Red Shirts (United States)
Red Shirts | |
---|---|
Wilmington insurrection of 1898 |
The Red Shirts or Redshirts of the
Among the most prominent Red Shirts were the supporters of Democratic Party candidate
While sometimes engaging in violent acts of terrorism, the Red Shirts, the White League, rifle clubs, and similar groups in the late nineteenth century worked openly and were better organized than the underground
Origins and symbolism
According to E. Merton Coulter in The South During Reconstruction (1947), the red shirt was adopted in Mississippi in 1875 by "southern brigadiers" of the Democratic Party who were opposed to black Republicans. The Red Shirts disrupted Republican rallies, intimidated or assassinated black leaders, and discouraged and suppressed black voting at the polls.
Men wearing red shirts appeared in
Wearing a red shirt became a source of pride and resistance to Republican rule for white Democrats in South Carolina. Women sewed red flannel shirts and made other garments of red. It also became fashionable for women to wear red ribbons in their hair or about their waists. Young men adopted the red shirts to express militancy after being too young to have fought in the Civil War.[8]
South Carolina Red Shirts
State Democrats organized parades and rallies in every county of South Carolina. Many of the participants were armed and mounted; all wore red. Mounted men gave an impression of greater power and numbers. When Wade Hampton and other Democrats spoke, the Red Shirts would respond enthusiastically, shouting the campaign slogan "Hurrah for Hampton". This created a massive spectacle that united and motivated his followers.
Red Shirts sought to intimidate both white and black voters into voting for the Democrats or not at all. Their goal was to restore Democratic rule and white supremacy.
Armed and mounted Red Shirts accompanied Hampton on his tour of the state. They attended Republican meetings and would demand equal time, but they usually only stood in silence. At times, Red Shirts would hold a barbecue nearby to lure Republicans and try to convince them to vote for the Democratic ticket.[citation needed]
Hampton positioned himself as a statesman, promising support for education, and offering protection from violence that Governor Daniel Henry Chamberlain did not seem able to provide. Few freedmen voted for Hampton, and most remained loyal to the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln. The 1876 campaign was the "most tumultuous in South Carolina's history".[10] "An anti-Reconstruction historian later estimated that 150 Negroes were murdered in South Carolina during the campaign."[11]
After the election on November 7, a protracted dispute between Chamberlain and Hampton ensued as both claimed victory. Because of the massive election fraud,
As a result of a national political compromise, President
Future South Carolina Democratic politicians, such as
North Carolina Red Shirts
Red Shirts were active again around the 1896 and 1898 elections, allied with the Democrats' appeals to voters to support white supremacy, in an effort to avoid voters moving to the Populist fusion candidate, as some had done in the 1896 gubernatorial election.
The Red Shirts were part of a Democratic campaign to oppose the interracial coalition of Republicans and
Intimidation and violence against blacks increased prior to the 1898 election throughout the state, especially in black-majority counties. On November 4, 1898, the
The first Red Shirt parade on horseback ever witnessed in Wilmington electrified the people today. It created enthusiasm among the whites and consternation among the Negroes. The whole town turned out to see it. It was an enthusiastic body of men. Otherwise it was quiet and orderly.
At the time, Wilmington was the largest city in the state and majority-black in population.
In Wilmington, a biracial coalition of Republicans won the offices of mayor and aldermen in 1898. The mayor and two-thirds of the aldermen were white, elected from a black-majority city. But local white Democrats wanted power and took it six days after the election in the
White Democrats controlling the state legislature drafted an amendment to the state constitution that
From 1896 to 1904, black voter turnout in North Carolina was reduced to near zero by the combination of such voter registration provisions together with more complicated rules for voting. This followed a pattern of similar state actions across the South, starting with the state of Mississippi's new constitution in 1890. After a generation of white supremacy, many people forgot that North Carolina once had thriving middle-class blacks.[15]
Rise of the group
Due to the feelings of political devaluation among many white Democrats in North Carolina, the Democratic party and Red Shirts made it their goal to restore full and total power. The Red Shirts intimidated black voters by threat and outright attack, and practically eliminated the black vote in the state.[16] Red Shirts were first spotted in North Carolina during the October 21, 1898, rally in Fayetteville. At this rally Benjamin Tillman, a prominent South Carolina Red Shirts leader, gave a speech that was followed by a plethora of Red Shirt activities in the state of North Carolina.[16] The North Carolina Red Shirts were a conglomerate of all social classes, including teachers, farmers, merchants and some elite members of the Democratic Party.[17] From that day on, Red Shirts chapters were particularly active in the southeastern part of North Carolina, including "New Hanover, Brunswick, Columbus, and Robeson counties", all of which geographically lie next to the South Carolina border and had large black populations.[17]
Their early activities were part of initiating the white supremacy movements of 1898 and 1900. These arose in reaction to the increase in election of numerous local and state black government officials in the State of North Carolina between the years of 1894 and 1897. This increase in the number of black officials forced the "frightened and desperate Democratic Party" to initiate the white supremacy campaign in which the Red Shirts would become integral partners.[18] Unlike the Ku Klux Klan, the Red Shirts collaborated only with the Democratic Party. They operated openly, as they wanted the North Carolina population and non-Democrats to know the identities of their members. By the end of the election in 1898, they proved to be a potent political force.[16]
Election of 1898
During the initial reign of Red Shirts terror, the senator of North Carolina, Sen.
