The Democratic Party Leadership and the Economic Policies of the Reconstruction State

Abstract

After the Civil War, the federal government enacted a series of measures to aid in the reconstruction of the nation. Much of the secondary source literature explains Reconstruction as an effort primarily attributed to the Republican Party. As such, it gives little attention to the national Democratic Party’s role in the development of the Reconstruction State. Because the abolition of slavery redefined the concepts of freedom and citizenship to include the right to compete in a free-labor market—a development that augmented the number of social groups that would compete to have agency over the national government—, this paper utilizes a lens of political-economic history to address the gap in the research literature regarding the national Democratic Party. Referencing the Congressional Record in addition to the speeches, debates, and writings of national party leaders, this paper analyzes the national Democratic Party leadership’s attitude toward the economic issues that confronted the Reconstruction State during the 1870s. It argues that leaders of the national Democratic Party generally favored economic policies that supported big business and monied interests, reflecting an economic conservatism that put them at odds with farmers, laborers, and the rank-and-file members of their party. The favoritism showed toward business and monied interests revealed the national Democratic Party leadership’s support for the economic policies of the Reconstruction State and suggests that sectional politics did not have a strong bearing on the economic decisions made by party leaders.Master ArtsHistoryCollege of Online and Continuing Educatio