high debt of approximately forty-five million dollars which faced
the state. The Underwood Constitution had provided for numerous
additional office positions in an attempt to force the New England
Township plan upon the Virginia County plan and to create positions
for the many "Carpetbaggers" (northern politicians who came south
to gain control of the local governments) and "Scalawags" (southern
politicians who helped the "Carpetbaggers" get control). This
increased the cost of state government. To remedy this situation,
the General Assembly decreased its total membership approximately
one-fourth to help reduce expenses.
Prior to the war, Virginia had embarked upon an extensive program
of internal improvements which under normal circumstances would
have paid for itself eventually and which during the war had
accumulated much unpaid interest on the bonded debt. This financial
burden would seem secondary to the tremendous poverty of the
Virginians themselves at the end of the war. However, the General
Assembly which had met prior to the adoption of the Underwood
Constitution pledged the payment of all the ante-bellum debt
plus the interest, even though Virginia had lost one-third of its
taxable assets because of the separation of West Virginia. Some of
the members still hoped and actually believed that West Virginia
might return to the fold of Virginia after the war had ended. At the
Governor's suggestion, in order to obtain revenue, the state sold
its railroad holdings at a great reduction. Another method was the
exchange of certain bonds for new ones at six per cent interest for
two-thirds of the amount of the old bonds. For the additional third,
certificates were issued endorsed against future settlement with
West Virginia. Although these attempts were made to obtain necessary
revenue, the amount received was very insufficient, and the state
actually became more indebted because of them.
Another grave problem which faced the state at this time was the
establishment of a state system of free public schools. This action
was based upon a provision of the Underwood Constitution of 1869
and although having a most worthy purpose, the action was a costly
one. Schools were to be furnished for the Negroes (approximately
30% of the total Virginia population) as well as for the whites,
and this condition made the problem more difficult since there was
a large number of illiterate Negroes. Dr. William H. Ruffner of
Lexington, the first State Superintendent of Public Instruction,
was elected by the General Assembly when the new state public
school system was organized in 1870. The formidable task facing
him can be better appreciated when one considers the creation of
an entire public school system with very little money and few
trained teachers available. The interest from the Literary Fund,
all the capitation or poll tax, a new state property tax and a new
one dollar annual tax on each male citizen twenty-one years and
older were to constitute the financial support of the public school
system. Local school and capitation taxes were optional with each
county and public school district. Dr. Ruffner received much help
from Dr. Benjamin Mosby Smith who helped him formulate a program and
at the end of the first year, twenty-nine hundred schools were in
operation with three thousand teachers employed to teach one hundred
and thirty thousand students. From time to time, the schools were
seriously threatened when the interest on the state debt was so high
that there was little surplus left for educational purposes. Dr.
Ruffner fought not only to keep the school funds from being used for
other state activities but also to encourage Virginians themselves
to favor a free public school system.
In 1868, General Samuel Chapman Armstrong was responsible for
the founding of the Hampton Institute at Hampton, an educational
institution whose primary objective was the education of the
ex-slaves. The American Missionary Society, at the suggestion of
General Armstrong, purchased a farm in Hampton where the Federal
Government had established a hospital during the War between the
States. The school began with General Armstrong as the principal,
two additional teachers and fifteen students. Two years later, it
became the Hampton Normal and Industrial Institute. Since General
Armstrong believed in education of the "head, the heart, and the
hands," training of the mind, character training, and vocational
training were emphasized with the over-all objective of preparing
the students to earn a living. The now-famous Hampton singers,
originally led by General Armstrong, made their first tour through
England and New England in 1870.
In the same year, Richmond was the scene of a dreadful disaster.
When a sensational political case was about to be tried by the
Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals which held its sessions above
the Old Hall in the State Capitol, the gallery in the court room
collapsed due to the weight of the spectators. It crashed so hard
that it broke through the ceiling of the Old Hall of the House of
Delegates causing the death of sixty-two persons and injury to
two hundred and fifty-one other individuals. This tragic incident
focused attention on the need for more careful supervision of the
construction and maintenance of buildings, especially where crowds
are likely to congregate.
In the following year, the United States Supreme Court, which has
original jurisdiction in the settlement of disputes between two or
more states of the Union, was asked to settle a controversy between
Virginia and West Virginia concerning the joint boundary line.
The Supreme Court held that the new State of West Virginia was
valid and agreed with West Virginia as to the territory within her
jurisdiction. At the same time, the Virginia General Assembly passed
an act whereby the state debt of approximately forty-five million
dollars was to be funded. West Virginia was to be responsible for
funding one-third of this amount since she had helped accumulate
this debt before her separation from Virginia.
