Union Leagues, Reconstruction, and the KKK: The Rise and Fall of Black Political Power

Welcome to Civics and Coffee. My name is Alycia and I am a self-professed history nerd. Each week, I am going to chat about a topic on U.S history and give you both the highlights and occasionally break down some of the complexities in history; and share stories you may not remember learning in high school. All in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of coffee. 

INTRO MUSIC

Hey everyone, welcome back. 

In the years immediately following the end of the Civil War, Black Americans gained new exposure and experience with American political life. From running for office, like past episode subjects Robert Smalls and Hiram Revels, to casting a vote for their preferred candidates, Reconstruction provided an opportunity for newly freed Black Americans to engage in a core tenet of citizenship. At least initially. 

While freedmen and women found new vigor in participating in electoral politics, their participation was quickly met with a strong and often violent response. For many of their white neighbors, the idea of black political participation was unacceptable. In their eyes, Black Americans were forgetting their quote unquote place in society and they took it upon themselves to right the perceived wrong. 

So this week, I am diving into the Black political experience. How did African Americans get organized? How did their participation in politics shift their views of citizenship? And why was their participation curtailed so quickly?

Grab your cup of coffee, peeps. Let’s do this. 

In an article analyzing the Black political experience in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, historian Eric Foner asserts quote: “the conception of themselves as equal citizens of the American republic galvanized blacks’ political and social activity during reconstruction,” end quote. For Black Americans, this demand for equal treatment - to be seen as citizens like their white neighbors - came partially as a result of their military service. 

Throughout the Civil War, roughly 180,000 Black men fought on the Union side. While treated as property and without rights under state and federal laws, military law was different and therefore gave Black soldiers a sense of fairness and equity for the first time in their lives. While African Americans were still underpaid and still subject to racism while serving, they experienced a new level of equality that shaped their sense of what it meant to be a citizen of the United States. For some, military service provided the opening to move into the political arena. Army service and experience produced at least 41 delegates to state constitutional conventions, 60 legislators, and 4 Congressmen. 

These men had experienced what it meant to be free. And it was this sense of freedom - both economic and political - that drove them to action. In Foner’s analysis, the idea of establishing equality under the law came from the pressure of Black Americans, writing quote: “Blacks challenged the nation to live up to the full implications of its democratic creed,” end quote. But just how, exactly, did Black Americans organize and get out the vote? For many, it was through membership with Union Leagues. 

The Union League of America, also known as the Loyal Union League, Union Loyal League, and the Loyal League, was a secret organization established during the Civil War to support the Union and Abraham Lincoln’s policies. The league was decentralized, with various councils spread throughout the country. Despite being separate entities, they had a common cause. As one league constitution said quote: “the object of this league shall be to preserve the government of the U.S. and the laws and constitution thereof,” end quote. The first league was created in Ohio in 1862 and was directed by officials in Washington, though they were very serious about keeping organization membership and dealings secret, using things like coded messages, passwords, and special hand signals to communicate. As the Oregon historical society observed, quote: “many league members preferred to keep their membership affiliations separate from their day to day lives, so they followed elaborate rituals as declarations of trust for their fellow members,” end quote. The secrecy also allowed for members of the Democratic party to participate. Keeping everything under wraps and outside of the public eye gave democrats a way to vote for and support the union cause without necessarily aligning themselves politically with the republican party. 

Throughout the Civil War, league members distributed pro-union literature, helped to recruit new soldiers, and provided relief to those in service. As a political organization, they were pretty impactful and helped elect several union candidates. By the end of 1863, the league claimed to have over 700,000 members in over 4,500 councils spread throughout the country, mostly concentrated in the north. Once the war was over, the league began admitting African Americans into their membership, and spread into the southern half of the country. League leaders saw an opportunity to organize Black men to vote for Republican candidates. 

The success of the league’s organizing efforts were made clear during the various state conventions held in 1865 and 1866 where Black Americans pushed for the inclusion of things like suffrage and equality before the law in state constitutions. Black politicians elected to office pushed for expanding public education and hospitals, trying to ensure their neighbors had access to these services, insisting that the new system of government being built had to be quote unquote color blind. The league’s efforts not helped support the radical republican agenda, but helped establish a strong voting block for the Republican party, a block they continued to enjoy into the twentieth century. 

Many of the southern councils were run by Freedmen Bureau agents and they used the meetings as a place to not only organize newly freed men for voting, but also used their gatherings as a place to educate Black Americans about the voting process and sharing other basic civic information. While White men still maintained their positions of power within the league, several local councils were led by Black Americans. Southern union league members pushed for regional demands, such as land previously promised to newly freed individuals. They also pushed for a shift in the economy, moving away from plantation agriculture. 

