Blacks in eastern North Carolina voted overwhelmingly for the party of Lincoln, briefly helping Republicans take control of the state legislature from 1868 to 1870. The Conservative Party, dominated by white supremacists, reclaimed the legislature in the 1870 election. In 1876, Democrats (the Conservative Party was renamed that year) refined the race-baiting tactics of the 1868 constitutional convention campaign, rallying white voters by demonizing black men. Democrats returned to power statewide in 1876, taking over the legislature, the governor’s mansion, and county governments. It was a
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