Section 3: Republican Rule Chapter 12

Republican Rule in the South By 1870, all the former Confederate states are back in the Union under the congressional Reconstruction plan. The Republican Party has gained political power in the South, which is hated by many white Southerners Party includes African Americans & Northerners Carpetbaggers & Scalawags

African Americans Enter Politics African Americans excited to organize and exercise their right to vote First group of leaders came from those who had been educated before the war Served as delegates to state constitutional conventions Elected as mayors, police chiefs & other local offices 14 elected to the House 2 to the Senate None elected to be governors Played a role in politics, but certainly not in control Hiram Revels & Joseph Rainey See next slide

Hiram Revels Born in North Carolina to free parents Pastor and school principal First African American elected to the Senate representing Mississippi Served as president of Alcorn State University

Joseph Rainey Was a barber Born to slave parents who bought their freedom First African American elected to the House Represented South Carolina Worked to get ratification of the 14 th amendment and against the Ku Klux Klan

Republican Reforms in the South Who supported the Republicans in the South? Poor whites and African Americans o Repealed black codes o Set up state hospitals o Facilities for orphans and the disabled o Construction of new roads, bridges & railways o Paid for by higher taxes & borrowing money, which were politically unpopular o Corruption was a problem, especially graft (gaining money illegally through politics) o Became political issues Democrats could use against Republican candidates in 1870s elections

African American Communities Freedman’s Bureau had established schools 4,000 across the South by 1870 By 1876, 40% of African American children were enrolled in schools Fisk University (Tennessee) Morehouse University (Atlanta)

Churches & Social Organizations Such activities had been banned under the black codes now created opportunities to form a sense of community Provided ways to organize Opportunities to learn leadership skills that then lead to political involvement and support for civil rights

Southern Resistance Rise of secret societies such as the Ku Klux Klan Started in Pulaski, Tennessee by former Confederate soldiers Targeted blacks and sympathetic whites for acts of terror Meant to intimidate & keep African Americans from exercising their rights Congress responds by passing three Enforcement Acts Becomes a federal crime to interfere with someone exercising their right to vote Federal marshals will oversee elections Ku Klux Klan Act passed people arrested but only 600 convicted and very few actually did jail time.