The Anderson's Time
Hamburg Massacre
Chelsea Ramey and Zyeah Sullivan
Back Story of Hamburg
More than a century ago there was a town known as Hamburg. This town was an all black town set up in South Carolina for African Americans to have a place to settle.Hamburg, South Carolina was located in Akin County. The county was set up by James U. Jackson. This was supposed to be a place of peace for the African Americans, but because of their color there would be no peace.
What Happended
It was July 4th, 1876 and 4 African Americans Militia groups gathered in the center of the town to celebrate the nation's holiday of independence. Everybody was having a good time until two black farmers by the names of Thomas Butler and Henry Gents came along in a carriage, from there everything went bad. The two farmers came by and demanded for the blacks to move aside so they could pull their carriage through and of course the blacks obeyed. The next day the farmers went to court and asked for the leader of the militia, Doc Adams to be arrested for blocking the streets, police were sent to arrest Adams.
During The Arrest
The actual massacre occurred on July 8th of the same year. While Doc was being arrested the militia men reassembled back into the roads, but this time there were whites waiting for them. The black militia tried to retreat from the streets and run, but a massacre broke out. 25 black men were captured during this massacre and 5 were murdered in front of everybody. The captured blacks were executed in front of the town.
Significance of the Massacre
Wade Hampton an,ex-Confederate general who would run for governor as a Democrat in the fall election. Wade Hampton used the Hamburg Massacre to remind the mostly white voters across the state of racial danger of Republican-controlled government. Hampton and the Democrats won the election and ended Reconstruction in the South Carolina. This event also set back the progression of Reconstruction; it raised the racial tensions that were already a major problem. Although this was a tragic event, there were many more that happened during Reconstruction.