Standard Indicator 8-5.4
Governor Wade Hampton Elected
1876:
Bourbon
 Redeemer
 Conservative Democrat
 Regained control by reminding Southerners
of “Lost Cause” (Civil War)
 Antebellum Elite
 Wanted to restore SC as close as possible to
its pre Civil War conditions with limited taxes

Governor Hampton & Race
Relations:
Willing to maintain status quo of
Reconstruction
 Recognized rights of African Americans
to vote & hold office

Views & Actions of Other
Democrats:
Disenfranchised African Americans
 Eight Box Law
 Poll Tax
 Often disenfranchised poor whites
 Gerrymandered Congressional districts
to have only one majority AA district
 Limited number of AA elected to US
Congress

Ben Tillman: Pitchfork Ben
Leader of small white farmers
 Expert oratorical & political skills
 Populist appealed to values & needs of
common people against Conservative
elites
 Against vote for African American
farmers

Ben Tillman:
Political platform: white superiority
 Not true Populist
 Led movement to disenfranchise AA
voters

Ben Tillman’s Bigotry &
Racist Rhetoric Let to:
Reemergence of terrorism
against blacks
The People’s Party Video
 Increased violence,
4:39
lynching’s, & race baiting
(verbal attacks against a group)
 African Americans intimidated into
silence, not protesting
 Whites took out economic frustrations
on AA

Visions of Terrorism & Racism
Tillman Calls for New Constitution
Urged followers to replace the
Reconstruction Constitution of 1868
 Purpose: to cement Tillman’s control of
Democratic Party & prevent black
majority from providing political support
of Conservatives

1895 Constitution:
Literacy Test for voting: read & interpret
US Constitution
 Poll Tax: paid 6 months before election
 Grandfather Clause: poor, illiterate
whites could vote if grandfathers were
able to vote in 1860

1895 Constitution & Segregation:

Separate school for black & white
children
SC Constitution 1895: Jim Crow






Jim Crow Laws: limited opportunities for
African Americans
Social segregation is law
1896 “Plessy v Ferguson” Supreme Court
Decision: separate-but-equal is legal
(segregation)
Separate-but-equal facilities satisfied the 14th
amendment equal protection under laws
Jim Crow impacted, both directly and indirectly,
every aspect of AA experience of 6 decades
Violence, intimidation, & lynching’s silenced AA
protests of segregation
Images of Segregation: