Democrats Vs Republicans

The Democrats had a strong opposition to Ames’ politics that steamed from a hatred for blacks and Republicans. As governor, Ames wished to fund public education through taxation, allow blacks to own land, and uphold Negro citizenship rights including voting. On the other hand, the majority of white Mississippians, nicknamed Bourbons believed that racial hierarchy was the natural order. “They considered themselves not as prejudiced against Negroes but merely as protectors of that natural order;” they did not support public education because “literacy and land tenancy would be disruptive to the plantation tenant system.” Also, the Democrats worked with the Taxpayer’s leagues in Mississippi to address concerns with taxes levied by Republicans. In addition, the viewpoint of many white southerners agreed with Congressman of Mississippi, Lucius Lamar. Lamar was “the model of the southern Bourbon politician” and a defender of slavery before the civil war. In a speech Lamar described Republicans as “gross and shameless dishonesty, their exorbitant taxation, their
At a July fourth celebration held by Negro Republicans in Vicksburg, a group of white men began to shoot at the crowd. Conditions in Vicksburg did not improve after; the white southerners were armed and organized getting ready for Election Day. Governor Ames informed President Grant that federal troops were necessary in Vicksburg to maintain peace, but President Grant refuses to send troops because he sought to have the support of southern Democrats for his third term election. Election day in Mississippi brought Democratic victory because the white men patrolled the polls and intimidated black voters from coming to the polls, “Democracy, in other words, was being nullified by the whites of