Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 7,1876. Republican Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio very narrowly defeated Democrat Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York. Following President Ulysses S. Grant's decision to retire after his second term,U.S. Representative James G. Blaine emerged as frontrunner for the Republican nomination;however,Blaine was unable to win a majority at the 1876 Republican National Convention,which settled on Hayes as a compromise candidate. The 1876 Democratic National Convention nominated Tilden on the second ballot.
The Reconstruction era was a period in United States history and Southern United States history that followed the American Civil War and was dominated by the legal,social,and political challenges of the abolition of slavery and the reintegration of the eleven former Confederate States of America into the United States. During this period,three amendments were added to the United States Constitution to grant citizenship and equal civil rights to the newly freed slaves. To circumvent these legal achievements,the former Confederate states imposed poll taxes and literacy tests and engaged in terrorism to intimidate and control black people and to discourage or prevent them from voting.
The Radical Republicans were a political 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. The Radical faction also included,though,very strong currents of Nativism,anti-Catholicism,and in favor of the Prohibition of alcoholic beverages. These policy goals and the rhetoric in their favor often made it extremely difficult for the Republican Party as a whole to avoid alienating large numbers of American voters from Irish Catholic,German,and other White ethnic backgrounds. In fact,even German-American Freethinkers and Forty-Eighters who,like Hermann Raster,otherwise sympathized with the Radical Republicans' aims,fought them tooth and nail over prohibition. They later became known as "Stalwarts".
From the first United States Congress in 1789 through the 116th Congress in 2020,162 African Americans served in Congress. Meanwhile,the total number of all individuals who have served in Congress over that period is 12,348. Between 1789 and 2020,152 have served in the House of Representatives,nine have served in the Senate,and one has served in both chambers. Voting members have totaled 156,while six others have served as delegates. Party membership has been 131 Democrats and 31 Republicans. While 13 members founded the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971 during the 92nd Congress,in the 116th Congress (2019-2020),56 served,with 54 Democrats and two Republicans.
The 12th Texas Legislature met from February 8,1870,to December 2,1871,in four sessions —provisional,called,regular,and adjourned. It took up a martial law bill. Republicans were in the majority or the Reconstruction era body including some African Americans.
The South Carolina Republican Party (SCGOP) is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in South Carolina. It is one of two major political parties in the state,along with the South Carolina Democratic Party,and is the dominant party. Incumbent governor Henry McMaster,as well as senators Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham,are members of the Republican party. Graham has served since January 3,2003,having been elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2008,2014,and 2020;Tim Scott was appointed in 2013 by then-governor Nikki Haley,who is also a Republican.
More than 1,500 African American officeholders served during the Reconstruction era (1865–1877) and in the years after Reconstruction before white supremacy,disenfranchisement,and the Democratic Party fully reasserted control in Southern states. Historian Canter Brown Jr. noted that in some states,such as Florida,the highest number of African Americans were elected or appointed to offices after the end of Reconstruction in 1877. The following is a partial list of notable African American officeholders from the end of the Civil War until before 1900. Dates listed are the year that a term states or the range of years served if multiple terms.
South Carolina's 7th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in South Carolina,established in 2011 following apportionment of another seat to the state in the redistricting cycle following the 2010 census. It is located in the Pee Dee region,and includes all of Chesterfield,Darlington,Dillon,Georgetown,Horry,Marion,and Marlboro Counties and most of Florence County. The district is represented by Republican Russell Fry who was elected in 2022 and took office on January 3,2023.
This is a selected bibliography of the main scholarly books and articles of Reconstruction,the period after the American Civil War,1863–1877.
Simeon Farr was an American politician who was elected as a state representative in 1868 in South Carolina during the Reconstruction era. He represented Union County,South Carolina. His photograph was used in a composite of Radical Republican officials from South Carolina. His name is spelled Simon Farr in an 1868 House document.
Powell Smythe was a member of the South Carolina General Assembly during the Reconstruction era. He represented Clarendon County,South Carolina.
Sancho Saunders was a member of South Carolina's House of Representatives during the Reconstruction era. He represented Chester County,South Carolina. He was documented as a literate Baptist minister who was a slave before the American Civil War. He was African American. His photograph was included in a montage of Radical Republican South Carolina legislators.
Henry W. Webb was a political leader in Reconstruction era South Carolina. He was a delegate to the South Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1868 and elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives the same year.
Henry L. Shrewsbury was an American teacher and Reconstruction era state legislator in South Carolina. He was described as a free mullato,and represented Chesterfield County in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1868 until 1870.
Alfred Rush was a state representative in South Carolina during the Reconstruction era,serving two non-consecutive terms between 1868 and 1876. Rush was one of four men who represented Darlington County,South Carolina,three of whom were African Americans and one was white. Rush was elected to serve just a few years after the Civil War (1861–1865). He was ambushed and murdered on May 13,1876.
Giles Cotton,also known as Silas Cotton,was an emancipated enslaved man,farmer,and state legislator in Texas. A Radical Republican,he served in the Texas House of Representatives during the Reconstruction era from 1870 to 1873. He married and had seven children.
Alexander H. Curtis was an American politician,he served as a state legislator in the Alabama House of Representatives and the Alabama Senate during the Reconstruction era.
David Higgins was an African American preacher and state legislator in Mississippi between 1870 and 1872. He was a Republican.
Burrell S. James was a state legislator in South Carolina. He served in the South Carolina House of Representatives. His photograph was included in a montage of "Radical Republican" South Carolina state legislators.
Robert Fletcher (1815-1885) was a Reconstruction era politician in North Carolina who served in the North Carolina House of Representatives. He served his community in other positions including being a sub-elector and a county commissioner.
