American History Tellers - Reconstruction Era | The Great Betrayal | 6

Episode Date: July 5, 2023

In 1876, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel Tilden vied for the presidency. But when Election Day was over, no clear winner emerged. Amid reports of voter fraud, intimidation and violence, both parties claimed victory in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida, the only three Southern states where Republicans still held the reins of local government.It was the most bitterly disputed election in American history. As the stalemate dragged on, the nation faced a Constitutional crisis. The outcome of the presidency, the fate of Reconstruction, and the futures of millions of Black Southerners hung in the balance.Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/historytellersSupport us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. A listener note, this episode contains graphic descriptions of racial violence and may not be suitable for everyone. Imagine it's a cool October night in 1876 in Lake City, Florida. You and your younger brother are laborers on a pine plantation, and you're walking along a tree-lined back road heading home from a Republican party rally. Election Day is just a few weeks away, and you're discussing the speeches you've just heard. I like our candidate for sheriff. If we can get a Republican in the job,

maybe we could finally get some justice in this county. Your brother nods, but before he has a chance to respond, a sound stops you in your tracks. What was that? Six white men suddenly emerge from the trees and into the moonlight. They're carrying shotguns. What was that? You boys are out late. We don't want any trouble.

Oh, you don't, huh? Is that why you're voting Republican? Yeah. We heard you just now. No, we were just talking, I swear. We weren't even planning to vote. Now you're lying. Let me show you how we treat lying Negroes around here. The mustached man turns to one of his fellow vigilantes.

Give me the rope. The other man hands him a burlap sack. The man shoves his hand inside and pulls out a long, coiled rope with a noose at the end. Your heart races as you wait for him to slip it around your neck. But then to your horror, the men grab your little brother instead. No, please, don't do this. Your brother trembles as they tighten the noose around his neck. The head vigilante smiles serenely. Now let's see how we best go about this. These pine trees are too tall for a hanging, but I bet we can find an oak with some nice,

sturdy branches further down the road. What do y'all think? He gives the rope a jerk and your brother stumbles forward. The men laugh as he tries to stay on his feet. Then again, there's that big old magnolia on the Grady farm. It's a ways off, but I reckon it would be a beautiful tree to die on. Do you like Magnolia's boy? Your stomach drops. Your brother is shaking uncontrollably, tears streaming down his face. Please, I'm begging you to let us go. The man scratches his mustache thoughtfully. How about we make a deal? We'll let you boys go, but only if you promise to vote for the Democrat ticket in November. And I want to see you bring all your friends in, too.

We'll do it, I swear. Then it's a deal. The man removes the noose from around your brother's neck, and a wave of relief washes over you. Now don't forget, we'll be watching the polls come election day. And all your friends best vote Democrat. He turns to the other white men. Come on, let's get out of here. As the men run off into the night, you pull your brother into a tight embrace.

You can feel his heart pounding in his chest. You hate to give in to threats. You make any bargain to never feel this terror again. New possibilities. New ways of thinking. And Audible makes it easy to be inspired and entertained as a part of your everyday routine without needing to set aside extra time. As an Audible member, you choose one title a month to keep from their ever-growing catalog. Explore themes of friendship, loss, and hope with remarkably bright creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Find what piques your imagination. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your

first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca to sign up. From Wondery comes a new series about a lawyer who broke all the rules. Need to launder some money? Broker a deal with a drug cartel? Take out a witness? Paul can do it. I'm your host, Brandon Jinks Jenkins. Follow Criminal Attorney on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story. The election of 1876 looked to be the most competitive since the Civil War. The Republicans had held the White House for 16 years, but their influence in the South was declining, putting the future of Reconstruction in jeopardy.

Knowing the election would be close, white vigilante groups stepped up pressure on black voters, threatening them with violence and even death if they dared to vote Republican. The vigilantes' actions went largely unchecked. As Northerners had grown wary of Southern turmoil, the White House, Congress, and the courts had slowly abandoned Reconstruction. By 1876, Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina were the only Southern states where Republicans still controlled the government. But even there, Black Southerners were left increasingly vulnerable to white supremacists determined to reassert their power. And as the election loomed, armed Democrats fought to end Republican control in the South once and for all.

