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:{{main|Labor_unions_and_racism#1870s:_Reconstruction_Era}}

:{{main|Labor_unions_and_racism#1870s:_Reconstruction_Era}}

===Republican empowerment of Blacks===

===Republican empowerment of blacks===

Republicans stripped [[white]] [[male]]s who engaged in rebellion against the [[United States]] of the [[vote]], and gave it to Blacks. Newly freed Blacks held local, state and federal elected and non-elected positions as Republicans. The white males who were deprived of the vote were also barred from holding any civil service position and were universally Democrats.  This disenfranchisement created enormous resentment among Democrats, so they formed the Ku Klux Klan to engage in voter intimidation and suppression.  

Republicans stripped [[white]] [[male]]s who engaged in rebellion against the [[United States]] of the [[vote]], and gave it to Blacks. Newly freed Blacks held local, state and federal elected and non-elected positions as Republicans. The white males who were deprived of the vote were also barred from holding any civil service position and were universally Democrats.  This disenfranchisement created enormous resentment among Democrats, so they formed the Ku Klux Klan to engage in voter intimidation and suppression.  

The House elections of 1866 decisively changed the balance of power, giving the Radicals control of Congress and enough votes to overcome Johnson's vetoes and even to impeach him. Johnson was acquitted by one vote, but he remained almost powerless regarding Reconstruction policy. Radicals used the Army to take over the South and give the vote to black men, and they took the vote away from an estimated 10,000 or 15,000 white men who had been Confederate officials or senior officers.  The Radical stage lasted for varying lengths in the different states, where a Republican coalition of Freedmen, Scalawags, and Carpetbaggers took control and promoted modernization through railroads and public schools. They were charged with corruption by their Southern Democrat opponents, calling themselves "Redeemers" after 1870.

The House elections of 1866 decisively changed the balance of power, giving the Radicals control of Congress and enough votes to overcome Johnson's vetoes and even to impeach him. Johnson was acquitted by one vote, but he remained almost powerless regarding Reconstruction policy. Radicals used the Army to take over the South and give the vote to black men, and they took the vote away from an estimated 10,000 or 15,000 white men who had been Confederate officials or senior officers.  The Radical stage lasted for varying lengths in the different states, where a Republican coalition of Freedmen, Scalawags, and Carpetbaggers took control and promoted modernization through railroads and public schools. They were charged with corruption by their Southern Democrat opponents, calling themselves "Redeemers" after 1870.

===Democrat Klan reaction===

===Democratic Klan reprisal===

[[Image:Artoon.jpg|right|200px|thumb|A political cartoon depicting the KKK and the Democrat Party as continuations of the Confederacy]]

[[Image:Artoon.jpg|right|200px|thumb|A political cartoon depicting the KKK and the Democrat Party as continuations of the Confederacy]]

The Ku Klux Klan started attacking Black Republican conventions.  At the Republican convention in Louisiana, the Klan joined with [[New Orleans]] police and New Orleans' Democrat mayor. The New Orleans Republican convention was attacked.  40 Blacks and 20 whites were killed. Another 150 were wounded.  In 1868 the Democrats put out push cards in South Carolina listing what they called the 'radical' members of the South Carolina legislature.  A push card is about the size of a baseball card.  The cards had the pictures of 63 legislators they wanted to kill.  50 of the legislators were Black and 13 were white.  All 63 were Republicans.  On the back of the was the name of the legislator.

The Ku Klux Klan started attacking Black Republican conventions.  At the Republican convention in Louisiana, the Klan joined with [[New Orleans]] police and New Orleans' Democrat mayor. The New Orleans Republican convention was attacked.  40 Blacks and 20 whites were killed. Another 150 were wounded.  In 1868 the Democrats put out push cards in South Carolina listing what they called the 'radical' members of the South Carolina legislature.  A push card is about the size of a baseball card.  The cards had the pictures of 63 legislators they wanted to kill.  50 of the legislators were Black and 13 were white.  All 63 were Republicans.  On the back of the was the name of the legislator.