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Post-Civil War America

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What happened to liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats? Americans political views by pew research OCALA, Fla., June 30, 2014 — The midterm elections are coming up, and partisan politics remain high octane.

What happened to liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats?

In spite of this, very few understand the true nature of our nation’s leading political parties. Today’s partisan alignment of “conservatives” and “liberals” only came about after Richard Nixon’s presidency. Prior to that, both the Democratic and Republican parties boasted a healthy variety of governing philosophies. Conformism was for small minds back then. Since the Civil War Era, the Democratic Party has represented folks who harbor politically-relevant grievances.

This does not mean that the Democrats were progressives, and the Republicans reactionaries. Many Democrats, who were either of Scots-Irish, Irish Catholic, or some other ethnic European heritage, had fiercely conservative ideas on social policy. TENANT FARMING AND SHARECROPPING.

When the Civil War ended, the big question concerned the state of the freed slaves of the South.

TENANT FARMING AND SHARECROPPING

Recovery of the southern economy depended on getting the freedmen back into the cotton fields. During the period of Reconstruction the Radical Republicans in Congress tried to convert the freedmen into small free-holding farmers, but the former slaves were simply not ready to manage their own farms. What emerged out of necessity was southern farm tenancy, a system of near slavery without legal sanctions. Instead of working in gangs as they had on antebellum plantations, the freedmen became tenants. Sharecropping - Black History. Carpetbaggers & Scalawags - American Civil War. In general, the term “carpetbagger” refers to a traveler who arrives in a new region with only a satchel (or carpetbag) of possessions, and who attempts to profit from or gain control over his new surroundings, often against the will or consent of the original inhabitants.

Carpetbaggers & Scalawags - American Civil War

After 1865, a number of northerners moved to the South to purchase land, lease plantations or partner with down-and-out planters in the hopes of making money from cotton. At first they were welcomed, as southerners saw the need for northern capital and investment to get the devastated region back on its feet. They later became an object of much scorn, as many southerners saw them as low-class and opportunistic newcomers seeking to get rich on their misfortune. 15th Amendment to the Constitution: Primary Documents of American History (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress) 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Primary Documents of American History (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress) Reconstruction: The Second Civil War.

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 granted citizenship and the same rights enjoyed by white citizens to all male persons in the United States "without distinction of race or color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude.

Reconstruction: The Second Civil War

" President Andrew Johnson's veto of the bill was overturned by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress, and the bill became law. Johnson's attitude contributed the growth of the Radical Republican movement, which favored increased intervention in the South and more aid to former slaves, and ultimately to Johnson's impeachment. 1866 Civil Rights Act 14 Stat. 27-30, April 9, 1866 A.D. CHAP. XXXI.An Act to protect all Persons in the United States in their Civil Rights, and furnish the Means of their Vindication. Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan, with its long history of violence, is the most infamous - and oldest - of American hate groups.

Ku Klux Klan

Although black Americans have typically been the Klan's primary target, it also has attacked Jews, immigrants, gays and lesbians and, until recently, Catholics. Over the years since it was formed in December 1865, the Klan has typically seen itself as a Christian organization, although in modern times Klan groups are motivated by a variety of theological and political ideologies. Started during Reconstruction at the end of the Civil War, the Klan quickly mobilized as a vigilante group to intimidate Southern blacks - and any whites who would help them - and to prevent them from enjoying basic civil rights. Outlandish titles (like imperial wizard and exalted cyclops), hooded costumes, violent "night rides," and the notion that the group comprised an "invisible empire" conferred a mystique that only added to the Klan's popularity.

Klan glossary AYAK? KIGY! Welcome to the Ku Klux Klan: Knights Party. Reconstruction. National Archives Andrew Johnson was the only Southern Senator to remain loyal to the Union during the Civil War.

Reconstruction

As a reward, the pro-war Southern Democrat was appointed as military governor of Tennessee, and later asked to join Abraham Lincoln's ticket as vice-presidential candidate. Reconstruction refers to the period following the Civil War of rebuilding the United States. It was a time of great pain and endless questions. On what terms would the Confederacy be allowed back into the Union? Although the military conflict had ended, Reconstruction was in many ways still a war. Library of Congress LC-USZ62-175(5-1) This drawing of African American soldiers returning to their families in Little Rock, Arkansas, after the war captures the exhuberant spirit of many former slaves upon gaining their freedom.