Their efforts paved the way for one of the most hotly contested elections in American history. With the presidency in doubt and the nation paralyzed by partisan stalemate, Reconstruction teetered on the brink of collapse. This is Episode 6, The Great Betrayal. On March 27, 1876, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that undermined the prior achievements of Reconstruction. United States v. Cruikshank was a case that originated out of the 1873 Colfax Massacre, in which armed whites battled a black militia for control of the courthouse in Colfax, Louisiana, resulting in the deaths of 150 black people.

Soon after the massacre, a federal grand jury indicted 97 men for their crimes, but only nine of them stood trial, including William J. Cruikshank, one of the leaders of the white mob. Federal prosecutors charged Cruikshank and the other eight men under laws known as the Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871. These were designed to combat anti-Black vigilante violence, and under the acts, the defendants were accused of conspiring to deprive their victims of their civil rights. Three of the nine men charged were convicted in a lower court, but the defendants' lawyers appealed and the case made its way up to the Supreme Court. In March 1876, three years after the Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court overturned the convictions. The justices ruled that the

Enforcement Acts applied only to actions committed by states, not individuals. In effect, the court decided that it was not the job of the federal government to prosecute hate crimes committed against black people. This ruling sent a clear message that the federal government would not interfere to protect black southerners from racial discrimination or violence. It would now be up to Southern local or state authorities to prosecute white vigilante attacks, which most were unwilling to do. Even so, in the North, there was little outcry over United States v. Cruikshank. By 1876, most Americans were preoccupied with other matters. Corruption had eclipsed Reconstruction as the central issue in

politics as scandals rocked President Ulysses S. Grant's second term in office. An 1875 investigation had exposed the involvement of Grant's private secretary in a multi-million dollar tax scam known as the Whiskey Ring. And in March 1876, the Secretary of War resigned when a congressional investigation revealed that he had pocketed bribes from companies that sold supplies to Native American reservations. Though Grant was not directly involved in either scandal, his administration was tarnished. The national outrage over corruption meant that the looming presidential election would center on reform. So both parties sought candidates who were untainted by scandal. In June, the Republicans nominated Ohio Governor Rutherford B. Hayes, who was nicknamed the Great Unknown.

He was a relatively obscure former Union general, but party leaders thought he fit the bill perfectly. He was uncontroversial, and he came from a key swing state. Before the Civil War, Hayes often worked as a volunteer lawyer, defending runaway slaves in court. And while serving in Congress in the mid-1860s, he supported Reconstruction and voted for Republican policies that strengthened the rights of black Southerners. But a decade later, like many members of his party, Hayes had begun to question the wisdom of military intervention in the South. In 1875, he told a friend,

In his letter accepting the Republican nomination, he called for the return of the blessings of honest and capable local self-government to the South. It was a thinly-veiled promise to bring Reconstruction to an end. Still, Black Republican voters knew that Northern politicians often used conciliatory language to appeal to white voters. They held out hope that if Hayes was elected, he would champion Black rights, just as Grant had done, and Abraham Lincoln before him. So Black voters were determined to cast their votes, even in the face of continued harassment and violence. On the opposite side, the Democrats nominated New York Governor Samuel Tilden,

who rose to fame prosecuting Boss Tweed, New York's notoriously corrupt Democratic Party leader. Tilden campaigned on his anti-corruption credentials, pledging to clean up the scandal-plagued federal government. He also promised white Southerners that he would bring an end to what he called the rapacity of carpetbag tyrannies. But while the two parties were planning their presidential campaigns, most Americans were focused on celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the nation's birth. On July 4, 1876, hundreds of thousands of people thronged the streets of Philadelphia for the Centennial Exposition, a grand fair featuring dazzling displays of American industry, art, and architecture.

With fireworks, parades, and speeches, the exposition's July 4 celebrations painted a picture of national peace and unity. But further south, violence against black Americans told a different story. Imagine it's July 4th, 1876 in Hamburg, South Carolina. You're the captain of an all-black militia, and you're celebrating Independence Day by parading 40 of your men down Market Street, the main thoroughfare in town. Despite the muggy weather and gathering clouds, 100 of your neighbors, most of them black, line the road and cheer you on. It fills you with pride to celebrate America's centennial as a freedman with your brothers in

arms. As you lead your men down the road, you spot a horse-drawn buggy rounding the corner two blocks ahead of you. The sons of two prominent white farmers are driving it, and they're heading straight towards you. If they don't stop, they'll collide with your guardsmen. Halt! Stand at attention. The buggy comes to a stop, and you walk toward it, shaking your head in disbelief. Mr. Getzen, you were about to drive right through my company. Henry Getzen looks down at you with a blank expression.

