Link to original video by Heimler's History

The FAILURE of RECONSTRUCTION [APUSH Review Unit 5 Topic 11] Period 5: 1844-1877

Short Summary:

This APUSH review video examines the failure of Reconstruction after the American Civil War. It focuses on two key aspects: the limited societal and economic changes for African Americans in the South despite emancipation, and the end of Reconstruction through the Compromise of 1877. The video highlights the persistence of white supremacy through sharecropping, Black Codes, and the Ku Klux Klan, contrasting the initial gains of black schools, colleges, and political representation. The Compromise of 1877, resolving the disputed 1876 presidential election, resulted in the withdrawal of federal troops from the South, effectively ending Reconstruction and leaving African Americans vulnerable. The video uses sharecropping and the Black Codes as specific examples of methods used to maintain a system similar to slavery.

Detailed Summary:

The video is divided into two main sections: the failure of Reconstruction to fundamentally alter Southern society and the end of Reconstruction through political compromise.

Section 1: The Failure of Social and Economic Transformation in the South:

This section argues that despite the abolition of slavery and initial progress (establishment of black schools like Morehouse and Howard, black political representation, and the Freedmen's Bureau), the South largely maintained its pre-war social and economic structures. The video uses sharecropping as a prime example, explaining how it replaced slavery as a system of coerced labor, binding black workers to plantations through debt and exploitative contracts. Poor whites also suffered under this system. The video further details the persistence of white supremacy through the Ku Klux Klan's violence and intimidation, and the implementation of Black Codes, which restricted black Americans' rights in various ways (prohibiting land ownership, testimony against whites, and enforcing segregation). The speaker emphasizes the continuity between pre- and post-war Southern society despite federal troop presence.

Section 2: The End of Reconstruction (1877):

This section focuses on the contested 1876 presidential election between Samuel Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes. The dispute centered on three states (South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida), where both parties claimed victory. A Republican-majority electoral commission awarded these states to Hayes, sparking outrage from Democrats. To resolve the crisis, the Compromise of 1877 was reached: Democrats conceded the election to Hayes in exchange for the removal of federal troops from the South. The speaker connects this event to the end of Reconstruction, highlighting the subsequent resurgence of Democratic power in the South and the worsening conditions for African Americans without federal protection. The speaker notes that by the 1870s, Northern interest in Southern reform had waned, contributing to the end of Reconstruction. The speaker uses the 2020 election as a contemporary parallel to the disputed election of 1876.

The video consistently emphasizes the contrast between the initial hopes for racial equality and the ultimate failure of Reconstruction to achieve lasting social and economic change for African Americans in the South. The speaker uses strong language ("nigh unto a duplication of pre-Civil War slavery") to underscore the persistence of oppressive systems.