Credit: Library of Congress
In the aftermath of the Civil War, Pennsylvania Democrats and Republicans battled, at times violently, for control of the state and local governments. In 1866 the Republican party ran John Geary, a two-star general twice wounded during the Civil War, for governor. Geary won the election, despite Democratic attempts at racial fearmongering. Three years later African-American educator and civil rights leader Octavius Catto was murdered during the Philadelphia city elections of 1871.