Your patience is wearing thin. If the situation were reversed, I would show you respect and go around. We're trying to hold a parade here, and we're celebrating our country, the one we fought to preserve. Getzen rolls his eyes at his friend and looks down at you with disdain. Like I said, I always go this way, and I'm not going to change for no damn colored men. You're about to respond when you feel a drop of rain on the back of your neck. As you pause to look up at the gathering clouds, you notice the look of fear on the face of the young militia soldier beside you. You decide you're better off defusing the situation. Fine, we'll move, but just this

once. You turn back to your men. Attention, militia! Let these men pass. Your men reluctantly step aside and make room for the buggy. Getzen snaps the reins and urges his buggy forward. This isn't over. Mark my words, you're going to pay for your insolence. As Getzen and his friend ride off, your militiamen look at you, awaiting orders to continue the parade. But the rain is coming down harder now, turning the road to mud. But that's not the only thing that's dampening your spirits. You have a sinking feeling that Getzen is going to make good on his

threat. On July 4, 1876, two white men named Henry Getzen and Thomas Butler confronted an all-black militia parading through the majority black village of Hamburg, South Carolina. After a short argument, militia captain Doc Adams relented and gave the young white men the right of way. But tensions remained high. Getzen and Butler filed a complaint before Prince Rivers, a formerly enslaved Union Army veteran who had become a local black magistrate. They accused the militia of unlawfully blocking a public road. Rivers set a hearing for July 8th. That day, the plaintiffs arrived in town with their lawyer, local Democratic politician Matthew Butler, who had lost a leg serving as a Confederate

general in the Civil War. Butler demanded that Adams give up his malicious weapons and apologize for the incident on July 4th. Justice Rivers was set on keeping the peace and urged Adams to agree, but Adams refused. As the conflict escalated, Butler drove across the Savannah River into neighboring Augusta, Georgia, and recruited reinforcements. In the meantime, Adams' militia and several black civilians took refuge inside the town armory, a brick building near the bridge to Augusta. Later that afternoon, Butler returned to Hamburg with a cannon and 200 armed white men. Most were members of paramilitary rifle clubs known locally as the Red Shirts. These Red Shirts took up positions around the armory, and at 7.30 p.m. they fired the first shots, igniting a battle that raged for nearly five hours.

Men on both sides fell wounded. A young white farmer was the first to die, but the black militia inside the armory was badly outnumbered, and as the exchange of gunfire continued, the militia's ammunition dwindled, and some of the black defenders fled for their lives. The town's black marshal was shot dead, others were wounded, and the rest were captured. By 2 a.m., the redshirts held 27 men prisoner. Before dawn, they selected five of these black prisoners and executed them, shooting them in the head. They ordered the rest to run, then shot at their backs as they fled. One of the redshirts declared,

By God, we're going to take your guns, ransacking homes and businesses, including the home of Justice Prince Rivers. During the rampage, they chanted, This is the beginning of the redemption of South Carolina. News of the Hamburg Massacre captured the nation's attention. In Congress, black South Carolina Representative Joseph Rainey declared, In the name of my race and my people, in the name of humanity, in the name of God, I ask whether we are to be American citizens or vassals and slaves again. In response, the Senate called for an investigation.

And South Carolina's Republican governor, Daniel Chamberlain, begged President Grant to intervene, warning him that Hamburg was the start of an organized campaign of blood and violence. Grant pledged to give every aid for which I find law or constitutional power. But he also reprimanded Southern Republicans for failing to keep the peace. He declared, A government that cannot give protection to the life, property, and all the guaranteed civil rights in this country is insofar a failure. Before the Hamburg Massacre, Chamberlain's

re-election to the governorship seemed all but certain. He had won the support of moderate Democrats after he slashed state taxes and expenditures. But Chamberlain's criticism of the redshirts and his plea for federal intervention galvanized South Carolina Democrats to abandon him and line up behind an opponent. In August, they nominated General Wade Hampton, who had been the state's highest-ranking Confederate officer during the Civil War. While Hampton promised to respect black civil rights, his supporters used violence to suppress the state's large black voting majority. And by October 1876, 13,000 men across the state had joined rifle clubs to support Hampton's candidacy. These Democratic paramilitary groups fought to undermine the Republican Party and Reconstruction. They disrupted campaign rallies

