2013 Luis-Alejandro Dinnella-Borrego ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

390 Pages·2013·4.26 MB·English

©2013
Luis-Alejandro Dinnella-Borrego
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
“THAT OUR GOVERNMENT MAY STAND”:
AFRICAN AMERICAN POLITICS IN THE POSTBELLUM SOUTH, 1865-1901
By
LUIS-ALEJANDRO DINNELLA-BORREGO
A Dissertation submitted to the
Graduate School-New Brunswick
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Graduate Program in History
written under the direction of
Mia Bay and Ann Fabian
and approved by
________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________
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New Brunswick, New Jersey
May 2013
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION
“That Our Government May Stand”:
African American Politics in the Postbellum South, 1865-1913
by LUIS-ALEJANDRO DINNELLA-BORREGO
Dissertation Director:
Mia Bay and Ann Fabian

This dissertation provides a fresh examination of black politics in the post-Civil
War South by focusing on the careers of six black congressmen after the Civil War: John
Mercer Langston of Virginia, James Thomas Rapier of Alabama, Robert Smalls of South
Carolina, John Roy Lynch of Mississippi, Josiah Thomas Walls of Florida, and George
Henry White of North Carolina. It examines the career trajectories, rhetoric, and policy
agendas of these congressmen in order to determine how effectively they represented the
wants and needs of the black electorate. The dissertation argues that black congressmen
effectively represented and articulated the interests of their constituents. They did so by
embracing a policy agenda favoring strong civil rights protections and encompassing a
broad vision of economic modernization and expanded access for education.
Furthermore, black congressmen embraced their role as national leaders and as
spokesmen not only for their congressional districts and states, but for all African
Americans throughout the South.
Black political leaders during the postwar Reconstruction years placed particular
importance on the significance of black military service during the war and the lasting
legacy of emancipation for the newly freed population. Local developments, especially
antiblack violence and tumultuous electoral contests, conditioned newly elected black
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congressmen and shaped the policies that they embraced, whether it was expanded
educational opportunities, stronger federal protections for civil rights, or the tactical
decision to support amnesty for ex-Confederates. Despite political pressures and frequent
intimidation, black congressmen performed their work admirably, particularly during
debates over Charles Sumner’s Civil Rights Act of 1875.
As Reconstruction gave way to Redemption, a fracturing took place within the
black political establishment as black leaders and their constituents searched for effective
ways to respond to white supremacy, disfranchisement, segregation, and lynching. The
two most viable avenues available to them, fusion voting and emigration, were both
applied in various settings but were ultimately unable to stave off the loss of black
citizenship rights by the century’s end. Nevertheless, black congressmen challenged the
barriers of prejudice, paving the way for future black struggles for equality in the
twentieth century.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I have accumulated many debts during this project, and I appreciate the chance to
repay some of them here. To begin, I deeply appreciate my teachers and advisors at
Dartmouth College, Sheila Culbert (now at the Loomis Chafee School), Richard Wright,
Annelise Orleck, Craig Steven Wilder (now at MIT), Edward G. Miller, David
Lagomarsino, Walter Simons, Lennart K. Sundelin, Tanalís Padilla, and Marysa Navarro.
I must also thank Robert Bonner for first introducing me to the work of Steven Hahn
during a conversation at his office at Dartmouth. My teachers in the Theater
Department—Amy S. Holzapfel (now at Williams College), Laura D. Edmondson,
Annabelle Winograd, James Rice, Ford Evans, Jamie Horton, Peter Hackett, and Mara
Sabinson—were invaluable in introducing me to formal academic study and in guiding
me through my time as an undergraduate.
My growth as a historian accelerated during my time at the University of Virginia
in Charlottesville. I would like to thank my advisor at Virginia, Michael F. Holt, and my
teachers at the Corcoran Department of History, Peter Onuf, Gary Gallagher, Olivier
Zunz, and Mark Thomas. I have continued to develop my skills as a historian thanks to
the tutelage that I have received at Rutgers. My teachers at the Department of History at
Rutgers University, Seth Koven, Paul Clemens, Peter Silver, Virginia Yans, Donna
Murch, David Foglesong, Minkah Makalani (now at the University of Texas at Austin),
Jennifer Mittlestadt, and Deborah Gray White, were all inspiring and taught me the
fundamentals of the craft. My doctoral advisors, Ann Fabian and Mia Bay, read drafts
with patience. I also wish to thank my other committee members: David Greenberg,
Jackson Lears, and Eric Foner of Columbia University. The department’s staff, especially
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departmental secretary Dawn Ruskai, helped to make my stay at Rutgers enjoyable and
incredibly productive.
