This is from the
same world as this post (though at some point I intend to go back and modify it, since things would go a bit differently due to this and some other stuff I'll be posting eventually). Here, Lincoln is still assassinated and thus dies a hero rather than living to implement a relatively mild Reconstruction plan, but Johnson is also assassinated, and the incident leads to an even greater Radical Republican burst of energy, which here doesn't face the obstruction that Johnson presented in OTL. With this, a more successful and productive Radical Reconstruction is enacted, and lasts longer. Northern will to enforce reconstruction still erodes as the national GOP shifts towards a pro-business stance, and Federal support for reconstruction is eventually withdrawn, leading to an end of reconstruction and reestablishment of white supremacist rule in most southern states. In the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina, however, the reconstruction governments are able to retain control (in part due to the more radical reconstruction doing more to build up Black militias as well as alliances between Black people and poor white people with economic reforms), and remain a hotbed of Republican 'radicalism' (shifting towards outright socialism in the Gilded Age and Progressive era)
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With the end of federally supported reconstruction, the lights went out for multiracial democracy across the south, with "Redeemer" white supremacist governments taking power and implementing a mixture of legislative and vigilante disenfranchisement and discrimination accompanied by waves of violence and terrorism. The Democratic Party quickly gained a massive and enduring political dominance in the south outside of the "Unredeemed Three". A few odd exceptions did exist, however. In Tennessee, Republicans were able to take advantage of political issues regarding debt to win the governorship and the state house of representatives in 1880, though the state senate remained under Democratic control, and Democrats retook total control just two years later. In Virginia, the multiracial "Readjuster Party" also used political issues regarding debt to propel itself to even greater success, winning the governorship and both chambers of the state legislature in 1881, using its power to reform debt as well as remove poll voter suppression poll tax laws and implement state support for education. This coalition would not last long either, however, and after a campaign of violence, would be voted out, with Democrats returning to power and using their power to further cement white one-party rule in the state. North Carolina also saw a surge in anti-Democratic politics, but things went a bit differently there
Debt issues also contributed to the rise of anti-Democratic sentiment in North Carolina. There, the Farmer's Alliance and Greenback party, and then the Populist party after the preceding two united, pushed for an agrarian reform-progressive alternative to the conservative Bourbon Democrat rule. Initially, however, these reformers sought to work within the Democratic party, and it was only after several controversies, including a state Democratic proclamation of opposition to ticket splitting for the Populist party for president and Democratic party downballot in 1892, and state government suppression of the Farmer's Alliance, that led these reformers to lean towards working with Republicans instead
This new Populist-Republican 'Fusion' alliance was somewhat awkward. The Populists tended to focus on economic progressive reforms, with a range of different views within the party on questions of race - some considering racism to be an attempt by the elites to divide workers, and wanting to build multiracial political coalitions, but others instead sympathizing with white supremacist views or at least wanting to avoid alienating white supremacist elements of the electorate, and others simply being apathetic on the issue. Among Republicans, issues of race were given more emphasis, and while the state GOP parties in the south retained more significant amounts of Radical-leaning sorts who were sympathetic to progressive economics (in comparison to the more conservative leaning national party), such issues weren't as as important to Republicans even in North Carolina as they were to Populists. Issues of trade and currency also divided the two parties - though those tended to be issues more relevant for federal policy than state-level policy. The addition of some other smaller third parties to the Fusion coalition also provided some controversy, increasing the size of the tent on one hand but making messaging more awkward
Despite all that, the 'Fusion' alliance managed to unite on a platform of economic and political reform that was quite popular with the state electorate. In the 1894 elections, the Fusion alliance won majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, and in 1896, they increased their majorities to control over 80% of the state senate and 70% of the state house. The Populist party was divided - it split on whether to endorse the Fusion coalition nominee for governor or instead run a candidate of their own. A populist candidate did end up running, but despite fears of vote-splitting, the Republican candidate, running with endorsement from a large faction of the Populists and from the other Fusion coalition allies, ended up winning a solid majority of the vote anyway
