Historical Romance of the American Negro

So the Democrats of the North, and the Bourbon Democrats of the South settled down in a sullen mood to four years more of Republican rule. It was nothing but right and proper that they should be disappointed of their prey. Even St. Paul, in the New Testament, tells us that no man is entitled to the prize unless he contends lawfully. Of course, the South neither cared for the opinion of St. Paul, lawful contention, nor anything else of the same kind. So long as they could carry the elections by the shot-gun it was all right, and good enough for them.

The South was still discontented and sullen. They had, indeed, knocked down the Republican governments of her several States, but though allowed to govern was not allowed all war claims on the treasury at Washington, and there was not one single ray of hope for the restoration of slavery. None, none whatever! That was settled for all time. "Dixie" sat down like a sulky, sullen woman by her own hearthstone, and refused to be comforted. While she was in sorrow, others were in joy. Uncle Sam, like a kind and tender husband, next tried the gentler arts of pacifying and pleasing his termagant wife – the wife who in former days, yea, even for fifty years, had always threatened to go out of the Union unless she could have her own way! So an ex-Major-General of the late Confederate army was called into the cabinet of President Hayes, and was given a portfolio for the purpose of trying what he could do to better the condition of the South. Then General Longstreet, also a leader in the army of the rebellion, was made postmaster at Gainesville, in Georgia, and was afterwards sent as minister to Turkey. Colonel Mosby, the famous Confederate guerilla, was sent to China, and Colonel Fitzsimmons was made marshal of Georgia. The South nevertheless did not show any signs of real improvement. They stuck together, however, in a certain fashion, like solid rocks of ice, all congealed and frozen tight and hard together into one lump, and became known as the "Solid South." They showed the greatest repugnance to the scalawags and carpet-baggers, and all white Republicans generally, who were intimidated, persecuted and driven out of all participation in the reconstruction of the States. Black Republicans were allowed to vote, but the Democrats of Secessia took the counting of the votes into their own hands, and secured the offices, all the same! At this time President Hayes was under the influence of Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, and Wade Hampton, of South Carolina. President Hayes expected much, but received nothing in return. The more kindness and consideration he showed them the more arrogant and ungrateful they became. The Southern leaders in Congress even tried to deprive the President of his Constitutional veto – tried to starve the army, and even to protract the session of Congress. The North was indeed holding out the olive branch of peace to the late rebel States, and these States were trampling the kindness of the North beneath their feet. Southern insolence went on, grew and increased. There were loyal Republican men at Washington, who could have assisted the President to steer the ship of state better than he did; but President Hayes did not seem to care for their advice; he preferred to shut himself up altogether in his own abilities, and left his real well-wishers and friends on the outside. There was evidently no such thing as satisfying the demands of the South. With unthankfulness she took all that was given and demanded more, and never as much as said "Thank you!" She considered that she had done right to secede, and was only sorry that she had not succeeded with her rebellion. President Hayes refused to surrender his veto power to those arrogant and secessionist Congressmen at Washington. At last he saw clearly that the South was not capable of appreciating his kindness as she ought, and that all his good intentions had been flung away. He now decided to change front, being worn out with so much arrogance and ingratitude. Dealing out kindness to a gang of ex-rebel officers, who had once owned and whipped their slaves, was found to be very irksome work. The entire Republican party were now firmly and solidly united against the South. The Cabinet, which was a splendid one, became more and more unanimous than before; the administration was without fault, and other good things that followed in their train did wonders for the Republican party all over the land. Among these was the resumption of specie payment – a source of delight to the nation. Thus, at last we see the Republican ranks of the North were firmly united. They saw clearly that the arrogance of the South was simply unlimited, and that nothing short of the state of things before the war would satisfy her, unless, indeed, it was the complete extension of her darling slavery from the Gulf of Mexico to all the Northern States of the Union along the Canadian border.

There was one man in this country at the time who clearly saw what the country needed next to tide her over the present state of things. This clear-sighted man was the Hon. Charles Foster, Congressman from Ohio. Mr. Foster returned home to Ohio from Washington in the summer of 1878. He had been watching with eagle eyes the follies of President Hayes in the vain attempt he made to pacify the South by love and kindness. He had watched the governments of the Northern States slipping away from their allegiance to the Republican party one after another, and, indeed, he took in the whole situation, and saw what was needed to steer the ship of state through the right channel in safety. Mr. Foster saw that the South had been thoroughly disloyal in every respect; they had acted with treason to the Union; they had not shown the least desire to protect the new citizens, the colored voters at the polls, but in fact had purposely murdered them with the shot-gun; they had shown the whole nation that they were bent on rebellion, and nothing else.

