Struggle for Mastery: Disfranchisement in the South, 1888-1908Around 1900, the southern states embarked on a series of political campaigns aimed at disfranchising large numbers of voters. By 1908, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia had succeeded in depriving virtually all African Americans, and a large number of lower-class whites, of the voting rights they had possessed since Reconstruction--rights they would not regain for over half a century. Struggle for Mastery is the most complete and systematic study to date of the history of disfranchisement in the South. After examining the origins and objectives of disfranchisement, Michael Perman traces the process as it unfolded state by state. Because he examines each state within its region-wide context, he is able to identify patterns and connections that have previously gone unnoticed. Broadening the context even further, Perman explores the federal government's seeming acquiescence in this development, the relationship between disfranchisement and segregation, and the political system that emerged after the decimation of the South's electorate. The result is an insightful and persuasive interpretation of this highly significant, yet generally misunderstood, episode in U.S. history. |
Contents
| 1 | |
The Great Problem in Its Final Phase | 9 |
Federal Election Laws 18901894 | 37 |
Tennessee and Arkansas 18891892 | 48 |
Mississippi 1890 | 70 |
South Carolina 1895 | 91 |
McKinley Administration 18961901 | 116 |
Louisiana 1898 | 124 |
Virginia 19011902 | 195 |
Congress 19011906 | 224 |
The Rise of Segregation | 245 |
Texas and Georgia 19011908 | 270 |
The Direct Primary and the Eviscerated Electorate | 299 |
Disfranchisement in Context | 321 |
Notes | 329 |
Bibliography | 373 |
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Struggle for Mastery: Disfranchisement in the South, 1888-1908 Michael Perman No preview available - 2001 |
Common terms and phrases
African Americans Alabama April Arkansas August ballot box Ben Tillman bill Birmingham Age-Herald black belt black vote black-majority Braxton campaign caucus Charleston clause committee’s congressional constitutional convention convention’s counties Courier Daniel debate December defeat delegates Democratic Party di√erent di≈cult disfranchisement e√ect e√orts editorial election laws electoral eliminate factions February federal Fifteenth Amendment franchise fraud Furnifold Simmons George Georgia governor grandfather House speech ibid illiterate initiative issue Jackson Clarion-Ledger January Jim Crow John Jones July Kousser Kruttschnitt leaders legislation legislature literacy loophole Louisiana March Marion Butler Memphis Appeal ment Mississippi North Carolina o√ered o≈ce o≈cials October opponents opposition Orleans Daily Picayune Papers party’s poll tax primary proposal provision race racial railroads Reconstruction reform registration repeal Richmond Dispatch secret ballot segregation September 1890 Smith South Southern Politics state’s statewide su√rage su√rage committee Tennessee Thom Tillman tion Tom Watson U.S. senator Virginia Watson white counties white supremacy white voters William