Rufus Bullock

Rufus Brown Bullock (born March 28, 1834 in Bethlehem , Albany County , New York , † April 27, 1907 in Albion , New York) was an American politician and governor of Georgia from 1868 to 1871.

Early years and political advancement

After graduating from the Albion Academy in 1850, Bullock became interested in telecommunications technology. He was gifted in so that he directing the establishment of the 1855 American Telegraph Company in Philadelphia was entrusted. In 1860 he moved to Augusta , Georgia to run the Southern Express Company . Bullock rejected the secession of Georgia from the Union in 1861, but was ready to be promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the Confederate and continue to serve in the interests of his company and the Confederate .

After the Civil War , he turned to politics. He played an important role at the constituent convention of 1867. He joined the Republican Party and won the 1868 gubernatorial election against his Democratic opponent John B. Gordon . This former general of the Confederation would rise to head of the Ku Klux Klan in the years that followed . Bullock went down as the first Republican governor of Georgia in its history.

Georgia Governor

As governor, he used his business ties with the north to attract investment to Georgia. At that time, after the destruction of the war, the reconstruction of the country began. Railway lines were restored or rebuilt, factories and public buildings were built. The most far-reaching event of his tenure was the relocation of the capital from Milledgeville to burgeoning Atlanta . Despite these positive approaches, Bullock could not assert himself in Georgia. The race was mainly to blame for this. Bullock stood up for racial equality. He made frequent trips to Washington to discuss the future of Georgia with President Ulysses S. Grant and Congress. There he also sought help in enforcing the three new constitutional amendments in Georgia. These amendments to the US Constitution concerned, among other things, the abolition of slavery and the granting of civil rights to African Americans .

These amendments were hated by the conservative white population of Georgia. By striving to enforce the new regulations in Georgia, the governor naturally made himself very unpopular with his compatriots. The Conservatives slandered the governor and accused him of corruption. The Ku Klux Klan also took part in the dismantling of Bullock and tried to intimidate him. After the Conservatives won a majority in parliament in 1870, the governor gave up. He fled to New York in 1871.

Old age and death

In 1876 Bullock returned to Georgia and faced his critics. They charged him with alleged offenses during his term of office. He was acquitted and rehabilitated in two trials. As a result, he stayed in Georgia. He managed to re-establish himself in society. Among other things, he became chairman of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and was also a leader in other institutions. He played an important role in planning the world exhibition that took place in Atlanta in 1895. In 1903, Bullock left Georgia and settled in Albion, where he died in 1907. On the day of his death, flags in public buildings across Georgia were raised to half-mast. Obituaries honoring his services as governor have appeared in some of the state's newspapers. The defamation campaign of the early 1870s, however, tarnished the history of this governor. Even Margaret Mitchell uses the stereotype of the corrupt and greedy Northerner in her bestseller "Gone with the Wind".

Bullock was married to Marie Elizabeth Salisbury since 1860.

literature

James F. Cook: The Governors of Georgia, 1754-2004. 3rd edition, revised and expanded. Mercer University Press, Macon GA 2005, ISBN 0-86554-954-0 .
Russell Duncan: Entrepreneur for Equality. Governor Rufus Bullock, Commerce, and Race in Post-Civil War Georgia. University of Georgia Press, Athens GA et al. 1994, ISBN 0-8203-1557-5 .
Russell Duncan: A Georgia Governor Battles Racism: Rufus Bullock and the Fight for Black Legislators. In: John C. Inscoe (Ed.): Georgia in Black and White. Explorations in the Race Relations of a Southern State, 1865-1950. University of Georgia Press, Athens GA et al. 1994, ISBN 0-8203-1620-2 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Bullock, Rufus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Bullock, Rufus Brown (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician and governor of Georgia (1868–1871)
DATE OF BIRTH	March 28, 1834
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bethlehem , New York
DATE OF DEATH	April 27, 1907
Place of death	Albion , New York