USA > Alabama > Alabama history > Part 12
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As time went on, victories as well as defeats gradu- ally lessened the fighting strength of the Confed- eracy. One after the other came the fall of Vieks- burg, the check at Gettysburg, the march of Sherman through Georgia, the battle of Mobile Bay, Wilson's cavalry ad- vance through the northern and central counties, and Canby's siege of Mobile. These events prepared the public for the news of Appomattoxand Thomas Hill Watts Greensboro. Sadness and gloom filled the State as it realized that all the brave efforts of gallant soldiers had failed to roll back the invasion of Federals, and that it must suffer the evils that
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always follow war. Governor Watts, standing bravely at the helm of State, guarded every interest as best he could, and closed his term with the sur- render of the Confederate armies.
SUMMARY
During Governor Moore's second term the Confederacy was formed and the war began. The Southern cause received his hearty support. Governor Shorter, his successor, had to deal with many perplexing questions. He was defeated by Thomas Hill Watts, a distinguished Confederate officer. Under trying conditions Governor Watts guarded the interests of the State as best he could. At the close of the war he was forced to give up his office.
QUESTIONS
1. In what ways did Governor Moore aid the Confederacy ? 2. Give an account of his imprisonment and after life. 3. Who was his successor, and what troublesome questions did he have to face? 4. Give a sketch of Thomas Hill Watts before his election to the governorship. 5. What events occurred while he was governor?
Period IV. Under Federal Rule
CHAPTER XXIII
RECONSTRUCTION (1868-1874)
1. Lincoln and the South .- Unsettled conditions prevailed for several years after the War between the States. President Lincoln announced that the war would close and the Southern States would be restored promptly to their accustomed place in the Union as soon as the Southern people quit fighting.
Apr. 14, 1865
Mr. Lincoln was assassinated by J. Wilkes Booth on the night of April 14, 1865, in Ford's Theatre, Washington city, while witnessing the production of a play. The whole country, South and North, bit- terly condemned the mad deed. The North was so horrified as to believe that leading Southern men · were connected with the crime.
May 10, 1865
2. Capture of President Davis .- Vice-President Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Mr. Lincoln in office, offered one hundred thousand dollars reward for the capture of President Jefferson Davis. The reward was paid to General James HI. Wilson and his command, who captured Mr. Davis at Irwin- ville, Georgia, on May 10, 1865. After two years' imprisonment in Fortress Monroe, Virginia, on the charge of treason, Mr. Davis was released without trial.
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3. The "Lost Cause."-The South had suffered - much. Millions of dollars and thousands of lives had been wasted to sustain the Confederacy, but the triumph of the Union arms had made all this sacri- fice of no avail. The Confederacy was a "Lost Cause." The South accepted the defeat of its armies as the final settlement of the issues for which it had
Southern Scene at Close of War
gone to war, and it yielded sadly but sincerely to the necessity of submitting to whatever conditions the United States might impose. Its people took the oath to be faithful and obedient to the laws of the United States. So complete and prompt was this return to the ways of peace and business that the sincerity of the South was doubted. Now that it had laid down its arms, the North was not so sure that it ought to be allowed its place in the Union as before the war. Federal soldiers, instead of being withdrawn from the South, were scattered through- out the conquered States.
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ALABAMA HISTORY
4. Johnson and the South .- President Johnson held Mr. Lincoln's kindly feeling for the South, and tried to secure "support of State governments in all their rights;" but he denied to the State the "right to renounce its own place in the Union or to nullify the laws of the Union." He advised that "all parties in the late terrible conflict must work together in harmony."
There was no civil government in Alabama after June 21, the surrender until June 21, 1865. President John- 1865 son had given the State over to General Canby and made it subject to military rule. Some provision was necessary in order to restore the civil govern- ment. President Johnson appointed Lewis E. Par- . sons provisional governor, and ordered a constitu- tional convention which would prepare a constitu- tion suited to the changed conditions brought by the war.
