Lily-white movement facts for kids
The Lily-white Movement was a political effort within the Republican Party in the United States. It happened in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This movement aimed to reduce the power and influence of African Americans in politics. It began as a reaction to the progress African Americans made after the Civil War. After the war, slavery was ended, and black Americans gained more rights.
During a time called Reconstruction, black leaders became more important in the Republican Party. They organized African Americans into strong voting groups. This was done through groups like the Union League. Some white Republicans, called "Lily-whites," tried to stop this influence. They wanted to bring back white voters who had left for the Democratic Party.
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What Does "Lily-white" Mean?
The name "Lily-white movement" was first used by Norris Wright Cuney. He was a black Republican leader from Texas. In 1888, he used the term at a Republican meeting. He was describing how white conservatives were trying to remove black leaders. They also tried to cause trouble to divide the party.
Later, the term was used all over the country. It described this ongoing effort to keep African Americans out of political power.
How It Started
After the Civil War, many Southern states passed "Black Codes." These laws tried to limit the rights of newly freed African Americans. Some Northern states also had laws that restricted black people. However, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 stopped most of these unfair laws. The federal Freedman's Bureau also helped black people in the South. In 1867, African Americans were given the right to vote.
Groups like the Union League and the Radical Republicans wanted full equality for black Americans. The Republican Party had a lot of power in the South during Reconstruction. This was because the federal government was involved.
During Reconstruction, Union Leagues were created across the South. These were groups for black workers who supported the Republican Party. They helped freedmen (formerly enslaved people) register to vote. They also encouraged them to vote Republican. These groups discussed political issues and worked on community projects. Most of these groups were only for black members, but some included both black and white people.
In the 1800s, a few African Americans were elected to the United States Congress. All of them were Republicans. In the South, the Republican Party was a mix of Freedmen, Carpetbaggers, and Scalawags. "Carpetbaggers" were Northerners who moved South. "Scalawags" were Southern whites who had supported the U.S. during the Civil War. In the South, the Republican Party became known as "the party of the Negro." In Texas, about 90% of the party members in the 1880s were black.
Over time, many white people started to see the Democratic Party as the more "respectable" party. The first Ku Klux Klan used violence against black Republican leaders. This greatly weakened the Union League.
Republican Party Divisions
Black leaders in the Republican Party wanted more political positions. The "Black-and-tan" group, which included many black members, often won these internal party battles. As a result, many "Scalawags" joined the "Lily-white" group or switched to the Democratic Party.
After the death of Texas Republican leader Edmund J. Davis in 1883, Norris Wright Cuney became the head of the Republican Party in Texas. He became a national leader in 1889. Even though black Americans were a minority in Texas overall, Cuney's rise caused a strong reaction. White conservative Republicans in other areas started to organize the Lily-white movement nationwide. Cuney himself named this movement. He saw it as an organized effort by white conservatives to remove black leaders. They also tried to cause riots to divide the party. Some historians believe this effort was linked with Democrats. It was part of a larger plan to stop black people from voting in the South.
Decline of Black Republican Power
By 1890, the Democratic Party controlled almost all state governments in the South. From 1890 to 1908, Southern states passed laws to stop black people from voting. In some states, these laws also stopped many poor white people from voting.
For example, in North Carolina, Senator Jeter Pritchard worked to remove all black people from the 1902 Republican Convention. He also supported removing black officials across the country.
For the first 30 years of the 1900s, no black Americans served in the U.S. Congress. This was because they were stopped from voting in the South. In 1922, black leaders were not allowed at the Virginia Republican Congressional Convention. By this time, Virginia had strict racial segregation laws. Most black people there could not vote.
At the national level, the Republican Party tried to respond to black interests. In 1920, they said they were against lynching in their party platform. Lynchings, mostly of black men in the South, had increased around the turn of the century. Leonidas C. Dyer, a white Republican from St. Louis, Missouri, worked with the NAACP. He introduced a bill to make lynching a federal crime. This bill passed the House of Representatives in 1922.
Some "Black-and-tan" leaders still held government jobs. For example, Walter L. Cohen of New Orleans worked as a customs inspector. He was appointed by four Republican presidents and stayed in office through the Calvin Coolidge administration.
In 1926, the NAACP held its national meeting. The members expressed their disappointment with the Republican Party. They said:
Our political salvation and our social survival lie in our absolute independence of party allegiance in politics and the casting of our vote for our friends and against our enemies whoever they may be and whatever party labels they carry.
What Happened Next
The conflict between "Lily-white" and "Black-and-tan" groups continued in 1928. This was when Herbert Hoover tried to gain support from wealthy white Southerners. It happened again in 1932. At this time, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal coalition" started to attract African-American voters to the Democratic Party.
Later, Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the civil rights movement. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed. These laws helped African Americans gain full voting rights. Because of this, more and more African Americans started voting for Democratic candidates.
According to professor Michael K. Fauntroy, the Lily-white Movement is a very important but often overlooked part of American Republican history.
Important People
Here are some key figures related to the Lily-white Movement:
Lily-white leaders:
- James P. Newcomb: He was a Republican Secretary of State of Texas and a journalist. He was an important party leader in Texas.
- Jeter C. Pritchard: He was a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He worked to remove black people from the Republican Party.
- William Howard Taft: He was a Republican President. He tried to make the Republican Party more popular in the South by reducing black involvement.
- Herbert Hoover: He was a Republican President. He had worked with black leaders but changed his approach in 1928 to get Lily-white support in the South.
Leading opponents:
- Booker T. Washington: He was the president of Tuskegee Institute. He had strong connections with leading Republicans and was a powerful voice in black politics.
