On this date in 1875, Mississippi Governor Ames requested federal troops to protect Black voters. Attorney General Edward Pierrepont refused the request and said “the whole public are tired of these annual autumnal outbreaks in the South.” President Grant and Attorney General Pierrepont told Governor Ames to use federal troops only if the white liners used violence on election day. No violence took place on election day, however, the intimidation tactics of the white liners prior to the election kept blacks and Republican voters from the polls.