Chapter 8 - States... States Everywhere - Triple Calamity

The Grant Administration in Grant's Second Term:

Vice President	Hannibal Hamlin
Secretary of State	Frederick Seward
Secretary of the Treasury	Hamilton Fish
Secretary of War	John Schofield
Attorney General	Benjamin Wade (Until January, 1870), Amos Akerman
Postmaster General	John Creswell
Secretary of the Navy	David Farragut (Until May, 1870), George Robeson
Secretary of the Interior	Jacob D. Cox

The readmission of states to the Union proved to be the largest challenge the Grant Administration faced in its second term. Unsurprisingly, many different parties in each individual southern state wanted to be represented in a constitutional convention, some forces for good, and some forces for bad. The first state to be given express permission by the Department of Equity to begin this process was Tennessee. Wade and the DoE knew that how they handled Tennessee's readmission would become the precedent. So, it raised the question of how readmission would be handled. Grant and Wade decided that it would be a slow process, one that the Federal government checked every step of the way. Grant told Wade that he had free reign over Tennessee.

Wade first sent Edward Ord and Phillip Sheridan (the co-commanders of the 4th district that included Tennessee) a list of Tennessee locals that he believed would be good to invite to the State's constitutional convention. Ord and Sheridan took that list to the 4th district advisory board, where additional names were added, before the DoE checked and finalized the list. Wade then asked that the convention be held in the more Unionist Eastern Tennessee (to avoid the KKK and other White Leagues in Central Tennessee) This request was granted, and on November 23rd 1868 the convention began in Knoxville. The city was occupied with 500 soldiers under the command of Philip Sheridan. The list of delegates were full to the brim with Republicans and staunch Unionists, there wasn't a Democrat to be seen. Each man had been vetted beforehand to ensure they had very few ties to the states' secession. Also present in the hall were six freedmen, which was considered shocking. Yet Wade and the DoE insisted that some literate freedmen be invited to every single readmission convention.

It was made clear to the delegates that before even writing a constitution they had to affirm that they would ratify the 15th amendment. When that was out of the way, the state revised and rewrote the previous State Constitution. After two weeks they sent their new constitution to DC along with a petition for statehood. In March of 1869 Benjamin Wade approved the new constitution and gave a 58 page recommendation to congress to readmit the state. On March 13th Congress approved Tennessee's statehood and Tennessee held special elections that November to fill up their government, electing the first ever Black Men to a southern state's legislative branches. Their new governor was a staunch republican and the Grant Administration considered Tennessee's readmission a wide success.

Yet, after the admission of Tennessee, there wasn't another for the rest of 1869. Which is odd to say the least. Especially because Louisiana and both Carolina's had reached the 15 percent loyalty oath limit and had been recommended by their military governors to begin the readmission process. But Wade hadn't approved them. By New Years there were loud complaints, even by republicans in Louisiana and the Carolina's and it got picked up as a big story in the north. Horace Greeley called the failure to admit more states a disgrace to the nation. With even northern opinions souring day by day against Wade, many moderates pressured Grant to fire him. Wade defended himself by saying that increased violence by the White Leagues was causing the postponements. This only inflamed the controversy. Many believed that with the civil war conscript's service expiring, the military districts were inefficient at combating these groups. At this point if they just admitted Louisiana and the Carolinas their national guards could handle the White Leagues. After another week Grant was being further pushed to replace Wade. At the same time radicals in congress were threatening Grant to keep Wade, insisting he was just doing his job.

On January 29th Benjamin Wade took matters into his own hands and resigned. He saw the political walls caving in, and knew that if he stayed, public opinion might irreparably sour on reconstruction. He was quickly replaced by Amos T. Ackerman, who was a moderate radical. Ackerman continued to keep a close eye on the new states as Wade had done, but he would move to admit them as fast as possible. By the 1872 election only four states hadn't been readmitted: Virgina, Mississippi, Texas and Georgia.

-From Reconstruction: A Complete History

by Doris Goodman, published 1999

Throughout Grant's second term, organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan and the White League rapidly grew. In Grant's first term, these groups were founded in an attempt to organize the angry mobs of southerners into an effective fighting force. But with states being readmitted, plantations mostly broken and redistributed, and the first freedman voting in the 1870 midterms, both groups went into overdrive. These groups threatened, extorted, tortured, and lynched hundreds of black men and women a week. They wrestled redistributed lands away from freedmen, and towards white men and they regularly bribed government officials. Many former aristocrats who lost sums of money and acres of land saw these paramilitary groups as their only hope, and thus funnelled money into them. All together the damage these groups were causing made some people think the war had never ended.

Some historians say that from 1869-1873 the Civil War continued after a quick pause. Occupying soldiers and these paramilitary groups were in regular skirmishes and battles, as Benjamin Wade and later Amos Ackerman sent hundreds of men after the White League and KKK. The Second American Civil War was not only fought in the field but also in courts and congress. President Grant was furious that these groups were not better combatted, and in tandem with congress signed legislation that branded them as terrorist groups and even ensured that any trial involving a member of the KKK or White League would be held by the Freedmen's Bureau and not a normal southern judge. However many of the richest White Southerners would continue to fund the White Leagues and also fund hundreds of civil suits to empower white men over freedmen. The DoE could only combat these rich war lords by investigating each aristocrat individually, which took a lot of effort and far more time. Even if they got an arrest warrant, the court case could last as long as three years and only cause more anger. The white men of the south were refusing to hand the keys over to the Republicans and would fight tooth and nail for anything they could grasp on to. Yet as long as a strong administration like that of Grant's was in power these groups were being fought and were being fought effectively.

-from The Second American Civil War

by Jack Carson, published 2017

In April 1871, President Grant and his cabinet were talking. While freedmen had more freedom than ever (hell, some had just been elected to congress in 1870), it was clear this might not last. Eventually an ultra-moderate republican, or worse a democrat, would be elected to the presidency, and once that happened, freedmen might get overrun by the White Leagues. Luckily, the Department of the Interior under Secretary Cox had a plan. The idea was to encourage freedmen to move to the newly acquired Santo Domingo territory.The incentives would be through tax benefits and a propaganda campaign. Obviously, this was a backup plan. If Grant and his successor killed the pushback in the south, the plan wouldn’t be necessary, but for now at least they had a contingency. Grant didn't love the idea but he saw its usefulness. By late 1871 early stages of this plan were implemented.

-From The 38th State

By Cassius Hernández, published 1999

Chapter 8 - States... States Everywhere - Triple Calamity

Chapter 8 - States... States Everywhere - Triple Calamity