1869
Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution is approved by the House, 144–44, February 25, and by the Senate, 39–13, February 26. Grant is inaugurated on March 4. House refuses to seat representatives from Georgia, March 5. Grant signs legislation on April 10 requiring Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment as a condition for readmission; the law also provides for referendums to be held on the new Virginia and Mississippi state constitutions with separate votes taken on disqualification clauses barring many former Confederates from voting or holding office. In Texas v. White, decided April 12, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds 5–3 the constitutionality of the Reconstruction Acts. Virginia approves new constitution and rejects disqualification clauses, July 6; a moderate Republican supported by the state’s Conservative Party is elected governor, and Conservatives win control of the state legislature. Conservatives win control of Tennessee legislature and elect a conservative Republican as governor, August 5, ending Radical Republican rule in the state. Texas and Mississippi approve new state constitutions and elect Republican governors, November 30; Mississippi voters also reject Confederate disqualification clause. Congress restores military rule in Georgia, December 22.
1870
Virginia is readmitted to Congress, January 26. Mississippi is readmitted, February 23. Hiram Revels of Mississippi becomes the first African American to sit in the Senate, February 25 (elected to fill the remainder of an unexpired term, Revels serves until March 3, 1871). Ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment is declared on March 30. The same day, Texas is readmitted. Enforcement Act, making the denial of suffrage on racial grounds through force, fraud, bribery, and intimidation a federal offense, is signed by Grant on May 31. North Carolina governor William W. Holden uses special state militia in attempt to suppress the Ku Klux Klan in Alamance and Caswell Counties, June–September; although about 100 suspected Klansmen are arrested, none are convicted. Grant signs legislation on June 22 establishing Department of Justice, increasing power of the federal government to enforce Reconstruction legislation. Georgia is readmitted to Congress, July 15. Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the first African American to sit in the House of Representatives, December 12 (Rainey serves until March 3, 1879). Conservatives in the North Carolina assembly vote articles of impeachment against Governor William W. Holden, December 19, alleging that he had abused his authority in his attempt to suppress the Ku Klux Klan. In election marked by violence and intimidation against Republican voters, Democrats gain control of the Georgia legislature, December 20–22.
1871
Second Enforcement Act, establishing federal supervision over congressional elections in cities with more than 20,000 people, is signed into law on February 28. (Act is primarily aimed at election fraud in northern cities.) North Carolina state senate removes Holden from office, March 22. (Although Republicans will hold governorship through 1876, the Conservatives remain in control of the state.) Third Enforcement Act, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, is passed by the House, 93–74, and by the Senate, 36–13, on April 19 and is signed by Grant the next day. Act authorizes prosecution in federal court of individuals who conspire to deprive citizens of their rights under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and gives the president the power to call out federal troops and to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. Federal attorneys begin prosecution of Klansmen, concentrating on cases in North and South Carolina and Mississippi. Grant suspends writ of habeas corpus in nine counties in South Carolina, October 17, and dispatches federal troops, resulting in arrests of hundreds of suspected Klansmen (several dozen defendants are eventually convicted). Rufus Bullock, the Republican governor of Georgia, resigns on October 23 to avoid impeachment by the Democratic legislature, and a Democrat is elected governor on December 19.
1872
Convention of Liberal Republicans opposed to the Grant administration meets in Cincinnati, May 1–3, and nominates Horace Greeley, editor of the New-York Tribune, for president and Benjamin Gratz Brown, governor of Missouri, for vice president. Grant signs Amnesty Act, May 22, which restores the right to vote and hold office to almost all of the former Confederates excluded under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Republican convention meeting in Philadelphia, June 5–6, nominates Grant for president and Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts for vice president. Democratic convention endorses Greeley and Brown, July 9. Grant is reelected on November 5, winning 286 out of 352 electoral votes and more than 55 percent of the popular vote; in the former Confederacy, Grant carries six states, Greeley three. (Electoral votes from Louisiana and Arkansas are not counted by Congress because of conflicting election returns.) Republican William Pitt Kellogg and conservative Fusionist candidate John McEnery both claim victory in Louisiana gubernatorial election.
1873
Kellogg and McEnery both hold inauguration ceremonies on January 14 and establish rival state governments. Grant recognizes Kellogg as legitimate governor but does not attempt to disperse McEnery supporters. Grant is inaugurated for second term on March 4. Armed white supremacists attack black militia guarding courthouse in Colfax, Louisiana, on April 13, killing at least sixty-two and as many as eighty-one African Americans. U.S. Supreme Court issues 5–4 decision in the Slaughterhouse Cases, April 14, narrowly interpreting the privileges and immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and limiting the rights of national citizenship. Grant sends troop reinforcements to Louisiana and issues proclamation on May 22 ordering pro-McEnery forces to disperse. Series of financial failures in New York City, September 8–18, leads to widespread panic and severe national economic depression. Democrats win gubernatorial election in Texas, December 2, ending Republican rule in the state.
