Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama Part 33

The Conservative Executive Committee addressed a memorial to Congress against the proposed measures. In conclusion the address stated: "We are beset by secret oath-bound political societies, our character and conduct are systematically misrepresented to you and in the newspapers of the North; the intelligent and impartial administration of just laws is obstructed; industry and enterprise are paralyzed by the fears of the white men and the expectation of the black that Alabama will soon be delivered over to the rule of the latter; and many of our people are, for these reasons, leaving the homes they love for other and stranger lands.

Continue over us, if you will, your own rule by the sword. Send down among us honorable and upright men of your own people, of the race to which you and we belong, and, ungracious, contrary to wise policy and the inst.i.tutions of the country, and tyrannous as it will be, no hand will be raised among us to resist by force their authority. But do not, we implore you, abdicate your rule over us, by transferring us to the blighting brutality and unnatural dominion of an alien and inferior race."[1529]

Alabama Readmitted to the Union

The proposition to establish a Radical provisional government for Alabama was forgotten in the Senate during the progress of the impeachment trial, and on May 11 Stevens introduced a bill providing for the admission of Georgia, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, and Alabama.[1530] A motion by Woodbridge of Vermont to strike Alabama from the bill was lost by a vote of 60 to 74. Farnsworth said it was nonsense to make any distinction between Alabama and the other states. The bill pa.s.sed the House on May 14, by a vote of 109 to 35, and went to the Senate. On June 5 Trumbull from the Judiciary Committee reported the bill with Alabama struck out because the const.i.tution had not been ratified according to law. Wilson of Ma.s.sachusetts moved to insert Alabama in the bill. Alabama, he said, was the strongest of all the states for the policy of Congress, and it would be unjust to leave her out. Sherman repeated the old charges of fraud in the elections, which had been contradicted by General Meade, from whose report Sherman quoted garbled extracts. It was absolutely necessary, he said, to admit Alabama in order to settle the Fourteenth Amendment before the presidential election. Hendricks of Indiana objected because of proscriptive clauses in the const.i.tution, which would disfranchise from 25,000 to 30,000 men. Pomeroy of Kansas said it would be "a cruel thing"

to admit the other states and leave out Alabama. Morton of Indiana was of the opinion that the bill with Alabama in it would pa.s.s over the President's veto as well as without it, and said that Congress must waive the condition and admit Alabama.[1531] The Radicals of Alabama kept the wires hot sending telegrams to their agents in Washington and to Wilson and Sumner, urging the inclusion of Alabama in the bill. On June 9 the Senate in Committee of the Whole amended the bill as reported from the Committee on the Judiciary by inserting Alabama. On this the vote stood 22 to 21. The next day Senator Trumbull moved to strike out Alabama, but the motion was lost by a vote of 24 to 16. So the report of the Judiciary Committee was revised by the insertion of Alabama, and the bill pa.s.sed by a vote of 31 to 5, 18 not voting.[1532] The House Committee on Reconstruction recommended concurrence in certain amendments that the Senate had made, which was done by a vote of 111 to 28, 50 not voting. The bill was then signed by the Speaker and the President _pro tem._ of the Senate and sent to the President.[1533] The President returned the bill with his veto on June 25. "In the case of Alabama," he said, "it violates the plighted faith of Congress by forcing upon that state a const.i.tution which was rejected by the people, according to the express terms of an act of Congress requiring that a majority of the registered electors should vote upon the question of its ratification."[1534] The bill was at once pa.s.sed by both houses over the President's veto, in the Senate by a vote of 35 to 8, 13 not voting, and in the House by a vote of 108 to 31, 53 not voting.[1535]

The bill as pa.s.sed declared that Alabama with the other southern states had adopted by large majorities the const.i.tutions recently framed, and that as soon as each state by its legislature should ratify the Fourteenth Amendment it should be admitted to representation upon the fundamental condition "that the const.i.tution of neither of said states shall ever be so amended or changed as to deprive any citizen or cla.s.s of citizens of the United States of the right to vote in said state who are ent.i.tled to vote by the const.i.tution thereof herein recognized" except as a punishment for crime.[1536] As soon as the new legislature should meet and ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, the officers of the state were to be inaugurated. No one was to hold office who was disqualified by the proposed Fourteenth Amendment.[1537]

June 29, Grant wrote to Meade that to avoid question he should remove the present provisional governor and install the governor and lieutenant-governor elect, this to take effect at the date of convening the legislature. So in July, by general order, Governor Patton was removed and Smith and Applegate installed. After the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment by the legislature, Meade directed all provisional officials to yield to their duly elected successors. The military commanders transferred state property, papers, and prisoners to the state authorities.[1538] And for six years the carpet-bagger, scalawag, and negro, with the aid of the army, misruled the state.

