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Title: Was Freedom Road a Dead End? Political and socio-economic effects of Reconstruction in the American South
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2023
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Abstract: Reconstruction brought a political and social revolution to the former Confederacy. Freedmen were enfranchised and Black political participation soared, despite widespread hostility in the defeated Confederacy. Federal troops occupied the region and Freedmen’s Bureau offices were established widely. The reforms of Reconstruction were eventually reversed by white supremacists, but by then Black southerners had had substantially increased civil and human rights for several decades. We ask how these major institutional changes – Black enfranchisement, Federal military occupation, the Freedmen’s Bureau,– affected Black political participation and Black socio-economic achievements. We use the location of Federal troops and Freedmen’s Bureau offices as indicators of more intensive Federal protection of the rights of newly freed people. We find that Black men were more likely to be able to register to vote, and the Republican Party received more votes, in counties with more such Federal protection. Turning to socio-economic outcomes, we find that Black children were more likely to attend school and Black people were more likely to be literate in areas where Reconstruction was more rigorously enforced. Similarly, Black people were better able to achieve higher levels of occupational status and earnings, and Black farmers were more likely to own their own farms, in counties with a more intensive Federal presence. These effects persisted at least until the early twentieth century. In all instances, however, the positive impact of Reconstruction was reduced in the cotton-plantation zones. The results indicate the power of political-institutional change – such as the expansion of the franchise – to provide opportunities for oppressed people to achieve a measure of political power and socio-economic advancement.
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Authors: Frieden, Jeffry; Grossman, Richard S; Lowery, Daniel; Medina, Juan; Maciolek, Ashleigh; Noonan, Alexander; from Jeffrey Jensen, Assistance; Jenkins, Jeffery; Pardelli, Giuliana; Foner, Eric; Hahn, Steven; Naidu, Suresh
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Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Education, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Poverty and Welfare, Race and Ethnicity
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