| The Alabama Recount--Part I | |
During the turbulent period of Reconstruction, following the Civil War, political power in Alabama underwent a dramatic transformation. Political alliances, and families, that had held power since the early days of statehood suddenly found themselves cast out of the system as a result of their support of the Confederacy.
With the majority of white males disenfranchised, political power shifted to the Republican party largely because of the Black vote. The Republican party, for most newly freed Blacks, was the very symbol of the freedom that Abraham Lincoln had granted them.
Under what became known as the "Carpetbag Rule," and using the powers of the Freedman's Bureau, the United States Army and out-of-state political operatives, the Republicans seized power in North Alabama. The Democrats, most of who's leaders were disenfranchised Confederates, were powerless to stop the political onslaught.
By 1880 the political winds were shifting. Most white males had regained their right to vote and the Tennessee Valley was no longer under military occupation. The Democratic party, however, was in such disarray that it could no longer command a solid front against the Republicans.
The party had broken into splinter parties, with none commanding a majority. Chief among the splinter groups were the "Independents." These were mostly small farmers who had built up an antagonism over the years against the large planters and often voted with the Republicans.
The Independents were, in fact, more harshly condemned than the Republicans. One Democratic newspaper described an Independent as being "the protege of radicalism, the spawn of corruption, poverty and ignorance who comes forth as the leaders of the ignorant and deluded blacks." Another group, the "Greenbacks," had also been making serious inroads on the Democratic party by promising better economic times and a loosening of tight credit restrictions.
Democratic leaders, searching for someone to unify the party, selected General Joseph Wheeler as their candidate for Congress in 1880. "Little Joe," as Wheeler was popularly known, had been a highly charismatic Confederate General and, as other Confederate leaders began dying off, was emerging as one of the "Lost Cause's" main spokesmen.
Opposing Wheeler in the Congressional campaign was William Manning Lowe, who had served in the Confederate Army and after being wounded at Bull Run, had been granted an honorable discharge. Returning to Huntsville, he was admitted to the bar and was appointed solicitor for the Fifth Judicial Circuit in 1865. In 1870 he was elected to the State house of representatives followed by election to Congress in 1878 after successfully putting together a coalition of disillusioned Democrats, Independents and Republicans.
Right or wrong, many people saw Lowe as a tool of the Republicans and Carpetbaggers.
On August 23, 1880, the District Congressional Convention met at a sawmill on the banks of the Tennessee river and nominated General Wheeler to run against Lowe. The selection of the sawmill was deliberate, as a newspaper explained, "as the object is to saw asunder the Radical party and their Greenback-Independent allies."
Part 2--More Recounts
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