1874
Dispute over outcome of 1872 gubernatorial election in Arkansas leads to armed confrontation in Little Rock between supporters of rival Republicans Joseph Brooks and Elisha Baxter, April 15. Grant recognizes Baxter as the legitimate governor, May 22. Supreme Court justice Joseph Bradley, sitting as circuit judge in New Orleans, overturns the convictions of three men found guilty of federal civil rights violations in connection with the Colfax massacre, June 27. Ruling in U. S. v. Cruikshank calls into question constitutionality of the Enforcement Acts and inhibits further federal prosecutions of terrorism cases in the South. White League militia murders three black and six white Republicans near Coushatta, Louisiana, August 29–30, as part of campaign to overthrow the Kellogg government and install McEnery as governor. On September 14 the White League defeats the New Orleans Metropolitan Police and seizes control of the city in street fighting that kills thirty-five people. Grant orders 5,000 troops sent to New Orleans, and Kellogg is restored as governor on September 19 after the White League forces disperse. Democrats win gubernatorial election in Arkansas, October 13. Fall elections give the Democrats a majority in the House of Representatives and reduce the Republican majority in the Senate. Democrats gain control of the legislature and win governorship in Alabama, November 3, in election marked by widespread violence and intimidation. White Line militia kills at least twenty-nine African Americans in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in early December as part of campaign to seize control of the county government.
1875
Democrats attempt to gain control of Louisiana legislature on January 4 by forcibly installing five members in the state house of representatives. At Kellogg’s request, federal troops eject the five Democrats from the statehouse; the action is widely denounced in Congress and in the northern press as an illegitimate military intervention in civil affairs. Civil Rights Act, forbidding racial discrimination in public accommodations, transportation, and jury service, is signed by Grant on March 1. (Act is declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1883.) In Minor v. Happersett, decided 9–0 on March 9, the Supreme Court rules that the Fourteenth Amendment does not give women citizens the right to vote. Mississippi governor Adelbert Ames requests federal troops on September 8 to suppress violence by White Line militia att
empting to intimidate Republican voters in the state election. Attorney General Edwards Pierrepont forwards message to Grant at his summer home in Long Branch, New Jersey. Grant writes to Pierrepont on September 13 describing federal intervention in the South as unpopular but necessary and reluctantly agreeing to send troops. Pierrepont selectively quotes from the president’s letter in his reply to Ames on September 14, encouraging Ames to suppress disorders with the state militia and promising federal intervention only in case of direct rebellion against the state government. Violence in Mississippi continues, and on November 2 the Democrats win control of the state legislature.
1876
Supreme Court overturns convictions of Colfax massacre defendants in U. S. v. Cruikshank, decided 9–0 on March 27. Along with U. S. v. Reese, a Kentucky voting rights case decided 8–1 the same day, the Cruikshank decision severely limits the power of the federal government to enforce the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Adelbert Ames resigns as governor of Mississippi, March 29, to avoid impeachment and is succeeded by a Democrat. Republican national convention meets in Cincinnati, June 15–17, and nominates Ohio governor Rutherford B. Hayes for president and New York congressman William A. Wheeler for vice president. Democratic national convention, held in St. Louis June 27–29, nominates New York governor Samuel J. Tilden for president and Indiana governor Thomas A. Hendricks for vice president. Violence increases in South Carolina as white Democrats organize “rifle clubs” to intimidate Republican voters. Six black men are killed in Hamburg, July 8, and about thirty African Americans are killed in Ellenton, September 16–19. Grant sends troops to South Carolina and issues proclamation on October 17 calling on armed groups to disperse. Election on November 7 results in disputed electoral count caused by conflicting election returns in South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana, and disqualification controversy over an Oregon elector. Democrats win Florida gubernatorial contest, while Republicans and Democrats establish rival state governments in South Carolina and Louisiana.
1877
Republicans introduce bill in Congress, January 10, to create fifteen-member electoral commission. Measure is approved by the Senate, 47–17, January 25, and by the House, 191–86, January 26, and is signed by Grant on January 29. Commission is made up of three Republican and two Democratic senators, three Democratic and two Republican representatives, and five associate justices of the Supreme Court. Commission begins deliberations on February 1, and in a series of 8–7 votes, awards all of the disputed electors to Hayes, giving him electoral majority of one, 185–184. Joint session of Congress declares Hayes the victor, March 2. Hayes privately takes oath of office, March 3, and is publicly inaugurated on March 5. On Hayes’s orders federal troops are withdrawn from the South Carolina statehouse in Columbia, April 10, and Republican governor Daniel H. Chamberlain surrenders his office. Democrat Wade Hampton, a former Confederate lieutenant general, becomes governor of South Carolina on April 11. Federal troops are withdrawn from the statehouse in New Orleans, April 24. Stephen Packard, Kellogg’s successor, leaves office and Francis T. Nicholls becomes governor of Louisiana on April 25, completing the “redemption” of the southern states from Republican rule.
Biographical Notes
Jourdon Anderson (December 1825–April 15, 1907) Born into slavery in Tennessee. Emancipated by the Union army in 1864. Moved in 1865 to Dayton, Ohio, where he lived for the rest of his life. Worked as a servant, janitor, coachman, and hostler before becoming a sexton in 1894, probably at the Wesleyan Methodist Church.
