While the enaction of the 1870 state constitution restored former Confederates' right to vote, Conservatives— a faction of moderate former Unionists and Confederate sympathizers— were concerned that Radicals would use the Fourteenth Amendment (which barred Confederate politicians from holding office) to negate any Conservative election victories. Candidates in the August 1870 judicial elections were thus selected by Conservatives for their ability to survive Fourteenth Amendment challenges. The Conservative ticket, which consisted of Deaderick and T.A.R. Nelson for East Tennessee, Peter Turney and Alfred O. P. Nicholson from Middle Tennessee, and John L.T. Sneed and Thomas J. Freeman from West Tennessee, swept the elections.Sam Elliott, "The Quo Warranto Cases of 1870: When the United States Attorney Sued to Remove Half the Tennessee Supreme Court," Tennessee Bar Association Journal, 31 July 2013. Retrieved: 4 January 2015.