5. Constitutional Convention of 1865 .- Governor Parsons carried out the order of the President. The constitutional convention was held in the capitol, Sept. 12 to 1865 with Ex-Governor Benjamin Fitzpatrick as presi- Sept. 30, dent. Negroes had not yet been granted the privilege of voting and holding office, and the convention was composed of white men. It abolished slavery, nulli- fied the Ordinance of Secession, repudiated the war debt, and provided for the election of the governor and other State officers mand of representatives to Congress.
6. Legislature of 1865 .- The legislature met and enacted into laws the provisions of the constitution. It petitioned President Johnson to remove the Fed-
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eral soldiers from the State, reminding him that the people had pledged faith to the Federal government, and would maintain order and treat the negroes justly. It also offered the State militia for use when- ever the agents of the United States might deem necessary.
7. Republican South-haters .-- Thaddeus Stevens, representative from Pennsylvania, and Charles Sumner, senator from Massachusetts, had become the leaders of the Republican party, and both were very bitter against the South.
Personal grievances are supposed to have inspired the hatred of these two men toward the South. Sumner, in 1856, in a speech before the senate, attacked the character of Senator Butler, of South Carolina. Preston Smith Brooks, a nephew of Senator Butler and a representative of South Caro- lina, two days later, found Sumner alone in the sen- ate chamber and gave him a severe caning. A negro woman is supposed to have influenced Stevens.
Sumner, the leader in the senate, and Stevens, the leader in the house, were not pleased with Presi- dent Johnson's kindly attitude toward the South. To prevent his plans from being carried out, they resolved to exclude, if possible, Southern members from their seats in Congress.
8. Reconstruction Committee .- When Congress met in 1865, Mr. Colfax, the speaker of the house of representatives, "rejoiced that from shore to shore in our land there is peace," The first move of Stevens and Sumner secured appointment of a com- mittee of fifteen, which became so celebrated in the
1865
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dark days of reconstruction that it is known as the "Reconstruction Committee."*
Dec. 2, 1865
The appointment of this committee was to the South "the handwriting on the wall." The resolu- tion by which it was created meant that no senators or representatives from Southern States would be seated in Congress, and that the South would not be treated as a part of the United States. During the day of its passage, December 2, a telegram was received from Governor Parsons bearing the news that the Alabama legislature had ratified the thir- teenth amendment, which abolished slavery.
9. Strife Between President and Congress .- Under the leadership of Sumner and Stevens the Republican Congress passed a number of bills which were hostile to the South. These were promptly vetoed by President Johnson, but by a two-thirds vote of Congress they became laws over his veto. One of these laws was so framed that it took from many of the best Southern whites the right to vote
*The resolution creating the committee reads:
"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled, That a joint committee of fifteen members shall be appointed, nine of whom shall be members of the House and six members of the Senate, who shall inquire into the condition of the States which formed the so-called Confederate States of America; and report whether they or any of them are entitled to be represented in either House of Congress, with leave to report at any time by bill or otherwise; and until such report shall have been made and finally acted on by Congress, no member shall be received into either House from any of the so-called Confederate States; and all papers relating to the rep- resentation of the said States shall be referred to the said committee without debate."
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and hold office, and gave these privileges to the negroes. Congress then planned to have this law. made a part of the constitution of the United States. It was framed as the fourteenth amendment and submitted to the States for ratification.
10. Alabama Under Military Rule .- The legis- lature of Alabama and other Southern States refused to ratify the fourteenth amendment. The States were then put under military rule, partly on account of this refusal. Alabama, Georgia, and Florida were made a military district under General John Pope, who was given authority to remove State or county officers at will. Alabama was under the immediate charge of General Wager Swayne. Sol- diers were stationed in the principal towns and cities of the State. The acts of State officers had to be first approved by the military commander.
11. Constitutional Convention of 1868 .- To carry out the plans of Sumner and Stevens and to force Alabama to accept the fourteenth amendment, Gen- eral Pope, in 1867, ordered the registration of voters for the election of delegates to a constitutional con- vention. Qualifications for voting and for sitting in the convention were such that all negro men over twenty-one years of age could vote and hold office, and a great many white men were debarred. The radicals, or "Black Man's party," had charge of the convention. The laws put into the constitution were bitterly condemned by the patriotic whites.
