Excerpt from William Henry Ruffner, Reconstruction Statesman of Virginia The year 1920 marked the semi-centennial Of the opening Of the public schools in Virginia under the administration Of William Henry Ruffner. In 1870 as now the problems Of the' day were problems Of reconstruction. Since 1861 Virginia had seen both conquest and revolution. The new constitution and the special covenant under which the state had just re turned to the Union constituted in effect a treaty, the intent Of which was to-render secure the results Of the conquest and to fortify the processes Of the revolution.1 Most significant among the treaty's terms, to which effect had to be given through laws, institutions and customs, were the provisions for public education and the plan for protecting and develop ing an inferior race through education and suffrage. The story Of the working Of the suffrage provision is one Of dismal failure. That the educational experiment proved a blessing to both races was due primarily to William Henry Rufi'ner, the Horace Mann Of the South. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Conservatives won control of the Virginia state government in 1869 and goverened for ten years on a program of integrating their homeland into the structure of the contemporary United States by adopting Yankee" institutions and ideas: industrial capitalism, American nationalsim, Gilded-Age political practices, and a system of race relations that made the Afro-American a free man and officially a citizen but not an equal." Originally published in 1970. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

In the grim decades after the Civil War, Southerners dreamed of industrial growth and agricultural diversification. In this study, Mr. Moore traces the development and changes that took place in the Old Dominion during these troubled postbellum years. The state's massive debt burden touched off an upheaval, splintering the electorate into competing Funder and Readjuster factions. The Funders, composed largely of the conservative farmers of eastern Virginia and the commercial classes of the towns, were committed to pay off Virginia's prewar debt in full. The Readjusters, drawing their support from the fringe elements of society, sought a more realistic, downward adjustment of the debt.

This Civil Rights Act of March 1, 1875 banned racial discrimination in public accommodations. This first full study demonstrates that the Republicans enacted it believed that civil equality under the law would produce social order in the former rebel South.