In pursuance of the “Military Act,” the South in 1867 was divided into five districts and placed under military governors. This exclusion of the better class of Southern citizens from civil duties placed all power in the hands of an inferior class of Northern men (called in the South “Carpet-baggers”), who had come hither after the war in search of position. The actions of these men did little to restore harmony between the sections. The situation was not improved by the existence of a body of Southern reprobates who called themselves the “Ku Klux Klan,” and rode about in disguise, doing acts of violence against the negroes and all who sympathized with them. This state of affairs was brought to a gradual change by the acceptance of the terms proposed by Congress. In 1868 a pardon was extended to all who had engaged in the war, except those who were indicted for criminal offenses; in 1870 the last of the States accepted the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, and with their admission to Congress the problem of reconstruction was solved and the country resumed its normal condition.
Many other questions have since arisen, but until they too are finally disposed of they can not properly take a place in history. Among these, the labor question, the temperance agitation, woman suffrage, the tariff, civil service reform, railroad and land monopoly, and the Indian troubles are evidence enough that the public mind is not at rest The Indian problem, it is hoped, is nearing solution. It is unquestionable that they have been treated with great injustice and it remains now for the United States to pursue the educating and civilizing policy which it was so late in assuming, but which has proved so satisfactory in its results.
In 1868 General Grant was elected President, in which office he continued eight years. During his administration the Union Pacific Railroad was completed, thus connecting the two oceans. The first successful ocean telegraph was completed in 1866.
The most disastrous event of the period was the Chicago fire, which broke out October 8th, 1871, and destroyed an area of buildings extending over a length of four miles. One hundred thousand people were left homeless, and two hundred people perished. Contributions to the amount of seven million dollars poured in, and almost without delay the process of re-building commenced. In a few years scarcely a trace of the disaster remained, and so rapid was the city’s new growth, that what in 1871 had been a ruined heap of ashes, in 1890 was found to be the second city in the United States.
The second term of Grant’s Presidency was marked with violent political agitation. The “Credit Mobilier” scheme to bribe certain members of Congress in favor of the Pacific Railroad Company was exposed; Secretary Belknap was impeached by Congress for fraud, but was acquitted; other exposures still further shook public confidence.
The elections of 1876 gave rise to great excitement, and much bitter partisanship in consequence of the closeness of the Presidential vote, and the questionable methods of deciding upon the successful candidate.
The returns from Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina were disputed, and it finally became necessary to adopt a special method of deciding the contest. A commission of five members of each House of Congress and five associate judges of the Supreme Court decided in favor of the Republican candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes. The decision gave great offense to the Democrats, and the question is one which is still disputed. In this year was held the Centennial Exhibition. Previous to this time a great financial panic swept the country, and carried ruin far and wide. The grasshopper plague created much suffering and famine through the West.
In 1880 James A. Garfield was elected President, and Chester A. Arthur Vice-President. The Civil Service Reform, begun under Mr. Hayes, was taken up vigorously by Garfield, and on this issue the party split into two factions. Two leaders in the “Stalwart” section, Roscoe Conkling and Thomas C. Platt, resigned their seats in the Senate. The excitement caused by these events induced a lunatic office-seeker, Charles J. Guiteau, to a desperate deed. On the 2d of July, 1881, he shot and mortally wounded the President in the railroad depot at Washington. After months of suffering, the martyred President died, September 19th. The Civil Service Reform agitation survived its defender, however, and the sentiment in favor of his ideas has grown enormously, and promises to become stronger.
In the Presidential election of 1884 the long continuance of Republican rule was broken by