The members of Congress returned from their migrations[1539] and presented themselves with their credentials to Congress.[1540] Brooks of New York objected to the admission of these men on the ground that they were there in violation of the act of Congress in force at the time of the election.

But on July 21 all were admitted by a vote of 125 to 33, 52 not voting.

After taking the iron-clad test oath, they took their seats among the nation's lawmakers. Spencer and Warner were admitted to the Senate on July 25, and also took the iron-clad oath.[1541]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SOME RADICAL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.

SENATOR GEORGE E. SPENCER.

SENATOR WILLARD WARNER.

C. W. BUCKLEY.

JOHN B. CALLIS.

J. T. RAPIER.

CHARLES HAYS.]

CHAPTER XVI

THE UNION LEAGUE OF AMERICA

Origin of the Union League

In order to understand the absolute control exercised over the blacks by the alien adventurers, as shown in the elections of 1867-1868, it will be necessary to examine the workings of the secret oath-bound society popularly known as the "Loyal League." The iron discipline of this order wielded by a few able and unscrupulous whites held together the ignorant negro ma.s.ses for several years and prevented any control by the conservative whites.

The Union League movement began in the North in 1862, when the outlook for the northern cause was gloomy. The moderate policy of the Washington government had alienated the extremists; the Confederate successes in the field and Democratic successes in the elections, the active opposition of the "Copperheads" to the war policy of the administration, the rise of the secret order of the Knights of the Golden Circle in the West opposed to further continuance of the war, the strong southern sympathies of the higher cla.s.ses of society, the formation of societies for the dissemination of Democratic and southern literature, the low ebb of loyalty to the government in the North, especially in the cities--all these causes resulted in the formation of Union Leagues throughout the North.[1542] This movement began among those a.s.sociated in the work of the United States Sanitary Commission. These people were important neither as politicians nor as warriors, and they had sufficient leisure to observe the threatening state of society about them. "Loyalty must be organized, consolidated, and made effective," they declared. The movement, first organized in Ohio, took effective form in Philadelphia in the fall of 1862, and in December of that year the Union League of Philadelphia was organized. The members were pledged to uncompromising and unconditional loyalty to the Union, the complete subordination of political ideas thereto, and the repudiation of any belief in states' rights. The New York Union League Club followed the example of the Philadelphia League early in 1863, and adopted, word for word, its declaration of principles.[1543]

Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, Baltimore, and other cities followed suit, and soon Leagues modelled after the Philadelphia plan and connected by a loose bond of federation were formed in every part of the North. These Leagues were social as well as political in their aims. The "Loyal National League" of New York, an independent organization with thirty branches, was absorbed by the Union League, and the "Loyal Publication Society" of New York, which also came under its control, was used to disseminate the proper kind of political literature.

As the Federal armies went South, the Union League spread among the disaffected element of the southern people.[1544] Much interest was taken in the negro, and negro troops were enlisted through its efforts. Teachers were sent South in the wake of the armies to teach the negroes, and to use their influence in securing negro enlistments. In this and in similar work the League acted in cooperation with the Freedmen's Aid Societies, the Department of Negro Affairs, and later with the Freedmen's Bureau. With the close of the war it did not cease to take an active interest in things political. It was one of the earliest bodies to declare for negro suffrage and white disfranchis.e.m.e.nt,[1545] and this declaration was made repeatedly during the three years following the war, when it was continued as a kind of Radical bureau in the Republican party to control the negro vote in the South. Its agents were always in the lobbies of Congress, clamoring for extreme measures; the Reconstruction policy of Congress was heartily indorsed and the President condemned. Its headquarters were in New York, and it was represented in each state by "State Members." John Keffer of Pennsylvania was "State Member" for Alabama.

Part of the work of the League was to distribute campaign literature, and most of the violent pamphlets on Reconstruction questions will be found to have the Union League imprint. The New York League alone circulated about 70,000 publications,[1546] while the Philadelphia Union League far surpa.s.sed this record, circulating 4,500,000 political pamphlets[1547]

within eight years. The literature printed consisted largely of accounts of "southern atrocities." The conclusions of Carl Schurz's report on the condition of the South justified, the League historian claims, the publication and dissemination of such choice stories as these: A preacher in Bladon (Springs), Alabama, said that the woods in Choctaw County stunk with dead negroes. Some were hanged to trees and left to rot; others were burned alive.

