The Bloody Roots

Photograph of a cotton gin, Dahlonega, Georgia
Jefferson Franklin Long
[Photograph of two African American laborers standing in a cotton field in southern U.S. in late 19th century]

Although the Civil War (1861-65) ended enslavement, violence against Black citizens continued across the South. After Reconstruction collapsed in the 1870s and federal soldiers left the state, racial violence became more common. Despite these obstacles, Forsyth County had a relatively prosperous Black community in 1912.