Red Shirts

E29316

The Red Shirts were white supremacist paramilitary groups in the post–Civil War American South that used violence and intimidation to suppress Black voters and help restore conservative Democratic control after Reconstruction.


Statements (47)
Predicate Object
instanceOf paramilitary organization
terrorist organization
white supremacist organization
activeIn Alabama
Louisiana
Mississippi
North Carolina
South Carolina
contributedTo disenfranchisement of Black citizens in the American South
end of Reconstruction in the South
establishment of Jim Crow laws
country United States
ethos pro-Democratic Party (conservative wing)
goal overthrow of Reconstruction governments
restoration of conservative Democratic control in Southern states
suppression of Black voters
ideology white nationalism
white supremacy
inspiredBy Ku Klux Klan
involvedIn Ellenton massacre
Hamburg massacre
violence during the 1875 Mississippi elections
notableEvent Mississippi Plan of 1875
South Carolina election of 1876
operatingArea American South
opposedTo Black suffrage
Reconstruction policies
Republican Party in the Reconstruction era
politicalAlignment Democratic Party (United States)
relatedTo Ku Klux Klan
Redeemers
White League
startTime 1870s
symbolizes Democratic Party militancy in the Reconstruction South
targetedGroup African American voters
Republican officeholders
white Republicans
timePeriod Reconstruction era
post–Civil War era
uniform red shirts worn as political symbol
usedTactic armed parades at polling places
assassination
lynching
political violence
threats against Republican officeholders
voter intimidation
whipping and beatings


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