Question

Why did groups like the Red Shirts participate in violence in the months prior to the gubernatorial election of 1876?

Answer 1

In the gubernatorial election of 1876 in South Carolina, the Red Shirts were a paramilitary brigade associated with South Carolina's Democratic party that worked to scare off Republican voters prior to the election so as to stop the integration of society.

It is, in fact, a great example that proves the racist influences of the Confederate government.