The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 78, July 1974 - April, 1975 Page: 19
562 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Birth of the Texas Republican Party
Hopefully, after nearly a century of Reconstruction historiography the
scalawag is shedding his stereotype of a hill country white renegade, with
little property and even less education, or a wealthy planter-Whig devoted to
controlling the Negro vote. These stereotypes are of no real value in identi-
fying Texas scalawags; the state possessed neither mountain whites nor, to
any extent, planter-Whigs. Doubtless, there were some different scalawag
types from state to state, but on the whole they represented every class of
southern society. Primarily their unity was Unionism, or lack of southern
nationalism, which they expressed either actively or passively in i 86o-i 861,
during the war, and immediately thereafter."'
Since southern Republicans were united neither by traditional party
allegiance, class status, nor even race, but rather by common need, faction-
alism was often their fruit of success. Most often these divisions into mod-
erate and radical factions occurred when Republicans disagreed over the
extent to which Negroes would be guaranteed protection and full equality,
and over the extent to which ex-Confederates would be politically penalized.
Spreading schisms appeared within the Texas party over such issues as ab
216-217; John R. Lynch, The Facts of Reconstruction (New York, I9I3), 94; Thomas
B. Alexander, "Political Reconstruction in Tennessee, 1865-1870," in Curry (ed.), Radi-
calism, Racism, and Party Realignment, 77-78; Powell Clayton, The Aftermath of the
Civil War in Arkansas (New York, 1915), 298; Thomas S. Staples, Reconstruction in
Arkansas, 1862-1874 (New York, I923), 166. John R. Lynch's statement concerning a
supposedly carpetbagger-plagued Mississippi is true to an even greater degree of Texas:
"There was.. .never a time when... Carpet-baggers had absolute control of the State
Government, or that of any district, county or municipality, or any branch or department
thereof." Lynch, The Facts of Reconstruction, 94. For an evaluation of some well-known
carpetbaggers see Richard N. Current's "Carpetbaggers Reconsidered" in David H. Pink-
ney and Theodore Ropp (eds.), A Festschrift for Frederick B. Artz (Durham, I964),
139-157; and Current, Three Carpetbag Governors (Baton Rouge, 1967).
57Although these are the two most widely defended scalawag stereotypes, others may be
found; actually, imprecision abounds in descriptions of the scalawags. Some writers simply
avoid definitiveness by covering all bases, that is, they describe so many different types of
scalawags that any effort to isolate them becomes meaningless. See the following sources
for the most definitive characterizations of the scalawag: David H. Donald, "The Scala-
wag in Mississippi Reconstruction," Journal of Southern History, X (November, 1944),
447-460; Thomas B. Alexander, "Persistent Whiggery in the Confederate South, I860-
1877," ibid., XXVII (August, 196:), 305-329; Allen W. Trelease, "Who Were the
Scalawags?" ibid., XXIX (November, 1963), 445-468; Sarah Van V. Woolfolk, "Five
Men Called Scalawags," Alabama Review, XVII (January, 1964), 45-55; William C.
Harris, "A Reconsideration of the Mississippi Scalawag," Journal of Mississippi History,
XXXII (February, 1970), 3-42; Otto H. Olsen, "Reconsidering the Scalawag," Civil
War History, XII (December, 1966), 304-320; W. E. Burghardt Du Bois, Black Recon-
struction in America: An Essay Toward a History of the Part Which Black Folk Played
in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in America, x86o-z88o (New York, :935),
350; Wharton, The Negro in Mississippi, 157; Rembert W. Patrick, The Reconstruction
of the Nation (New York, 1967), :o8; Williamson, After Slavery: The Negro in South
Carolina, 374; Alexander, "Political Reconstruction in Tennessee," in Curry (ed.),
Radicalism, Racism, and Party Realignment, 37; Olsen, "Reconsidering the Scalawag,"
3 2; Stampp, The Era of Reconstruction, 162.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 78, July 1974 - April, 1975, periodical, 1974/1975; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117149/m1/37/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.