Episodes Located: HINDS, Mississippi in the 1870's

  1. Mississippi Passes a State Civil Rights Bill
    date February 27, 1873map HINDS, Mississippitags African-Americans, Race-Relations

    During the time of Reconstruction, strong Republican parties grew as a result of heavy reliance of blacks as their constituency. Generating the overwhelming majority of the party's votes, blacks became the majority of the electorate in Southern states, such as South Carolina, Louisiana, and Mississippi. As the black support increased, it was clear that policies and enactments had to be geared towards...

  2. Mississippi House Signs a Social Equality Bill
    date February 5, 1873map HINDS, Mississippitags African-Americans, Race-Relations

    On Wednesday, February 5, 1873, the Mississippi House passed a bill forbidding owners of hotels, theaters, or other places of amusement, common carriers, etc., from making any distinction on account of color. Under this enactment, a proprietor would face heavy penalties for disobeying the act. An African American member of the House introduced the bill, and the proposal passed along a virtually...

  3. Republican vs. Republican for Mississippi Governor
    date September 22, 1873 to November 4, 1873map HINDS, Mississippitags African-Americans, Race-Relations

    On September 25, the Louisville Courier Journal wrote, “The most interesting campaign now in progress in any state is on the boards in Mississippi.' Why? First, there was no Democratic candidate in a Deep South State, and second, there were two Republicans , one a scalawag, the other a carpetbagger , running for the position. In August of 1873, Adelbert Ames was nominated for governor of...

  4. Mississippi Grange Party Assembles
    date December 12, 1876map HINDS, Mississippitags Agriculture, Economy

    The Mississippi Grange Party assembled in Jackson on Dec. 12th. The party began in 1867 by several farmers as a “farmer's movement,' that worked to affiliate local planters into areas called “granges,' where they would work together for political and economic advantages. The party was at the height of its power during the 1870's and won a huge political victory in Oct. of 1876 when the...

  5. Centrist Pary Reaction to Ku Klux Klan Activity in Mississippi
    date 1871map HINDS, Mississippitags Crime/Violence, Race-Relations

    In 1871, the Governor of Mississippi, James Alcorn, was a member of the Centrist Party. The Centrist Party was a faction of the Republican Party emerging in the South at this time. The Centrists believed that it had to seize voting initiative and control the middle of the political spectrum. Centrists believed that the political disabilities imposed on former Confederates by the Reconstruction Act...

  6. The Greenback party goes down to defeat in November elections led by the losses in Mississippi
    date September 10, 1879map HINDS, Mississippitags African-Americans

    Prior to 1879, the Greenback Party had burst onto the political scene and presented a truly unique and radical voice in American politics. Although the Greenback Party's roots were with the miners in the Rocky Mountain States and with the farmers of the Midwest, the depression in agricultural prices following the Panic of 1873 allowed the party had made significant inroads among the Southern farmers....

  7. Mississippi election of 1879
    date November 4, 1879map HINDS, Mississippitags Race-Relations

    The Mississippi election of 1879 served as a reaffirmation of Bourbon power in the wake of the Greenback challenge to Democratic hegemony. The results of the November 4, 1879 were that the Democrats were once again able to assert political dominance over the state through voter fraud and intimidation. Moreover, the 12,000 vote total registered for the Greenback Party in the 1878 elections declined...