thesis which held that most scalawags were former whigs, writing that a sound basis for identifying prewar whigs with postwar republicans exists only in Tenn, NC, and to some extent in Virginia. Elsewhere, most of the white republican in 1862 seems to have been Jacksonian democrayts before the war, that would have been true in eastern Tenn but not true in W NC, which was whig. Portions of Trelease’s methodology have been challenged and recent studies of Miss, Ala, and Lous together with studies of the whig heritage have strengthened Donald’s thesis. Warren A. Ellen: concluded that when scalawag percentages in each counties in each election were converted to estimate the number of scalawag vote, it became evident that the bulk of the scalawag were located in the delta counties. The black belt in delta counties contained the highest concenration of scalawag strength in Miss throughout the reconstruction era, which lasted until 1875. Sarah Woolfolf Wiggins: In the only book-length study of Scalawag in the south, she follows Alabama scalawags leaders from the earliest postwar years through their era of power during the reconstruction era and onto the leaner times of 1880s. She concludes that Scalawag leaders were not the Alabama scums that many thought they were. A majority of this group’s highest leaders were professional men, many with college education, and some were from black belt counties in central Alabama. Moreover, some Scalawag leaders were quite wealthy and others were sons of prominent Alabama families. They had been active in state politics before the war and had been equally been divided among the whigs and democrats. So on this issue, she seems to come down on a position between Donald and Trelease. She also contends that the Scalawags dominated the state republican part of Alabama. Scalawgs constantly complained that Carpetbaggers and blacks were running the state republican party but her evident does not s...
