<P> Akerman, though born in the North, moved to Georgia after college and owned slaves; he fought for the Confederacy and became a Scalawag during Reconstruction, speaking out for civil rights for blacks . As U.S. Attorney General under President Grant, he became the first ex-Confederate to reach the cabinet . Akerman was unafraid of the Klan and committed to protecting the lives and civil rights of Blacks . To bolster Akerman's investigation, President Grant sent in Secret Service agents from the Justice Department to infiltrate the Klan to gather evidence for prosecution . The investigations revealed that many whites actively participated in Klan activities . With this evidence, Grant issued a Presidential proclamation to disarm and remove the Klan's notorious white robe and hood disguises . When the Klan ignored the proclamation, Grant was able to send in Federal troops in nine South Carolina counties to put down the violent activities of the Klan . Grant teamed Akerman up with another reformer in 1870, a native Kentuckian, the first Solicitor General Benjamin Bristow, and the duo went on to prosecute thousands of Klan members and brought a brief quiet period of two years in the turbulent Reconstruction era . </P> <P> Georgia Democrats despised the' Carpetbagger' administration of Rufus Bullock, accusing two of his friends, Foster Blodgett, superintendent of the state's Western and Atlantic Railroad, and Hannibal I. Kimball, owner of the Atlanta opera house where the state legislature met, of embezzling state funds . His efforts to prolong military rule caused considerable divisions in the states party, while black politicians complained that they did not receive an adequate share of patronage . In February 1870 the newly constituted legislature ratified the Fifteenth Amendment and chose new Senators to send to Washington . On July 15, Georgia became the last former Confederate state readmitted into the Union . The Democrats subsequently won commanding majorities in both houses of the General Assembly . Governor Rufus Bullock fled the state in order to avoid impeachment . With the voting restrictions against former Confederates removed, Democrat and ex-Confederate Colonel James Milton Smith was elected to complete Bullock's term . By January 1872 Georgia was fully under the control of the Redeemers, the state's resurgent white conservative Democrats . </P> <P> The so - called Redeemers used terrorism to strengthen their rule . The expelled African American legislators were particular targets for their violence . African American legislator Abram Colby was pulled out of his home by a mob and given 100 lashes with a whip . His colleague Abram Turner was murdered . Other African American lawmakers were threatened and attacked . </P>

When was georgia readmitted to the union twice