Last Reconstruction Governments Collapse After Troop Withdrawal

After federal troops withdrew in April 1877, Republican Governor Daniel Chamberlain of South Carolina and Governor William Kellogg of Louisiana lost their governments within days. Democratic 'Redeemer' governments took control, immediately dismantling Black political participation. Black officeholders were removed, Black militia companies were disbanded and disarmed, and the legal structures protecting Black civil rights were repealed or rendered unenforceable across the former Confederate state