LAWSUIT TO PREVENT THE RAISING OF TWO BLACK MILITIAS (RECONSTRUCTION.) Lawsuit concerning the "The Mississippi Plan." Consisting of 6 handwritten documents on lined foolscap, in several different hands. Includes documents signed by judges E. S. Fisher of the 12th Circuit Court District, E. G. Peyton of the Mississippi Supreme Court, and various petitioners; a total of 40 pp., condition generally very good. A partial transcript of all documents is provided. [Hinds County], 1875
The "Mississippi Plan" of 1875 was devised by the Democrats to overthrow the Republican Party in Mississippi and with it all Negro representation in local and state government. Governor Adelbert Ames was a veteran of the Civil War who earned the Medal of Honor at Gettysburg. As governor, Ames hoped to bring a new order to a state where the planter elite had almost total social, political and economic control. He wanted ex-slaves to become landowners, rather than sharecroppers and tenant farmers. Ames backed construction of public schools that would give the newly freed an even chance at political and economic equality. As the 1875 elections neared, insurgents known as "white liners" unleashed a reign of terror in the state. Determined to end Mississippi's five-year experiment in democracy and biracial government, white gangs threatened black citizens across the state, letting them know that their votes could cost them their lives. Ames tried to activate two companies of colored militia to protect the Negro voters. The present lawsuit prevented the formation of the militias and, as a result, the election-day violence was the worst in American history. Reconstruction was over in Mississippi, and blacks were effectively returned to a state of serfdom. A partial transcription of all of the documents will be made available.
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