Reconstruction & African Americans

Question 1

The Political Position of
African Americans (1865-1877)

Answer 1

• AAs wielded some political power in the South
• In South Carolina and Mississippi the majority of the electorate was made up of AAs
• 2 black Senators and 20 black Representatives were elected to Congress
• Large numbers of AAs were elected to state legislatures
• Wielded very little influence in Southern states during/after Reconstruction
• AAs were a minority in many states
• Republican Party often put forward white candidates hoping to gain more white voters
• After the 1877 Compromise AAs were denied voting rights and the Democrats (white supremacists) dominated elections in the ‘Solid South’

Question 2

The Economic Position of
African Americans (1865-1877)

Answer 2

• Major criticism of ex-slaves having little to no land
• 1865: Johnson ordered that all land that had been confiscated by the Union must be returned to those Southerners who had been ‘pardoned’, however, major land redistribution was never a realistic option as property in the USA was sacrosanct
• AAs had more control of their lives post-slavery
• Sharecroppers: white landowners provided tools and black tenants did the labour, gave freedom of day-to-day supervision
• Fall in cotton prices in early 1870s resulted in economic hardship for many sharecroppers

Question 3

The Social Position of
African Americans (1865-1877)

Answer 3

• Reconstruction failed to guarantee AAs civil rights
• AAs treated as 2nd class citizens by most white Americans in the South
• After Reconstruction/1877 Compromise segregation and Jim Crow laws were introduced
• ‘separate but equal’
• Black institutions, similar to white Americans, where they were opportunities to lead and manage
• Small but increasing number of AAs became doctors, lawyers and teachers
• A number of AAs favoured segregation as they did not wish to mix with whites

Question 4

The Colfax Massacre
(1873)

Answer 4

• Occurred 13th April 1873, Colfax, Louisiana
• Took place against the backdrop of racial tensions following the hotly contested Louisiana governor’s race of 1872 which was narrowly won by Republicans
• Angry due to defeat, Democrats called for armed supporters to help them take the Colfax Parish Courthouse from the black and white officeholders
• Republicans responded by urging their mostly black supporters to defend them
• At Colfax, white men, including members of white supremacist groups such as the KKK and the Knights of the White Camellia armed with rifles and a cannon opened fire killing between 60-100 black/white men, majority black
• Leaders of the massacre were arrested and charged
• Later released as the Supreme Court ruled that the law they had broken was unconstitutional

Question 5

The Founding & Activities
of the KKK

Answer 5

• Founded on the 24th December 1865, by former war hero General Nathan Bedford Forrest
• Established in Tennessee
• Southern Democrats encouraged and colluded with Klan terrorism and targeted schools, officials and churches
• Aimed to return white supremacy and was active in many states
• Dressed in white robes to hide their identity and intimidate AAs
• Many AAs faced intimidation and violence into not voting through beatings and lynchings
• Even when Klan members were arrested, witnesses were frightened to testify against them
• It was impossible to convict if a Klansman was on the jury