Was President US Grant successful in dealing with white supremacy groups in the South?

Answer 1

President Grant was active in the Reconstruction Era. He intervened in several Southern states to protect African Americans and the electoral process. He sent troops to Alabama to prevent racial violence. Grant's most extensive operation was to arrest more than 600 members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Answer 2

Without a doubt, President Grant did his best in keeping white hate groups and so-called white supremacy groups at bay during his administration. It was a difficult task given how widespread these hate groups were in the former Confederate states. The best example of Grant's efforts was in New Orleans in 1874. there a huge force of racists almost over took the city's police force. Only the timely arrival of Federal troops sent by Grant saved a racist take over of the city.

Answer 3

Yes and no. In the late 1860s, white supremacist groups in the south were on the rise, and their violence was increasing. There were so many killings of minorities and so much turmoil being caused by groups like the Ku Klux Klan that many Americans, especially those up north, had become horrified. Grant was able to win the 1868 presidential election by using the slogan "Let Us Have Peace." His Republican party also won a majority in Congress. During his presidency, Grant supported (and congress passed) the Fifteenth Amendment, giving black men the vote. Congress also passed legislation intended to reign in the Klan. During 1870 and 1871, the Enforcement Acts made it a crime to interfere with the registration of the newly enfranchised black male voters; or to impede them from voting; or to stop them from holding office; or to keep them off of juries.

But the problem was enforcement of the new laws. While they were fine in theory, and while about 5,000 people were indicted as a result of these laws, few white southerners would convict anyone for violating them. In 1871, Congress also passed the Ku Klux Klan Act, which (in theory) allowed the US government to take action against terrorist organizations. But here again, enforcement was difficult. Grant ordered the arrest of hundreds of Klan members, but over all, he did not have a specific plan for bringing the Klan in line, nor did he focus on crushing the Klan. It was a difficult time, with financial and economic problems, and Grant was distracted by those other pressing issues. As a result, his efforts to punish the Klan were sporadic, and (as mentioned before), few southern white juries would convict any members who were arrested. As a result, although Grant's heart may have been in the right place, the Klan was not really damaged by President Grant's policies. (And in 1882, the Supreme Court ruled the Ku Klux Klan Act was unconstitutional.)