Politics were not limited to league or council participation. In the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, almost every Black institution became a political hot bed, including churches and schools. Again from historian Eric Foner quote: “politics emerged as the principal focus of black aspirations,” end quote. Black Americans knew the best way for them to secure their rights and achieve the economic autonomy they so desperately wanted was through the political process. 

Even those who did not participate in a local league found a new sense of identity once the war was over. There was this belief - this sense that with emancipation came inclusion into all parts of the American experience. Black Americans began participating in the process on a wider scale by writing letters and sending petitions which, according to historian Eric Foner, demonstrates that Black Americans believed that they were now, finally, able to participate - if only partially. 

Those who did participate in local Union Leagues did so secretly. Unlike during the Civil War when the decision to keep quiet was tied to fervor over patriotism and the war, the Black Americans in the south, openly engaging in political activity - or even being suspected of such activity - was incredibly dangerous. League membership was strong, and their impact so significant, that the league and its members soon became the target of members of the Ku Klux Klan. 

I plan on diving into the history and impact of the Klan in a future episode, but peeps. It was harrowing. Men suspected of going above their station through the simple act of casting a vote were at risk of being attacked in the middle of the night as members of the Klan disguised themselves and, after securing weapons, mounted their horses and traveled to family homes. They would often bang on the suspected individual’s door, demanding they come outside. After their intended target out and in the open, members of the Klan would apply maximum damage by whipping or beating them senseless. If any members of the family tried to defend their kin, the Klan would turn their hateful violence upon them, ripping their clothes and kicking, punching, and spitting on them. Some even tied men and women to trees, leaving them vulnerable, and occasionally unclothed, until the morning when family members would untie their bindings. 

The Klan terrorized people throughout the south and let the black community know that they would not stand for African Americans participating in any tangible way in the political process. In Texas, over one thousand Black Americans died at the hands of their white neighbors between 1865 and 1866 alone. This reign of racial violence proved to be successful as several union leagues ceased operations for fear of their members' safety. 

When not facing racial violence for participating in local politics, Black Americans had to ensure they were on the right side of the law. Local governments curtailed the actions and movements of newly freed black men and women with the passage of Black Codes. These laws, while supposedly intended to respect the rights of all citizens, were specifically geared toward limiting the economic, social, and political freedom for Black Americans. Black codes mirrored the preceding slave codes which significantly curtailed the movements and freedom of enslaved individuals. Black codes were meant to ensure a continuous supply of labor for plantation owners and police all aspects of Black life; these laws were the harshest in the deep south in states like Mississippi and South Carolina. 

For example, Mississippi required all Black Americans to possess evidence of employment each January for the entire year. Many southern states began passing wide-ranging vagrancy laws that were punishable by fines and involuntary plantation labor. The statutes said vagrancy could be anything from being idle, disorderly, or even misspending their earnings. Someone could also be convicted of vagrancy if they did not have a permanent home. Mind you, when Congress passed the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, there were no provisions made for housing the newly freed men and women. And as I covered in my episode about the Freedmen’s Bureau, efforts at providing land were short-lived and not nearly as expansive as needed, leaving many families without the proper tools to build a homestead of their own. In what appears to be an act of focused cruelty, several local governments passed a law to jail people for being without a home, knowing they had closed most pathways to getting housed for Black Americans.

In some states, it was illegal to preach without a license or look for a job outside of farming without paying a tax. One particularly repulsive statute was known as the apprentice law. These laws stated that any orphaned black child, or any black child whom the government determined was not sufficiently provided for by their parents, would be taken and forced to work for white families. Black families pushed back hard against this particular law, with little success, and often had to work with Freedmen's Bureau agents to try to get their children back. In essence, these laws were designed to reinforce the sense of white supremacy throughout the south and to keep African Americans relegated to a pseudo second class citizenship. 

The limitations on black political, economic, and social life prompted republicans in congress to act, passing a series of laws intended to give weight and enforcement power to the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. But this still wasn’t enough. Again from Eric Foner, quote: “unprecedented challenges confronted the southern republicans who came to power between 1868 and 1870. Bequeathed nearly empty treasuries by their predecessors, they faced the devastation of war, the new public responsibilities entailed by emancipation, and the task of consolidating an infant political organization,” end quote. 

By the time President Grant signed the quote “Act to enforce the Provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and for other Purposes” better known as the Ku Klux Klan act of 1871, most of the damage was done. While the law helped curtail the movements and actions of the Ku Klux Klan, the racially charged political violence and institutionalized limitations under the copious Black Codes made it clear to millions of Black Americans they were not welcome participants in American democracy. 

Thanks, peeps. I’ll see you next week.

Thanks for tuning and I hope you enjoyed this episode of Civics & Coffee. If you want to hear more small snippets from american history, be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening and I look forward to our next cup of coffee together. 

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