John S Reynolds

Reconstruction in South Carolina John S Reynolds

South Carolina's economy was devastated by the time the Civil War ended. The State's political offices were vacated and there was no government; the police and courts disbanded, and Confederate money was valueless. The United States government placed the state under martial law, put Governor Magrath in prison in Savannah, and appointed Major General Q. A. Gillmore as military commander of the State. The story of that decade is filled with political corruption on an unbelievable scale while the State was being run by an appointed, incompetent, Legislature... and even a Republican Governor and a Democratic Governor at the same time! Ruinous state income taxes, forced divestment of land, and no legal redress pushed citizens to the breaking point. The decade was controlled by carpetbaggers, scaliwags, pettifoggers, and by the greatest extent, the Kuklux Klan. This is the story of what happened as the freed slaves were guided into citizenship and government positions by the Freedmen's Bureau. 540 pages