It is quite likely that such Leagues as those in New York and Philadelphia, after the first year or two of Reconstruction, grew away from the strictly political "Union League of America" and became more and more social clubs. The spiritual relationship was close, however, and in political belief they were one. The eminently respectable members of the Union Leagues of Philadelphia and New York had little in common with the southern Leagues except radicalism. Southern "Unionists" who went North were entertained by the Union League and their expenses paid. In 1866 the Philadelphia convention of southern "Unionists" was taken in hand by the League, carried to New York, and entertained at the expense of the latter.

In 1867 several of the Leagues sent delegates to Virginia to reconcile the two warring factions of Radicals. The formation of the Union League among the southern "Unionists" was extended throughout the South within a few months of the close of the war, but a "discreet secrecy" was maintained.

In Alabama it was easy for the disaffected whites, especially those who had been connected with the Peace Society, to join the order, which soon included Peace Society men, "loyalists," deserters, and many anti-administration Confederates. The most respectable element consisted of a few old Whigs who had an intense hatred of the Democrats, and who wanted to crush them by any means. In this stage the League was strongest in the white counties of the hill and mountain country.[1548]

Extension to the South

Even before the end of the war the Federal officials had established the organization in Huntsville, Athens, Florence, and other places in north Alabama. It was understood to be a very respectable order in the North, and General Burke, and later General Crawford, with other Federal officers and a few of the so-called "Union" men of north Alabama, formed lodges of what was called indiscriminately the Union or Loyal League. At first but few native whites were members, as the native "unionist" was not exactly the kind of person the Federal officers cared to a.s.sociate with more than was necessary. But with the close of hostilities and the establishment of army posts over the state, the League grew rapidly. The civilians who followed the army, the Bureau agents, the missionaries, and the northern school-teachers were gradually admitted. The native "unionists" came in as the bars were lowered, and with them that element of the population which, during the war, especially in the white counties, had become hostile to the Confederate administration. The disaffected politicians saw in the organization an instrument which might be used against the politicians of the central counties, who seemed likely to remain in control of affairs.

At this time there were no negro members, but it has been estimated that in 1865, 40 per cent of the white voting population in north Alabama joined the order, and that for a year or more there was an average of half a dozen "lodges" in each county north of the Black Belt. Later, the local chapters were called "councils." There was a State Grand Council with headquarters at Montgomery, and a Grand National Council with headquarters in New York. The Union League of America was the proper designation for the entire organization.

The white members were few in the Black Belt counties and even in the white counties of south Alabama, where one would expect to find them. In south Alabama it was disgraceful for a person to have any connection with the Union League; and if a man was a member, he kept it secret. To this day no one will admit that he belonged to that organization. So far as the native members were concerned, they cared little about the original purposes of the order, but hoped to make it the nucleus of a political organization; and the northern civilian membership, the Bureau agents, preachers, and teachers, and other adventurers, soon began to see other possibilities in the organization.[1549]

From the very beginning the preachers, teachers, and Bureau agents had been accustomed to hold regular meetings of the negroes and to make speeches to them. Not a few of these whites expected confiscation, or some such procedure, and wanted a share in the division of the spoils. Some began to talk of political power for the negro. For various purposes, good and bad, the negroes were, by the spring of 1866, widely organized by their would-be leaders, who, as controllers of rations, religion, and schools, had great influence over them. It was but a slight change to convert these informal gatherings into lodges, or councils, of the Union League. After the refusal of Congress to recognize the Restoration as effected by the President, the guardians of the negro in the state began to lay their plans for the future. Negro councils were organized, and negroes were even admitted to some of the white councils which were under control of the northerners. The Bureau gathering of Colonel John B. Callis of Huntsville was transformed into a League. Such men as the Rev. A. S.

Lakin, Colonel Callis, D. H. Bingham, Norris, Keffer, and Strobach, all aliens of questionable character from the North, went about organizing the negroes during 1866 and 1867. Nearly all of them were elected to office by the support of the League. The Bureau agents were the directors of the work, and in the immediate vicinity of the Bureau offices they themselves organized the councils. To distant plantations and to country districts agents were sent to gather in the embryo citizens.[1550] In every community in the state where there was a sufficient number of negroes the League was organized, sooner or later.[1551] In north Alabama the work was done before the spring of 1867; in the Black Belt and in south Alabama it was not until the end of 1867 that the last negroes were gathered into the fold.