According to a ruling of Congress, a majority of those registered had to vote for the constitution before it could be put into effect. Three Republicans
. 1867
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1868
were appointed to superintend the election. To . defeat the constitution, a great many registered but did not vote. The number of those who voted for it was several thousand less than a majority of the registered voters. General George G. Meade, who had succeeded General Pope, reported, "The constitution fails of ratification by eight thousand one hundred and fourteen votes." When Congress met in 1868, it passed a law to fit the case, and declared the constitution ratified and in effect.
12. Carpet-baggers and Scalawags .- By the pro- visions of this constitution the negroes were given the right to vote and hold office, and these privileges were denied to many of the whites. Within a short time the State literally passed into the hands of adventurers, schemers, and incompetents. A vast horde of office-seekers in the South and adventurers from the North got charge of the State govern- ment. The Northern adventurers were called . "carpet-baggers." The native office-seekers were called "scalawags."
13. Freedmen's Bureau and Loyal League .- The Republican Congress had passed a bill, over Presi- dent Johnson's veto, establishing the l'reedmen's Bureau. This Bureau was for years the real ruling power in the South. Through it food, clothing, and homes were to be given to the negroes. Its agents were scalawags and carpet-baggers, who knew little and cared less about the negroes. Love of country and its institutions did not guide them to do what was best for the interests of the people. The spoils of office were their only concern.
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RECONSTRUCTION
It was but natural that negroes should believe and follow their new friends. They had been slaves; the war made them free. They were beset by scala- wags and carpet-baggers, who were the ruling mem- bers of the Black Man's party. They were fright- ened and flattered into politics to oppose their former masters. They were told that the Repub- licans were their only friends and that the Repub- licans only would keep them free and give them land and money. They were induced to join the Loyal League which was a secret society formed for the purpose of controlling them.
The Loyal League and Freedmen's Bureau con- trolled not only the negroes' vote, but their labor. So completely organized and so generally powerful were these bodies that white men had to fee their agents in order to obtain laborers on their planta- tions. The agents* themselves bought lands and hired negroes to move to them, using the money appropriated by Congress to pay the expenses of putting the negroes on the land.
*General Grant made a tour of inspection through the South a little while after the war. He reported that the masses of the people had accepted in good faith the new order of things, and that the agents of the Freedmen's Bureau were wasting the funds sent to it, and were not doing the things expected by the government. His report did not stop the evil. Thousands upon thousands of the millions of dollars appropriated by Con- gress for the Bureau to use in helping the destitute never reached the negroes or the suffering whites, but went into the pockets of the rascally agents. Many of them returned to the North rich when the Republican party was defeated in the elections and they could hold office no longer.
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ALABAMA HISTORY
14. Oppression of the South .- Besides the laws already mentioned, many others were enacted to humiliate and crush the Southern people .* It was made lawful for whites and blacks to attend the same schools, and to mingle in social equality. It was even proposed in Congress that the lands be taken from the Southern whites and given to the negroes. The makers of these laws did not believe them morally right, but they wanted to lord it over the South, and to insult the former masters of slaves. No law could be trusted, because it was broken and set aside whenever it interfered with the wishes of the mean agents of a radical Congress.
15. The Ku Klux Klan .- No high-spirited people could patiently submit to such misrule and oppres- sion. As open resistance was impossible, they too resorted to secret societies. Some of the best men in the South were members of these societies, which had such names as "The Ku Klux Klan," "The Pale Faces," and "The Knights of the White Camelias." The Ku Klux Klan soon became a widespread organization, which gradually absorbed the others of its kind.
1867
In its origin the Ku Klux Klan had no political object. It was formed in 1867 by some young men of Pulaski, Tennessee, for the purpose of amusing themselves. The mysterious name of the club and
*Richard Busteed, of New York, had been appointed by Mr. Lincoln, November 17, 1863, Federal district judge of Alabama. He took charge of the office in 1865, and for ten years lent himself and his office to the evils of reconstruction. He became so hated that he was removed from office.
