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White South Regains Power after the Civil War

White South Regains Power after the Civil War


The so-called 'new departure' democrats plays crucial role in helping white southerners regain their former powers after the Civil war. By the end of 1870, the leaders of democratic movement across the country decided that it was not economically and politically feasible to fight the processes connected with Reconstruction; it was decided to consolidate powers instead in order to gain momentum and retaliate using different strategies and tactics. Moreover, it was vividly illustrated by administration of president Grant that the federal government was going to mercilessly fight all open anti-black movements (KKK being the most frequently cited example).

The Democrats from the Northern part of the country wanted to oppose new citizens of the United States based on the economic superiority rather than on racial issues; it was decided that in order to regain the power, economic dependence of African Americans will have to be maintained by all the means possible. The "New Departure" was a great opportunity for white southerners to consolidate their powers without having to think about losing Civil war every subsequent election. Many wealthy property and land owners primarily thought about vast opportunities that were opened in terms of using African American suffrage for their own needs; it was apparent to them that economically dependent former slaves could have been manipulated easily when election time came.

However, not all Democrats subdued; some wanted to fight opposition with all the forces they had left. A group of democrats called "Redeemers" was able to gradually obtain power in most of the states and consolidate both political and economic powers of wealthy people at their disposal. A political coalition was formed with the Republicans (although many Democrats were actually against such coalition); some were placing greater emphasize on economic modernization and were not eager to play 'racial' games instead of making America prosper by means of substantial economic improvements.

The new tactics utilized by the white southerners to regain their powers were quite successful: "William Mahone was able to build an effective and winning coalition in Virginia, and, in Tennessee, the Redeemers formed a coalition with Republican governor as well." (Ayers, Edward L. and Rubin, 2000, p. 77) At the same time, across all the southern states, democratic powers neglected the race issue and basically started to think about quite different things in their political agendas, for instance, about taxation and corruption among the government representatives. They were stating that taxes became unreasonable and were forcing American farmers (of course, meaning white farmers), to pay their hardly earned money for nothing. (Ayers, Edward L. and Rubin, 2000, p. 79)

White southerners were also able to use actions aimed against them for their sake quite efficiently. For instance, when William Woods, governor of North Carolina, ordered federal troops to be used against Ku Klux Klan, it had triggered negative connotations among most of the parties involved, which were heated by southern elite. As a result of this action, Woods became the first impeached governor of North Carolina ever. After that, all the prisoners (apparently, KKK members), were released by the judges, which was one of the first illustrations that white South was becoming strong again. In Georgia, the political disputes caused the party to divide and Redeemers were able to gain the power there as well. "Violence was one of the most crucial reasons for neutralizing Republican leadership in the Southern states." (Ward Geoffrey and Burns, Ken, 2000, p. 69)

Definitely, the power contests of the white Americans had adverse effects on the freed slaves. Freedom for them became not what they wanted so eagerly, especially when it came to the Southern states. White southerners both wanted to and knew how to use legislature in order to regain their powers and to oppress African Americans even after they were all freed. In 1865, white southerners were able to create so-called 'black codes'; they were used as protection measure against former slaves as well as a way of showing them that white southern elite still had all the powers they used to have. (Ward Geoffrey and Burns, Ken, 2000, p. 90) The codes regulated most of the spheres of everyday life for African Americans and inhibited on their utilization of the newly obtained rights significantly: "codes regulated civil and legal rights, from marriage to the right to hold and sell property to the predestined definition of African Americans as agricultural laborers." (Ward Geoffrey and Burns, Ken, 2000, p. 97)

It is obvious that in order to regain and further consolidate its powers, the white southerners had to overcome numerous obstacles that were initiated by the federal government, that wanted to protect the rights of its new citizens. For instance, African Americans were allowed to vote, which theoretically gave them great opportunities in representing their wishes and hopes in the electoral fights. However, in reality, many attempts of African Americans to vote were blocked using their inability to comply with all the procedures established within the scope of the voting process. In numerous instances, it was proved that they were misled by white officials intentionally. (Ward Geoffrey and Burns, Ken, 2000, p. 135)

Many historians believe that white southerners used very elaborate techniques and strategies in order to regain and consolidate their former powers. (Ayers, Edward L. and Rubin, 2000, p. 111) It is apparent that that such consolidation would not have been possible in case South did not have strong leaders that were able to motivate the Southern elite in their opposition to the newly freed slaves and the Northerners, which were perceived by them as people who deprived them of their source of labor and wanted to disrupt their economical well being. It is also obvious that years after the Civil war in the United States were responsible for formation of various political strategies, some of which are still used even in the contemporary politics.




Bibliography
Ayers, Edward L. and Rubin, Anne S. Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War (Orlando, 2000).
Ward Geoffrey C. with Burns, Ric and Burns, Ken. An Illustrated History of the Civil War (reprint: New York, 2000).
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Posted by: Helen P. Nash

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