The effect upon the white membership of the admission of negroes was remarkable. With the beginning of the manipulation of the negro by his northern friends, the native whites began to desert the order, and when negroes were admitted for the avowed purpose of agitating for political rights and for political organization afterwards, the native whites left in crowds. Where there were many blacks, as in Talladega, nearly all of the whites dropped out. Where the blacks were not numerous and had not been organized, more of the whites remained, but in the hill counties there was a general exodus.[1552] Professor Miller estimates that five per cent of the white voters in Talladega County, where there were many negroes, and 25 per cent of those in Cleburne County, where there were few negroes, remained in the order for several years. The same proportion would be nearly correct for the other counties of north Alabama. Where there were few or no negroes, as in Winston and Walker counties, the white membership held out better, for in those counties there was no fear of negro domination, and if the negro voted, no matter what were his politics, he would be controlled by the native whites. What the negro would do in the black counties, the whites in the hill counties cared but little. The sprinkling of white members served to furnish leaders for the ignorant blacks, but the character of these men was extremely questionable. The native element has been called "lowdown, trifling white men," and the alien element "itinerant, irresponsible, worthless white men from the North." Such was the opinion of the respectable white people, and the later history of the Leaguers has not improved their reputation.[1553] In the black counties there were practically no white members in the rank and file. The alien element, probably more able than the scalawag, had gained the confidence of the negroes, and soon had complete control over them. The Bureau agents saw that the Freedmen's Bureau could not survive much longer, and they were especially active in looking out for places for the future. With the a.s.sistance of the negro they had hoped to pa.s.s into offices in the state and county governments.

The Ceremonies of the League

One thing about the League that attracted the negro was the mysterious secrecy of the meetings, the weird initiation ceremony that made him feel fearfully good from his head to his heels, the imposing ritual and the songs. The ritual, it is said, was not used in the North; it was probably adopted for the particular benefit of the African. The would-be Leaguer was told in the beginning of the initiation that the emblems of the order were the altar, the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, the Const.i.tution of the United States, the flag of the Union, censer, sword, gavel, ballot-box, sickle, shuttle, anvil, and other emblems of industry.

He was told that the objects of the order were to preserve liberty, to perpetuate the Union, to maintain the laws and the Const.i.tution, to secure the ascendency of American inst.i.tutions, to protect, defend, and strengthen all loyal men and members of the Union League of America in all rights of person and property,[1554] to demand the elevation of labor, to aid in the education of laboring men, and to teach the duties of American citizenship. This sounded well and was impressive, and at this point the negro was always willing to take an oath of secrecy, after which he was asked to swear with a solemn oath to support the principles of the Declaration of Independence, to pledge himself to resist all attempts to overthrow the United States, to strive for the maintenance of liberty, elevation of labor, education of all people in the duties of citizenship, to practise friendship and charity to all of the order, and to support for election or appointment to office only such men as were supporters of these principles and measures.[1555]

The council then sang "Hail Columbia" and "The Star-Spangled Banner,"

after which an official harangued the candidate, saying that, though the designs of traitors had been thwarted, there were yet to be secured legislative triumphs with complete ascendency of the true principles of popular government, equal liberty, elevation and education, and the overthrow at the ballot-box of the old oligarchy of political leaders.

After prayer by the chaplain, the room was darkened, the "fire of liberty"[1556] lighted, the members joined hands in a circle around the candidate, who was made to place one hand on the flag and, with the other raised, swore again to support the government, to elect true Union men to office, etc. Then placing his hand on a Bible, for the third time he swore to keep his oath, and repeated after the president "the Freedman's Pledge": "To defend and perpetuate freedom and union, I pledge my life, my fortune, and my sacred honor. So help me G.o.d!" Another song was sung, the president charged the members in a long speech concerning the principles of the order, and the marshal instructed the members in the signs. To pa.s.s one's self as a Leaguer, the "Four L's" were given: (1) with right hand raised to heaven, thumb and third finger touching ends over palm, p.r.o.nounce "Liberty"; (2) bring the hand down over the shoulder and say "Lincoln"; (3) drop the hand open at the side and say "Loyal"; (4) catch the thumb in the vest or in the waistband and p.r.o.nounce "League."[1557]

This ceremony of initiation was a most effective means of impressing the negro, and of controlling him through his love and fear of the secret, mysterious, and midnight mummery. An oath taken in daylight would be forgotten before the next day; not so an oath taken in the dead of night under such impressive circ.u.mstances. After pa.s.sing through the ordeal, the negro usually remained faithful.