On the first of August, 1878, Mr. Foster made a great and famous speech at Upper Sandusky, Ohio, when he raised a battle-cry that thrilled the entire North, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, "A Solid North Against a Solid South!" This speech was published in all the papers of the land, and was kept up till it elected Garfield, in 1880. On account of its immense influence during these two years, I will here reproduce it. Such a battle-cry as this should be committed to memory.

Mr. Foster proceeded to say:

"I happened to be one who thought and believed that the President's southern policy, as far as it related to the use of the troops for the support of State Governments, was right. I sustained it upon the ground of high principle, – nevertheless it could have been sustained on the ground of necessity. The President has extended to the people of the south the hand of conciliation and friendship. He has shown a desire, probably contrary to the wishes of the great mass of his party, to bring about by the means of conciliation, better relations between the north and the south. In doing this he has alienated from him the great mass of the leading and influential republicans of the country. He has lost their sympathy, and to a great degree their support. What has he received in return for the measure of conciliation and kindness? How have these measures been received by the south? What advance can we discover in them of the recognition of the guarantees of the rights of the colored men under the Constitutional Amendments? We see Jeff. Davis making speeches as treasonable as those of 1861, and these speeches endorsed and applauded by a great portion of their press and people! We see also the declaration of Mr. Singleton, of Mississippi, in answer to a question of mine on the floor of the house, declaring that this paramount allegiance in peace and war was due to his State! No gentlemen from the south, or even of the democratic party has taken issue with him.

"We see also, all over the south, a disposition to resist the execution of the United States laws, especially in the matter of collection of internal revenue. To-day there are four United States officers under arrest by the authorities of the State of South Carolina, in jail and bail refused, for an alleged crime in their State, while in fact these officers were discharging their duty in executing the laws of the United States, in that State. Their State courts and their officers refused to obey the writs of the United States courts in the surrender of these United States authorities. No former act of this treasonable state shows a more defiant attitude towards the United States Government, or a greater disposition to trample on its authority. I trust the administration will in this case, assert, in the most vigorous manner possible, the authority of the United States Government for the rescue and protection of these officers. I have no bloody shirt to wave. If there is one man in this country more than another, who desires peace and quiet between the sections, I believe I am that man. Gentlemen may philosophize over this question until they are gray, but you cannot escape the discussion of this question so long as the Solid South menaces the peace of the country. A solid democratic south means the control of the country by the spirit and the men who sought its destruction.

"My own opinion is that there can be no peace. This question will not down until the menace of the Solid South is withdrawn. I had hoped that the policy of President Hayes would lead to the assertion, by a very considerable portion of the South, of their antagonism to Bourbon Democracy. I confess to a degree of disappointment in this, though I think I see signs of a breaking up of the Solid South in the independent movements that seem to be gaining a foothold in all sections of that country. But the effective way to aid these independent movements; this breaking up of all the Solid South, is for the North to present itself united against the Solid South. A Solid South under the control of the Democratic party means the control of the party by this element. It means the repeal of the Constitutional Amendments, if not in form, in spirit. It means the payment of hundreds of rebel claims. It means the payment of pensions to rebel soldiers. It means the payment for slaves lost in the rebellion. It means the abrogation of that provision of the Constitution which declares that the citizens of one State shall have all the rights, privileges and immunities of the citizens of other States.

"If my Democratic friends who seem to be anxious to bring about peace and quiet between the sections are sincere, and desire to make their expressions effective, they should act with that party which presents a solid front, a united North so long as we are menaced with the Solid South.

"If it could be understood in the South that they are to be met with a Solid North, I do not believe that the Solid South would exist in that condition a single year. They retain this position because they believe they can have the support of a fragment of the North; and thus with this fragment rule and control the country. I would have no fear of the control of the country by the Democratic party, if it were made up of something like equal proportions from all sections of the country. I discuss this question first, because I believe it is the most important question at issue in the pending canvass. I repeat, that it is the imperative duty of the North to meet the Solid South with a united front!"

The above little speech thrilled the North, and put new life into the Republican party. It was a regular battle-cry; it was passed along the line from city to city, and from State to State. It gave Mr. Foster the nomination for Governor of Ohio, and whereas the Democrats had possession of the State by a majority of 23,000, he reversed the whole question by a Republican majority of 17,000, and redeemed the State of Ohio to the Republican party. The rising tide of enthusiasm swept the whole country. That famous little speech was printed and set forth by all the papers of the land. Editorials were written on the subject, and orators all over the land took Mr. Foster's speech at Upper Sandusky as a text from which to preach their sermons. The whole country was aroused over the treasonable designs and aims of the South. Her intentions were to come as near back to slavery as ever she could get, or rather as near as ever she dared to come, once more. But now the North was on her guard, and presented a solid Republican front against the Solid South, and in the course of two years more returned James A. Garfield as President of the United States.