and whipped and murdered leading Republicans. A prominent Democrat laid out the blueprint for the election campaign, declaring, Every Democrat should control the vote of one Negro by intimidation. Argument has no effect on them. They can only be influenced by their fears. It's not surprising, then, that in this climate of escalating terror, some black men defected to

the Democrats, but other black voters were prepared to fight back. On October 16th, Republicans and Democrats staged a joint meeting in the village of Kanehoy near Charleston. Despite both parties agreeing to arrive unarmed, many attendees carried pistols with them. Black Republicans, wary of white promises of nonviolence, stashed heavier firearms in the nearby woods. And when a white Democrat discovered the cache of weapons, a confrontation began and a gun was fired. The crowd scattered, and in the chaos, a white Democrat shot and killed an elderly black man. The black Republicans gathered their heavy weapons and began firing on the Democrats, who

were outnumbered and outgunned. Soon, at least five white men were dead and many wounded. In response to this latest breakout of violence, President Grant finally dispatched additional troops to South Carolina. Still, Democrats were emboldened by the belief that the Northern commitment to defending Reconstruction had all but disappeared. One white planter told a black Republican official, the Northern people are on our side. Planter affirmed that Democrats intended to win the election, even if we have to wade in blood knee-deep. So as Election Day approached, violence, intimidation, and fraud would spawn the most bitterly contested presidential race the nation had ever seen.

A decade after the North and South laid down their weapons, chaos and confusion over the election's outcome would spark fears of another civil war. For more than two centuries, the White House has been the stage for some of the most dramatic scenes in American history. Inspired by the hit podcast American History Tellers, Wondery and William Morrow present the new book, The Hidden History of the White House. Each chapter will bring you inside the fierce power struggles, the world-altering decisions, and shocking scandals that have shaped our nation. You'll be there when the very foundations of the White House are laid in 1792, and you'll watch as the British burn it down in 1814. Then you'll hear the intimate conversations between FDR and Winston Churchill as they make plans to defeat Nazi forces in 1941.

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On November 7th, 1876, more than 8 million Americans went to the polls. It marked the highest turnout of any election in American history up to that point, with 83% of eligible voters participating. Americans knew the race would be close, and that the outcome could come down to the three southern states where Republicans still held control, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida. And in those three states, Democrats used bribes, intimidation, violence, and fraud to run up their margins. In Florida, Democrats who employed Black laborers told them that they would be fired if they voted

Republican. Landowners and merchants threatened to cut off credit to Black sharecroppers unless they cast their ballots for the Democratic ticket. Elsewhere, Democrats tricked illiterate Black voters by distributing Democratic ballots printed with Republican symbols. In South Carolina, a leading Democrat urged supporters to vote early and often to overcome the fact that Black residents had a 20,000-vote majority. Heeding the call, hundreds of Democrats from nearby Georgia and North Carolina crossed the border to cast illegal votes. Some men reported voting as many as 20 times. One Democrat acknowledged that South Carolina's election was one of the grandest farces ever seen. And this Democratic intimidation and fraud in South

Carolina paid off, allowing Wade Hampton to claim a narrow statewide victory in the race for governor. But Republican candidate Daniel Chamberlain refused to accept the results and pronounced himself the winner. He wasn't the only one. The governor's contest in Louisiana met the same fate, with both candidates claiming victory. And on the national stage, the election also produced uncertainty and anxiety. Both Democrat Samuel Tilden and Republican Rutherford B. Hayes went to bed on election night believing that Tilden had won. He had captured the popular vote and carried the northern states of New York,

New Jersey, Indiana, and Connecticut. If he held the South as was expected, he would easily win the White House. But South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida were still too close to call. In the early hours of the following morning, Republican campaign officials realized that if Hayes carried these three Southern states plus one disputed electoral vote in Oregon, he would win a one-vote electoral college majority. But it was a narrow road to victory. Hayes needed all three Southern states to win. Tilden needed just one. So the Republicans got to work. Officials filed off urgent telegrams to the three disputed states, where Republicans controlled the vote-counting boards. They

instructed them to hold off certifying the election results, declaring, With your state sure for Hayes, he is elected. Hold your state. Though Hayes was ready to concede, his campaign managers convinced him to wait, while teams of lawyers and politicians from both parties packed southbound trains heading to Tallahassee,

Columbia, and New Orleans to supervise the vote counting. Democrats affirmed that they held the lead in the raw totals of all three states, but Republicans countered that the results were tainted. South Carolina had been plagued by pre-election violence carried out by white paramilitary rifle clubs such as the Red Shirts, and Republicans in all three states reported that Democrats had stuffed ballot boxes. But it was true that both sides manipulated the votes. While Democrats had used coercion and fraud on Election Day, Republicans used their control of the vote counting boards to adjust the totals.

