Undoing reconstruction: Racial threat and the process of Redemption, 1870–1920

Objective Over the course of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, steps made toward full enfranchisement of African Americans, competitive elections, and representative democracy in the former Confederate States collapsed. White “Redeemers” established a subnational authoritarian regime that encompassed nearly the entire formerly Confederate South—reasserting the rule of political and economic white supremacy. This paper aims to understand how racial threat affected the political decisions made by disfreanchisers. Methods Analyzing an originally constructed data set of congressional elections returns and demographic data from 1870 to 1920. Results I find evidence that racial threat, properly specified, explains why democracy deteriorated in particular pockets of the South faster and more completely than in others. Conclusion I argue that racial threat, despite its contemporary limitations, is a useful theory for understanding the political development of the American South.