Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1950 Republican Politics in Louisiana, 1877-1900. Philip Davis Uzee Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Uzee, Philip Davis, "Republican Politics in Louisiana, 1877-1900." (1950). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 7966. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/7966 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BE PUBLICAH POLITICS IR LOUISIANA* 1877-1900 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana state university ami Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements far the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in She Department of History by P h ilip D. B.A.* Louisiana State University* 1935 H.A., Louisiana State University, 1 9 3 8 hay, 1950 UMI Number: DP69344 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI Dissertation Publishing UMI DP69344 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code P r o Q u e st ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 MANUSCRIPT THESES Unpublished theses submitted for Hie masterfs and doctor*s degrees and deposited in the Louisiana State University Library are available for inspection. Use of any thesis is limited by the rights of the author. Bibliographical references may be noted, but passages may not be copied unless the author has given permission. Credit must be given in subsequent written or published work. A library which borrows this thesis for use by its Clientele is expected to make sure that the borrower is aware of the above restrictions. LOUISIANA STATE UNIVfJRSITY LIBRARY £)*^o (2 e r\ 36 S9419 w illia* ass* Hatchar L 6! 30 G[ .c . c.2> / 4 3 2 S 5 5 ACKHOWUEDOMKHTS The w riter is grateful to Professors Walter Prichard, Francis B* Sinicina, and T. Harry Williams for their helpful suggestions and constructive critic ian given when thle dissertation waa in preparation. Be ia also appreciative of the aid rendered by the staffs of the Justice and Fiscal Branches of the national Archives, the Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress, the Louisiana State University Archives, and the Southern H istorical Collection, university of Xorth Carolina in the location of Materials. The author wishes to thank Mrs. Luolle Roy Csffery and Mr. Allen Ouillot for pre­ paring the asps, and Mias Joan Doyle for aid in proof­ re a d in g . H i TABIS CP COHTENTS P age April 24, 1877 • ........................ 1 ' R ise and P a ll o f th e Republic an Party ........................... 4 yAftenaath of 1 8 7 6 . .................... 35 ) State Politics, I 8 7 9 -I 8 9 2 . ............................. «... 55 O Federal Patronage and Federal Elections, 1 8 7 9 - 1 8 9 2 . 93 Tbe'Hegre dad the Republican Party, I 8 7 7 -I 8 9 6 . 127 I 8 9 6 .............. ..... 147 Triuapb of the Eilywhitee ........................ 17 0 Bibliography ...... ............................. ..... 18? Appendix#© •»••• *•««»•«•# »««i . 195 V ita * * ...........................* . 213 i v APPENDIXES Page A Louisiana R eg istratio n , 1878*1900 * * . 196 B Parishes Reporting a Majority of Negro R eg istran ts, 1878*1900* • *«.*.*.». 198 C Comparative Vote fo r Governor, 1876*1900* . 199 D Parishes Voting Repub 1 loan in Gubernatorial Elections, 1876*1900 . * ........................ * . * SOI E Republican Senators in Louisiana Legislature, 1877-1900 ................. 203 F Republican Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1877 - 1 9 0 0. ........ 205 G Comparative Vote for Presidential Electors, 1876*1900 ........... 208 H Parishes Voting Republican in Presidential Elections, 18 8 0*1900 ............................................. 209 I Candidates in Congressional Elections, 1878-I9O O .................................... 211 v MAPS Pag* 1« Louisiana Black Belt — 1876-1898 « * . 197 2. Republican Parishes — I 8 7 6 -I 8 9 6 .............. 809 3* Congressional D istricts — 1 8 7 6 - 1 9 0 0. 