The redeemer governments sought to overturn reconstruction-era policies by ______.

Ku Klux Klan

The redeemer governments sought to overturn reconstruction-era policies by ______.

KKK after Civil War

White southerners who objected to the Reconstruction governments labeled them corrupt and portrayed themselves as suffering under “Black Rule.”  The collective memory of Reconstruction by many southern whites who claimed allegiance to the Confederacy was of a tyrannical reign of reconstructionists who stole their liberties and trampled on their rights.  They sought to overturn the Reconstruction governments, disfranchise black voters, and return the South to “home rule.”  Ending black voting and restoring white supremacy was the principal aim of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

The Ku Klux Klan formed in 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee, as a social club, with signs, watch words, secret rituals, and practical jokes. When they saw that their antics frightened many freedpeople, they turned their organization into a type of terrorist group. The KKK used violent means—whipping, burning, lynching, and rape—to intimidate blacks and end their voting or political participation. They also murdered white Republicans in paramilitary encounters designed to discourage Republican Party activism. 

Congress lashed out at the KKK by enacting three Enforcement Acts (1870-1871) to protect African American voters from vigilante groups like the KKK.  But Grant was unwilling to keep federal troops in the South to stem the violence and restore order. Adelbert Ames, Republican governor of Mississippi, pleaded in vain for more troops to stop the violence of paramilitary gangs, but President Grant, judging the changing attitudes of northern voters against further federal action, continued to pull Union troops from the South.

Democratic Resurgence and Republican Decline

The redeemer governments sought to overturn reconstruction-era policies by ______.

Newspaper illustration of the run on the Fourth National Bank, New York City, 1873

Despite the efforts of the Klan, Republicans in the South continued to hold their political advantage (thanks in part to large voter turnout among African Americans).  But Democrats began to make small gains. This increase was due in part to a new political strategy adopted by party members in the South.  In the past, Democrats had attempted to lure voters from the Republican Party by adopting conservative measures and claiming support for black suffrage.  Increasingly, the Democrats appealed to the once-familiar themes of white supremacy and agrarian hostility to government economic development.  Through this approach, Democrats gained power by bringing back to the polls Southerners (mostly small farmers) who had felt alienated by Republicans.

Scandals associated with President Grant’s term also contributed to a resurgence in the Democratic Party, and greatly weakened the Republican party.   One of the most highly publicized scandals involved Credit Mobilier, a fictitious construction company that cheated many out of investment dollars, benefited such high-ranking Republicans as Vice-president Schuyler Colfax.  It was the first of many such embarrassments for the president and the party.  More importantly, the corruption provided Southern Democrats with propaganda they could use to discredit allegedly “corrupt Negro-carpetbag” regimes in the South.

The Panic of 1873 further reduced the Republican’s political power.  Financial trouble from the Panic lasted for six years; moreover, in the Congressional elections of 1874, Democrats took over the House and gained seats in the Senate. For the first time in 18 years, Democrats controlled the House of Representatives.

As time passed, Northerners grew increasingly tired of Reconstruction and the seemingly unending list of problems emerging from the South.  Gradually, Northerners refocused their attention on things besides Reconstruction, and Democrats regained control in the South.  By 1875, just four Southern states remained under Republican control: South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana. 

One last gasp of abolitionist sentiment surfaced in 1875, when Congress passed another Civil Rights Act. But it was a hollow victory for African Americans because the bill was stripped of provisions that might have desegregated schools, and the U.S. Supreme Court effectively weakened it.  The Republican party worried more about raising the tariff to appease rising entrepreneurs. They protected northern economic interests such as steel, kerosene, and railroads rather than black voting rights in the South. As northerners lost interest in the status of African Americans, Republicans searched for ways to hold onto the presidency.  The election of 1876 was pivotal.

What role did the Redeemers play in ending Reconstruction quizlet?

What role did the Redeemers play in ending Reconstruction? They worked to put white southerners back into power.

What did the Redeemers want quizlet?

Redeemers wanted to reduce the size of state government and limit the rights of African Americans. They lowered state budgets and got rid of a variety of social programs. The Redeemers cut property taxes and cut public funding for schools. They also succeeded in limiting African Americans' civil rights.

What was the primary focus of the Redeemer movement?

Redeemers were the Southern wing of the Democratic Party. They sought to regain their political power and enforce white supremacy. Their policy of Redemption was intended to oust the Radical Republicans, a coalition of freedmen, "carpetbaggers", and "scalawags".

What are Redeemers quizlet?

The "Redeemers" were a political coalition in the Southern United States during the Reconstruction era, who sought to oust the Radical Republican coalition of Freedmen, carpetbaggers and Scalawags. They were the southern wing of the Bourbon Democrats, the conservative, pro-business wing of the Democratic Party.