Gov.
Before the election
The week before the 1898 election, the Red Shirts' activities were non-stop, and the threats were so recurrent that many Republicans and Fusionist speakers canceled their engagements; the entire Republican Fusion ticket withdrew in New Hanover County.[16] A few days before the election on November 2, 1898, the Morning Star newspaper of Wilmington reported a large rally with the Red Shirt affiliate Claude Kitchin as the fiery speaker. The rally involved 1,000 men with red shirts who marched for 10 miles in the predominantly black areas of Richmond County, North Carolina. Their goal was "to show their determination to rid themselves of Negro rule". The paper reported that "many Negroes [had] taken their names from the registration list."[19]
Election day
During the November 8, 1898, election, Red Shirts enforced their previous activities by riding around the voting precincts on their horses, with rifles and shotguns ready, to deter all Republicans, Fusionists and African Americans from the polls. The Red Shirts' activity helped the Democrats win with a 25,000 majority, as headlined in the News and Observer.[16] A large celebration on November 15 was organized by Josephus Daniels to commemorate "white supremacy and rescuing the state from Negro-rule".[citation needed]
Election of 1900
Before the election
The election of 1900 was a special election because there was one held in August and another held in November. The white supremacy theme was repeated, with sayings such as "White Rule for TarHeels", "White Supremacy", and "No Negro Rule".
The Red Shirts also continued to attack white Republicans and other opponents to the Democrats. The New York Times, in an August 2, 1900, article, noted that the day before the election, the Red Shirts disrupted the speech of Mr. Teague and demolished the platform on which he spoke.[20] The Red Shirts were indirectly supported by many law enforcement officials, who failed to take action against them in most counties throughout the state.[18] Later, as Teague was traveling to Dunn County, during his canvassing tour of the state, he was kidnapped by the Red Shirts and driven out of town.[20] Among other prominent non-Democratic speakers, Marion Butler and others were disrupted by the throwing of rotten eggs. Due to the increasingly disruptive activities of the Red Shirts, the Republican Party chairman of Johnson County sent a request for troops to Gov. Russell.[16]
Election day
On the day of the 1900 election, the Red Shirts were even more obvious than in 1898. They rode around the voting polls with their guns and horses, intimidating blacks and other Republicans. The success of the disfranchisement of black votes in the August 1900 election, ultimately resulted in the November Democratic gubernatorial win of
After the Democratic win in November, the Red Shirts disappeared from public view. Because their members were primarily poor whites, the Democratic Party of elitist whites parted ways with the group. Thus the prevalence of Red Shirts declined upon the inauguration of Governor Aycock.[16]
Contemporary Red Shirts
The
According to their membership application form, Red Shirt goals include conservative ideals such as implementing "God's laws as the acceptable standard of behavior"; eliminating all federal "control and influence in South Carolina"; reducing the size and scope of government at all levels; and promoting and instituting "Southern culture relying on Biblical truth".[25]
In September 2023, the neo-Nazi groups Blood Tribe and
See also
- 1876 South Carolina gubernatorial election
- History of South Carolina
- History of the Southern United States
- Reconstruction era of the United States
- List of Ku Klux Klan organizations. Reconstruction Era paramilitaries
Notes
- ^ S2CID 224836399.
- ^ OCLC 959808903.
- ^ DeBonis, Mike (23 June 2015). "A field guide to the racists commemorated inside the U.S. Capitol". Washington Post. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
- ^ Charles Lane, The Day Freedom Died, (2008) p. 247
- ^ George C. Rable, But There Was No Peace: The Role of Violence in the Politics of Reconstruction, Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1984, p. 132
- ^ Nicholas Lemann, Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Paperback, 2007, p. 76.