810 v l A m m m t The subject of this study is ibe Louisiana Republi­ can Party in the post^eoonstruotlon period-** a period in which It la popularly believed no active Republican party existed. It la a story of party management* convention manipulation* election campaigns* and lntra*»party warfare as revealed mainly in the newspapers of the time and In the correspondence of party members and leaders* the Republican party was formed in Louisiana In 1865« I t was in co n tro l of the s ta te government from 1866 u n til 1 8 7 7 * Immediately after its fall from power it was weak and disorganised but by 1879 It had rallied and was the main opposition party to the Democrats until 1892* In the period* 1877 - 1 8 9 2 , the Republicans put out a full ticket In every state election* Despite the machinations of a powerful political foe* the fact that it was held in contempt by many people in the state as the “Negro" party* and its own internal disputes* it polled 33 per cent of the total vote east for governor between I877 and 1 8 9 2 * It elected both white and colored parish officials and members of the state legislature through 1896* An important factor In the survival of the Repub­ lican party In Louisiana after the debacle of I877 was that it controlled the Federal patronage in the state - for ell but eight years between 1877 end 1900, With this patronage Republicans were able to maintain a party or* ganisation and a party following* However, the number of positions was limited and the division of the spoils was the chief source of intra-party warfare* Louisiana Republicans attended national party oon- vehtlons and conducted campaigns in the state for the Republican presidential nominees but without success* How­ ever, they did elect four members to the national House of Representatives between 1877 end 1890 * In 189 ^# some sugar planters and business mn severed their connections with the Democratic party because of the tariff Issue and formed the "Rational Republican Party*n She "Nationals '1 maintained a separate organisation from the "Regular" Republicans because they were "respectable" and "liJywhite" and did not want to be identified with the "black and tana*" In 1896 circumstances forced them to give up their separate status* Once they were absorbed into the "Regular" party they sought to seise control of the party machinery* This goal was achieved When President Theodore Roosevelt gave them control of the party patronage in the state* This action marked the demise of the party which had been formed in I865 and marked the birth of the present day Republican party in Louisiana* v i l l APRIL 2 4 , 1877 I t was 11?30 A# M* Tuesday, April 2 4 , 1 8 7 7 * She Orleans Hotel, quarters for the federal troops stationed in new Orleans, was the scene of noisy activity, the streets neighboring the hotel were crowded with spectators, the command "fall in" was heard and the majestic drum major of the Third Infantry, followed by the band, appeared on the street. At llsgO to the command "four© right" five companies marched down the stairway and halted behind the bend. The officers, who had been strolling and chatting on the gallery covering the sidewalk, then took their positions and at precisely 12?00 noon the fu ll voice of Colonel Brooks gave the command "forward march" and the troops marched out St. Louis street to the levee and embarked on the transports for Jackson Barracks outside the city. One spectator gave the rebel yell.* Zn the St. Louis Hotel, the eapltol of Louisiana, there was also a great deal of activity. Stephen B. Packard, whose claim to the governorship of the state had not been sustained by President Rutherford B. Hayes, was preparing his valedictory address to the state and nation, while the 1 Hew Orleans Democrat. April 25, I877. 1 2 Metropolitan Polks wort eonsigntng state records to the flues of the furnace* fheir task aeaosaplished* they supped out of the building in the early hours of Wednesday morning* Paekarfi delivered his speech of farewell to a handful of followers and left the premises • When Francis f * Rldiolk# who had been tacitly recognised as governor bjr the rta m l of the troops fre e tie vicinity of th e s ta te house* and his efflelal family moved into the building they found it in extreme disorder* On the walls were w ritte n such epithets as* *R* B* Bayes* the traitor of 1877*" and "Rutherford dastard Sayesf ” in the chamber of the Bouse of Bepresents* ives* the chairs were piled m top of the desks* the speaker's ohalr was upset* and paper littered the floor* A damp u n p leasan t sm ell pervaded th e place and stray rat or two ran across th® lobby.”2 ?hese events narked the fall from power of the Republican party in Louisiana® statewide celebrations followed: guns ware fired* bells rang* and Joy prevailed* Messages of congratulation case from all over the former Confederacy*3 Apparently* no one mourned except Packard and his Metropolitan Police* A few negroes feared that these events foreshadowed the re tu rn of slavery.