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Reconstruction, how bad was it really?
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I'm honestly not sure. I know in SC the legislature spent a lot less before the war than during Reconstruction, but part of that was due to more public education and other expenditures that the Reconstruction government launched, along with the corruption in the state government. So in theory the tax burden, however that was collected pre-war, would certainly have been lower, but I could not say how much lower at this point.
Fake news during the North Carolina 1870 gubernatorial election.
To back up [Governor] Holden's claim that the state was in a condition bordering on insurrection, Judge Tourgee wrote a letter to Senator Abbott of North Carolina, another carpetbagger, which was widely published during the 1870 campaign. The letter, as published, declared the Ku Klux had broken into 4000 or 5000 houses, that they had burned fourteen houses in the immediate district and that he knew of thirteen murders in the district. This letter was used with telling effect, without comment from Judge Tourgee; but after the election was over, he blandly stated that he had been misquoted. Instead of 4000 or 5000 houses opened, I wrote 400 or 500. 'I said thirteen murders in the state, not in the district.' Incidentally, it was later found that three of the men reported murdered were still alive; and it was also stated that some of the house-burnings and other acts of violence were perpetrated by supporters by Holden supporters to provoke resistance to the exaggerated Ku Klux menace. After the election, Kirk's Ku Klux prisoners were brought, before Judge Brooks of the United States district court and released."
"When the Congressional Committee completed its investigation of affairs in the state, the majority reported that 'The Ku Klux organization does exist and that it had political purposes which it sought to carry out by murders, whippings, intimidation and violence.' On the other hand, the minority report said that the outrages had been 'grossly and willfully exaggerated' and that no act of lawlessness at all had been proven except in six, perhaps eight, of the eighty-seven North Carolina counties.”
Stanley Fitzgerald Horn, Invisible Empire, the Story of the Ku Klux Klan, 1866-1871., pp.200-201.
To back up [Governor] Holden's claim that the state was in a condition bordering on insurrection, Judge Tourgee wrote a letter to Senator Abbott of North Carolina, another carpetbagger, which was widely published during the 1870 campaign. The letter, as published, declared the Ku Klux had broken into 4000 or 5000 houses, that they had burned fourteen houses in the immediate district and that he knew of thirteen murders in the district. This letter was used with telling effect, without comment from Judge Tourgee; but after the election was over, he blandly stated that he had been misquoted. Instead of 4000 or 5000 houses opened, I wrote 400 or 500. 'I said thirteen murders in the state, not in the district.' Incidentally, it was later found that three of the men reported murdered were still alive; and it was also stated that some of the house-burnings and other acts of violence were perpetrated by supporters by Holden supporters to provoke resistance to the exaggerated Ku Klux menace. After the election, Kirk's Ku Klux prisoners were brought, before Judge Brooks of the United States district court and released."
"When the Congressional Committee completed its investigation of affairs in the state, the majority reported that 'The Ku Klux organization does exist and that it had political purposes which it sought to carry out by murders, whippings, intimidation and violence.' On the other hand, the minority report said that the outrages had been 'grossly and willfully exaggerated' and that no act of lawlessness at all had been proven except in six, perhaps eight, of the eighty-seven North Carolina counties.”
Stanley Fitzgerald Horn, Invisible Empire, the Story of the Ku Klux Klan, 1866-1871., pp.200-201.
Forum HostTried to avoid this thread and can't. Every, single day on this forum there's this ' thing ' where everyone goes to their corner and refuses to sit down, already, at the discussion. If the topic of decades of post war suffering by an entire race is discussed, no one wants to hear it. Topic of suffering by civilians, no one seems willing to concede how much they lost. It's just crazy. Once brought up policies practiced by Brownlow and regretted it- he's still walking on water 150 years later. Worst, possible guy to stick on a pedestal History has, as an example of Reconstruction and nope. He's not looked at honestly or clearly, seems to acquire new coats of varnish daily. Every, single thread on lynchings, for one example of terrorism endured by black America, gets mired in dreck, either excusatory ( figure that one out ) or dismissive, like it's all mythology. They sold postcards, for Heaven's sake, of dead Americans hanging from trees- like it was a tourist attraction.
It took a lot of studious avoidance of the situation to get us where we seem to remain today. A LOT of blame to go round.
It took a lot of studious avoidance of the situation to get us where we seem to remain today. A LOT of blame to go round.
The fundamental problem with Reconstruction was that the cotton industry never recovered. The 1850's had been a shot of economic juice based recovery in Europe and manufactured textiles replacing local textiles throughout the world. That was a one time event. By the time cotton production recovered in 1879, the price of cotton was sliding downwards. The overall production went up, but the industry was supporting more people, was consuming more fertilizer, and has paying freight on more railroads.
With growth in cotton demand slowing, and investment money being funneled to industrial and commercial enterprises, the south would have suffered under any social program.
With growth in cotton demand slowing, and investment money being funneled to industrial and commercial enterprises, the south would have suffered under any social program.
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Speech of Gov. William G. Brownlow (TN)- "We had 40,000 loyal votes in Tennessee, and 80,000 rebel votes; and we disfranchised the 80,000 rebel votes, and we are now holding them back from the ballot-box....I am North, making arrangements to procure arms and ammunition. We have the boys at home; we have 30,000 men there who have been in the Federal army….our Legislature is square up with the Radical Congress of the United States…"
-New York Times, September 12, 1866
-New York Times, September 12, 1866
“In December 1873, the faltering Republican cause in Texas was dealt a stunning blow when Judge Richard Coke, the Democratic nominee, defeated Edmund J. Davis, the Republican incumbent, for the governorship. Davis, in one last desperate attempt at political survival, refused to surrender the office. When Coke arrived in Austin on January 12, 1874, to claim the Statehouse, he found his defeated rival firmly entrenched in the building, guarded by a body of Negro militia. For several days great excitement prevailed. While Davis awaited a reply to Grant for support, the “Travis, Rifles”, a company of white riflemen, were called up and open conflict seemed unavoidable. At this point, Davis received Grant's telegram refusing to send troops. Seeing the hopelessness of his situation, Davis capitulated, and the statehouse was taken by Coke and his supporters.”
Otis A. Singletary, Negro Militia and Reconstruction, pp. 38-39.
Otis A. Singletary, Negro Militia and Reconstruction, pp. 38-39.
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