In Louisiana, the election board threw its legitimacy into question when its chairman unsuccessfully tried to sell the state's electoral votes to the highest bidder. And in the end, all three disputed states submitted two sets of returns, one Democratic and one Republican. It would be up to Congress to decide which electoral votes to count. But Democrats controlled the House and Republicans controlled the Senate, and neither party trusted the other to oversee the process. The impasse dragged on well past Election Day and through the winter. With the fate of the presidency in question, the nation faced a constitutional crisis. Rumors spread that armed Democrats were planning to march on the Capitol.

General William Tecumseh Sherman ordered four army companies to Washington to prepare for armed conflict. Many Americans feared the country was hurtling down a path to another civil war. So, to break the deadlock, in January 1877, Congress created a special commission composed of five Republican legislators, five Democratic legislators, and five Supreme Court justices. At first, the justices were evenly split between the two parties, with two Republicans, two Democrats, and one Independent. But at the last minute, the Independent justice dropped out

and was replaced by a justice who leaned Republican. After weeks of agonizing debate, on February 9th, the Special Commission announced its decision. By a partisan vote of 8-7, they awarded the electoral votes of all three disputed states plus the single electoral vote from Oregon to Rutherford B. Hayes. This would make Hayes the president by the narrowest of margins, with 185 electoral votes to Tilden's 184. The commission's decision was all but final. It could only be blocked if both houses of Congress rejected it, and Hayes' party, the Republicans, controlled the Senate. They were sure to side with the commission and certify the votes in favor of Hayes. But the Democratic-majority House

rejected the commission's decision. An outraged Democratic congressman threatened to stage a last-minute filibuster to delay the final counting of the votes required by the Constitution. But ultimately, Southern Democrats were less concerned about who sat in the White House than their main priority, the fate of their state governments. Above all else, they wanted home rule, the right to control their states and dictate the lives of their black populations. One South Carolina newspaper editor explained, It matters little to us who rules in Washington if South Carolina is allowed to have Wade Hampton and home rule.

So behind closed doors, the two sides agreed to strike a deal. On February 26th, four Southern Democrats met with five Republicans at a Washington hotel. The secret pact that came out of their discussions became known as the Compromise of 1877. The Democrats agreed not to obstruct the final counting of the votes and to accept Hayes as president. In exchange, the Republicans agreed to abandon Reconstruction. Hayes would withdraw federal troops from Louisiana and South Carolina, and without federal soldiers propping them up, the South's last two Republican governments would crumble. Democratic candidates would then be installed in their place, handing complete

control of the South to Democrats. The negotiations had come down to the wire, though. In the early hours of March 2nd, just 72 hours before the scheduled inauguration, a joint session of Congress confirmed Rutherford B. Hayes as the 19th President of the United States. On April 10th, President Hayes ordered federal troops surrounding the South Carolina capital to return to their barracks, fulfilling the Republican side of the bargain. Democrat Governor Wade Hampton walked into the governor's office the next day. But in Louisiana, the South's last remaining Republican governor vowed to resist until the bitter end. Imagine it's the morning of April 21st, 1877.

You're a Republican state representative, and you're walking through a hallway in the statehouse in New Orleans. The last election has left the city in chaos. For months, there have been two rival governors, supported by two rival state legislatures. But both legislatures have lacked the necessary quorum to make their existence legally valid. But in the past few days, enough of your fellow Republicans have caved to pressure

and joined the Democratic legislature to give them the numbers they need. You're among the few remaining holdouts, for now. You reach the door of the office occupied by Stephen Packard, the Republican governor. You straighten your tie and brace yourself to deliver bad news. Good morning, Governor. Packard sits behind an intricately carved mahogany desk, composing a letter. He glances up at you briefly. I'm writing President Hayes again. He needs to know that I have every intention of standing firm. That's what I wanted to speak with you about, sir. You drop the latest copy of the Daily Picayune on his desk.