You must have observed, my dear reader, in the last few pages, how the former secessionists arose in the South, and tore down the negro, or Republican, governments that ruled in the days of Reconstruction. You have seen the arrogance and insolence of the rebel brigadier-generals who vaulted into their places, and even came to Congress at Washington, and attempted to tie the hands of President Hayes by depriving him of the right to veto. You have seen how these self-same rebels next began to talk about pensioning the very soldiers who broke up the Union for a time, or at least prevented the free course of law in the Southern States, and they next built their hopes on the payment of their own war-claims and the price of their slaves out of the United States Treasury at Washington. You have seen how all the above, and far more, welded all the Northern States into what was termed "the Solid North," and rolled back the great Southern waves of presumption and insolence, saying to the sea, "Thus far shalt thou come, and no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed!" Having said and done so much, and having awakened the Southern States to their proper senses, a person would have thought that colored men would have been restored to the government of these States, at least in cases where the colored men were clever men, and therefore well qualified to rule. But the aforementioned Negro, or Republican, governments of the late rebel States were not restored, though we had established the "Solid North," and returned James A. Garfield to the White House as the head of the great republic.

For the time being, therefore, and for the sake of peace, the North has not yet seen fit to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment, so as to compel the South to make room for the rightful share of colored men in the governments of the South. If this were France or England, colored men would to-day be sitting side by side with white men, and ruling the country together. But the South was like a termagant, fighting wife, who shook her fists in her husband's face, and exclaimed, "Look ye here Sam! This is a white man's government and I will rule it myself, or not rule at all; for these colored men shall not divide the power with me!" Then Uncle Sam, poor fellow, gave way, for a time, for the sake of peace, and ever since colored men in the South have kept away from this hateful contention with the white man there. It may have been for the best for the present, till we are more highly educated, and so more fitted and qualified to rule. In the meantime we are gathering knowledge like sands of the sea, and qualifying ourselves to hold any office on the face of the earth. Those rebels are rapidly passing away who sold "their own flesh and blood" on the auction blocks, and who fought for slavery on many a well-contested field, and at last were subdued by physical force. They are passing away, and more intelligent and enlightened children are taking their places. And we are growing more and more intelligent every day of the year, and the time must come, and come soon, when we will get all the rights that belong to us, and one of this is the right for colored men to rule the entire Union, North, East, South and West, along with all other men. And, my dear reader, as sure as there is a God in heaven, so sure is it that we shall yet get all that belongs to us, and right and justice shall prevail and flourish from the Lakes to the Gulf!

CHAPTER XVI

The Exodus of Colored People From the South to Kansas – Causes That Led to it – The Plantation Credit System – Reign of Terror in Louisiana and Other States – Trials on the Way to Kansas – Splendid Welcome by the State of Kansas – Good Beginning of the Pilgrims – "God Helps Those Who Help Themselves!"

No doubt my indulgent reader has often heard of the exodus of many thousands of colored people from the Southern States to the generous and hospitable State of Kansas. This was a truly remarkable movement, and began in the early spring of 1879. I have already pointed out some of the shameful causes that led to that exodus that drew the eyes of the whole nation, and elicited the most profound sympathy from all Christian and philanthropic people all over the North, and even in England. To trace this deplorable state of affairs to their foundation head, I need only allude to what was called at the time "The Plantation Credit System," when colored people worked on shares with the white owners of the land, and the latter kept stores of all kinds of provisions and clothing, and swindled the hard-working colored man out of the rightful share of the profits. The latter were always overcharged for their goods, and could never get a clear settlement. This system of robbery and swindling gave the laborer no chance, and made him sigh for a land of freedom.

That was bad enough, but there was something worse that began to show itself, even before those days when the Ku-Klux-Klan became regularly organized for the expulsion of the Republican governments in the South, and that was a gradual and general adoption of the shot-gun policy, to make colored men understand that the whites were still lords and masters, and colored people must serve and obey, as they used to do before the war. This shook the confidence of the latter in the general government of the nation, for if great Uncle Sam could afford them no better protection than that, things might as well have remained as they were, and all their boasted freedom was of very little use to them, or no account at all.

In 1868 General Grant ran for President on the Republican ticket – Grant and Colfax – whilst Seymour and Blair were the nominees on the Democratic ticket. Although the rebel element had always been too rampant in the State of Louisiana, they grew ten times more as the day for the election for President drew near. It was particularly desired by the Democrats of the South to carry Louisiana for Seymour and Blair. The plan they adopted was the wholesale use of the shot-gun in the different "parishes" (or counties) of the State. The rebels began their work of murder, terror and intimidation in good time before the election day in November. Wherever the Republican votes were likely to be heaviest, there a great effort was made to kill, maim and scatter all those white and colored men who would be likely to vote for Grant and Colfax. These Southern thugs in Louisiana and other States of the South put in their fell work mostly after dark, killing, burning and destroying in every possible way. It soon became well understood that the rebels were aiming at the coming election; and for a fact, when election day came there were very, very few men in the different parishes of Louisiana that voted the Republican ticket, because they were afraid of their lives; and who need wonder if they stayed away from the polls when the United States Government afforded them no protection in casting their votes? All things had gone finely during the years of the Republican governments in the Southern States, when men owned their own land, and there was no one to trouble them, or to make them afraid; but these reconstruction governments were now tottering to their fall; the white man demanded the government, and the law, too, and evil days were in store for the colored race in the South.

