alternatehistory.com
Reconstruction
President Salmon P. Chase and the Republican Congress would spend much of the 1870s pushing Industrial Reconstruction, with the help of the Republican Congress. The Chase administration incentivized Southerners by making low-rate government backed business loans available to states that had met their Reconstruction requirements. Once more, these loans were to be given out regardless of race, leading to many of the new black farmers being on equal footing with their white neighbors.
Chase's policies gave rise to a short economic boom, but after his death in 1873, the country would enter a constitutional crisis and the worst Depression yet seen. Vice President Schuyler Colfax declined to serve another term as Chase's Vice President, leading to Senator Henry Wilson receiving the Republican Party's nomination for Chase's Running mate. As Chase had died before being sworn in in 1873, it was unclear who would succeed the President, as Colfax was the sitting VP. Ultimately the Supreme Court held that Vice President Elect Henry Wilson would ascend to the Presidency, while the US Senate returned the Vice Presidency to Schuyler Colfax who agreed to serve for another two years. However, in 1875, President Henry Wilson died from a stroke, which elevated Colfax to the Presidency, and forced Congress to draft the 16th amendment, establishing the formal succession of the President and procedures for removing an incapacitated executive from office. Despite
Schuyler Colfax entered office as the most unwilling President in US history, and under perhaps the worst circumstances of any President. Marred by a corruption scandal just a few months prior to taking office after the death of not one, but two of his predecessors, and entering office at the outbreak of the Long Depression, Colfax had to work constantly to rally his party to taking swift action in the Long Depression, relying heavily on Treasury Secretary John Sherman for policy advice, and leveraging his connections in Congress to pass legislation. Despite a rough start, Colfax would prove to be an able administrator balancing the need for a strong national currency with the responsibilities of Reconstruction, despite calls from conservative Republicans to end the practice in the face of the depression.
In the South, the government backed loans went from being a minor incentive to one of the few sources of economic security, and states pushed to accelerate reconstruction to gain access to financial assistance. By the time Colfax had left office in 1881, the industrial revolution was in full swing in the South. The Colfax administration's success led to James G. Blaine winning one of the biggest landslides in electoral history, while the Democrats failed to regain ground in Congress.
Chase's policies gave rise to a short economic boom, but after his death in 1873, the country would enter a constitutional crisis and the worst Depression yet seen. Vice President Schuyler Colfax declined to serve another term as Chase's Vice President, leading to Senator Henry Wilson receiving the Republican Party's nomination for Chase's Running mate. As Chase had died before being sworn in in 1873, it was unclear who would succeed the President, as Colfax was the sitting VP. Ultimately the Supreme Court held that Vice President Elect Henry Wilson would ascend to the Presidency, while the US Senate returned the Vice Presidency to Schuyler Colfax who agreed to serve for another two years. However, in 1875, President Henry Wilson died from a stroke, which elevated Colfax to the Presidency, and forced Congress to draft the 16th amendment, establishing the formal succession of the President and procedures for removing an incapacitated executive from office. Despite
Schuyler Colfax entered office as the most unwilling President in US history, and under perhaps the worst circumstances of any President. Marred by a corruption scandal just a few months prior to taking office after the death of not one, but two of his predecessors, and entering office at the outbreak of the Long Depression, Colfax had to work constantly to rally his party to taking swift action in the Long Depression, relying heavily on Treasury Secretary John Sherman for policy advice, and leveraging his connections in Congress to pass legislation. Despite a rough start, Colfax would prove to be an able administrator balancing the need for a strong national currency with the responsibilities of Reconstruction, despite calls from conservative Republicans to end the practice in the face of the depression.
In the South, the government backed loans went from being a minor incentive to one of the few sources of economic security, and states pushed to accelerate reconstruction to gain access to financial assistance. By the time Colfax had left office in 1881, the industrial revolution was in full swing in the South. The Colfax administration's success led to James G. Blaine winning one of the biggest landslides in electoral history, while the Democrats failed to regain ground in Congress.
- Sean McKnight
- Word Count: 440