The Red Shirts 1875 White Supremacy group info Flashcards
When were they founded?
1875
Why were they named Red Shirts?
-named for their distinctive uniform
How were they founded?
-were the horsemen who accompanied Wade Hampton III and the Democratic candidates on their tour around South Carolina in the election (tumultuous) election of 1876
What were their uniforms originally a mockery of?
-their uniform was originally a mockery of the Republican practice of ‘waving the bloody shirt’ ->slang term for efforts to arouse sectional passions among voters
What were their beliefs?
-they were overwhelmingly white and were committed to white supremacy the Red Shirts did count some African Americans in their number-> these black Democrats often retained the right to vote after most African Americans were disenfranchised
What strategy did they execute?
-they executed a democratic strategy euphemistically termed ‘force without violence’ (slogan not a binding policy) to defeat the much more numerous Republicans and thereby re-established white supremacy in South Carolina
What were they more numerous than?
-much more numerous than the detachment of US troops in the state at that time
What methods did they use?
-they intimidated and sometimes attacked Republicans during the 1876 campaign
-deadly violence
Where did they operate?
-originated in Mississippi
-South Carolina
