Economic Factors in the Abandonment of Reconstruction

Do Black Politicians Matter? Evidence from Reconstruction

“…Fitzgerald (2007), Rable (2007), and Lemann (2007) claim that political arguments over "excessive" taxation were related to increasing Ku Klux Klan activity and overt acts of racial intimidation, many of which were aimed at black voters and officeholders. Some resistance to taxes was due to the belief that high tax rates were keeping capital investment out of the South, even though tax rates in the South were relatively low (Hesseltine 1935). Woodward (1971), Ayers (1992), and Williamson (1965) note that Redemption came with state policies that limited the ability of local bodies (such as school boards and boards of equalization) to levy taxes and even created systems where board members were selected by the governor as opposed to the local electorate.…”

“…Even in large urban areas where they were more numerous, free blacks did not enjoy political representation in local politics (Foner 2014;Wade 1967;Johnson 1919;Merritt 2017). In fact, Hesseltine (1935) shows that conservative Democrats won their first victories at the start of Congressional Reconstruction, in 1868, and in areas with large numbers of free blacks. Free blacks were completely disenfranchised in the antebellum era.…”

Do Black Politicians Matter?

“…Fitzgerald (2007), Rable (2007, and Lemann (2007) claim that political arguments over "excessive" taxation were related to increasing Klu Klux Klan activity and overt acts of racial intimidation, many of which were aimed at black voters and officeholders. 10 Some resistance to taxes was due to the belief that high tax rates were keeping capital investment out of the South, even though tax rates in the South were relatively low (Hesseltine, 1935). Woodward (1971), Ayers (1992), andWilliamson (1965) note that Redemption came with state policies which limited the ability of local bodies (such as school boards and boards of equalization) to levy taxes and even created systems where board members were selected by the governor as opposed to the local electorate.…”

“…See Figure A1 and Johnson (1919) for more on state policies. 33 In fact, Hesseltine (1935) shows that conservative Democrats won their first victories at the start of Congressional Reconstruction, in 1868, and in areas with large numbers of free blacks. Such events would be unlikely if free blacks drove local political decisions.…”

Whitelashing: Black Politicians, Taxes, and Violence

“…Even when restricting the analysis to the areas with Black officeholders, the areas with more aggressive tax policies were significantly more likely to be places of violent attacks. Another group of scholars, such as Egerton (2014), Gillette (1982), Hesseltine (1935), Lemann (2007), Prince (2014), Darity and Mullen (2020), and others have stressed the role that post-Reconstruction institutions played in the formation of twentieth-century American political development. This implies the relationship between violence and public finance could have influenced the way that American political institutions solve the problem of public goods provision.…”