Jack of Harts

The 1870s were effectively a time of undeclared war in much of America. The Ku Klux Klan hunted and killed Republicans and freedmen in the Southern States, and the Federal government declared them a terrorist organization. Federal troops occupied the Southern States and hunted the Ku Klux Klan into extinction. But it seemed like every victory included a defeat. Confederate officers and leaders were able to vote again starting in 1872, and a flagging Southern economy resulted in a national depression in 1873. Northerners lost trust in Reconstruction due to tales of corruption coming out of the Southern States, and the Democrats were quick to capitalize on that. They renounced the get rich quick schemes of Northern Carpetbaggers and demanded that local rights be protected. It was an easy campaign to make, and increasingly unhappy Northerners wanted less and less to do with the ungrateful Southerners.