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Introduction

Governor W. W. Holden was became the first Governor in America’s history to be removed from office after being impeached.  This impeachment resulted from his use of a piece of legislation called the Shoffner Act which gave the governor of the state the power to declare any county into a state of insurrection, where then he would be able to raise a militia under the control of the state to enforce the law on said county.  Holden would face incredible scrutiny for the using this act in its full effect on Alamance and Caswell county and is even blamed for the overwhelming victory of Conservative delegates to the state senate and legislature in 1870.  The general theme held for conservatives against Holden would become an idea that the Ku Klux Klan was never a problem in the states and that Holden was simply using the Shoffner act as a way to hold his own power and to secure the next election.  The Kirk-Holden War would go down in history as a clash between members of the Ku Klux in North Carolina and governor Holden.  Although the plan backfired and got Holden impeached, it is necessary to understand the need for the Shoffner act to be passed.  Looking at the impeachment trial, or conservative view points, the whole episode was just another evil of Reconstruction, but taking a closer look shows a struggling state trying to protect the rights of all of its citizens.  Sifting through news articles like the New York Times, letters from prominent persons in North Carolina, specific events, confessions, and memoirs from Holden himself, reveals the true events occurring in specific counties during the Reconstruction Era.  They show the cruelty, strength, and cunning of the KKK and its members, and they also show the lack of authority by the civil governments to apprehend said criminals.  Showing this lack of control for the rampage that ensued in the hands of the KKK, it is clear that the state government needed a new form of power in order to bring peace and justice throughout the counties.  With all other methods failings, the Shoffner act, sponsored by Senator Shoffner from Alamance County, would then become the only available course of action to fight off the demands of white supremacy. 

Introduction