Subsequent Events leading to Freedmen Suffrage

The Conservative Party emerged after the election of 1867 to attempt to challenge Freedmen and the Republican Party. Conservatives emerged on December 11^th and December 12, 1867 in Richmond, Virginia to oppose Freedmen and Republicans. Historian Edward Younger described Conservatives emergence when he said, “Forgetting their antebellum conflicts, former Whigs and Democrats united in opposition to the now-dominant Republicans and promised to deliver the Old Dominion from the grasp of “Negro supremacy.” Conservatives worked to obtain control of the Virginia legislature to readmit Virginia to the Union. Freedmen in Alexandria Freedmen were capable of electing fifty-nine of the one hundred and five members without support from Radicals because of Freedmen’s new image after the spring 1867 elections. Conservatives argued that they could influence Freedmen’s vote if the group obtained a considerable amount of support. Conservatives emerged in what became the Committee of Nine to restore Virginia to the Union in 1869. Conservatives used the referendum of the Underwood Constitution to advance their goals of Virginia Reconstruction to protect former Confederates.

The Debates and Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of the State of Virginia: Assembled at the City of Richmond, Tuesday, December 3, 1867: Being a Full and Complete Report of the Debates and Proceedings of the Convention, Together with The Reconstruction Acts of Congress and Those Supplement Thereto, The Order of the Commander of The First Military District Assembling The Convention, And The New Constitution. Volume I. A narrative of the leading incidents of the organization of the first popular movement in Virginia in 1865 to re-establish peaceful relations between the northern and southern states, and the subsequent efforts of the "Committee of Nine," in 1869, to secure the restoration of Virginia to the Union

A narrative about Virginia Conservatives and the Committee of Nine that ended Virginia Reconstruction.

Alexander A. H. H. Stewart, a Virginia Conservative worked with Conservatives to end Virginia Reconstruction through the Committee of Nine. Virginia Governor Wells warned Senators and Representatives that Virginia needed to protect Unionists within Virginia that included a disenfranchisement clause of the Virginia Constitution. Stuart drafted a statement that called for Universal suffrage and universal amnesty on December 19, 1868. Stuart obtained Grant’s support for a referendum on the Virginia Constitutional Convention over Schofield’s actions. Grant stated that Virginia had to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment before it readmitted into the Union. The Committee of Nine voted on two separate ballots: one for Black Suffrage and the second to disenfranchise former Confederates. Black Suffrage passed but disfranchisement failed. The split ballot vote allowed Conservatives to take power in Virginia to end Virginia Reconstruction. President Grant urged Congress to readmit Virginia to the Union that led to the Conservative takeover and the Committee of Nine. Congress, led by individuals such as John C. Bingham forced both Virginia chambers to promise that they could not change the Virginia Constitution before ratification. The Bill that readmitted Virginia to the Union passed the Senate on January 21, 1869, and the House on January 24, 1869.

Virginia native William H. Mahone, a democrat orchestrated the end of the disenfranchisement clause that consequently allowed former Confederates to serve in public office. He argued that Virginians, Conservatives and Republicans should come together and work to readmit Virginia to the Union and subsequently respect Freedmen’s political rights and Black Suffrage. He formed a coalition that supported Gilbert W. Walker as Virginia Governor. Virginia Republicans were depressed after the recent loss of the 1869 election. Therefore, Grant extended aide to Walker and helped to elect him as the next Virginia Governor. Conservatives persuaded whites to help elect Walker and continue Virginia Reconstruction. Mahone joined the Conservatives against the Republicans to protect his business interests that demanded that Walker become the next Virginia Governor. Conservatives in 1869 were unable to prevent Freedmen suffrage. Therefore, they subsequently worked to prevent Confederate disfranchisement.