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Streetcar Rebellions Forced Desegregation
- Joseph Guillaume and other Black veterans physically seized control of a whites-only New Orleans streetcar to force integration in May 1867.
- Guillaume grabbed the reins, ousted the driver, and the next day 500 Black protesters demanded desegregation, forcing city policy change.
Army and Union Leagues Built the Black Electorate
- The Reconstruction Acts made the Army and Freedmen's Bureau central to registering Black voters and running new constitutional conventions across the South.
- Military commanders coordinated the first nationwide voter registration campaign while Union League organizers taught freedmen political participation.
Henry Turner Converted Churches Into Political Schools
- Reverend Henry McNeil Turner used AME churches and Union League meetings with call-and-response lessons to mobilize Black voters in Georgia.
- Turner claimed he organized more Union Leagues and speeches than anyone in the state, turning members into active Republican voters.