The 1869 Election and Alexandria Freedmen

Freedmen in Alexandria were impacted by the 1869 election because it determined the end of Virginia Reconstruction. Eighty two percent of eligible Virginia voters voted in 1869. Virginia Conservatives attempted and failed to intimidate Freedmen from voting. The 1869 Virginia election consisted of a three way election with Conservatives, True Republicans that consisted of slave owners and secessionists against Radical Republicans that supported Wells. Nevertheless, Gilbert Walker defeated Wells by more than eighteen thousand votes with a majority of fifty four percent. Conservatives largely won the Virginia state elections with help of True Republicans despite Radical Republican opposition. Walker’s election led to the end of Virginia Reconstruction as he called the Virginia General Assembly into session on October 5, 1869.The Virginia General Assembly subsequently voted on the Underwood Constitution without the test-oath and disenfranchisement clauses. Freedmen in Alexandria were unable to vote after March 1867 until 1870 but were impacted by Virginia Reconstruction when Walker became the next Governor.