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RECONSTRUCTION
the strange actions of its members aroused the . curiosity of intelligent citizens, and provoked wonder and fear among the negroes. After awhile the Klan began to initiate visitors to Pulaski, and gradually it spread throughout the South. Its highest officer, the "Grand Wizard," was General N. B. Forrest, who held absolute control over the "Invisible Empire."
The members would appear suddenly at night with masked faces and flowing robes, sometimes declaring themselves to be evil spirits and ghosts, and threatening terrible punishment to all who did not follow their instructions. The couriers of the Klan were called "nighthawks," and many a negro's heart stood still as a nighthawk was seen on galloping steed bearing the swift message of the mysterious order.
It was the purpose of the Klan to do good to all classes, and to give protection to rights at a time when no other power would stop evils. In carrying out its purpose, some wrongs were no doubt com- mitted, and good people rejoiced when the Grand Wizard, in 1869, dissolved the Ku Klux Klan-tle "Konfounded Krooked Konundrum."
16. Overthrow of Federal Rule .- Notwithstand- ing the efforts and protests of the good people of the South, the powers in control of the State gov- ernments were determined to keep in control. If the Republican party remained in power, its agents knew that they could continue to get the profit and plunder which every office-holder expected. To influence elections these agents kept the mind of the
1869
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ALABAMA HISTORY
North excited by all sorts of false reports. They were especially anxious to have the people believe that the whites were unjust and cruel to the negroes.
On the other hand, the best people of the North were beginning to understand the wrongs of recon- struction. Many soldiers of the United States army did not approve the course of affairs. These were. gentlemen who knew and appreciated the condition of the conquered South. They united with the edu- cated and honorable classes to overthrow misrule, to oust the radicals from office, and to reestablish good, honest government.
. During the dark days of reconstruction the true friends of the State realized that dishonest men were using the negroes in order to keep control of the gov- ernment. Consequently, General James HI. Clanton and other leading spirits met in Montgomery and appealed to the negroes not to be further misled by rascally white men with false promises. This meet- ing in Montgomery led to the formation of the Con- servative party, which afterwards took the name Democratic and Conservative party. In 1874, this party succeeded in electing George Smith Houston
1S"4
as governor. It also elected a majority of the general assembly. During Governor Houston's term of office, reconstruction rule came to an end, Federal troops were withdrawn, and the State began to recover from the effects of war and the evils that followed it.
Jan. 1. 18℃
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RECONSTRUCTION
SUMMARY
Mr. Lincoln, who was disposed to deal kindly with the con- quered South, was assassinated. He was succeeded in office by Andrew Johnson. President Johnson offended some of the leading men of his party, and they opposed his efforts to restore order and government in the South. Led by Stevens and Sumner, Congress refused to let Southern senators and representatives take their seats in that body. This was the beginning of oppression which brought more ruin and distress than the war itself. The South was put under military control, and unjust State constitutions were forced upon the people. An enormous debt was piled up by legislatures composed of carpet-baggers and scalawags. The evils produced by the Freedmen's Bureau and the Loyal Leagues were in a measure checked by the Ku Klux Klan. Assisted by a few Northerners of character, the patriotic and intelligent people of the South finally succeeded in restoring law and order.