Sidney Andrews (October 7, 1835–April 10, 1880) Born in Sheffield, Massachusetts. Attended University of Michigan, 1856–59. Washington correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and the Boston Advertiser, 1864–69. Traveled in the Carolinas and Georgia, September–November 1865, writing dispatches collected in The South Since the War (1866). Published The St. Thomas Treaty (1869), pamphlet advocating the purchase of the islands of St. Thomas and St. John from Denmark. Joined staff of literary magazine Every Saturday, 1871. Private secretary to Massachusetts governor William Washburn, 1872–74. Secretary to Massachusetts Board of State Charities, 1874–79.
Susan B. Anthony (February 15, 1820–March 13, 1906) Born in Adams, Massachusetts. Began friendship with Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1851 and became active in the women’s rights movement. Served as agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1856–61. Organized petition drive in support of the Thirteenth Amendment, 1863–64. Helped found the American Equal Rights Association in 1866. Published weekly newspaper Revolution, 1868–70. Served as an executive officer of the National Woman Suffrage Association, 1869–90. Arrested in Rochester, New York, for voting in the 1872 election and was fined $100. Edited History of Woman Suffrage (3 vols., 1881–86) with Stanton and Matilda Joslyn Gage. Served as vice president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1890–92, and succeeded Stanton as its president, 1892–1900.
Francis Preston Blair (April 12, 1791–October 18, 1876) Born in Abingdon, Virginia. Served as clerk of the Franklin County, Kentucky, circuit court, 1812–30. Became editor of the Frankfort Argus of Western America in 1829. Moved to Washington, D.C., in 1830 to edit The Globe, a new newspaper founded to support the Jackson administration. Became a member of Andrew Jackson’s “Kitchen Cabinet” of unofficial advisers. Cofounded the Congressional Globe in 1833 to report debates and proceedings in Congress. Gave up editorship of The Globe in 1845 due to differences with the new Polk administration. Supported Free Soil Party in 1848 and helped organize first Republican national convention in 1856. Served as advisor to Abraham Lincoln; his son, Montgomery Blair, was postmaster general under Lincoln, 1861–64. Opposed Republican Reconstruction measures after Lincoln’s death and returned to the Democratic Party.
Frank P. Blair (February 19, 1821–July 9, 1875) Born in Lexington, Kentucky, the son of Francis Preston Blair. Member of the Missouri house of representatives, 1852–56. Served in Congress as a Free Soil Democrat, 1857–59, and as a Republican, 1861–62 and 1863–64. Major general of volunteers in the Union army, 1862–65. Democratic candidate for vice president, 1868. Democratic senator from Missouri, 1871–73.
Benjamin Brim (born c. 1817) An emancipated slave working as a tenant farmer in Grant Parish, Louisiana, Brim was shot and seriously wounded in April 1873 during the Colfax Massacre. He testified for the prosecution in U. S. v. Cruikshank in 1874.
David Brundage Lived in Milledgeville, Georgia, in 1876, when he wrote to President Ulysses S. Grant about Democratic intimidation at the polls.
Richard Harvey Cain (April 12, 1825–January 18, 1887) Born to free parents in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia). Moved to Ohio in 1831. Became minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and served as pastor in Brooklyn, New York, 1861–65. Sent by A.M.E. Church to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1865. Edited newspapers South Carolina Leader, 1866–68, and Missionary Record, 1868–78. Delegate to the South Carolina state constitutional convention, 1868. Member of the state senate, 1868–70. Served in Congress as a Republican, 1873–75 and 1877–79. Became bishop in the A.M.E. Church and served as president of Paul Quinn College in Waco, Texas, 1880–84.
Margaret Ann Caldwell A resident of Clinton, Mississippi, who testified before a Senate investigating committee in June 1876 about the murder by white supremacists of her husband, state senator Charles Caldwell, and her brother-in-law, Sam Caldwell, in December 1875.
Maria Carter (born March 4, 1844) Born in South Carolina, Carter was living in Haralson County, Georgia, in 1871 when she testified about the murder of John Walthall before a congressional committee investigating the Ku Klux Klan.
Maria F. Chandler A resident of West Liberty, West Virginia, who wrote to Thaddeus Stevens in 1866 about woman suffrage. In 1867 she wrote to Senator Charles Sumner seeking his support for women’s rights, and in 1882, when Chandler was living in Meadville, Pennsylvania, she and four other persons sent a petition to the U.S. Senate calling for woman suffrage.
Salmon P. Ch
ase (January 13, 1808–May 7, 1873) Born in Cornish, New Hampshire. Established law practice in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1830. Free Soil Democratic senator from Ohio, 1849–55. Republican governor of Ohio, 1856–60. Secretary of the treasury, March 1861–June 1864. Appointed chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in December 1864, succeeding Roger B. Taney, and served until his death. Presided over the Senate impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson in 1868.
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