In 1872, the Virginia General Assembly appropriated money to
establish an agricultural college at Blacksburg. This college was
created as a result of the Morrill Act of Congress whereby federal
funds were appropriated by Congress and awarded to colleges which
emphasized the teaching of agriculture and of mechanical arts. The
federal funds were received from the money collected from the sale
of public lands. Therefore, such colleges were called "land-grant"
colleges. The college of Blacksburg, originally known as Virginia
Agricultural and Mechanical College, was the first land-grant
college in Virginia and is now known as the Virginia Polytechnic
Institute.
The recessions which took place in the United States in 1867 and
in 1869 and the Panic of 1873 indirectly helped Virginia because,
instead of devoting much time and effort to Virginia's internal
problems as had been planned upon its re-admission to the Union, the
Congressmen at Washington were busy with the national problem of
getting the United States in a more prosperous economic condition.
When the political parties held their gubernatorial conventions
in Virginia in 1873, the Conservatives nominated General James
L. Kemper and the Republicans nominated Robert W. Hughes. Kemper
won, and the chief issue in the election was the debt problem.
The Conservatives had advocated payment of the debt in order to
maintain the credit of Virginia in the eyes of the public and to
assume what they considered a proper obligation. However, some of
the Conservatives believed that the debt would have to be lowered
somewhat if it were ever to be paid in full and that, from a
practical standpoint, it would have to be adjusted to the ability
of the state to pay. This group of Conservatives was called the
"Readjusters." In 1870, the state had been gerrymandered (districted
politically) in an effort to create Negro majorities which would
guarantee "carpetbagger" rule because the "carpetbaggers" seemingly
had been very helpful to the Negro. The Conservatives who had won
the election then enacted some reapportionment laws which resulted
in the restoration of white rule in the cities. They also took it
upon themselves to abolish approximately one-third of the local jobs
created by the Underwood Constitution. In 1876, a law was passed
which required the payment of a poll tax before voting in the state
of Virginia. Although originally this tax was levied for revenue
purposes, it automatically kept some of the Negroes from the voting
polls because they could not afford to pay this tax. At the same
time another law was passed, disfranchising all voters who had been
found guilty at any time of petty larceny. Since this method had
been commonly used by the Negroes directly after their emancipation,
this law was criticized by some individuals as discriminatory toward
the Negroes and contrary to the Fourteenth Amendment.
As time passed, the old question of the state debt loomed more
important and more controversial than ever. The problem had two
types of backers: one group called the "Readjusters" who believed
that the debt should be drastically reduced or practically
repudiated; the other group called the "Funders" who believed
that Virginia was honor-bound to pay the original debt in full.
The "Funders" surprisingly enough consisted of the planter and
merchant class men whose financial losses had been the greatest
during the war. The "Readjusters" persuaded the Negroes to adhere
to their ideas primarily for political reasons. The arguments
centered around such issues as: (1) whether the interest on the debt
should have been cumulative during the War between the States, (2)
whether Governor Walker had greatly over-estimated the potential
resources of Virginia in considering the capacity of the ability
of the people to pay, (3) whether the payment of a debt primarily
because the honor of a state is involved is a major factor in an
economic world, (4) whether the Federal government had regarded
the State of Virginia as "conquered territory" and hence should
assume the ante-bellum debts of this "conquered territory," (5)
whether the debt itself should be reduced in all fairness because
of the severe war property destruction in Virginia and because
one-third of Virginia's entire state area had been reduced by the
creation of West Virginia as a separate and permanent state, (6)
whether Virginia had been forced by the Federal government to have
the status of Military District No. 1 from 1865 to 1870 and hence
would the state be held responsible for debts incurred during this
period, and (7) whether local state government debts should be paid
before payment should be made to outside debtors such as those in
New York and London. In 1877 Colonel Frederick W. M. Holliday, the
Conservative or "Funder" candidate, defeated General William Mahone,
the "Readjuster" candidate for the Governorship.
Mahone subsequently succeeded in getting himself elected to the
United States Senate in 1879. He became so politically influential
that he eventually secured the nomination and the election of
a "Readjuster" Governor for Virginia in 1881 and a Republican
Lieutenant-Governor. At this time, he publicly declared himself a
Republican. His "Readjuster" friends gained control of the General
Assembly and removed several state government officials solely for
political reasons. Mahone was considered responsible for the use of
the "Spoils" System throughout the State of Virginia. During the
administration of a Readjuster Governor, the debt of Virginia, as
could be expected, was re-adjusted to approximately $23,000,000.
