South Carolina Ku Klux Klan trials of 1871–1872
[5] Klan activities vanished while prosecutions were ongoing and publicized, but, by the end of 1872, federal will dissolved in the face of waning Republican support for Reconstruction.
Klansmen broke up Union Leagues, intimidated voters at the polls, assaulted blacks and “carpetbag” whites, and killed several Republican leaders in advance of the 1868 election.
[9] In response to Klan violence, and to bolster his own reelection chances, governor Scott lobbied for and eventually passed the South Carolina Militia Law of 1869.
The sight of black men armed and drilling, parading in formation, and guarding the polls in 1870 further incensed whites and stoked bigoted Klan violence.
[10] Between notions of political illegitimacy and inflammation of existing racial prejudice, the Klan was supported by nearly all of the white population in the nine counties of South Carolina where Grant eventually suspended habeas corpus.
[11][12] Following the election of 1870, in which the Republican majority was sustained and Governor Scott re-elected, the Klan began a campaign of mass terror in the upcountry of South Carolina.
The Klan rode almost nightly following the elections, forcing their way into the homes of freedmen and carpetbaggers, interrogating the men on their political activities, demanding they renounce the Republican party, then whipping and beating them severely, or murdering them.
[13] " Many black freedmen fled their homes over these months, choosing to spend the fall and winter nights in the woods and swamps in order to evade Klan violence.
Major Merrill investigated Klan activities from March to September, utilizing all means at his disposal including a network of spies paid for by the Department of Justice.
This first-hand evidence was essential to future prosecutions, and the Army's protection provided an environment where witnesses could recount their victimization without fear of brutal reprisals.
Merrill was required to submit his evidence to local grand juries for State prosecutions, but discovered that "the whole conduct of their duty was so broad a farce, that it was very distasteful to be forced in contact with it, and present developments show it to have been the most ghastly mockery of justice that it is possible to conceive".
The two relayed the findings to United States Attorney General Amos T. Akerman, and he soon traveled to Yorkville to review the assembled evidence of atrocities in person.
Merrill related that the findings he had collected "convinced [AG Akerman] that the worst reports which had been heretofore made of the power and of the infernal purpose and conduct of the [Klan] fell far short of the facts".
[18] Attorney General Akerman left South Carolina convinced that "from the beginning of the world until now", no community "nominally civilized, has been so fully under the domination of systematic and organized depravity".
On October 12, Grant ordered all persons to "disband and disperse" from the "unlawful combinations and conspiracies" commonly known as the Ku Klux Klan, and to hand over their weapons and disguises to federal marshals.
[2] After receiving no such compliance, Grant issued the proclamation declaring nine counties in active rebellion and suspended habeas corpus on October 17.
He noted that the effect of the arrests left the "rank and file" members of the Klan "bewildered and demoralized....They recognized the fact that the game was up, that the organization was broken, and all over the county they betook themselves to flight or came in and surrendered."
[20] United States District Attorney for South Carolina David Corbin empaneled federal grand juries to determine what charges to bring against the members of the Klan.
Corbin, with the input of Attorney General Akerman, endeavored to craft indictments in this case that not only brought Klansmen to justice, but might set a winning precedent for the constitutionality of the Enforcement Acts.
Akerman saw an opportunity in South Carolina to broadcast the atrocities of the Klan and swing public opinion against them, no doubt a savvy political move to revitalize Northern support for Reconstruction as well.
Both sides were eager to avoid any technical issues that might preclude the case from being heard by the Supreme Court, and so they stipulated to draw additional jurors from throughout the state and withhold any future objections based on jury selection.
Corbin had drafted the indictment to provide a trial court win for constitutional protections newly framed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments.
Additionally, Corbin sought to win a precedent in favor of the Enforcement Act provision that allowed federal cases to attach state level crimes.
In this provision, a federal charge alleging conspiracy to deprive a person of the right to vote could incorporate punishments for state level crimes like assault, robbery, burglary, and murder.
[24][21][22] The pretrial arguments that Bond ruled upon ended the aims of Akerman and Corbin to nationalize the Bill of Rights and Reconstruction Amendments.
[25] Corbin chose to prosecute only the indictments that Judge Bond had approved: conspiracy charges emanating from Enforcement Act protections of 15th Amendment voting rights.
Additionally, numerous Klansmen turned state's witness to testify against others, and provided details on the raids and outrages committed by the night riders.
Mr. Brumfield escaped, but the Klan beat Mr. Sturgis, eventually tying a line around his neck and lifting him off the ground in a near hanging, multiple times.
At the end of 1871, United States Attorney General Akerman had resigned unexpectedly and without explanation, though historians believe his refusal to bow to railroad magnates created political problems for President Grant.
[34] The next United States Attorney General, George H. Williams, did not support the continued prosecution of the trials past the second Circuit Court term in April 1872.