The following lines from the pen of General P. H. Sheridan will help to explain the cause of the exodus. He was then in command at New Orleans, and writes under the date of January 10th, 1875:

"Since the year 1866 nearly 3,500 persons, a great majority of whom were colored men, have been killed and wounded in the State. In 1868 the official record shows that 1,884 were killed and wounded. From 1868 to the present time, no official investigation has been made, and in the civil authorities in all but a few cases have been unable to arrest, convict or punish the perpetrators. Consequently there are no correct records to be consulted for information. There is ample evidence, however, to show that more than 1,200 persons have been killed and wounded during this time on account of their political sentiments. Frightful massacres have occurred in the parishes of Bossier, Caddo, Catahoula, St. Bernard, Grant and Orleans."

After this, General Sheridan went on to enumerate the murders committed on account of their Republican sentiments in the various parishes of Louisiana, and says:

"Human life in this State is held so cheaply that when men are killed on account of political opinions, the murderers are regarded rather as heroes than as criminals in the localities where they reside."

The man who writes the above is no ordinary correspondent. The writer is the famous soldier, P. H. Sheridan, and he is merely sending in his report as military commander in the State. And whole volumes of other testimony have been taken, as exactly as was done in the case of the massacre of Fort Pillow, which confirm in every respect the words of General Sheridan.

The documents in which these political murders have been recorded show that a perfect reign of terror existed all over the State in 1867, the year before the Presidential election. In the parish of St. Landry there was a massacre of colored people that began on the 28th of September in the following year, 1868, and lasted from three to six days, and during that time between three hundred and four hundred were killed. Thirteen captains were taken from the jail and shot, and a pile of twenty-five dead bodies were found burned in the woods. And what was the Democratic result in this parish of St. Landry? The registered Republican majority of 1,071 was completely wiped out, and when the general election for President came on a few weeks later, not a single vote was cast for Grant and Colfax, whilst Seymour and Blair received 4,787. What a spectacle was this for the whole civilized world to look upon only three years and a half after the fall of the Confederacy! All those murders were committed right here in free America!

In the parish of Bossier, there was just such another massacre between the 20th and 30th of September, 1868, and which lasted from three to four days, and during that time two hundred colored people were killed. The official register for Bossier parish for the year 1868 shows that the Republican voters numbered 1,938. But when the Presidential election came on, only one vote was cast! Such was the result of the shot-gun policy in Bossier parish.

During the month of October, 1868, the month before the election, over forty colored people were killed in the parish of Caddo. The Republican register shows that there were 2,894 votes, and yet when the election came on there was only one such vote cast out of all that number. And the same things happened all over the State.

During the months of September, October and November, the number of murders, maimings and whippings that took place for political reasons were a thousand. The names of Republican voters in twenty-eight parishes amounted to 47,923; but when the Presidential election came on a few weeks later, only 5,360 votes were cast for Grant and Colfax, whilst the Democratic gain, from the shot-gun policy, amounted to 42,563.

In nine of the parishes, where most of the murder and violence was carried on, only nineteen votes were cast for Gen. Grant, though there were 11,604 names on the Republican register. In other seven parishes where there were 7,253 names on the register, not one vote was cast for the Republican nominees at the subsequent election in November.

In the years that followed 1868, when political lawlessness was held in check, these same Republican parishes cast from 33,000 to 37,000 votes, which proved that terrorism was the rebel policy of 1868.

Thus things went on from 1868 to 1876, when the Democracy of Louisiana desired to carry the State for Tilden and Hendricks. The candidates for Republican President and Vice-President were Hayes and Wheeler; and everybody knew that colored men would not vote the Democratic ticket. The same murderous policy was again adopted as in 1868, and the results were much the same. On election day, in November, 1876, there were in Louisiana 92,996 registered white voters, and 115,310 colored voters, giving a majority of 22,314 votes that should have been cast for Hayes. It would be quite unnecessary to quote the "returns" from the different parishes of Louisiana. It would only be a repetition of 1868 over again. And after all was done it did not profit the Southern Democrats any, for it was proven that they had carried the parishes by violence; and therefore the parishes were not counted in the returns.