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August Reckoning: Jack Turner and Racism in Post–Civil War Alabama
An important story of one man’s life, lived with courage and principle
During the decades of Bourbon ascendancy after 1874, Alabama institutions like those in other southern states were dominated by whites. Former slave and sharecropper Jack Turner refused to accept a society so structured. Highly intelligent, physically imposing, and an orator of persuasive talents, Turner was fearless before whites and emerged as a leader of his race. He helped to forge a political alliance between blacks and whites that defeated and humiliated the Bourbons in Choctaw County, the heart of the Black Belt, in the election of 1882. That summer, after a series of bogus charges and arrests, Turner was accused of planning to lead his private army of blacks in a general slaughter of the county whites. Justice was forgotten in the resultant fear and hysteria.
During the decades of Bourbon ascendancy after 1874, Alabama institutions like those in other southern states were dominated by whites. Former slave and sharecropper Jack Turner refused to accept a society so structured. Highly intelligent, physically imposing, and an orator of persuasive talents, Turner was fearless before whites and emerged as a leader of his race. He helped to forge a political alliance between blacks and whites that defeated and humiliated the Bourbons in Choctaw County, the heart of the Black Belt, in the election of 1882. That summer, after a series of bogus charges and arrests, Turner was accused of planning to lead his private army of blacks in a general slaughter of the county whites. Justice was forgotten in the resultant fear and hysteria.
207 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
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February 27, 2023
This is an amazing story of bravery and tragedy. “August Reckoning” tells the story of Jack Turner, a formerly enslaved African who became a leader of the Black community in Choctaw County, Alabama in the 1870s, during the period of Reconstruction. The Reconstruction era in which this story is set consisted of a loose, unequal alliance between white Republicans and Black “radical” Republicans. The two parties had diverging political agendas, as the whites wanted to consolidate their political and economic power in opposition to the white Democrats and Whigs, while the Blacks wanted to secure some degree of political and economic independence during Reconstruction. Nevertheless, the groups worked together in order to keep Choctaw County from falling into total Democratic, Klan-based domination. Jack Turner was the leader of the Black radical Republicans in Choctaw County, and he paid the price for his status and advocacy.
This book is especially inspirational for me, as it also briefly features my ancestor (great-great-great-great Grandfather) Edmond Turner, who while apparently not related to Jack by family, was a political comrade and community leader in his own right. The “two Turners”—as the books calls them—were some of the first Black delegates to the Alabama Republican Party, and were credited as inspiring Black political agitation in the region, much to the dismay of the white population.
Jack Turner’s story is tragic in that it demonstrates the depths the white power structure was prepared to go in order to permanently silence a Black political agitator. Turner withstood a decade of harassment by the law, only to later be lynched on trumped-up accusations that he was planning a “general insurrection.” The obvious real cause of the lynching was Turner’s successful political advocacy, which threatened the balance of power and established racial order in Choctaw County. This is a nice read for anyone who wants to get a feel for Alabama’s racial and social politics in the post Civil War era.
This book is especially inspirational for me, as it also briefly features my ancestor (great-great-great-great Grandfather) Edmond Turner, who while apparently not related to Jack by family, was a political comrade and community leader in his own right. The “two Turners”—as the books calls them—were some of the first Black delegates to the Alabama Republican Party, and were credited as inspiring Black political agitation in the region, much to the dismay of the white population.
Jack Turner’s story is tragic in that it demonstrates the depths the white power structure was prepared to go in order to permanently silence a Black political agitator. Turner withstood a decade of harassment by the law, only to later be lynched on trumped-up accusations that he was planning a “general insurrection.” The obvious real cause of the lynching was Turner’s successful political advocacy, which threatened the balance of power and established racial order in Choctaw County. This is a nice read for anyone who wants to get a feel for Alabama’s racial and social politics in the post Civil War era.
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