The End of Reconstruction

1
The End of Reconstruction
2
End of Republican Rule in Georgia

• In 1868, the Republican Party gained control of
  the Georgia government.
• Rufus B. Bullock was elected governor.
• Bullock wanted equal rights for African
  Americans.
• Most Democrats in Georgia did not.
• A campaign began to remove the Republicans from
  power.
• During this time, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) attacked
  many African Americans in Georgia.

3
End of Republican Rule in Georgia

• As a part of Radical Reconstruction, federal
  troops were sent to Georgia to restore order.
• After they withdrew, in 1870, the Democrats
  regained control of the Georgia government.
• The Republican Party was referred to as the Party
  of Lincoln, and southern states associated it
  with anti-South policies.

4
Bourbon Triumvirate

• From 1872 to 1890, the Bourbon Democrats
  controlled the Georgia government.
• Bourbon Democrats were conservative Democrats.
• The Bourbon Triumvirate led the Bourbon
  Democrats.
• The Bourbon Triumvirate were Alfred Colquitt,
  Joseph Brown, and John Gordon.

5
Bourbon Triumvirate

• They wanted Georgias economy to be
  industrialized, not based solely on agriculture.
• During their time in power, the cotton textile
  industry grew.
• Production of cottonseed oil, cattle feed, and
  fertilizer began. Atlanta became prosperous
  again.

6
Henry Grady

• Henry Grady was a journalist from Georgia who was
  called the Spokesman of the New South.
• Through his speeches and writings, he promoted
  industry and crop diversification as a means to
  help the economy in Georgia, particularly in
  Atlanta.
• He encouraged northern investors to develop
  industries in Georgia.
• Grady spoke about unity and trust between the
  North and South.

7
International Cotton Exposition

• The International Cotton Exposition was held in
  Atlanta, in 1881.
• It was a fair to bring money to Atlantas cotton
  textile business.
• The exposition displayed equipment for making
  textiles.
• Southern products such as sugar, rice, and
  tobacco were shown.

8
International Cotton Exposition

• Because of the exposition, millions of dollars
  were invested in Atlanta.
• New jobs were created.
• Similar expositions would be held there in 1887
  and 1895.
• Atlanta became known as the center of the New
  South.

9
Thomas Watson and the Populists

• Small farmers in Georgia were upset because they
  were not prospering during this time.
• Prices of farm products were dropping.
• Farmers owed many loans and were charged a great
  deal of money by railways to ship their products.
  
• Farmers formed groups to help one another.

10
Thomas Watson and the Populists

• The Farmers Alliance was one of these groups.
• The formation of these groups was called
  populism.
• Together, these groups formed a political party
  called the Peoples Party.
• Thomas Watson was a leader of the populists.

11
Thomas Watson and the Populists

• Under Watsons leadership, the Peoples Party
  became powerful in Georgia.
• The Democrats worried that the Peoples Party
  might take control.
• To avoid this, the Democrats won the election by
  breaking the law, or stealing the election.

12
Rebecca Latimer Felton

• Rebecca Latimer Felton was a writer, teacher, and
  reformer.
• With her husbands political career, Felton
  entered the public eye.
• She was an early supporter of womens suffrage,
  the right to vote.
• Through making speeches and writing, Felton was
  able to help women win the right to vote.

13
Rebecca Latimer Felton

• She pushed social reform at the state level by
  helping to instate Prohibition and end the
  convict lease system, a system of leasing
  convicts to private businesses as cheap labor.
• At the age of 87, Felton became the first woman
  to serve in the U.S. Senate, in 1922.
• The governor appointed her to the position in
  order to temporarily fill a vacated seat. Felton
  lived until she was 94.

14
The 1906 Atlanta Riot

• The Atlanta Riot of 1906 was a string of violent
  events by whites against African Americans.
• Such an event is known as a race riot.
• Dozens of African Americans were killed and many
  more were wounded.
• The riot began because of stories of African
  American men attacking white women.

15
The 1906 Atlanta Riot

• These stories later proved to be untrue.
• Racial tension had been increasing in Atlanta at
  that time because of competition between African
  Americans and whites for jobs.
• Also, whites were worried that the African
  American upper class was becoming too powerful.
• News of the riots circulated the country and
  focused the eyes of the nation on the problems of
  Atlanta.
• Many African Americans began turning to
  aggressive tactics in order to achieve equality
  and justice.

16
Leo Frank Case

• Leo Frank was a Jewish man from Georgia who was
  lynched, or hung, by a mob because of
  anti-Semitism.
• Anti-Semitism is a belief system against Jewish
  people.
• Frank was a factory manager who was accused of
  murdering a young girl employee.
• Franks case went to trial and he was found
  guilty.

17
Leo Frank Case

• However, much of the evidence against Frank was
  faulty and suspicious.
• The governor of Georgia, John Slaton, reviewed
  Franks case and eventually decided that Frank
  was innocent.
• However, anti-Semites refused to accept his
  innocence.
• A group of citizens lynched Frank before he could
  enjoy his freedom.

18
County Unit System

• In 1917, Georgia established the county unit
  system.
• This was a way of giving votes in primary
  elections. Each county was given a certain number
  of votes, called unit votes.
• The counties were divided into three
  categoriesurban, town, and rural.

19
County Unit System

• The candidate who received the most votes in a
  county won all of the unit votes given to that
  county.
• The problem with this system was that it did not
  always represent what the population wanted.
• There were more rural counties than the other
  counties, but not as many people lived in those
  counties.
• As a result, the county unit system was
  eventually abolished.

20
Summary

• Evaluate the impact the Bourbon Triumvirate,
  Henry Grady, International Cotton Exposition, Tom
  Watson and the Populists, Rebecca Latimer Felton,
  the 1906 Atlanta Riot, the Leo Frank Case, and
  the county unit system had on Georgia during this
  period.