Category Archives: Reconstruction

a separate equality?

Posted on March 23, 2025 by SUMPTER

In 1870 Charles Sumner introduced a Civil Rights bill in the United States Senate. While on his deathbed in March 1874, Senator Sumner implored his onlookers to make sure the Civil Rights bill did not fail. That plea might have … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Month, Reconstruction, The Grant Administration | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

banditti busters?

Posted on February 26, 2025 by SUMPTER

Louisiana’s political affairs were still unsettled in the aftermath of the September 1874 Battle of Liberty Place, in which the white supremacist White League began an insurrection to take control of the state government. At that time federal troops put … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago, Postbellum Politics, Reconstruction, The Grant Administration | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s over –

Posted on January 24, 2025 by SUMPTER

– Reconstruction in Alabama Overall, the 1874 United States elections were a boon to the Democratic Party, especially in the House of Representatives where Republicans lost 92 seats and the Democrats gained a dominant majority: “The Panic of 1873, a … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago, Aftermath, Reconstruction, Southern Society | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Battle in New Orleans

Posted on September 14, 2024 by SUMPTER

According to Eric Foner in Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, every election in Louisiana “between 1868 and 1876 was marked by rampant violence and pervasive fraud.” The results of the 1872 Louisiana gubernatorial election were highly disputed. Both carpetbagger Republican … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Postbellum Society, Reconstruction, The Grant Administration | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Staunch in the Senate

Posted on March 11, 2024 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today U.S. Senator Charles Sumner died in his Washington, D.C. home. He had represented Massachusetts in the Senate since 1851. In its March 28, 1874 issue Harper’s Weekly praised Mr. Sumner for his strong anti-slavery leadership: CHARLES … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago, 150 Years Ago This Week, Postbellum Politics, Reconstruction | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

house still divided?

Posted on February 12, 2024 by SUMPTER

150 years ago Harper’s Weekly published a brief bio of a member of the 43rd Congress. From its February 14, 1874 issue of : THE HON. ROBERT B. ELLIOTT. The South Carolina district that for many years sent JOHN C. … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago, 150 Years Ago This Month, Postbellum Politics, Postbellum Society, Reconstruction | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on house still divided?

a good word

Posted on January 22, 2024 by SUMPTER

for a bête noire There was a report 150 years ago last month that the ex-Vice President of the Confederacy admired the incumbent U.S. President, U.S. Grant. From the December 25, 1873 issue of The Valley Virginian (page 1): Alexander … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago, Aftermath, Reconstruction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

new governor

Posted on January 1, 2024 by SUMPTER

It was a new year with a new governor for Virginia. 150 years ago a Richmond newspaper looked back with appreciation on the exiting governor – even though he was a northerner – and looked forward to the incoming governor … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Aftermath, Postbellum Politics, Reconstruction, Southern Society | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

gradual recovery

Posted on November 30, 2023 by SUMPTER

President Ulysses S. Grant’s fifth presidential Thanksgiving proclamation per Pilgrim Hall Museum: BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – A PROCLAMATION The approaching close of another year brings with it the occasion for renewed thanksgiving and acknowledgment … Continue reading →

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Aftermath, Postbellum Society, Reconstruction | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

spreading the news

Posted on June 19, 2023 by SUMPTER

As the American Civil War ended, federal troops took control of Galveston, Texas. On June 19, 1865 General Gordon Granger used a military order to announce that more than two years earlier President Abraham freed the slaves in Texas and … Continue reading →

Posted in Aftermath, American Culture, Postbellum Politics, Postbellum Society, Reconstruction, Slavery, Southern Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment