Transcript South Carolina Bourbons

8-5.4 South Carolina
Politics after
Reconstruction:
Bourbons /
Redeemers
Main Objective

Today we will learn more about South
Carolina’s government after Reconstruction
which was controlled by the ConservativeDemocrat Bourbons.
Politics in the United States:
From 1860 to 1884, the Republican party
controlled the federal government by
_____________________.
“Waving the Bloody Shirt”:
Republicans kept reminding voters of
the Civil War.
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Politics in the United States:
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The end of Reconstruction was signaled
by the election of Republican
_______________ as president.
South Carolina Bourbon Democrats
Politics after 1877 were dominated by
Conservative Democrats
 The election of Wade Hampton ended
reconstruction.
 He did not believe in social equality but
did practice political equality :
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He appointed many blacks to minor offices.
Conservative Democrats
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They were wealthy.
They had served as Confederate and political
leaders
Most had opposed secession until 1860
Usually voted Democratic in national
elections.
They believed in a limited state government
with few services and low taxes.
Because the Conservatives
believed in limited state
gov’t with few services.
The effect was that they cut the
state budget drastically and
made sure the budget remained
small.
How did they get the nickname?
How did they get the nickname?
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Redeemers: Hampton’s supporters called
him a Redeemer for returning Democrats
to power in South Carolina.
Returning to Normal
South Carolina Regroups after Reconstruction
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Before the ending of Reconstruction, name two
reasons SC was at the center of national events?
What great opportunity did Governor Wade
Hampton III see at the end of Reconstruction?
Who were the “Redeemers?” Who were the
“Bourbons?”
Why and how did Hampton attempt to protect the
rights of African Americans?
What was Hampton’s ultimate goal in the years
after Reconstruction?
Explain why many South Carolinians refer to the
Civil War as the Lost Cause?
The Beginnings of Jim Crow
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Because Wade Hampton was elected to
the U.S. Senate, the Conservatives
abandoned his racial policies.
The Conservatives disfranchised blacks.
Disfranchise- To take the right to vote away
Eight Box Law
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Required voters to place the ballots for
each different office in a different box (there
were eight boxes in all).
If a vote was placed in a wrong box, it was
disqualified.
Was effective for eliminating many of the
African American vote due to the poor
reading ability of many blacks.
Disfranchise
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The Conservatives invented ways to make
sure people who could not read could not
vote. (Eight-box laws)
The Conservatives also started a poll tax.
This was tax that had to be paid in order to
vote.
Both of the measures discriminated against
blacks and poor uneducated whites.
Proof it worked.

Number of Republican Votes.
1876:
90,000
1888:
14,000
Poor Whites
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To protect the poor whites, the politicians
passed a law containing the grandfather
clause.
Grandfather Clause: restored
the right to vote to men who
could not pay the poll tax, but whose grandfather
could vote before the Civil War
The restrictions placed on blacks to vote were the beginning of Jim Crow Laws.
Jim Crow Laws=Segregation= separation
of the races
Jim Crow
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Jim Crow laws ensured that segregation
became an accepted part of southern
society.
Most southern states adopted very similar
laws. The U.S. Supreme Court approved
segregation with its Plessy vs. Ferguson
case ruling.
Plessy vs. Ferguson:
The U.S. Supreme
Court case that ruled
“separate-but-equal”
facilities were legal.
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Railroads
Schools
Theaters
Hotel
Restaurants
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Restrooms
Water Fountains
Parks
Public Offices
Cemeteries
Those separate facilities were rarely equal to those
available to whites.