868. The most prominent candidate for the Republican nomination could be none other than the great Union commander in the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant. He was nominated unopposed on the first ballot. To balance Grant, the convention chose a former Democrat, the House Speaker, Schuyler Colfax, a former Whig and temperance man for Vice President. Schuyler beat out the early favorite for Vice President, Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio.

The Republican platform supported black suffrage in the South as part of the passage to full citizenship for former slaves. The platform agreed to let northern states decide individually whether to admit citizenship of blacks. It also opposed using greenbacks to redeem U.S bonds, encouraged immigration, endorsed rights for naturalized citizens, and favored Radical Reconstruction as distinct from the more lenient policy of Andrew Johnson.

The Results


Ulysses Grant won with 214 electoral college votes and 3,013,650 popular votes, while Seymour and Blair only got 2,708,744 popular votes and 80 electoral college votes. The states shown in yellow did not cast votes due to reconstruction. They were not yet fully readmitted into the united states union.

Afterwards (Including the Significance of Grant's Presidency)
Grant In Office --He was elected by many because of his status as a military hero, but wasn't as successful at politics. He was very supportive of passing laws that protected the rights of blacks and Indians, which led to the right for slaves to vote and an American Indian as the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. There were illegalities in Grant's cabinet along with very dishonest people and this interfered with his effectiveness and how people viewed him. **His presidency was significant because** during the years in which he was president, a lot of laws were passed that would help unify the country and grant suffrage to blacks. According to Maryland State Archives, "Highlights of his presidency included the 15th Amendment, which gave all citizens the right to vote, and the Treaty of Washington, which settled American claims against Britain arising from the Civil War. He also introduced the first Civil Service reform legislation. Grant also signed into law a series of Reconstruction related "Enforcement Acts" designed to address the difficulties newly enfranchised black citizens faced in the defeated South . These laws banned state laws that denied blacks the right to vote, outlawed fraudulent voter-registration practices, and authorized federal court supervision of suspicious elections . . . <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">In 1875 he signed last major piece of Civil Rights legislation until 1964".

Creating the 15th Amendment
--The 15th amendment was passed on March 30,1870. This Amendment guaranteed that a person's right to vote could not be denied based on their race, color, or previous condition of service. Former confederate states were brought back to the union and most of them were controlled by the Republican Party (due to the support of African American voters. This amendment led to voting rights for blacks and opportunities for them to represent and hold positions in office.

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---Was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee: a group of confederate veterans formed a secret society. It was a “paramilitary force” bent on reversing the policies that extended rights of local African Americans. It employed violence in terms of “pushing back reconstruction” in ways that it had helped African Americans. Nathan Bedford Forrest unsuccessfully tried to disband the KKK after he grew critical of it’s excessive violence. The KKK engaged in terrorist raids against African Americans and white republicans at night. They employed intimidation, destruction of property, assault, and murder to achieve its aims and to influence upcoming elections and decisions. The Klu Klux Klan Act passed by Grant in 1871 made it a fedral crime for private partes to violate civil rights (Maryland State Archives). The KKK resulted in 9 south Carolina counties being placed under martial law & thousands of arrests. The U.S. Supreme Court declared the Klu Klux Act unconstitutional but by this time reconstruction had already ended and the KKK had been gone.=====