| | In the 1870s one by one, white congressional abolitionists abandoned the cause, typified by [[Charles Sumner]] who switched to the Liberal Republicans in 1872. In the mid-1870s the [[Redeemers]] (the Southern wing of the [[Bourbon Democrats]] in the [[Democratic Party]]) overthrew the Republican coalition that had controlled the southern states during "Black Reconstruction" after 1867. The Redeemers replaced the [[civil rights]] reforms of [[Reconstruction]] with Jim Crow laws that legalized racial segregation in public places. The Redeemers eliminated or curtailed African-American voting rights. In effect they replaced the short period after slavery when African Americans enjoyed some legal rights with segregation laws that impacted African-Americans socially, politically, and economically for the next 80 years. | | In the 1870s one by one, white congressional abolitionists abandoned the cause, typified by [[Charles Sumner]] who switched to the Liberal Republicans in 1872. In the mid-1870s the [[Redeemers]] (the Southern wing of the [[Bourbon Democrats]] in the [[Democratic Party]]) overthrew the Republican coalition that had controlled the southern states during "Black Reconstruction" after 1867. The Redeemers replaced the [[civil rights]] reforms of [[Reconstruction]] with Jim Crow laws that legalized racial segregation in public places. The Redeemers eliminated or curtailed African-American voting rights. In effect they replaced the short period after slavery when African Americans enjoyed some legal rights with segregation laws that impacted African-Americans socially, politically, and economically for the next 80 years. |
| − | Public opinion, among northern whites, and most opinion by white scholars, accepted or applauded the Redeemers, but some clung to the abolitionist viewpoint. McPherson <ref>McPherson, ''Abolitionist Legacy'' page 5, 114, 317–385, 390</ref> reports that 15 of 24 ex-abolitionists who wrote about Reconstruction called it a "qualified success." However others, including [[Frederick Douglass]], said Reconstruction had, "carried the colored voter to an altitude unsuited to his attainments."<ref>McPherson 1975</ref> | + | Public opinion, among northern whites, and most opinion by white scholars, accepted or applauded the Redeemers, but some clung to the abolitionist viewpoint. McPherson<ref>McPherson, ''Abolitionist Legacy'' page 5, 114, 317–385, 390</ref> reports that 15 of 24 ex-abolitionists who wrote about Reconstruction called it a "qualified success." However others, including [[Frederick Douglass]], said Reconstruction had, "carried the colored voter to an altitude unsuited to his attainments."<ref>McPherson 1975</ref> |
| − | In the 1880s nationalist historians like [[James Ford Rhodes]] held that secession over the issue of slavery was a primary cause of the Civil War. Neoabolitionists in the 1960s added that nation had a moral debt to abolish the abomination that was slavery, and to guarantee equal rights for Blacks, especially to guarantee voting rights. | + | In the 1880s nationalist historians like [[James Ford Rhodes]] held that secession over the issue of slavery was a primary cause of the Civil War. Neoabolitionists in the 1960s added that nation had a moral debt to abolish the abomination that was slavery, and to guarantee equal rights for Blacks, especially to guarantee voting rights. |