Organization and Methods

In each populous precinct there was at first one council of the League. In each town or city there were two councils, one for the whites, and another, with white officers, for the blacks.[1558] The council met once a week, sometimes oftener, and nearly always at night, in the negro churches or schoolhouses.[1559] Guards, armed with rifles and shotguns, were stationed about the place of meeting in order to keep away intruders, and to prevent unauthorized persons from coming within forty yards. Members of some councils made it a practice to attend the meetings armed as if for battle. In these meetings the negroes met to hear speeches by the would-be statesmen of the new regime. Much inflammatory advice was given them by the white speakers; they were drilled into the belief that their interests and those of the southern whites could not be the same, and pa.s.sion, strife, and prejudice were excited in order to solidify the negro race against the white, thus preventing political control by the latter. Many of the negroes still had hopes of confiscation and division of property, and in this they were encouraged by the white leaders. Professor Miller was told[1560] by respectable white men, who joined the order before the negroes were admitted and who left when they became members, that the negroes were taught in these meetings that the only way to have peace and plenty, to get "the forty acres and a mule," would be to kill some of the leading whites in each community as a warning to others. The council in Tusc.u.mbia received advice from Memphis to use the torch, that the blacks were at war with the white race. The advice was taken. Three men went in front of the council as an advance guard, three followed with coal-oil and fire, and others guarded the rear. The plan was to burn the whole town, but first one negro and then another insisted on having some white man's house spared because "he is a good man." The result was that no residences were burned, and they compromised by burning the Female Academy. Three of the leaders were lynched.[1561] The general belief of the whites was that the objects of the order were to secure political power, to bring about on a large scale the confiscation of the property of Confederates,[1562] and while waiting for this to appropriate all kinds of portable property. Chicken-houses, pig-pens, vegetable gardens, and orchards were invariably visited by members when returning from the midnight conclaves. This evil became so serious and so general that many believed it to be one of the principles of the order. Everything of value had to be locked up for safe-keeping.

As soon as possible after the war each negro had supplied himself with a gun and a dog as badges of freedom. As a usual thing, he carried them to the League meetings, and nothing was more natural than that the negroes should begin drilling at night. Armed squads would march in military formation to the place of a.s.semblage, there be drilled, and after the close of the meeting, would march along the roads shouting, firing their guns, making great boasts and threats against persons whom they disliked.

If the home of such a person happened to be on the roadside, the negroes usually made a practice of stopping in front of the house and treating the inmates to unlimited abuse, firing off their guns in order to waken them.

Later military parades in the daytime were much favored. Several hundred negroes would march up and down the roads and streets, and amuse themselves by boasts, threats, and abuse of whites, and by shoving whites off the sidewalks or out of the road. But, on the whole, there was very little actual violence done the whites,--much less than might have been expected. That such was the case was due, not to any sensible teachings of the leaders, but to the fundamental good nature of the blacks, who were generally content with being impudent.[1563]

The relations between the races, with exceptional cases, continued to be somewhat friendly until 1867-1868. In the communities where the League and the Bureau were established, the relations were soonest strained. For a while in some localities, before the advent of the League, and in others where the Bureau was conducted by native magistrates, the negroes looked to their old masters for guidance and advice, and the latter, for the good of both races, were most eager to retain a moral control over the blacks.

Barbecues and picnics were arranged by the whites for the blacks, speeches were made, good advice given, and all promised to go well. Sometimes the negroes themselves would arrange the festival and invite prominent whites to be present, for whom a separate table attended by the best waiters would be reserved; and after dinner there would be speaking by both whites and blacks. With the organization of the League, the negroes grew more reserved, and finally unfriendly to the whites. The League alone, however, was not responsible for the change. The League and the Bureau had to some extent the same personnel, and it is impossible to distinguish clearly between the work of the League and that of the Bureau. In many ways the League was simply the political side of the Bureau. The preaching and teaching missionaries were also at work. On the other hand, among the lower cla.s.ses of whites, a hostile feeling quickly sprang to oppose the feeling of the blacks.

