After the civil war, why did some southerners feel they were being taxed without representation?
I can't find the answer. Some help would be appreciated!
When the Civil War ended, or as the U.S. Army took control of states that had been in rebellion during the War, the former Confederate states were under military control. States had to write new constitutions and set up new state and local governments to be fully re-admitted. Even then, harsh Reconstruction laws enacted by Congress prohibited former Confederate officials from holding office or even voting in some cases (those rights were later restored). Still, local property taxes, tariffs, and other taxes were collected, despite the fact local residents in the former Confederacy did not have full voting rights, albeit temporarily. Further, conservatives in the South resented former slaves who were elected to office instead of white people, northerners who came to the South ("carpetbaggers") for profit or for social reform and got themselves elected to Congress and state and local offices, and other effects of Reconstruction. The old-line white Southerners thought the newly formed governments were not legitimate and had been imposed upon them.
The best article I could find quickly about Reconstruction is this one, but it's not very complete and does not discuss the military rule that former Confederate states underwent in the first year or two of Reconstruction.
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/04/school-bus-accidents-and-resistance-school-inhabitants-this-weeks-top-7-education-stories/522210/?utm_source=atlfb
I have to add a little. Some former Confederate officials were elected to Congress after the Civil War and the states had been re-admitted, but the "Radical Republicans" in Congress rejected them. The people who had elected them felt disenfranchised. (Those restrictions, as I said above, were later lifted.) And the new bi-racial governments, often under the influence of Northerners as well as African-Americans, spent tax money to rebuild infrastructure like railroads and shipping, on public schools, and other things that conservative whites didn't like, so they felt like what they wanted (or did not want) was ignored.
The feeling of being taxed without representation among some southerners after the Civil War can be attributed to a number of factors. To understand this, it is necessary to examine the historical context and events that took place during and after the conflict.
1. Reconstruction Era: Following the Civil War, the United States underwent a period known as Reconstruction, during which the federal government sought to rebuild the Southern states and reintegrate them into the Union. As part of this effort, the federal government introduced a series of policies and reforms in the Southern states.
2. Military Occupation and Martial Law: To enforce these policies and maintain order, the federal government deployed Union troops to occupy and control the Southern states. This military presence often led to restrictions on civil liberties, including freedom of speech and assembly, and it gave rise to a sense of political disenfranchisement among certain southern populations.
3. Reconstruction Amendments: During Reconstruction, three constitutional amendments were ratified: the 13th Amendment (abolishing slavery), the 14th Amendment (granting equal protection under the law), and the 15th Amendment (prohibiting racial discrimination in voting). While these amendments aimed to secure civil rights for African Americans, they were met with resistance from some southern whites who felt that their own rights were being undermined or disregarded.
4. Political Disempowerment: Reconstruction policies, such as the Reconstruction Acts of 1867, placed significant restrictions on former Confederate officials' participation in politics, effectively preventing them from holding office. This led to a perception among some southerners that they were being excluded from the political process and denied representation.
5. Rise of Sharecropping: The economic landscape in the South also contributed to a sense of being taxed without representation. Many former slaves and poor whites became sharecroppers, working on land owned by others and paying a portion of their crops as rent. Sharecroppers felt burdened by high taxes imposed by both the federal and state governments while lacking the political power to influence legislation or policies that directly affected them.
To delve deeper into this topic, it is recommended to refer to historical sources such as textbooks, academic articles, or primary documents from the Reconstruction era. Additionally, studying the role of race, class, and political dynamics during this time will provide a more comprehensive understanding of why some southerners felt they were being taxed without representation.