The Compromise of 1877

Hello boys,

So, for your project, I'm going to give you a bit of a SPOILER ALERT...the eventual COMPROMISE (made in 1877 in order to determine the outcome of a presidential election) that comes out of the conflict is probably not going to make you feel that great about our history. Your CONFLICT in your project is - broadly - between The Union Army/abolitionists/"Carpetbaggers/ "Radical Republicans/freedmen (former slaves who gained citizenship upon the issuance of The 13th Amendment + the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee and the fall of The Confederate States of America)  VS. The KKK/Knights of The White Camelia.

Handerson especially - I think you wanted to focus on how we had a conflict that lead to a compromise where the Knights and the KKK were defeated. You will find in the course of your research that this is NOT what happened. As a said before, history is not Hollywood. And the idea of a compromise doesn't always lead us in the direction of fairness or righteousness. So, heads up!

OK, here's some helpful links...

a. http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/compromise-of-1877

b. What Mr. Powers was referring to was "sharecropping." There's an excellent illustration of it on this video. Know that "sharecropping" was essentially in place until the New Deal and WWII. For example, my actual grandfather grew up in a sharecropping family. He's still alive now!
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nowsS7pMApI

c. Knights of White Camelia - https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/vek01
*** Note, there IS a difference between the KKK and The Knights.

d. http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan

e. White League (1874) https://www.facinghistory.org/reconstruction-era/louisiana-white-league-platform-1874

f."Battle" of Liberty Place -  http://www.knowlouisiana.org/entry/the-battle-of-liberty-place

g. "The Compromise of 1877" - https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-us-history/period-5/apush-reconstruction/a/compromise-of-1877

***. Read this - https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2017/05/23/new-orleans-mayor-mitch-landrieu-on-confederate-statues-the-monuments-were-murder/?utm_term=.ea0a246d8c5e. Your topic will definitely touch a nerve because we are STILL arguing over this historical legacy 141 years later. Our most recent mayor took down these statues put up after Reconstruction by people sympathetic to The White League, Knights, and KKK. One of those statues used to be on Canal Street and commemorated an attack on our police officers. We only took them down in 2017! And, as you can see from these two opinion pieces, no one - even today - seems to be able to come to a consensus on what actually happened. (a. http://thehayride.com/2017/04/bayham-what-actually-happened-at-the-battle-of-liberty-place/ and b. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-us-history/period-5/apush-reconstruction/a/compromise-of-1877)

So, I think it might be really interesting and helpful to get both perspectives on the argument about the statues to go along with your research into the CONFLICT of Reconstruction and the COMPROMISE ultimately reached in 1877.

I know that's probably not where you expected your research to go, but that will help you immensely.

ESHGETIIIIIT!!!

Mr. Gibson