When the campaign grew exciting, the discipline of the order was used to prevent the negroes from attending Democratic meetings or hearing Democratic speakers. The League leaders even went farther and forbade the attendance of the blacks at Radical political meetings where the speakers were not indorsed by the League. Almost invariably the scalawag disliked the Leaguer, black or white, and often the League proscribed the former as political teachers. Judge Humphreys was threatened with political death unless he joined the League. This he refused to do, as did most whites where there were many negroes. All Republicans in good standing had to join the League. Judge (later Governor) D. P. Lewis was a member for a short while, but he soon became disgusted and published a denunciation of the League. Nicholas Davis and J. C. Bradley, both scalawags, were forbidden by the League to speak in the court-house at Huntsville because they were not members of the order. At a Republican ma.s.s-meeting a white republican wanted to make a speech. The negroes voted that he should not be allowed to speak because he was "opposed to the Loyal League." He was treated to abuse and threats of violence. He then went to another place to speak, but was followed by the crowd, which refused to allow him to say anything. The League was the machine of the Radical party, and all candidates had to be governed by its edicts. Nominations to office were usually made in its meetings.[1564]

Every negro was _ex colore_ a member or under the control of the League.

In the opinion of the League, white Democrats were bad enough, but black Democrats were not to be tolerated. The first rule was that all blacks must support the Radical programme. It was possible in some cases for a negro to refrain from taking an active part in political affairs. He might even fail to vote. But it was martyrdom for a black to be a Democrat; that is, try to follow his old master in politics. The whites, in many cases, were forced to advise their faithful black friends to vote the Radical ticket that they might escape mistreatment. There were numbers of negroes, as late as 1868, who were inclined to vote with the whites, and to bring them into line all the forces of the League were brought to bear. They were proscribed in negro society, and expelled from negro churches, nor would the women "proshay" (appreciate) a black Democrat. The negro man who had Democratic inclinations was sure to find that influence was being brought to bear upon his dusky sweetheart or wife to cause him to see the error of his ways, and persistent adherence to the white party would result in the loss of her. The women were converted to Radicalism long before the men, and almost invariably used their influence strongly for the purpose of the League. If moral suasion failed to cause the delinquent to see the light, other methods were used. Threats were common from the first and often sufficed, and fines were levied by the League on recalcitrant members. In case of the more stubborn, a sound beating was usually effective to bring about a change of heart. The offending darky was "bucked and gagged," and the thrashing administered, the sufferer being afraid to complain of the way he was treated. There were many cases of aggravated a.s.sault, and a few instances of murder. By such methods the organization succeeded in keeping under its control almost the entire negro population.[1565] The discipline over the active members was stringent. They were sworn to obey the orders of the officials. A negro near Clayton disobeyed the "Cap'en" of the League and was tied up by the thumbs; and another for a similar offence was "bucked" and whipped. A candidate having been nominated by the League, it was made the duty of every member to support him actively. Failure to do so resulted in a fine or other more severe punishment, and members that had been expelled were still under the control of the officials.[1566]

The effects of the teachings of the League orators were soon seen in the increasing insolence and defiant att.i.tude of some of the blacks, in the greater number of stealings, small and large, in the boasts, demands, and threats made by the more violent members of the order. Most of them, however, behaved remarkably well under the circ.u.mstances, but the few unbearable ones were so much more in evidence that the suffering whites were disposed to cla.s.s all blacks together as unbearable. Some of the methods of the Loyal League were similar to those of the later Ku Klux Klan. Anonymous warnings were sent to the obnoxious individuals, houses were burned, notices were posted at night in public places and on the doors of persons who had incurred the hostility of the League.[1567] In order to destroy the influence of the whites where kindly relations still existed, an "exodus order" was issued through the League, directing all members to leave their old homes and obtain work elsewhere. This was very effective in preventing control by the better cla.s.s of whites. Some of the blacks were loath to leave their old homes, but to remonstrances from the whites the usual reply was: "De word done sont to de League. We got to go."[1568]

In Bullock County, near Perote, a council of the League was organized under the direction of a negro emissary, who proceeded to a.s.sume the government of the community. A list of crimes and punishments was adopted, a court with various officials established, and during the night all negroes who opposed them were arrested. But the black sheriff and his deputy were arrested by the civil authorities. The negroes then organized for resistance, flocked into Union Springs, the county seat, and threatened to exterminate the whites and take possession of the county.