The Civil War and its aftermath had more affect on Henderson County and its people than any other event in the county’s history.

There is little documented or recorded history for the county between the start of the war until the mid to late 1880s. But, events and political leaders of the county must be studied in terms of Reconstruction occurring throughout the state and the region.

 Reconstruction

The county suffered hundreds of deaths from the Civil War. More than 350 men died in the war. Untold numbers were wounded or disabled by injury.
With the majority of white men off fighting the war, the women struggled to maintain farms and families. The results often included impaired health and even death of the elderly and weak.
Economic costs were staggering. Property was destroyed or looted. Confederate money was worthless. The abolition of slavery cost the county’s slaveholders money in capital investment. During the war, schools closed, colleges in the state closed, and banks in the state collapsed. Almost none were in any condition to re-open after the war.
The destruction of the institution of slavery resulted in upheaval in some sections of the state, mainly the eastern and Piedmont sections of the state. Persons previously of wealth and affluence either lost their lands by confiscation or simply abandoned large amounts of land for lack of a labor force to cultivate it.
In Henderson County, many former slaves and a number of subsistence farmers began sharecropping. There were no banks and no industry at this time in the county. The railroad had never arrived and no factories were ever here, so this part did not change for the county as it did for other sections of the state.
But, a large amount of property had been destroyed and/or looted. Most horses were stolen and only a few mules were left.
People who had seeds or some money to buy seeds had to plant immediately or face another winter of starvation.
During the war, the total population decreased due to deaths in the war, deaths due to disease and starvation, and a low birth rate during the war.
Immediately after the war, there was a further decrease in population as there was a substantial migration North of the black population and some of the white population packed up and moved West.
The 1870 census shows the population in the county at 7,743. Keep in mind that Transylvania County was formed in 1861 and those persons were no longer counted in the Henderson County census. An analysis of the census will be done in the future to determine the breakdown by race and age on this census.

 Reconstruction came in three phases:
1. Presidential Reconstruction, 1863-66, controlled by Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Their goal was to speedily reunite the country. Lincoln wanted a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery but did not support citizenship and suffrage for former slaves. He was assassinated April 14, 1865. Vice President Andrew Johnson became president and generally attempted to fulfill Lincoln’s desires. He pardoned many Confederates, allowed them to vote and maintain control of state and local governments. But, elected representatives from Southern states were not seated by Congress. Congress then brought impeachment proceedings against President Johnson.
2. Lincoln and Johnson’s moderate programs were opposed by the Radical Republicans, a political faction that gained power after the 1866 elections and began Radical Reconstruction, 1866-1873. Radical Republicans emphasized civil rights and voting rights for the former slaves. They also felt the South should be punished severely and that only those who swore an oath of loyalty that they had never opposed the Union should be allowed the rights of full citizenship. A Republican coalition of Freedmen, carpetbaggers (Northerners who came south for political and economic gain) and scalawags (Unionist Southern whites) controlled most of the southern states from 1866 to 1872. Rights were withheld from Confederate soldiers based on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment states that any citizen who engages in insurrection or rebellion against the Constitution shall not be allowed the right to hold office. The vast majority of former Confederates were not allowed to vote or serve office. The majority of voters were newly freedmen and Unionist whites. The Reconstruction Act of 1867 divided the South into five military districts, placing all southern states under military rule, and dissolved the civil governments in all southern states except Tennessee. North Carolina was required to hold a constitutional convention to develop a new state constitution, which would guarantee suffrage to all men over 21 years old who had not supported the Confederacy. This requirement would ensure that freed slaves could participate in elections and government, while those white men who had supported the Confederate cause could not. The state also had to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment.
North Carolina remained under military rule until July 1868 as part of the Second Military District of the Carolinas under the command of Gen. Daniel E. Sickles. He angered many when he set up military courts to try civilians and allowed freedmen to serve on juries. He was replaced with Gen. Edward Canby.
A two-party system of politics emerged: Radical Republicans and the Conservative Party, comprised mainly of former Whigs and old-order Democrats who joined together in an effort to defeat radical reconstruction politics. Many members of the Conservative Party could not vote or hold office.
William W. Holden was appointed governor by the U.S. Congress and later elected under voting rules of Radical Reconstruction. He immediately called a special session of the legislature, which promptly ratified the Fourteenth Amendment on July 2, 1868. Within three weeks, North Carolina’s Republican representatives were seated in the U. S. Congress, and North Carolina was officially re-admitted to the Union. There immediately began a campaign (some times violent) to re-assert Conservative control over the social and political systems in the state.
In 1869 the Radical Republican government passed the Shoffner Act, which allowed Governor Holden to declare martial law in any county where he determined that county officers were not maintaining law and order (This was in reaction to the formation of the KKK). It also allowed that trials for murder, conspiracy or wearing a mask could be moved from the county in which the crime occurred. This provision was not designed to ensure a fair trial for the accused, but to assure that the prosecution had a fair chance at conviction, which was unlikely in a Klan member’s home county.
Armed with provisions of the Shoffner Act, Governor Holden confronted the Klan in Alamance and Caswell Counties, after the deaths of two Radical Republican leaders, Wyatt Outlaw and John W. Stephens. He sent two regiments of state troops under the command of Col. George W. Kirk into the area, resulting in the arrest of 82 men in Alamance County and 19 in Caswell County. These men were held in jail, denied bail, and, in some cases, never told why they were being arrested. When a state judge issued a writ of habeas corpus to bring these men before a civil court instead of a military court, Kirk refused to comply. A second appeal before a federal judge resulted in writs of habeas corpus for all the prisoners.
3. President Grant signed the Amnesty Act of 1872. The Amnesty Act was a law passed on May 22, 1872, to provide amnesty to soldiers of the Confederate Army and return the vote. All but 500 top Confederate leaders were pardoned. This began what is called the “Redemption, 1873-77,” white Southerners defeated the Republicans and took control of each southern state, marking the end of Radical Reconstruction.
This period began in North Carolina by 1870. The Radical Republicans lost the majority of state offices in North Carolina in 1870. They lost the election primarily because of huge corruption within the Radical Republican government within the state. Shortly after the election, the N.C. House of Representatives brought charges against Holden, which alleged that he acted illegally in declaring martial law and arresting individuals; in refusing to obey the writs of habeas corpus; and in raising state troops and paying them. After a seven week trial, the Senate convicted Holden and voted to remove him from office. He became the first state governor in the country to be impeached and removed from office. Lt. Gov. Todd R. Caldwell replaced him as governor. Klan activity stopped or slowed in many areas of the state. By 1872, the Klan became more focused on race rather than politics and ceased to play a major role in North Carolina politics until the beginning of the 20th century.