Look at the first column. Middle of the page. A copy of the message Hayes sent to the War Department ordering the withdrawal of troops from the Statehouse. Packard snatches the newspaper and scans the front page. Sir, I think it's time we disband. Enough men on our side have agreed to work under Governor Nichols. He has a quorum. We have to face reality here. The Democrats have won.

Packard puts down the newspaper, smiles bitterly. Those two-faced Republicans only agreed to work under Nichols because wealthy cotton planters paid them off. Nevertheless, we have to adjourn. We could be arrested for attempting to form an illegal legislature. For heaven's sake, we're the ones who passed the law. Yes, to stop the Democrats from setting up an illegal government. The nerve of Hayes. I receive more votes than him in this state. I have a stronger claim to the governorship of Louisiana than Hayes has to the presidency of the United States. I'm sorry, sir, but the votes don't matter now.

And once the soldiers leave, more Republicans will defect. There's no version of this where you can keep your office. So now we're just going to turn back the clock and hand victory to the rebels who waged war upon this country? If I leave, Democrats will control the entire South. You think I'm happy about this? My constituents went through hell and back to vote for me last fall. So I'm going to represent them in the legislature, even if I have to do it with the Democrats in charge.

You reach out to shake Packard's hand. I wish you luck, sir. Packard stands and returns your handshake, his face etched with defeat. It sickens you that the South's last Republican government is breaking down. You're going to do all you can to fight for your constituents, but you know that with Democrats running the state, your community's future has never been more uncertain. One day after President Hayes ordered troops to withdraw from the statehouse in New Orleans, what was left of Governor Stephen Packard's Republican legislature dissolved. As the city clocks chimed 12 on April

24th, an army band struck up a tune and five companies of soldiers filed out of their quarters near the New Orleans Statehouse. Residents filled the streets to watch the troops march back to their barracks. Crowds cheered, church bells pealed, and women crowded the balconies, waving their handkerchiefs at the soldiers below. The next day, Democrats took control of the Louisiana Statehouse. The last Republican state government had collapsed. Reconstruction was effectively over. In the language favored by white Southern Democrats, the South had been redeemed. To the four million black Americans left at the mercy of the new Democratic governments,

the Compromise of 1877 was forever known as the Great Betrayal. A formerly enslaved Louisiana organizer affirmed, the whole South had gotten into the hands of the very men that held us as slaves. Many had overcome threats and violent attacks to cast their votes. One South Carolina freedman declared, To think that Hayes could go back on us, when we had to wade through blood to help place him where he is now. But voices of protest were drowned out. Most white Americans were relieved that the crisis was over. The Republican Party had chosen peace and reconciliation over their promises to protect the rights and freedoms of American citizens.

But their compromise would have terrible consequences. In a quiet suburb, a community is shattered by the death of a beloved wife and mother. But this tragic loss of life quickly turns into something even darker. Her husband had tried to hire a hit man on the dark web to kill her. And she wasn't the only target. Because buried in the depths of the internet is The Kill List, a cache of chilling documents containing names, photos, addresses, and specific instructions for people's murders. This podcast is the true story of how I ended up in a race against time to warn those whose lives were in danger. And it turns out, convincing a total stranger someone wants them dead is not easy.

Follow Kill List on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Kill List and more Exhibit C true crime shows like Morbid early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+. Check out Exhibit C in the Wondery app for all your true crime listening. Dracula, the ancient vampire who terrorizes Victorian London. Blood and garlic, bats and crucifixes, even if you haven't read the book, you think you know the story. One of the incredible things about Dracula is that not only is it this wonderful snapshot of the 19th century, but it also has so much resonance today.

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and how even today we remain enthralled to his strange creatures of the night. You can binge all episodes of The Real History of Dracula exclusively with Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus and The Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Reconstruction did not abruptly end in 1877. Important enclaves of black political power lived on, and Republicans continued fighting to protect black suffrage. But across the South, the new Redeemer governments ushered in a social and political order that was increasingly devoted to imposing racial hierarchies and stripping black people of their rights.

