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Why did Reconstruction end in 1877?

Briefly speaking, the reason was that Republicans were driven out from the South by Democrats.
Basically, the attempts of Republicans to include Blacks in the Southern economy were stuck by
Democrats. Republicans wanted to protecting the Blacks’ contract-making rights and to assure
that they could use their newly won right to vote. Thus, the real threat to Democratic Party was
the black ballot ("Reconstruction - American Civil War - HISTORY.com", 2016). Consequently,
throughout the South Blacks organized themselves into Union leagues in 1866 by aligning with
sympathetic Northern Whites or carpetbaggers called by Democrats, who had moved south, and
with Southern whites or scalawags called by Democrats ("White Terror", 2015).

The aim of Democrats in the South was not only to crush the Black Republicans but they also
wanted to kill in its cradle America's embryonic experiment in multiracial democratic system.
This time, the Invisible Empire of the Klu Klux Klan was the Democrats’ deadly weapon, which
was an organization headed by Nathan Bedford Forrest (Herbert, 2010). Nathan was a former
slave-trader belonging to Confederate army as a General and delegated to the Democratic
National Convention held in 1868. Many domestic terrorist organizations were also developed
by Democrats (Herbert, 2010).

The Klan and similar groups, for almost a decade during the late 1860s and early 1870s, were in
power and targeted Blacks and White Republicans who were there to educate and support
Blacks. Many Black officials, voters, supports and even scalawags and carpetbaggers were killed
by Klansmen. Democrats hated Blacks for their black race, whereas Republicans treated Blacks
as human and made great efforts for their rights. (Onion, 2013)

What were the factors that made the rise of big business and industry possible in the Gilded
Age?

In the United States, the “Gilded Age” was the period between 1870 and 1900 which was known
by the rise of big business and industry, especially in the North and West. Compared with
Europe, there were much higher wages of Americans, mainly for skilled labor, the era witnessed
an arrival of millions of immigrants from Europe ("Economy in The Gilded Age", 2008).
Between 1860 and 1890, the fast growing rise of big business and industry resulted in real wage
growth of almost 60%, spread across the greater than ever workforce ("The Gilded Age", 2016).
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Only in 1890, an increase from $380 in 1880 to $564 in 1890 made in the average annual wage
per industrial worker, regardless of gender and age, which was a gain of 48% ("The Gilded Age",
2016).

The major industry was railroads, among the finance, mining and manufacturing fields.
European as well eastern states immigration resulted in the West’s fast growth, based on various
industries including mining, farming and ranching (Irwin, 2007). Much importance was received
by labor unions in the fast growing industrial metropolitans (Economy in The Gilded Age",
2008). The Panic of 1873 and the Panic of 1893 were the two significant nationwide depressions
through which industrial growth was interrupted that ultimately led to social and political
disruptions (Henretta, Brody & Dumenil, 2015). Following the Civil War, the South remained
economically disturbed; its overall economic health became more and more tied to the
production of tobacco and cotton, which went through the issue of low prices. When the
Reconstruction era ended in 1877, Southern Blacks were excluded from the mainstream by
driving then out from political system as well as from voting rights and were left deprived
economically (Reconstruction - American Civil War - HISTORY.com", 2016).
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References

Economy in The Gilded Age. (2008). Retrieved 10 February 2020, from

http://www.shmoop.com/gilded-age/economy.html

Henretta, J., Brody, D., & Dumenil, L. (2015). America's History (6th ed., pp. 519-611). Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin.

Herbert, K. (2010). Ku Klux Klan in Alabama during the Reconstruction Era. Retrieved 10
February 2020, from http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2934

Irwin, D. (2007). Tariff Incidence in America's Gilded Age. The Journal Of Economic

History, 67(03). doi: 10.1017/s0022050707000241

Onion, R. (2013). Threats From a Ghost: An 1868 Intimidation Letter Sent by the KKK.
Retrieved 10 February 2020, from
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/04/08/the_ku_klux_klan_threatening_letter_s
ent_to_a_black_elected_official.html

Reconstruction - American Civil War - HISTORY.com. (2016). Retrieved 10 February 2020,

from http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/reconstruction

The Gilded Age. (2016). Retrieved 10 February 2020, from http://www.ushistory.org/us/36.asp

White Terror. (2015). Boundless. Retrieved from https://www.boundless.com/u-s-

history/textbooks/boundless-u-s-history-textbook/reconstruction-1865-1877-19/the-grant-
administration-142/white-terror-753-9473/.