The Autopsy of the Reconstruction

The South kidnapped, beat, stabbed and shot the Reconstruction dead. The Reconstruction was a movement after the Civil War that was designed to rebuild the South and give equal rights and protection to the blacks. The violent attacks in the South led by racist white groups such as the KKK ruined the rebuilding of the South and forced the North to stop their efforts. Even though the North took a part in the fall of the Reconstruction, the South played a much bigger role in its demise. The South killed the Reconstruction with its vicious attacks and threats toward blacks and supporters of the Reconstruction.

Violence towards blacks and black supporters was not a strange occurrence in the South during the Reconstruction. Blacks were constantly being terrorized by racist southern men. One of the most infamous groups, the Ku Klux Klan, earned their reputation by terrorizing and killing anyone who supported blacks or the Reconstruction. It mattered not who, when, or where, the KKK terrorized anyone who they believed supported the blacks. One account from Albion Tourgee, a judge and former white Northern soldier, tells of the KKK murdering former state senator John W. Stephens in the courthouse he worked in. He was "stabbed five or six times, and then hanged on a hook in the Grand Jury room."(Document A) Tourgee fears he will become another victim of the KKK's brutal attacks. He closes the letter with his own stance on the current state of the KKK outbursts, saying "any member of Congress who, especially if from the South, does not support, advocate, and urge immediate, active, and thorough measures to put an end to these outrages ... is a coward, a traitor, or a fool"(Document A)

This cartoon above is a threat from the KKK, warning any carpetbaggers and scaliwags they will be killed by the KKK for supporting blacks and the Reconstruction.

Intimidation was a tactic used by Southerners to stop the progress of the Reconstruction. With the introduction of the 15th Amendment, blacks were legally given the right to vote. Racist groups such as the KKK however, used tactics such as bribery, kidnapping, and assault to keep blacks from having a say in government. A black man by the name of Abram Colby fell victim to these acts at the hands of the KKK. He says the Klansmen: "broke my door open, took me out of bed, took me to the woods and whipped me 

three hours or more and left me for dead. They said to me, 'Do you think you will ever vote another damned Radical ticket?'"(Document B) Colby says that: "No man can make a free speech in my county. I do not believe it can be done anywhere in Georgia."(Document B) The blacks in the South had their hands tied by the KKK, who essentially made the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments null and void in the South. This made any and all Reconstruction progress futile and in vain.

The photo above is titled: "Of Course He Wants to Vote the Democratic Ticket". This photo shows how blacks were threatened with death if they did not vote with the racist southerners. This is reflected by the black man held at gunpoint in the photo, and the photos sarcastic title.

The South killed the Reconstruction by attacking and threatening anyone who supported it. Although the North had abandoned the South, they cannot be held responsible for the actions of the KKK and other racist groups in the southern states. Trying to put the fall of the Reconstruction on the North is futile because at the end of the day, it was the South with the problems, and it was the North trying to help them. They cannot be put at fault for not being able to handle the vicious nature of the southern racists.

Document A -Independent Monitor, September 1, 1868. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Alabama.
Document B - Abram Colby, testimony to a joint House and Senate Committee in 1872