Once in power, the Fusion coalition enacted many reforms. Substantial actions were taken to defend voting rights, and despite both the Populists' apathy on the issue, Governor Russell's past pro-'lily white' comments, and the coalition's rhetoric casting such reforms as being primarily focused on aiding poor voters without reference to race, these government reforms had a significant role in making it easier for Black North Carolinians to vote. The coalition also significantly increased state support for public schools and higher education, as well as funding for jobs programs in infrastructure and public works, while increasing taxes and various regulations on businesses, and legislation protecting unions' ability to organize and strike, among other things
The Fusion coalition did not manage to avoid opposition, but did nonetheless appear establish popularity among the people of the state. By going beyond issues of debt, education, and electoral reform, and taking inspiration from Coxey's Army and other progressives for economic reform, the coalition had established a deeper appeal beyond what the Republicans in Tennessee and Readjusters in Virginia had managed to do. The idea of fighting racism and uniting Black and poor white people with economic progressivism was not invented in North Carolina and had been gaining traction in some circles beforehand anyway, but the North Carolina experiment did lend some additional support to that idea
The Democratic party remained intensely opposed to Fusion rule, however, and while the coalition made substantial inroads among white North Carolinians, a substantial portion of the white population in the state remained staunchly committed to white supremacy. Furthermore, many white southerners outside of North Carolina had remained outraged over the failure to "redeem" Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina, and were even more outraged at the apparent "unredeeming/re-reconstruction" occurring in North Carolina. In preparation for the 1898 state legislature elections, the Democratic party in North Carolina began to campaign aggressively on reversing the gains made by the Fusionists, and on taking any measures necessary to suppress the Black vote. Terrorist acts against the Black population began to increase, and white supremacist organizations like the Red Shirts began to mobilize. As 1897 progressed and 1898 came, NC Democrats increasingly doubted their ability to take back power in fair elections, and began to openly conspire with the Red Shirts and other terrorists and militants - they were simply not willing to take defeat as an option, and would attempt to violently and illegally seize power in the state if they could not win fairly
Early hopes by civil rights supporters outside of the south turned to despair. Not only were white supremacists in NC mobilizing for war, but white supremacist militants across the south appeared to be organizing to come to the aid of their allies in their attempt to overthrow the NC government. And president McKinley and the National Republican Party appeared unwilling to do much to act. Some sympathy towards the NC government was quietly expressed, but the national party had little will to expend the political capital to intervene to defend a southern state government (the existence of the "Unredeemed Three" was controversial enough), especially one that had aligned with progressive populists and labor activists in an era where much of the GOP aligned heavily with business interests. It appeared inevitable that the white supremacists would suppress the Fusionist government, and that the opportunity for multiparty democracy would be quickly ended as it was in Tennessee and Virginia
Then, as the white supremacists in North Carolina launched their insurrection in earnest, the loyalist elements of the NC state militia, aided by reinforcements from the LA, MS, and SC state militias, and additional assistance from other Black "Turner Brigades" as well as armed militants of the Knights of Labor and other labor brigades, entered the fight, taking just about two months to put an end to the insurrection, and leaving many outside of the south rather confused
As reconstruction ended years earlier, the state governments in "unredeemed" LA, MS, and SC had reached an informal agreement with the National GOP - the national party would politically oppose any attempts by Democrats to use federal power to return to white supremacist rule in their states, and they'd be allowed to retain their Radical policy leanings in state-level politics, but in return, the Republicans in the unredeemed states would just stick to the GOP party line for votes in the national Congress, and they'd also keep their heads down and not try to generate more controversy outside of their states. Consequently, while some politicians in the "unredeemed three" supported giving support to anti-Democratic political efforts in the rest of the south, such as political support for Tennessee Republicans, and political support for Virginia Readjusters as well as armed support when white supremacists launched a terror campaign with acts like the Danville Massacre in order to suppress the vote during the 1883 state legislative election, the governments in the three states ultimately decided to maintain strict neutrality, in order to avoid escalating things and potentially upsetting the national GOP. But such inaction was deeply unsatisfying with many in LA, MS, and SC, and a decade and a half later, the leadership in those states was willing to take action and intervene rather than choose inaction
