page_title: Civil rights movement (1865–1896)
section_title: Political organization
hierarchical_section_title: Civil rights movement (1865–1896) / Political organization
caption_attribution_description: English: "First Colored Senator and Representatives in the 41st and 42nd Congress of the United States." (Left to right) Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi, Representatives Benjamin Turner of Alabama, Robert DeLarge of South Carolina, Josiah Walls of Florida, Jefferson Long of Georgia, Joseph Rainey and Robert B. Elliot of South Carolina. Français&#160;: "Première sénateur coloré et représentants au Congrès 41e et 42e aux États-Unis." De gauche à droite: Le sénateur Hiram Revels du Mississippi, représentants Benjamin Turner de l'Alabama, Robert DeLarge de Caroline du Sud, Josiah Walls de la Floride, Jefferson Long de la Géorgie, Joseph Rainey et Robert B. Elliot de Caroline du Sud.
context_page_description: The civil rights movement (1865–1896) aimed to eliminate racial discrimination against African Americans, improve their educational and employment opportunities, and establish their electoral power, just after the abolition of slavery in the United States. The period from 1865 to 1895 saw a tremendous change in the fortunes of the black community following the elimination of slavery in the South.
  Immediately after the American Civil War, the federal government launched a program known as Reconstruction which aimed to rebuild the states of the former Confederacy. The federal programs also provided aid to the former slaves and attempted to integrate them into society as citizens. Both during and after this period, blacks gained a substantial amount of political power and many of them were able to move from abject poverty to land ownership. At the same time resentment of these gains by many whites resulted in an unprecedented campaign of violence which was waged by local chapters of the Ku Klux Klan, and in the 1870s it was waged by paramilitary groups like the Red Shirts and White League.
  In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v.
context_section_description: Black men across the South obtained the right to vote in 1867, and joined the Republican Party. The typical organization was through the Union League, a secret society organized locally but promoted by the national Republican Party. Eric Foner reports:
  By the end of 1867 it seemed that virtually every black voter in the South had enrolled in the Union League, the Loyal League, or some equivalent local political organization. Meetings were generally held in a black church or school.
  The Union Leagues promoted militia-like organizations in which the blacks banded together to protect themselves from being picked off one-by-one by harassers. Members were not allowed to vote the Democratic ticket. The Union Leagues and similar groups came under violent assault from the KKK after 1869, and largely collapsed. Later efforts to revive the Union League failed.
  Black ministers provided much of the black political leadership, together with newcomers who had been free blacks in the North before the Civil War. Many cities had black newspapers that explained the issues and rallied the community.
caption: First Colored Senator and Representatives: Sen. Hiram Revels (R-MS), Rep. Benjamin Turner (R-AL), Robert DeLarge (R-SC), Josiah Walls (R-FL), Jefferson Long (R-GA), Joseph Rainey and Robert B. Elliott (R-SC), 1872
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