- OCLC 173350931. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- ^ Ball, William Watts (1932). The State That Forgot: South Carolina's Surrender to Democracy, Indianapolis, IN: The Bobbs-Merrill Company. pp. 158.
- Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877, New York: Harper & Row, 1988; Perennial Classics, 2002, pp. 574–575
- Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877, New York: Perennial Classics, 2002, pp. 572–573
- ^ Nicholas Lemann, Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War, New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux, Paperback, 2007, p. 174
- ^ Raleigh News & Observer. November 4, 1898.
{{cite news}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ Richard H. Pildes, "Democracy, Anti-Democracy, and the Canon", Constitutional Commentary, Vol. 17, 2000, p. 27, accessed 10 March 2008
- ISBN 080784909X.
- ^ Richard H. Pildes, "Democracy, Anti-Democracy, and the Canon", Constitutional Commentary, Vol. 17, 2000, pp. 12–13, accessed 10 Mar 2008
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Prather 1977
- ^ a b Edmonds 1951
- ^ a b c d e Beeby 2008
- ^ "White Men Show Their Determination to Rid themselves of Negro Rule: A Thousand Red Shirts" Archived 2010-06-20 at the Wayback Machine, Morning Star, 2 November 1898, Special Star Telegram: p. 1. Accessed November 7, 2009.
- ^ a b "Riots in North Carolina: Red Shirts Drive Off Populist Speakers and Destroy Stand." The New York Times, 2 August 1900. Accessed November 7, 2009.
- ^ "About The South Carolina League of the South". Archived from the original on 2013-06-05. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
- ^ "'The Red Shirts Ride Again', The South Carolina Patriot, Vol. XII, Issue IV Aug. 2010 p. 4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-07-21. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
- ^ "The Red Shirt Report" Archived 2013-08-06 at the Wayback Machine, The South Carolina Patriot, Vol. IX Issue 3 Summer 2006 p. 22
- ^ "The Red Shirt Report" Archived 2013-07-21 at the Wayback Machine, Calling All Red Shirts to the Burning of Columbia, Vol. IX Issue 4 Autumn 2006, p. 14
- ^ "South Carolina Red Shirts" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-26. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
- ^ "Nazi groups march on Orlando, blasting white supremacist chants Labor Day weekend [Photos]".
- ^ "Neo-Nazis march in Nashville, leave after being challenged". NBC News. 19 February 2024.
Further reading
Books and pamphlets
- Ball, W. W. 1868–1952. (William Watts), A boy's recollections of the Red Shirt campaign of 1876 in South Carolina [Columbia, S.C. : The Club], 1911
- Drago, Edmund L. (1998). Hurrah for Hampton!: Black Red Shirts in South Carolina during Reconstruction. University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 1-55728-541-1.
- The Negro and Fusion Politics in North Carolina, 1894-1901, Chapel Hill, NC:The University of North Carolina Press, 1951.
- Edgar, Walter (1998). South Carolina A History. University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 1-57003-255-6.
- Reynolds, John S. (1969). Reconstruction in South Carolina. Negro University Press. ISBN 0-8371-1638-4.
- Sheppard, William Arthur Some Reasons Why Red Shirts Remembered, (Greer: The Chas P. Smith Company, 1940)
- ibid., Red Shirts Remembered, (Atlanta: Ruralist Press, Inc., 1940)
- Simkins, Francis Butler& Woody, Robert Hilliard South Carolina During Reconstruction, (Durham: The University of North Carolina Press, 1932)
- Thompson, Henry Tazewell, 1859– Ousting the carpetbagger from South Carolina Columbia, S.C., Press of the R.L. Bryan company, 1926.
- Williams, Alfred B. (1935). Hampton and his Red shirts; South Carolina's deliverance in 1876. Walker, Evans & Cogswell Company.
Journal and newspaper articles
- Ball, William Watts (1932). The State That Forgot: South Carolina's Surrender to Democracy. Indianapolis, IN: The Bobbs-Merril Company.
- Beeby, James M. "Red Shirt Violence, Election Fraud, and the Demise of the Populist Party in North Carolina's Third Congressional District, 1900", North Carolina Historical Review. 85.1 (2008): 1–28. Print.
- Constitutional Commentary, 17, (2000).
- Prather, H.Leon. "The Red Shirt Movement in North Carolina 1898–1900", Journal of Negro History 62.2 (1977): 174–184. Web.
- "White Men Show Their Determination to Rid themselves of Negro Rule: A thousand Red Shirts", Morning Star, 2 November 1898, Special Star Telegram: p. 1. Print
- "Riots in North Carolina: Red Shirts Drive Off Populist Speakers and Destroy Stand", New York Times, 2 August 1900.