POST-RECONSTRUCTION

POPULIST MOVEMENT
 ESSENTIAL QUESTION

•Who became governor of

SC after the election of
1876?
•What did his political party
do to disenfranchise
African-Americans?
Want to restore the south to Want African American’s to
the way it was before the Civil have equal rights politically
War. Want white elite to and socially. Influenced
control government again Reconstruction in the south.
 END OF RECONSTRUCTION IN SC
• Former Confederate general
Wade Hampton led the White
Democratic “Red Shirts” on
campaign of violence and
intimidation to win the office of
governor in 1876
• Voting disputes in the
governor’s race split the SC
government into two separate
governments (one Republican
and one white Democrat)
because white taxpayers
refused to support the
Republican controlled govt.
 AFTER THE ELECTION OF 1876

• Wade Hampton and the

so-called “Redeemers”
took control of SC after
Reconstruction
• These Democrats called
themselves “Redeemers”
because they believed
they had redeemed SC
from the Republicans
• They wanted to restore SC
to its condition before the
Civil War with limited
taxes
 DEMOCRATS IN SC

• Members of the Democratic

party in SC (redeemers)
began attempting to
disenfranchise (exclude/keep
from voting) the A-A voter
• Eight Box Law- literacy test for A-A
voters
• Poll Tax- tax in which every adult
had to pay in order to vote
• Gerrymandering – redrawing
boundaries to favor the
Democrats
• Editorial cartoon from the January 18, 1879, issue of
Harper’s Weekly criticizing the use of literacy tests.
• It shows "Mr. Solid South" writing on wall,
"Eddikashun qualifukashun. The Blak man orter be
eddikated afore he kin vote with us Wites, signed
Mr. Solid South.“

Many poor white farmers

had little to no education
as well. However, they
were not subject to
literacy tests and were
allowed to vote anyway.
 ESSENTIAL QUESTION

•What group of Americans

began the Populist
Movement?
•Who led the Populist
Movement in SC during the
1890s?
 THE POPULIST MOVEMENT

• The Populist movement was

a political movement led
by farmers in the South and
Midwest after
Reconstruction
• Movement was against the
Democrats and
Republicans for ignoring
their interests and
difficulties (1890s)
 COMMON PROBLEMS OF FARMERS:

• In the late 1800s, many farmers were trapped in a

vicious economic cycle.
• 1. Prices for crops were falling, and farmers often
mortgaged their farms so that they could buy more
land and produce more crops.
• 2. Good farming land was becoming scarce, though,
and banks were foreclosing on the mortgages of
increasing numbers of farmers who couldn’t make
payments on their loans.
• 3. Moreover, the railroads were taking advantage of
farmers by charging excessive prices for shipping and
storage.
 POPULIST MOVEMENT IN SC
• Ben Tillman became governor in SC
1890-1894 (later Senator) after
Hampton as a member Populist party
because of his great political savvy
and speaking skills
• He gained the support of the
common white farmers of SC
• He ran his campaign for Governor
(later Senator) on the platform of
white superiority and wanted to
further disenfranchise A-A voters
• His bigotry and racial rhetoric
increased violence, lynching, and
the reemergence of terrorism in SC
Bigotry- intolerance for those
who have opinion different from
your own.

Rhetoric- language meant to be

persuasive and have a certain
affect; but lacking emotion
 POPULIST MOVEMENT IN SC

• Poor white farmers

took their economic
frustrations out on A-
A and used them as
scapegoats
• A-A who dared to
protest were quickly
intimidated into
silence
Scapegoat- a person who is
blamed for the wrongdoings or
mistakes of others
SC’s Constitutions

1776 (Before DOI signed) 1778 (After DOI signed)

APK:
-Temporary until disagreements with -President was now called the
England could be resolved. governor.

-Two house legislature -Representation was more equally

distributed

-President (of S.C.) elected by the -Church of England was no longer

legislative (veto laws) the state supported church.

-LC had more representation

 APK:
SC’s Constitutions SC’s Constitution of 1868
1865 14th Amendment ratified
13th Amendment was 15th Amendment ratified
ratified

-Only whites could vote Schools made available to

everyone regardless of
race
-Representation was
based on wealth and
property ownership
 ESSENTIAL QUESTION

•What were Ben Tillman’s

accomplishments in SC?
What 4 things did the new
SC state Constitution
accomplish in 1895?
 BEN TILLMAN’S
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
• Tillman got statewide attention
when he disagreed with
Conservatives on the
establishment Of Clemson
University.
• The land at Clemson was a
bequest by Thomas Green
Clemson (son-in-law of John
C. Calhoun)
• Tillman and Clemson wanted an
agricultural college.
• Clemson was a Land Grant
college
 THE TEMPERENCE MOVEMENT:
• Many people wanted to make it illegal to
make, sell, or use alcohol.
• Voters approved the law and it became known as
Prohibition.
• Tillman amended it and substituted the State
Dispensary system.
• The SDS would control the distribution of alcohol.
• By 1915 S. C. adopted statewide prohibition and the
country adopted the 18th Amendment (Prohibition
Amendment)
• Americans that violated the law were called
Bootleggers
 CONSTITUTION OF 1895

• Sen. Ben Tillman

pushed for a new
state Constitution
in 1895 to replace
the one written
during
Reconstruction
(1868)
 CONSTITUTION OF 1895

• The new Constitution accomplished 4

things in SC:
1. Established a literacy test for voters (had to
be able to interpret the Constitution)
2. Required the poll tax be paid 6 month
before the election
• Poor white farmers were “grandfathered” in to
avoid paying the tax
3. Required separate school for white and
black children
4. Jim Crow Laws (legalized segregation)
 PLESSY V. FERGUSON

• (1896) The Supreme

Court ruled that Jim
Crow Laws were
constitutional in the
case of Plessy v.
Ferguson
• Plessy v. Ferguson
legalized segregation
in America claiming
“separate but equal”
was legal