Alexandria After the Civil War

Alexandria remained physically untouched during the Civil War except for the occupation by Union soldiers on May 24, 1861. The Alexandria Gazette and Virginia Daily Advertiser on June 13, 1865, depicted that an organization’s creation to secure equal rights for Freedmen. The newspaper argued that all male citizens should be allowed to vote regardless of race to ensure that Virginia experienced a quick and organized Reconstruction after the Civil War. 

President Andrew Johnson formally recognized Francis H. Pierpont as the permanent Virginia Governor on May 9, 1865. Pierpont subsequently moved the Restored government of Virginia's capital to Richmond and worked to restore the state. Lincoln created the Restored government of Virginia after he recognized Unionist Northern Virginia as the legitimate Government of Virginia. Alexandria citizens emerged from the war in a state of financial hardship because taxes had not been collected during the Union occupation. African Americans used this opportunity to enact their ideas of suffrage that became the Alexandria Colored Convention within their communities.