Since many of the Readjuster party members consisted of Negroes, the
poll tax was repealed also. The public school system and even the
court system became infiltrated with politics. Often the responsible
positions in these fields were filled by employees of political
ability or affiliation rather than by employees with qualifications
pertinent to such positions. After much rioting and corruption,
Mahone's political machine finally lost control of the state in 1883.
A permanent reminder of the "Readjuster" Party was formulated in
1880 with the creation of Dickenson County from Russell, Wise and
Buchanan Counties. It was named for one of the leaders of the
"Readjuster" Party, William J. Dickenson. This county has the
distinction of being the youngest county in Virginia.
In 1892, the state debt problem was settled more satisfactorily
when the balance of the debt was established at a figure lower than
the original but higher than the "Readjuster" figure and the rate
of interest was lowered. The creditors and the debtors cooperated
in this situation, and the credit of Virginia was gradually
re-established.
During the Reconstruction Period, a great majority of the Republican
Party members in the South were Negroes. Lincoln, himself, had been
a Republican. Since it was during his administration that the war
started and that the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued,
the word "Republican" in the South had for many individuals the
connotation of a moral and social stigma. So permanent were the
scars of events of the Republican Reconstruction era that until
1920, the former seceded states never cast an electoral vote for a
Republican candidate in a national election. Thus, a vote solidly or
unanimously for the Democratic Party resulted and the term "Solid
South" came into existence.
In the Spanish-American War of 1898, many Virginians fought
valiantly for their country. The outstanding contributions of such
Virginians as Dr. Walter Reed (birthplace, Gloucester County)
and his colleague, Dr. Robert Powel Page Cooke, in discovering
that yellow fever was transmitted to human beings by the bite of
mosquitoes, Major-General Fitzhugh Lee (nephew of General Robert
E. Lee) who served as United States Consul-General to Cuba in 1896
and who was given the command of the Seventh Army Corps in the
Spanish-American War and Robley Dunglison Evans (Floyd) who was
Commander of the U.S.S. Iowa at the Battle of Santiago Harbor helped
considerably in the efforts of the United States to win this war.
By 1900, although Virginia's population (both white and Negro) had
increased at a rapid rate, Virginia ranked seventeenth in population
in comparison to the other forty-four states in the Union. Virginia
had approximately 1,854,000 people including approximately 661,000
Negroes. However, one-third of the area of the state--which had
become West Virginia--was permanently separated. In addition,
Kentucky had been carved from within the original boundaries of
Virginia with the consent of the state government.
_Twentieth Century Developments_
On June 12, 1901, a state constitutional convention was held in
Richmond at the request of Carter Glass, an outstanding Virginia
statesman from Lynchburg. The major issue of this convention was the
discovery of a method of reducing the large number of illiterate
Negro votes which in the 1900 election had outnumbered the white
votes in one-third of the counties of the state. Since there was a
large number of illiterate whites in the western mountain regions
of Virginia, careful consideration had to be given to any proposed
restrictions on suffrage so that these inhabitants whose ancestors
had fought bravely in the Revolutionary War and in the War between
the States would not be severely penalized. Consequently, the
Constitution of 1902 included the requirement that a poll tax of one
dollar and fifty cents had to be paid as a qualification for voting.
Furthermore, a constitutional requirement demanded payment of three
years' poll taxes six months before general elections. Since the
Negroes were financially very poor at this time, this requirement
indirectly caused a great decrease in the total number of Negro
votes cast.
This constitution also included an "understanding clause"
provision which required voters to prove in written statements
their understanding of the government of Virginia. This provision
was to be replaced in 1904 by the requirement of each potential
voter passing an intelligence test proving that he could properly
interpret the constitution. Such provisions prevented many
uneducated Negroes from participating in elections.
A State Corporation Commission was created for the first time
in the Commonwealth to control corporations such as the public
transportation companies and the telephone and telegraph companies.
Other governmental changes provided for in this constitution were:
the direct election of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the State
Treasurer, the Commissioner of Agriculture and Immigration and the
Superintendent of Public Instruction by the qualified voters; the
replacement of County Courts by Circuit Courts; the constitutional
requirement for the political status of a city: an incorporated
community with a minimum population of 5,000 inhabitants is eligible
to become an independent city, and, as the name implies, such cities
are not subject to county administration; the establishment of
racial segregation in the public schools of Virginia; a considerable
extension of the powers of the State Board of Education, and a
change in the age range used to determine school population as a
basis for distributing the common school fund from 5-21 years to
7-20 years.
On May 29, 1902, the Constitution of 1902 was "proclaimed" by the
convention members, whose delegates voted for its adoption. Although
this Constitution was never ratified by the voters themselves, it
was later approved by the state legislature. With certain revisions
which were added later, this Constitution of 1902 is the present
Constitution of the Commonwealth.
