Reconstruction Government in the South

Under the terms of the Reconstruction Act of 1867, Republican governments came to power throughout the South, offering blacks, for the first time in American history, a genuine share of political power. These governments established the region's first public school systems, enacted civil rights laws, and sought to promote the region's economic development.

The coming of black suffrage under the Reconstruction Act of 1867 produced a wave of political mobilization among African Americans in the South.

Previous Next 

In Union Leagues and impromptu gatherings, blacks organized to demand equality before the law and economic opportunity.

Blacks were joined by white newcomers from the North -- called "carpetbaggers" by their political opponent. And the Republican party in some states attracted a considerable number of white Southerners, to whom Democrats applied the name "scalawag" -- mostly Unionist small farmers but including some prominent plantation owners.