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Republican History re Voting rights. Interesting read
October 17, 1871, President Grant... - Shiloh National Military Park | Facebook
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October 17, 1871, President Grant Suspends Writ of Habeas Corpus to Break the Klan
When Grant was elected 18th President of the United States in 1868, he was determined to work to ensure the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment that gave black men the right to vote. Grant supported the radical republicans and the occupation of ten reconstructed southern states by the army. The purpose of the Reconstruction Acts was to protect the rights of blacks to vote, supervise elections, and protect office holders and freedmen. Grant greeted the passage of the 15th Amendment as "a measure of grander importance than any other one act of the kind from the foundation of our free government to the present day". In the south, though, many were determined that the African American males' right to vote would be unenforceable.
By 1871 the goal of reconstruction was becoming increasingly difficult. Many people in the north were no longer in favor of military occupation of southern states and in the south “redeemers” were trying to regain control by threatening and intimidating African-Americans. The Klu Klux Klan which had started at Pulaski, Tennesseein 1865, had spread across the Southern States and was committing acts of violence against Republican office holders. The Enforcement Act of 1870 was specifically passed to counter the efforts of the Klan. The Act restricted the groups that made up the Klan, by banning the use of terror, force or bribery to prevent people from voting because of their race. Other laws banned the Klan entirely. Hundreds of Klan members were arrested and tried as common criminals and terrorists. The 1870 Act would be made more effective by a similar act in 1871. As a result of these “Force Acts”, the first Klan was all but eradicated within a year of federal prosecution.
The Klan was especially powerful in South Carolina, where Governor Robert Kingston Scott, a Union veteran of Shiloh was tied up in corruption charges and unable to combat the threat. Grant, who was fed up with their violent tactics, ordered the Ku Klux Klan to disperse from South Carolina and lay down their arms under the authority of the Enforcement Acts on October 12, 1871. When the Klan in South Carolina did not respond, Grant issued a suspension of habeas corpus on October 17, 1871, in all the 9 counties in South Carolina. This means individuals could be arrested and held without appeal to a court to determine the legality of their arrest. This would be the first suspension of habeas corpus since the Civil War and the first during peacetime. He ordered federal troops in the state to capture Klan members; who were vigorously prosecuted by Attorney General Amos T. Akerman, a former Confederate colonel, who was an advocate of civil rights for African- Americans and Solicitor General Benjamin Bristow, who had been wounded leading the Union 25th Kentucky at Shiloh. Akerman, who was in South Carolina, personally led U.S. Marshals and the U.S. Army into the countryside and made hundreds of arrests, while 2,000 Klansmen fled the state. With the assistance of Bristow there were 3,000 indictments of Klansmen throughout the South, and there were 600 convictions. Sixty-five percent of the Klansmen convicted were put in federal prison for five years.
Although these actions destroyed the Klan other white supremacist groups emerged, including the White League and the Red Shirts. By the election of 1876, when Grant was no longer in office, public sentiment had turned against reconstruction and these organizations were able to gain control of governments in Southern states, leading to a gradual erosion of voting and civil rights for African-Americans.
#FindYourPark #Shiloh #Civilwar
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October 17, 1871, President Grant... - Shiloh National Military Park | Facebook
"
October 17, 1871, President Grant Suspends Writ of Habeas Corpus to Break the Klan
When Grant was elected 18th President of the United States in 1868, he was determined to work to ensure the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment that gave black men the right to vote. Grant supported the radical republicans and the occupation of ten reconstructed southern states by the army. The purpose of the Reconstruction Acts was to protect the rights of blacks to vote, supervise elections, and protect office holders and freedmen. Grant greeted the passage of the 15th Amendment as "a measure of grander importance than any other one act of the kind from the foundation of our free government to the present day". In the south, though, many were determined that the African American males' right to vote would be unenforceable.
By 1871 the goal of reconstruction was becoming increasingly difficult. Many people in the north were no longer in favor of military occupation of southern states and in the south “redeemers” were trying to regain control by threatening and intimidating African-Americans. The Klu Klux Klan which had started at Pulaski, Tennesseein 1865, had spread across the Southern States and was committing acts of violence against Republican office holders. The Enforcement Act of 1870 was specifically passed to counter the efforts of the Klan. The Act restricted the groups that made up the Klan, by banning the use of terror, force or bribery to prevent people from voting because of their race. Other laws banned the Klan entirely. Hundreds of Klan members were arrested and tried as common criminals and terrorists. The 1870 Act would be made more effective by a similar act in 1871. As a result of these “Force Acts”, the first Klan was all but eradicated within a year of federal prosecution.
The Klan was especially powerful in South Carolina, where Governor Robert Kingston Scott, a Union veteran of Shiloh was tied up in corruption charges and unable to combat the threat. Grant, who was fed up with their violent tactics, ordered the Ku Klux Klan to disperse from South Carolina and lay down their arms under the authority of the Enforcement Acts on October 12, 1871. When the Klan in South Carolina did not respond, Grant issued a suspension of habeas corpus on October 17, 1871, in all the 9 counties in South Carolina. This means individuals could be arrested and held without appeal to a court to determine the legality of their arrest. This would be the first suspension of habeas corpus since the Civil War and the first during peacetime. He ordered federal troops in the state to capture Klan members; who were vigorously prosecuted by Attorney General Amos T. Akerman, a former Confederate colonel, who was an advocate of civil rights for African- Americans and Solicitor General Benjamin Bristow, who had been wounded leading the Union 25th Kentucky at Shiloh. Akerman, who was in South Carolina, personally led U.S. Marshals and the U.S. Army into the countryside and made hundreds of arrests, while 2,000 Klansmen fled the state. With the assistance of Bristow there were 3,000 indictments of Klansmen throughout the South, and there were 600 convictions. Sixty-five percent of the Klansmen convicted were put in federal prison for five years.
Although these actions destroyed the Klan other white supremacist groups emerged, including the White League and the Red Shirts. By the election of 1876, when Grant was no longer in office, public sentiment had turned against reconstruction and these organizations were able to gain control of governments in Southern states, leading to a gradual erosion of voting and civil rights for African-Americans.
#FindYourPark #Shiloh #Civilwar
"