Democratic officials could not revoke black voting rights entirely or force them out of government overnight. But black elected officials faced open hostility in Democrat-run governments, and black men were excluded from police forces and juries. Furthermore, violence, ballot fraud, and gerrymandering continued to reduce Black voters' access to the polls. Even programs that benefited both white and Black Southerners were rolled back if they had any association with the Reconstruction years. Southern Democrats steadily abandoned public welfare programs launched by their Republican predecessors, closing hospitals and slashing funding for public schools.

They also passed new laws that reinforced the sharecropping system, which further enriched wealthy white planters and kept black and white farm laborers alike in a cycle of poverty and debt. To escape this, some black families decided to start over in the West, migrating to places like Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and the Dakota Territory. They were in search of frontier land and freedom from the violence and economic oppression in the South. Over 6,000 black Southerners relocated to Kansas in 1879 alone. But the vast majority stayed behind. As political opportunities dwindled, black Southerners focused on business, education, and the church to improve

their lives and strengthen their communities. But some of the most important Black leaders who had pushed for equality during Reconstruction now struggled to find a place for themselves within the new status quo. New Jersey-born Tunis Campbell was one of the most influential Black politicians in Reconstruction-era Georgia, establishing freedmen settlements and serving as a Georgia state senator. But in 1876, Campbell became one of several black politicians to be arrested on trumped-up charges of malfeasance in office. He was sentenced to a year of work on a chain gang. Like many transplants, he eventually moved back to the North. South Carolina's first black

lieutenant governor, Alonzo Ranzere, died in poverty in 1882, spending his last years as a city street sweeper. Congressman Robert Brown Elliott had captivated Congress with an impassioned defense of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, but in the 1880s, he struggled to eke out a living as a lawyer and died penniless. But he had lived long enough to watch the Supreme Court strike down the Civil Rights But he had lived long enough to watch the Supreme Court strike down the Civil Rights Act he had fought for. In a series of rulings in 1883, the justices opened the door for state and local governments to pass sweeping laws segregating schools, housing, and transportation. White leaders enacted poll taxes and literacy tests

to further block black citizens' access to the ballot box. Known as Jim Crow, these laws legalized discrimination and made Black Southerners second-class citizens. Tunis Campbell's colleague, former Georgia State Representative Henry McNeil Turner, declared that the Supreme Court's decisions had made the ballot of the Black man a parody, his citizenship a nullity, and his freedom a burlesque. And for those who dared to challenge this new racial order faced violent reprisals. In the 1890s, an average of 175 black people were lynched every year. That number was almost certainly an undercount, as many lynchings were never recorded.

Even as Southern race relations sank to an all-time low, states began rewriting their constitutions with the avowed goal of reinforcing white supremacy and erasing the last remnants of Reconstruction. Imagine it's October 1895, and you're sitting inside the South Carolina State House in Columbia. You escaped to freedom during the Civil War, became a U.S. congressman during Reconstruction. Nearly three decades have passed since you participated in the 1868 Constitutional Convention to reconstruct your

state. Now you're a delegate at a new Constitutional Convention. The state's white leaders have resolved to disenfranchise Black voters, and you and your five fellow black delegates are here to make a stand against them. Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman steps up to the podium at the front of the chamber. Gentlemen of the convention, I thank you for the honor of allowing me to speak to you today. I come before you to address the subject of black voting. All eyes turn to you as you rise from your chair. Senator, I would like to put the matter of the new poll tax provision before the convention. It seems to me that the only reason you called this convention

was so you could take the vote away from black men. Tillman gives you his famous one-eyed glare. He lost his left eye in his youth. I won't contest that. Black men are too ignorant to vote. What nonsense. My race has proven itself. All we need is an equal chance in life. We are more than capable of responsibly exercising our civic rights. The only thing your race has proven is its tendency to elect ignorant and unscrupulous men into office. South Carolina experienced black men in power from 1868 to 1876, and that was enough.

It was black men in 1868 that gave South Carolina the best constitution it ever had. And it was black men who created our state's first system of public education. Speaking of unscrupulous men, I seem to remember that you were convicted in 1877 for having accepted a $5,000 bribe during your time in the state legislature. Those were trumped-up charges, and you know it. I stand here today the equal of any man. I joined the Union Army. I fought in 17 battles to defend the flag that you and your colleagues now trample under your feet. Tillman sneers.

