A SHORT HISTORY OF RIGHT WING DESTRUCTION PART 2

After the Civil War ended, there was a transition period in which the defeated South was treated much as a defeated country would be treated.  United States troops occupied parts of the South.  There was a desire by some in the North to punish the South for the Civil War.

There was also positive movement toward giving African-Americans rights as free people.  Passage of the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution made African-Americans, in theory, equal citizens of the United States.  But the right wing backlash was already developing.

Political forces in the South were determined to subvert the Constitution whenever and wherever they could when it came to rights for African-Americans.  Extralegal groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, a group dedicated to white supremacy, were also created.  The Ku Klux Klan was committed to intimidating African-Americans and subverting the voting process.

If African-Americans couldn't be scared away from the polls, there were other devices put in place to suppress their votes such as the poll tax.  The poll tax was highly discriminatory against poor people and most African-Americans were obviously poor.  Other obstacles such as "literacy tests" were implemented to make it almost impossible for African-Americans to qualify as voters.

More to follow