In spite of the political influence which had been prevalent in
the public school system of Virginia in the 1880's, by the early
1900's numerous educational improvements had resulted: the local
general public began to favor a public school system; professional
teacher training methods were developed; a Virginia State Education
Association was formed; simultaneous examinations for teacher
certification throughout the state were standardized; state summer
normal schools were organized; teacher scholarships were created,
and education conferences were held.
The oft-called "renaissance" in Virginia education occurred in 1905.
A New York educator had encouraged various educational conferences
to be held in the South in an attempt to improve education in the
South which had lagged far behind the rest of the nation. The
Virginia Cooperative Education Commission and the leaders of the May
Campaign of 1905 (so-called because the intensive campaigning took
place in the month of May) demanded improved schools, better school
regulations, an increase in the number of secondary schools and
institutions of higher learning and a revised curriculum. The State
Superintendent of Public Instruction at this time was Dr. Joseph
Dupuy Eggleston whose leadership contributed greatly to the success
of a movement to modernize and improve the educational standards of
the State of Virginia. Vocational training (examples, agricultural,
educational, manual training and domestic economy classes) which
had long been discussed by certain educators became a reality,
specific legislative appropriations for public high schools were
made, public school libraries were established, health checkups for
abnormalities were instituted in the school program and the number
of teacher-training schools was increased.
Such educational progress was observed that, after five years of
the new education planning and of the execution of such plans, a
spokesman for the Carnegie Foundation remarked that "Probably no
educational development in any State of the Union is more remarkable
than that which is represented in the Old Commonwealth of Virginia."
Practical education as well as theoretical education was offered
with opportunities also available to study improved farming methods.
In 1906, Virginia filed suit against West Virginia in the United
States Supreme Court concerning a judicial determination of the
amount of money which Virginia should rightfully receive from
West Virginia as partial assumption of the state debt accumulated
while West Virginia was still a part of Virginia. Eight additional
separate actions were filed against West Virginia by Virginia which
finally resulted in an investigation of the financial status of each
area, the debts incurred and the suggestion of a conference between
the two states. West Virginia originally evaded such a conference
but, later, appointed a commission to represent the state. More
deliberation and delay occurred until 1915 when the indebtedness of
the State of West Virginia to the State of Virginia was declared by
the United States Supreme Court as $12,393,292.50. Finally, after
continuous postponement and more court judgments, in 1919 a special
session of the West Virginia state legislature passed a law which
provided for the payment of the sum due Virginia. Over a million
dollars was paid during 1919, and, by issuing twenty-year bonds, the
balance of the debt with interest was paid by 1939.
In 1908, the first municipality in the United States to adopt the
City Manager form of government was Staunton. After this form of
government had been successfully employed, many additional cities in
Virginia and in the other states proceeded to adopt the City Manager
Plan of local government.
On March 4, 1913, Thomas Woodrow Wilson, a native of Staunton, was
inaugurated as the twenty-eighth President of the United States. He
was the eighth Virginia-born individual to attain this high office,
although he had left the state for a college teaching position and
later a gubernatorial post. From his experiences as a professor
of history and as the governor of New Jersey, he had formulated a
personal brand of political philosophy which he entitled "The New
Freedom." He believed that government leaders should act through the
people as well as for the people. During his first administration,
he signed the famous Federal Reserve Bank Act, authored by U. S.
Senator Robert Owen, a native Virginian, and Carter Glass, a U.
S. Representative at that time from Lynchburg. Although he was
re-elected President in 1916 as a peace candidate, Wilson soon had
to wage an intensive war against Germany as conditions warranted
such action. He stated his idealism in his famous words "to make the
World safe for Democracy" and "a War to end all Wars." His famous
"Fourteen Points" Speech before Congress concerning the war aims of
the Allied Powers was constantly referred to during the Armistice
negotiations and is still quoted in international conferences. His
personal visit to the peace conference at Versailles Palace near
Paris, France--the first personal visit of a President of the United
States to such a conference--was history-making in itself. He will
always be remembered for his idea of "A League of Nations," the
forerunner of the United Nations, a project for international peace
which is believed to have caused or, at least, to have hastened his
death due to his strenuous speaking tour on behalf of the League.
In 1914, the General Assembly voted for a state-wide law providing
for the prohibition of liquor. This law went into effect on November
1, 1916. At the federal level, the Eighteenth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States which prohibited the "manufacture,
sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors" throughout the
United States and its territories was submitted to the states by
Congress on December 18, 1917. Virginia was the second state to
ratify it.