Alexandria Republican Union Association

The Virginia Republican Party assisted Alexandria Freedmen with suffrage shortly after the Civil War through the creation of the Alexandria Union Association. On June 12, 1865, Alexandria Republicans formed the Union Association of Alexandria in response to Governor Pierpont's actions after the Civil War regarding Black Suffrage. 

Sixty delegates met at the first official meeting of the Alexandria Republican Union Association. The convention resolutions urged the disenfranchisement of Confederates and suffrage for both races. The Association rejected Pierpont’s moderate ideas for Reconstruction and viewed him as unfit to govern the state after his actions and leniency toward Conservatives, Whigs, and Southern Democrats. The organization adopted four resolutions to protect Freedmen, guarantee Union control of Virginia, and amend the Virginia Constitution to guarantee suffrage for all loyal male citizens regardless of color. This became the first instance where Virginia Republicans advocated for Freedmen suffrage in Alexandria after the Civil War as well as a challenge to Pierpont’s government. One instance of Freedmen’s agency emerged with the assistance of the Republican Party and attempts by Radical Republicans to obtain equal suffrage for Freedmen. Unionists advocated for Black Suffrage but subsequently needed black votes to continue to hold public office through the 1866 local election. Virginia Unionists called for black participation within Virginia and other states. The Alexandria Association argued that Black Suffrage was necessary to prevent a Confederate takeover of the state. Freedmen used the Alexandria Association to advance their right to Black Suffrage achieved with support from the Republican Party.