The reconstruction of Alabama brought with it the
unprecedented opportunity for African Americans-antebellum free blacks and
former slaves-to receive an education, to work for wages, to worship free
of white observation, to marry and live with their families, and to
participate in political matters. Although the aforementioned concerns
were important to these people, none of these areas have received as much
attention as the scrutiny given African Americans who became officeholders
in Alabama. Despite the charge that has been leveled against them for what
went wrong during Reconstruction, one of the most crucial periods in
American history, black officeholders have been saddled with this infamy
without having been the subject of academic inquiry. In addition, few
studies have applauded their efforts. This study makes clear the role
blacks played during Alabama Reconstruction.
Most African American officeholders in Alabama came from
the Blackbelt counties, although some of them came from as far north as
Madison and Lauderdale Counties and others came from as far south as
Mobile County. They assumed public office for the first time when they
were elected as delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1867. These
officeholders became the state's first black caucus. Neither
Carpetbaggers Nor Scalawags distills many of their public utterances
and some of their private deeds to highlight their role in forming the
state's first Republican party and in reshaping postwar affairs in
Alabama.
