Convention Data

Forty-nine Colored Conventions are known to have met in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia from 1865 to 1879. 

Analyzing the basic information of when and where these conventions met allows distinct patterns in convention data to emerge. Certain states and cities hosted conventions repeatedly, drawing upon the organizational skills and enthusiasm of their residents and existing infrastructure to facilitate the arrival of large groups of delegates again and again.

Colored Conventions occurred throughout the United States in the postbellum years though some distinct regional characteristics marked the southern conventions. The charts below illustrate the variations in types of conventions between those that occurred in southern states and all of the Colored Conventions from this period.

All of the visualizations below highlight patterns and trends in the data about southern postbellum Colored Conventions.

 

Please hover over any of the charts or maps to see more in-depth information.

The data used for the table below are based on Colored Conventions Project's records as of Fall 2017. 

 

Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia held forty percent of the southern Colored Conventions held in 1836. Mississippi remains a conspicuous absence, hosting no conventions that we know of. Eighteen different cities and towns throughout the South are known to have hosted Colored Conventions. 

Building upon the types of conventions charted above, this map plots the forty-nine southern conventions in this period using colors that correspond with convention type. Please click on the dots to learn more about each convention.

All of the visualizations on this page were made using data compiled by members of the Colored Conventions Project. Listings of information about southern Colored Conventions current to April 2016 were provided to the authors by James Casey and Sarah Patterson.