Adelbert Ames, the Civil War, and the Creation of Modern America by Michael Megelsh published by Kent State University Press (2024) is an interesting biography of a young Civil War general who went on to become the governor of Mississippi and the senator from that state. While not as famous as James Longstreet, he played a major role in Reconstruction in the South, and, before “White Redemption” in 1875, he was one of the political leaders who worked with the Black majority in many parts of the South to secure their rights. In his final year in office as governor, the “Mississippi Plan” was unleashed against him and his Black supporters which led to unprecedented numbers of killings of people of color by the Red Shirts, the deprivation of Blacks’ right to vote, and the start of the impeachment of Gov. Ames.
Mississippi was one of two states with a Black majority. It held up a real challenge to white supremacy. Even without Federal intervention, if voting was fair, the governing class would be held accountable by the Black majority. Adelbert Ames was an idealistic official who was dedicated to securing Black civil equality. Unfortunately, the situation in Mississippi made his tenure insecure. He married after the Civil War and tried to bring his family from Massachusetts to Mississippi but his wife was treated so rudely that she spent most of her time outside the state.
By 1874, the white supremacists were beginning to put together the Mississippi Plan which played out over the next two years. Rather than use the Klan as its enforcement mechanism, the state’s Confederate veterans joined the Red Shirts and allied organizations to suppress the Black vote and hinder the Republicans in governing. The Mississippi Plan was so successful that Democratic leadership in other states adopted it as the most successful way of restoring white supremacy throughout the South.
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