The Conservative Party of South Carolina was a political party of
South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
during
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
. It was founded in 1874 by
James Chestnut from the State Tax Union to provide an organization for the mobilization of white voters. The absence of an active and statewide
Democratic Party led many Democrats to become members of the Conservative Party for the
election of 1874. The reemergence of a strong Democratic Party for the
election of 1876 ended the Conservative Party.
A convention in
Columbia for the State Tax Union was summoned for September 10, 1874, by James Chestnut. The purpose of the convention was to plan for the election of 1874 and to dispute a statement by
President Grant on September 2 about the recent activities of the
Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in the
South.
Chestnut called for another convention of the State Tax Union to be held on October 8 in Columbia to discuss election strategies and choose candidates for office. The delegates agreed to support the
Independent Republican statewide ticket and adopted a platform of honesty and efficiency in state government.
The Independent Republican statewide candidates were all defeated for the general election on November 3, 1874. However, the Conservatives did reduce the majorities of the Republicans in the
House and the
Senate, albeit modestly. A fusion of the Conservative and Independent Republican parties in
Charleston County enabled Conservatives to be elected to the
General Assembly from Charleston and for the Independent Republican
Edmund W.M. Mackey to win a seat in Congress from the
Second District.
While unable to achieve its electoral goals in the election, the lasting effect of the Conservative Party was to provide a basis for the reformation of the Democratic Party. The failure of the Conservatives caused the Democrats to believe that in order to
gain control of state government, they needed to nominate a full slate of statewide candidates for the election of 1876.
References
*{{cite book , first = John S. , last = Reynolds , title = Reconstruction in South Carolina , year = 1969 , publisher = Negro University Press , isbn = 0-8371-1638-4
Political parties established in 1874
Defunct state and local conservative parties in the United States
History of South Carolina
Regional and state political parties in the United States
Reconstruction Era
Political parties in South Carolina
1874 establishments in South Carolina