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Summarize the events that led to the ratification of South Carolina’s constitution of 1868

Answer 1

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Academic Standards
Standard 8-4: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the impact of Reconstruction on the people and government of South Carolina .
8-4.3 Summarize the events and the process that led to the ratification of South Carolina’s constitution of 1868, including African American representation in the constitutional convention; the major provisions of the constitution; and the political and social changes that allowed African Americans, Northerners, “carpetbaggers,” and “scalawags” to play a part in South Carolina state government.

Social Studies Literacy Elements
O. Consider multiple perspectives of documents and stories
S. Interpret and synthesize information obtained from a variety of sources—graphs, charts, tables, diagrams, texts, photographs, documents, and interviews
Historical Background Notes

Certainly one of the most controversial eras in American history, the period after the Civil War saw much of the South faced with economic and social turmoil. This was a time of bitterness and loss, but also a time of hope and empowerment. Much of South Carolina was in ruins, and the state lost nearly one fifth of its white male population. Many whites in the state resented Reconstruction and did not consider those governments as legitimate.

On the other hand, this was also a time of empowerment and hope for a new order, particularly for former slaves and their sympathizers. Tensions flared as struggles for local control pitted Republicans (largely consisting of freedmen, some local whites, and others from the North) against Democrats (or “Conservatives” who consisted almost entirely of local whites). Democrats labeled their white Republican opponents as either scalawags or carpetbaggers. “Scalawags” were those southern whites who supported Reconstruction. “Carpetbaggers” were whites who came from the North to aid in the Reconstruction process. Democrats accused Republicans of corruption and graft, claiming their politics revolved around personal financial gain.

Historian Walter Edgar maintains that the corruption and graft that ran rampant throughout the country during the Reconstruction years “knew neither race nor party label.” The Republican efforts toward public education and public equality shocked and embittered whites, not only for their social implications, but also economic. All landowners in the state faced higher taxes and hundreds of thousands of acres of land were seized for non-payment. A large number of whites in the state never accepted the Reconstruction government as legitimate, and they began a ruthless (and effective) campaign to point out wrongdoings and discredit the Republican regime. The largely black state militia, in and of itself an alarming sight to most whites, was ineffective in quelling white insurgency. Tensions rose, and violence erupted throughout the state (Edgar 1998, 388 (quote), 394-404).

Republican victories across the country during the election of 1868 ushered in a dramatic shift in Reconstruction politics. The passage of the Reconstruction Acts, which allowed blacks to hold office for the first time, began what has been termed as Congressional Reconstruction or Radical Reconstruction. Congressional Republicans worked to enfranchise the black population but prohibited whites that had supported the Confederacy from voting, unless they took an oath of allegiance to the United States. The Reconstruction Acts required that the majority of registered voters in the state vote for or against a state constitutional convention and choose delegates. White Carolinians took the strategy of registering in large numbers and then voting no or boycotting the vote altogether. They preferred living under military rule as opposed to a state government composed largely of black leaders (Fraser 1989, 284; Zuczek 1996, 38-39).

Using the Ohio constitution as a model, the delegates of South Carolina’s 1868 Constitution sought to promote public education and public equality with their new document. These delegates enacted a number of social reforms and gave local government more power, reversing the 200-year-old tradition of centralized control in the General Assembly. As districts became counties, local voters elected a three-man county board of commissioners with budgetary and taxing authority. Four new counties—Aiken, Hampton, Berkeley, and Florence—came into being as a result of the 1868 Constitution (Edgar 1998, 385-388).

Some of the social and political reforms made effective by the 1868 Constitution include the following: Creating a more balanced form of government among the three branches in state government; reorganizing and giving more authority to local governments; establishing a welfare program; providing a means for state-wide public education; and establishing political equality such as removing property requirements for voting rights. While much has been written about the shortcomings of Reconstruction, that reconciliation between the sections and the races ultimately failed, most all of the reforms mentioned above (with obvious exceptions to political and voting reforms) lasted through and beyond the Jim Crow era. Rights for women to own property and obtain divorces were also enhanced during this period. While acknowledging the turbulence and failures of the era, historians Francis Butler Simkins and Robert H. Woody’s classic 1932 book, South Carolina During Reconstruction, emphasized the advances made during the Reconstruction years (Simkins and Woody 1932, 562; Edgar 1998, 386-388).

With all the attempts at social reform and reconciliation, heated political struggles between the two parties raged on, leading to violence in many parts of the state. Led by Edgefield native, Matthew C. Butler, a white Democratic faction within the state legislature enacted the Black Code, which put severe limits on the rights of blacks and attempted to return the racial order to that which existed during the antebellum years. The act virtually reestablished the slave patrol system, as white vigilante groups assaulted blacks and whites that they felt were violating the Black Codes.

In the election for governor in 1876, Wade Hampton supporters, known as Red Shirts, used intimidation, fraud, and violence to ensure a Democratic victory. The hotly contested election between Daniel Chamberlain and Hampton was not decided until the US Supreme Court ruled in his favor in April 1877. Chamberlain would resign, allowing Hampton to take control of the state. Hampton’s election, as well as Rutherford B. Hayes’ controversial national presidential election, marked the end of the Reconstruction era for the state, as the last Federal troops left South Carolina (Edgar 1998, 406).

The physical separation of the races was one of the most profound consequences of the Reconstruction period. The breakup of the plantation system of slavery resulted in white and black Carolinians separating and building communities and institutions largely apart from each other. Custom would become law as the 1895 State Constitution laid the groundwork for legalized racial segregation and it effectively disenfranchised blacks. While there was opposition to Jim Crow legislation, most notably by the Charleston News and Courier in 1898, a myriad of segregation laws and customs would become entrenched into the everyday lives of black Carolinians by the early 1900s (Edgar 1998, 448-450; Fraser 1989, 336-338).

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Answer 2

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Answer 3

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