On the morning of July 16th, 1877, an excursion train of black people left Clarksville, Tennessee en route to attend the funeral services of the black Reverend Wm. Neville. During the duration of the trip, news somehow reached the sheriff of Todd country, KY that there were some blacks on board the train who were engaging in illegal commerce: the selling and buying of cigars and liquors on board the...
In 1877 at the meeting of the South Carolinian General Assembly, a new decree was passed which initiated a re-drawing of precinct boundaries. Most importantly, this new law greatly reduced the number of polling places available in counties consisting of a majority of black people. By doing this, blacks were forced to travel long distances to be able to speak their voice on political issues. The...