The white supremacist rebels in NC mobilized with substantial numbers, but their forces were not the most experienced or organized soldiers. Many of these were wholly untrained people who just really hated Black people, or people who at most had experience with vigilante terrorist action and other irregular action against mostly unarmed targets. After experiences like those in Virginia, the leaders of the insurrection were not expecting much in the way of organized resistance at all, and racial stereotyping may have additionally contributed to them underestimating their opponents. On the other hand, the LA, MS, and SC militias were filled with rather more well-trained and equipped forces who'd gained substantial experience in anti-insurgency operations during their successful defense of their state governments against white supremacists after federal support for reconstruction was withdrawn. The labor militants who also came to the aid of the NC government weren't quite as formally experienced as those militias were, but themselves had many veterans of labor conflicts whose skills were also quite useful. And while the NC state militia as a whole was perhaps not of the highest quality, those who remained loyal were often noted to fight with higher motivation than defectors
Initial insurgent offenses attempting to seize the state capitol and other key cities in the state saw a surprisingly strong resistance by the loyalist government and its allies, and were repulsed after intense fighting. Loyalist forces were then able to shift to the offensive themselves, against an insurgent force that was shocked by the strong resistance and which saw increasing numbers of insurgents (particularly those from out of state) simply leaving rather than staying to fight. Some national commentators had feared that even if the insurgency did not fully succeed, that it might turn into a stalemate that escalated to broader race war in the south, but instead the loyalists were able to reestablish control in the state by the end of the year, and for the most part, things didn't escalate from there. Additionally, the insurgent goal of suppressing the anti-Democratic vote not only failed but backfired - by the time the 1898 elections were held, the more firmly pro-Fusionist areas tended to be those that had been first secured by the Fusionists, while pro-Democratic areas tended to be those that were most disrupted by ongoing fighting and related issues, which helped allow the Fusion coalition to not only retain majorities but further expand their numbers in the legislature
The initial aftermath of the insurrection saw loud white supremacist screeching across the nation, but this quickly quieted somewhat. Despite Democratic attempts to blame the national GOP, the national GOP had clearly stayed out of the whole affair. Even opinions among the outspokenly pro-civil rights parts of the Republican party had been divided due to the NC Fusion government's allying with progressive populist elements against the interests of business. A common response by mainstream northern Republicans was simply something along the lines of "isn't it funny that all those Democrats got beat by a bunch of Black people?" rather than any broader attempt to use the issue to push against white supremacy or give support to Black people in the south or elsewhere
Behind closed doors, national Republican leadership initially rebuked the governments in LA, MS, and SC for stepping outside of established norms and giving aid to the NC government. But when the affair was quickly wrapped up, the national party felt less reason to fear taking political damage, and McKinley's strong victory over Bryan in the 1900s helped confirm this to the national GOP. Cracks between the national GOP and the Radical southern governments continued to show and grow, but for the time being, the old status quo relationship between them continued, and that "stay out of our way and we won't support suppressing you" status quo was extended to the new NC government as well
In North Carolina, the Fusion government would not fully orient itself in the socialist direction that the governments in SC, LA, and MS had been taking, but nonetheless continued along its progressive populist path and thus remained another oddball contrasted to conservative national GOP. The government continued to strengthen voting rights and pro-union legislation, while also becoming the 15th state to grant women full voting suffrage, enacting legislation for worker's disability/injury compensation, enacting a state land value tax, expanding funding for education and infrastructure jobs-programs, and enacting working-hour limits, among other things. The Fusion government continued to be quite popular, and in 1900, the Fusion coalition united behind Labor Commissioner James Hamrick, who went on to win a sizable victory over Democrat Aycock and his white supremacist Populist-splitter allies. The North Carolina experiment would continue
Another substantial white supremacist attempt to overthrow the NC state government would not occur, but sporadic terrorism would continue to occur in the state for the next few decades. Additionally, while white supremacists were not able to use the North Carolina situation for much gain nationally, statistics show that lynching rates increased after 1898, particularly in the south - many historians believe that this was at least partially due to backlash against the state of affairs in North Carolina, and white supremacist attempts to manage humiliation over the affair and their defeat
Some historians and thinkers question whether the MS, LA, and SC governments could have successfully intervened in the politics of VA and TN a decade and a half earlier, to potentially break Democratic dominance in two more states and help replace that with more enduring multiracial populist coalitions in those states too. There's little consensus on that, considering that the three states would have been less prepared 15 years earlier, and that it might have had more risk of escalating into a broader conflict across the south that the national Republican party would have been reluctant to intervene in