Various institutions were subjected to innumerable e-mail queries from me and
responded with considerable material. Among those who suffered through my numerous
requests patiently and greatly contributed to this work are Colleen W. Seale, librarian at
the George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville; R. Boyd Murphree,
Ph.D., Archivist at the Florida State Archives, Tallahassee, Florida; Matthew Taylor and
Christa Snow, librarians, and Patricia A. Morrison in Special Collections at the
Jacksonville Public Library, Jacksonville, Florida; Steven D. Tuttle, Director, Archives
Services, South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Charleston; Cheryl
Thomas, Collections Project Manager and Subject Liaison for Philosophy at Perkins
Research Services at the Perkins/Bostock Library at Duke University, Durham, North
Carolina; Harry Fulmer, Curator of Manuscripts, and Dr. Fritz Hame, at the University of
South Carolina’s South Caroliniana Library in Columbia; Beth Madison Howse, Special
Collections Library, John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library, Fisk University,
Nashville, Tennessee; and Trent Hanner, Reference Librarian at the Tennessee State
Library and Archives, Nashville.
At the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in Jackson, I thank Anne
L. Webster (Director of Library Services), Grady Howell, Amanda Lyons, and Clinton
Bagley. Anne pulled out all the stops and dug up lots of material to help me learn more
about Klan violence in Mississippi. Clinton’s welcome humor was much appreciated, and
he also suggested that I visit Natchez, where I could see the house in which John Roy
Lynch grew up and the church where Hiram Revels preached. I could even eat behind
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Lynch’s house, which Bagley said was actually a stable back in the day. Even though he
will probably think that I am an ingrate because I never made it to Natchez, I benefited
from many of Clinton’s valuable suggestions. I also thank Rickie Brunner, Norwood
Kerr, Nancy Dupree, Graydon Rust, and Graham Neeley, all at the Alabama Department
of Archives and History in Montgomery, and Sara Brewer and Arlene Royer, at the
National Archives and Records Administration—Southeast Region at Morrow, Georgia,
for helping me navigate through early 1870s district court records.
At the State Records Center at Raleigh, North Carolina, I wish to thank Lauren
Hensey, Victoria Montgomery, and especially Michael Denning. At the State Archives of
North Carolina, also in Raleigh, I thank Alison M. Thurman, Michael Hill, Dennis F.
Daniels, and especially LeRae Sikes Umfleet, who generously gave me a copy of the full
draft of her 2005 report on the Wilmington Riot of 1898. This report contained generous
transcriptions of valuable primary sources and enabled me to gain a deeper understanding
of the riot and its causes than I otherwise would have had. She and Mike Hill also
allowed me access to the three years’ worth of notes, research, and photocopies that she
accumulated in the process of writing her report on the violence in Wilmington. Bill
Bynum at the Library of Virginia in Richmond and Frances S. Pollard, Chief Librarian,
and Amber Jones of the Virginia Historical Society (also in Richmond) provided
excellent assistance to my searches for materials.
My research required repeated trips to Washington, D.C. and to New York City.
The librarians at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York
Public Library were incredibly helpful. I also want to thank the librarians at the
Manuscripts Division and at the Newspapers and Current Periodicals Reading Room of
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the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. At Howard University, I greatly
appreciated help from Dr. Ida E. Jones and Joellen ElBashir of the Manuscript Division
of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center. Finally, Tab Lewis at Archives II in College
Park, Maryland suffered through what must have seemed to be mind-numbingly vague
citations for Treasury Department records.
I owe a major debt to the National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA), especially Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero (who listened and
asked provocative questions at the brown-bag lunch where I presented my findings). At
the NARA Center for Legislative Archives, Richard McCulley, Richard Hunt, Christine
Blackerby, and Allison Noyes put up with me as an undergraduate intern and provided
insightful opportunities and bits of information that proved invaluable to my project.
