The correct answer was C) white Southerners.
As Reconstruction continued, the group that increasingly deserted the Republican Party was the white Southerners.
Many groups in the Southern states opposed to the Reconstruction period and still were in favor of slavery. White Southerners were against desegregation and supported the slavery system because was an integral part of the economic system in the Confederated States. The unconformity was high to the degree of that many white Southerners increasingly deserted the Republican Party. That is why African Americans decided to emigrate to the Northern States because there they found less antagonism and more opportunities to thrive.