Your time in politics is over. I suggest you cede the floor. Senator, you would do well to bear in mind that many states are holding elections next month. They are watching the action of this convention, especially on the matter of voting rights. The rest of the country stopped caring about what goes on in the state long ago. We'll do as we see fit. You retake your seat as the chamber applauds Tillman. One of your fellow black delegates claps you on the back. You know you're badly outnumbered, and it sickens you to see the rights you fought for taken away.

But you won't let it happen without a fight. In 1895, former U.S. Congressman Robert Smalls was one of a handful of black delegates to attend a constitutional convention in South Carolina, 27 years after his participation in the state's earlier 1868 convention. The new convention was convened by Democratic U.S. Senator Benjamin Tillman, a rabid white supremacist who often boasted about his participation in the 1876 Hamburg Massacre. Smalls challenged Tillman's insistence that black men were unworthy of the vote. He declared, My race needs no special defense, for the past history of them in this country proves them to

be equal of anyone. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life. But despite the fierce outcry of Smalls and his black colleagues, the convention passed a new constitution enacting poll taxes, literacy tests, and property requirements that effectively stripped black men of their voting rights. Smalls refused to sign the document in protest. But South Carolina was just one of many southern states to give segregation legal cover in the 1890s. Then, in 1896, the Supreme Court upheld these new state laws.

In the case Plessy v. Ferguson, the nation's highest court ruled that separate but equal facilities were constitutional. This decision made segregation the law of the land. At its most basic, Reconstruction was intended to address the two main problems confronting America at the end of the Civil War. Reincorporating the former Confederate states into the Union and transitioning the South from a society of slavery to one of freedom. But out of those efforts came something greater. Under Reconstruction, the nation made an unprecedented effort to live up to its founding

creed. For the first time, black Americans voted in large numbers and held office at every level of government. But the era's revolutionary achievements were fleeting. Reconstruction was ultimately a tragic failure, doomed by southern violence and northern indifference. Northern Republicans underestimated the far-reaching economic and political reforms that were needed to make freed people equal and independent citizens. The great black activist and intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois poignantly summarized the era's promise and disappointment, writing, The slave went free, stood a brief moment in the sun, and moved back again toward slavery.

By the turn of the 20th century, the idea that Reconstruction had been a mistake gained a foothold in both the North and South. White Americans remembered the era as a time of black misrule and federal tyranny, and as an unfortunate roadblock to national reconciliation. This mythology was promoted by professional historians, politicians, and popular films, including the 1915 silent epic The Birth of a Nation, which glorified the Ku Klux Klan to wide acclaim. But black Southerners knew differently. Freed people and their descendants would long remember Reconstruction as a time of hope and possibility,

when black people seized new economic opportunities, voted, and ran for office. In 1937, an 88-year-old North Carolina freedman declared, I know folks think the books tell the truth, but they sure don't. It would be up to future generations of Black Southerners to challenge white supremacy and segregation. But Black men and women could rely on the community institutions created during Reconstruction, such as Black churches and schools, to provide the strength needed to

survive these future struggles. And the 14th and 15th Amendments would provide the legal framework to defend their rights. A century after the Civil War, it would take a second social upheaval, the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, to fulfill at least some of the broken promises of Reconstruction, an era of tantalizing possibility and radical change in a country that is constantly redefining the meaning of democracy, citizenship, and freedom. From Wondery, this is Episode 6 of our six-part series Reconstruction from American History Tellers.

On the next episode, I speak with University of Colorado Professor Ashley Lawrence Sanders about the legacy of Reconstruction and how African Americans worked to counter the lost cause narrative of the defeated Confederacy. Her upcoming book is called They Knew What the War Was About, African Americans and the Memory of the Civil War. If you like American History Tellers, you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me,

Lindsey Graham for Airship. Audio editing by Christian Paraga. Sound design by Molly Bach. Music by Lindsey Graham. Voice acting by Ace Anderson. This episode is written by Ellie Stanton. Edited by Doreen Marina. Our series consultant is Ashley Lawrence Sanders.

Produced by Alita Rozanski. Coordinating producers are Desi Blaylock and Christian Banas. Managing producer, Matt Gant. Senior managing producer, Ryan Lohr. Senior producer, Andy Herman. Executive producers, Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marsha Louis for Wondery. Now streaming. Welcome to Buy It Now, the show where aspiring entrepreneurs get the opportunity of a lifetime. I wouldn't be chasing it if I didn't believe that the world needs this product. In each episode, the entrepreneurs get 90 seconds to pitch to an audience of potential customers.

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