The Reconstruction era was a period in United States history following the American Civil War, dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of abolishing slavery and reintegrating the former Confederate States of America into the United States. During this period, three amendments were added to the United States Constitution to grant equal civil rights to the newly freed slaves. Despite this, former Confederate states often used poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation to control people of color.
Salmon Portland Chase was an American politician and jurist who served as the sixth chief justice of the United States from 1864 to his death in 1873. Chase served as the 23rd governor of Ohio from 1856 to 1860, represented Ohio in the United States Senate from 1849 to 1855 and again in 1861, and served as the 25th United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1861 to 1864 during the administration of Abraham Lincoln. Chase is therefore one of the few American politicians who have served in all three branches of the federal government, in addition to serving in the highest state-level office. Prior to his Supreme Court appointment, Chase was widely seen as a potential president.
James Lusk Alcorn was a governor, and U.S. senator during the Reconstruction era in Mississippi. A Moderate Republican and Whiggish "scalawag", he engaged in a bitter rivalry with Radical Republican Adelbert Ames, who defeated him in the 1873 gubernatorial race. Alcorn was the first elected Republican governor of Mississippi.
Powell Foulk Clayton was an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served as the 9th governor of Arkansas from 1868 to 1871, as a Republican United States Senator for Arkansas from 1871 to 1877 and as United States Ambassador to Mexico from 1897 to 1905.
The Brooks–Baxter War, also known as the Brooks–Baxter Affair, was an attempt made by failed gubernatorial candidate Joseph Brooks of the “Brindle-tail” faction of Arkansas' Republican Party to take control of the state from Elisha Baxter, who was the Republican governor. The victor in the end was the Baxter administration, also known as the "Minstrels", supported by "carpetbaggers" over the Brindle-tails supported by "scalawags" and "freedmen".
Augustus Hill Garland was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from Arkansas, who initially opposed Arkansas' secession from the United States, but later served in both houses of the Congress of the Confederate States and the United States Senate, as well as becoming the 11th governor of Arkansas (1874–1877) and the 38th attorney general of the United States (1885–1889). He wrote several books.
The Radical Republicans were a faction within the Republican Party originating from the party's founding in 1854—some six years before the Civil War—until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reconstruction. They called themselves "Radicals" because of their goal of immediate, complete, and permanent eradication of slavery in the United States. They were opposed during the war by the Moderate Republicans, and by the Democratic Party. Radicals led efforts after the war to establish civil rights for former slaves and fully implement emancipation. After unsuccessful measures in 1866 resulted in violence against former slaves in the rebel states, Radicals pushed the Fourteenth Amendment for statutory protections through Congress. They opposed allowing ex-Confederate officers to retake political power in the Southern U.S., and emphasized equality, civil rights and voting rights for the "freedmen", i.e., former slaves who had been freed during or after the Civil War by the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment.
Daniel Henry Chamberlain was an American planter, lawyer, author and the 76th Governor of South Carolina from 1874 until 1876 or 1877. The federal government withdrew troops from the state and ended Reconstruction that year. Chamberlain was the last Republican governor of South Carolina until James B. Edwards was elected in 1974.
The Constitution of Arkansas is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of Arkansas delineating the duties, powers, structures, and functions of the state government. Arkansas' original constitution was adopted at a constitutional convention held at Little Rock in advance of the territory's admission to the Union in 1836. In 1861 a constitution was adopted with succession. After the American Civil War its 1864 constitution was drafted.An 1868 constitution was passed to comply with the Reconstruction acts. The current constitution was ratified in 1874 following the Brooks–Baxter War.
John White Stevenson was the 25th governor of Kentucky and represented the state in both houses of the U.S. Congress. The son of former Speaker of the House and U.S. diplomat Andrew Stevenson, John Stevenson graduated from the University of Virginia in 1832 and studied law under his cousin, future Congressman Willoughby Newton. After briefly practicing law in Mississippi, he relocated to Covington, Kentucky, and was elected county attorney. After serving in the Kentucky legislature, he was chosen as a delegate to the state's third constitutional convention in 1849 and was one of three commissioners charged with revising its code of laws, a task finished in 1854. A Democrat, he was elected to two consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives where he supported several proposed compromises to avert the Civil War and blamed the Radical Republicans for their failure.
Christopher Yancy Thomas was a politician and lawyer from Virginia. He served brief terms in the Virginia Senate, Virginia House and U.S. House of Representatives.
This is a selected bibliography of the main scholarly books and articles of Reconstruction, the period after the American Civil War, 1863–1877.
The presidency of Andrew Johnson began on April 15, 1865, when Andrew Johnson became President of the United States upon the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, and ended on March 4, 1869. He had been Vice President of the United States for only six weeks when he succeeded to the presidency. The 17th United States president, Johnson was a member of the Democratic Party before the Civil War and had been Lincoln's 1864 running mate on the National Union ticket, which was supported by Republicans and War Democrats. Johnson took office as the Civil War came to a close, and his presidency was dominated by the aftermath of the war. As president, Johnson attempted to build his own party of Southerners and conservative Northerners, but he was unable to unite his supporters into a new party. Republican Ulysses S. Grant succeeded Johnson as president.
The secretary of state of Arkansas is one of the elected constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Arkansas.
Arkansas held a general election on November 8, 1932. At the top of the ticket, Franklin D. Roosevelt won the state handily in his successful bid to become the 32nd President of the United States. Arkansans elected Hattie Caraway to the United States Senate, the first woman elected to a full term in history. For the United States House of Representatives, Bill Cravens, a former Representative from 1907 to 1913, returned to politics and defeated a wide field in the Arkansas 4th. Tilman Parks defeated several challengers to retain the Arkansas 7th. All of Arkansas's statewide constitutional offices were up for reelection, including governor. Incumbent Harvey Parnell declined to run for reelection, and was supplanted by Junius Marion Futrell.
Arkansas held a general election on November 6, 1934. Held during a midterm year, the state did not vote for President or Senate in 1934. For the United States House of Representatives, each of Arkansas's seven Representatives sought re-election. Only David Delano Glover in the Arkansas 6th was challenged in the Democratic primary, he was defeated by John McClellan. Claude A. Fuller and Tilman B. Parks handily defeated Republican and Independent challengers for the Arkansas 3rd and Arkansas 7th, respectively.
The President Pro Tempore of the Arkansas Senate is the state senator in the Arkansas Senate elected by their fellow senators as the body's leader. They preside over the senate and lead negotiations with the Arkansas House of Representatives. Presidents of the Arkansas Senate typically serve for one term.
Thomas Daniel Webster Yonley was an American lawyer and Unionist who served as chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1864 to 1866, and Arkansas Attorney General from 1873 to 1874.