Christine kindly sent me her extensive notes on black congressional policymaking on
civil rights, which inspired me to consider what trends might appear if one tabulated all
categories of congressional policymaking. Richard McCulley has remained a steadfast
friend and advocate who has always been willing to talk shop with me over a cup of
coffee and lunch during several visits I made to Washington. I must also thank other
archivists and specialists at NARA, especially Rodney Ross, Rebecca Sharp, Damani
Davis, and Reginald Washington, as well as Leslie Rowland at the University of
Maryland, Director of the Freedmen and Southern Society Papers Project.
Funding for this project was made possible by a fellowship from the Rutgers
University History Department, as well as generous Summer Research Grants provided
by the Department via the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Jacob K. Javits
Fellowship Program of the U.S. Department of Education provided much financial
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support, and I wish to thank Sara Stark, Carmen Gordon, Harvey Waterman, and
especially Simona Turcu. As an undergraduate, I was fortunate to be able to participate as
a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow (MMUF). Little did I know that this program
would open up excellent opportunities for me as a graduate student. Along these lines, I
thank the Social Science Research Council Mellon Mays Graduate Initiatives program for
its small grants that helped keep me afloat during my research; specifically, I am grateful
to program director Cally Waite and especially Adam Radwan. I also thank the Institute
for the Recruitment of Teachers (IRT) at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts,
whose 2006 Summer Workshop gave me much needed training and preparation for
graduate school. I want to thank Founder and Executive Director Kelly Wise, Director
Chera Reid (now at MDRC), Dr. Clement White, and Leslie Godo-Solo.
Friends put up with you, liven things up, and distract you from the task at hand.
My good friends, Will Kurtz at the University of Virginia and several colleagues at
Ridgewood—Steve Olszowy, Matt Loprieno, Tom Hazlett, Thomas (Jong Hun) Nah,
Frank Seuffert, and Bobby Davies—did their jobs quite well. Brian W. Johnson was
always willing to drop whatever he was doing to take me and my family to Kennedy
Airport. At Rutgers I met a wide assortment of brilliant historians, among them Pat
McGrath, Gretchen Voter Abbott, Steve McGrail, Andy Bowers, Stephanie Jones-
Rogers, Adam Wolkoff, Ben Resnick-Day, Christian Chiknas, and Brian W. Forbes. I
also want to thank three Rutgers’ alumni—Louis Moore, Stacy Sewell, and Anthony
Troncone. Louis Moore first exposed me to American history in high school. Stacy and
Anthony provided me with invaluable opportunities to teach at St. Thomas Aquinas
College and Dominican College.
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I also must thank my brothers and sisters in the Third Community of the
Neocatechumenal Way at the Roman Catholic parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in
Ridgewood. For “my conversion” I have been paired with many different people,
including Wojciech Polowniak, Lucas Condon, Brendan Eapen, Eric Krauss, Gianina
Perez, Anthony Monton, Raquel Ordoñez, Paula Ordoñez, Maria Ordoñez, Bennett
Hampilos, Nick Hampilos, Chris and Dominika Rogacki, Ed and Mary Gianella, Jim and
Mary Stefanick, Maria Gonzalez, Marivel Canova, Natalie McKenna (Azar), Emma
Seuffert, Faith Brancale, Jakov Vidov, Father Tom Cherry, Father Joe Astarita, and our
“fearless” Responsibles Rob and Julie McGaffin.
Special thanks is reserved here for my second family—Mark and Tara Hart and
company have grown much bigger since I last acknowledged them, so now I must
lovingly thank Joseph, Sarah, John Paul, Catherine, Patrick, Simon, and Monica. I also
want to thank several other people from other communities, especially Josephine Perez,
Ken Quintillian, Marianne Titus, Mary Allison, Joan Clifford, and Jack and Joan Craig.
As always, I must thank our team of catechists—Mike and Ann, Bob and Joan, and
Father Keven Waymel. I also extend many thanks to Father Sean Manson, Father Ivan
Sciberras, and the pastor, Father Ron Rozniack. Finally, I want to thank two people most
especially for enduring this project. Father Tony Medeiros’s patience was legendary and I
am deeply thankful for his support throughout the process; my close Brazilian friend,
Leonardo Moreira, put up with much of this project during the better part of a Christmas
vacation.
Earlier versions of my work on John Mercer Langston appeared as “From the
Ashes of the Old Dominion: Accommodation, Immediacy, and Progressive Pragmatism
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