QUESTIONS
1. What was Mr. Lincoln's attitude to the conquered South? 2. When, where, and by whom was he assassinated? 3. What reward was offered by President Johnson, and to whom was it paid? 4. Describe conditions in the South at the close of the war. 5. What was President Johnson's attitude to the South, and by whom was he opposed? 6. Give an account of the con- stitutional convention of 1865; of the legislature of 1865. 7. Who secured the appointment of the "reconstruction committee," and what was the substance of the resolution creating it? 8. Give an account of the strife between President Johnson and Con- gress. 9. What do you understand by "military rule"? 10. By whom was the constitution of 1868 framed, and how was it forced on the State? . 11. What class of men were carpet-baggers? scalawags? 12. What evils were due to the Freedmen's Bureau and the Loyal Leagues? 13. Mention some of the ways in which the South was oppressed. 14. Sketch the history of the Ku Klux Klan. 15. Give an account of the overthrow of Federal rule.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE NEGROES
1. Effects of Civilization .- The ten millions of negroes in the United States place a great responsi- bility on the government. In the earliest history of the country ships from Africa were unloading savage negroes upon American shores to be sold into slavery and to be schooled in the arts of peace. Whatever may have been the evils of slavery, con- tact with white masters and their families has been the most civilizing and uplifting influence that ever came to the negroes in all the ages. Booker Wash- ington has said: "We went into slavery pagans, we came out Christians; we went into slavery a piece of property, we came out American citizens; we went into slavery without a language, we came out speaking the proud Anglo-Saxon tongue."
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2. Master and Slave .- Business and humanity combined to make masters kind to their negroes and regardful of their welfare. The conduct of the negroes during the War between the States proves their love and devotion to the whites,-a love too strong to have grown out of bad treatment. The old slaves protected and supported the white women and children while the white men were away in the armies. There was no fear of insurrection. Mas- ters trusted the negroes and the negroes proved equal to the trust.
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THE NEGROES
The changed condition of master and slave at the close of the war was, in the main, gracefully accepted by both races. The tender ties that bound them were too strong to be broken by any orders of men or nations. The old plantation left its sweet memories in the hearts of both whites and blacks- memories so deeply implanted that the misguided
Sunday Afternoon on a Southern Plantation
efforts of politicians, pulpits, magazines, and news- papers have failed to destroy them. The affections of the older generation will hold until death, and the younger generation will not wholly forget the record and courtesies of the olden time.
The South was strictly an agricultural region, and negro labor was needful to the raising of crops. When the war closed, various methods were adopted
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ALABAMA HISTORY
to induce this class of labor to remain on the farms and till the fields. Lands were rented to some; wages in cash or a portion of the crops were given to others. The white masters and former slaves were thus thrown into daily contact, and they attended to business and moved in perfect friendship despite the interference of selfish politicians and Bureau agents. Now and then some negro of bold and des- perate spirit would kill or get killed, but the general good feeling usually restrained the fiercer elements.
3. The Negro Misled .- Had none but the brave soldiers of the Federal armies come to the South just after the war, it is probable that the whites and negroes would have continued to work together for common good. Most of the best soldiers, how- ever, preferred to go to their homes and be with their families. Many of those who came South were hirelings who had nothing special to do at the North; others were not true soldiers, but men who wore the soldier's uniform and had followed the army in the hope of getting plunder. Some who did not pretend to be soldiers came with the expecta- tion of getting rich by dishonest means. These newcomers and the agents of the Freedmen's Bureau spread reports throughout the North that the negroes were being cruelly treated in the South. They soon had the negroes joining the Loyal League and forming the Black Man's party. They even made the blacks believe that the property of the Southern whites would be divided out among them. By these methods the negroes were aroused against their former masters.
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THE NEGROES
In his blindness and gladness the negro joined with those who misled him in order to get his vote. He yielded to the temptations of politics,* and expected the general government to supply his wants, to give him "forty acres of land and a mule." Idleness, vagrancy, crime, insults, injury, and threats followed.
4. Jack Turner as a Leader .- One of the most violent clashes between the blacks and the whites occurred in Choctaw county. Jack Turner, a ser- vant of Mr. B. L. Turner, became a leader among the negroes. Discovering his popularity and influ- ence, politicians told him that he could be a great help to their plans and that he could make money by serving them. Thus flattered and encouraged, he got into fusses with the whites and often defied the laws. He was finally brought before the courts on many charges and was in most cases convicted.
During the political canvass of 1874, Jack defied the sheriff and put himself at the head of a number' of armed friends and marched to Butler, the county seat. Being met by a body of armed whites, Jack and his party scattered for safety in the creek swamp.
In 1882, papers were found near De Sotoville which were said to be minutes of negro meetings
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