Reconstruction Era: Terror in the South
Summary
Host Don Wildman and guest Bradley Rubiro examine the collapse of Reconstruction through racial terrorism, the Colfax Massacre, and the Compromise of 1877. They discuss how Supreme Court rulings in U.S. v. Cruikshank and the Civil Rights Cases of 1883 stripped federal power to protect Black citizens. This legal retreat enabled Jim Crow laws, disenfranchisement, and the Great Exodus, marking the end of Reconstruction’s promise.
Topics discussed
Sponsors and Introduction to Reconstruction Crisis
Context: The 1876 Election and Rise of Violence
The Ku Klux Klan and Organized Terror
The Colfax Massacre of 1873
Federal Response and Northern Fatigue
U.S. v. Cruikshank and Supreme Court Challenges
Mid-Roll Advertisements
The 1876 Election Dispute and Hayes-Tilden Crisis
The Compromise of 1877 and Troop Withdrawal
Disenfranchisement and the Great Exodus
Jim Crow Laws, Lynchings, and Early Resistance
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Civil Rights Act of 1875 and the 1883 Ruling
Plessy v. Ferguson and Separate but Equal
Frederick Douglass's Constitutional Vision
Conclusion and Final Advertisements
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