Chapter 1.1
AFTER THE CIVIL
WAR
Black and white, Union and
Confederate soldiers and cadets
- With the Union victory in April, 1865, slavery came to an end. There were thousands of newly freed African Americans in North Carolina, almost all of whom had no property and had received no education. Over 50% of the population in several counties in eastern N.C. was black.
- Reconstruction lasted in North Carolina from 1865 until 1870, when the Democrat party, led by ex-Confederate officers, won the state elections. The Freedman's Bureau continued to operate until 1876.
- Whites dominated North Carolina economically and politically, but the Black vote was important in the 1870's and 1880's, and North Carolina elected Black Republicans to many positions, including the Congress and the State Legislature.