James Lee Dickey: An Analysis of One African-American's Leadership in Jim Crow Texas

Loss of Political Power

In spite of white intimidation, African Americans registered to vote and exercised that right. Freedmen ran for office on the local, state, and federal levels. Between 1867 and 1877 approximately 2000 blacks held public office across the country. By 1870 in South Carolina, more than half of its eight state legislators, one state Supreme Court justice, and three federal Congressmen were African American. On the federal level the number of Negroes in Congress grew from 3 in 1869 to 8 in 1875. Unfortunately, as Reconstruction failed, so too did voting rights. When federal troops pulled out of the South in 1877, the number of registered black voters began to decline along with their elected officials. By 1887, African Americans had little influence in Congress.
 

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