Capitol Men (68 page)

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 "
As the recognized representative": Congressional Globe,
41st Cong., 2nd sess., Mar. 16, 1870, pp. 1986–88.
"
In receiving him in exchange for Jefferson Davis": New York Tribune,
Mar. 17, 1870. An unsubstantiated rumor circulated among Democrats, stating that Charles Sumner had ghost-written Revels's speech. Revels was apparently in the habit of receiving some coaching from Sumner. Later that spring, before giving a speech in Philadelphia, he wrote to the veteran senator, "I will call at your office on next Wednesday night, for the purpose of reading in your hearing." Hiram Revels to Charles Sumner, Apr. 9, 1870, Charles Sumner Papers, Houghton Library, Harvard University. "
I do not know of one state that is altogether": Congressional Globe,
41st Cong., 2nd sess., p. 3520.

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When he was denied a podium:
Undated letter to the editor in the
Philadelphia Post,
Hiram Revels Scrapbook, Hiram Revels Collection.

5. KuKluxery

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 "
The enslaved have not been merely emancipated": Marion Star
(undated), quoted in
Charleston News & Courier,
Nov. 10, 1870.
"
Heavens were rent with the sounds": Charleston Daily News,
Aug. 17, 1868; also
Charleston Daily Courier,
Sept. 12, 1868.
"
This vile, rotten, wicked, corrupt and degrading regime": Winnsboro News
(undated), quoted in
Charleston News & Courier,
Apr. 1, 1871.

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 "
The passing of high words and blows":
Anonymous, "South Carolina Morals,"
Atlantic Monthly.
"
Honor is the sentiment":
Tindall, p. 235.

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 "
Region where Liberty finds her constant home": Charleston News & Courier,
Sept. 19, 1876.

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 "
Down in a deeper grave than this":
Korngold,
Two Friends of Man,
pp. 333–34; Walt Whitman, tending to the Union wounded in the nation's capital, overheard two young soldiers who had visited Charleston, one of whom boasted of having seen Calhoun's monument. "That you saw is not the real monument," replied the other, "but I have seen it. It is the desolated, ruined South; nearly the whole generation of young men between seventeen and thirty destroyed or maimed; all the old families used up; the rich impoverished; the plantations covered with weeds; the slaves unloosed and become the masters; and the name of
Southerner
blackened with every shame—all that is Calhoun's real monument." See Whitman, p. 242.
"
These vile retches":
Hardy D. Edwards to N. E. Edwards, Sept. 10, 1868, quoted in
Charleston Daily News,
Oct. 2, 1868; see also
New National Era,
May 25, 1871.

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Hill was so rattled by the incident:
With the help of the American Colonization Society, Hill arranged to immigrate to Liberia along with 136 men, women, and children.
"
The effect of these numerous threats":
Quoted in
New National Era,
Sept. 21, 1871.

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 "
I told him to stay at home":
South Carolina congressmen Warren Wilkes and Samuel Nuckles to President Grant, Mar. 2, 1871; Grant, p. 260.
"
In silence and secrecy":
Post, "A 'Carpetbagger' in South Carolina,"
Journal of Ne gro History;
Nelson, p. 128; also see
New National Era,
Apr. 20, 1871.
"
We are laying the foundation":
Benjamin Randolph, quoted in Botsch, p. 81.

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 "
Acting the Big Man":
R. N. Hemphill to W. R. Hemphill, Apr. 20, 1871, Hemphill Papers, Duke University Library; quoted in Williamson, p. 264.
"
Put six balls through your boy":
Nelson, pp. 132–33.

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 "
They cut my back all to pieces":
Thomas, "Spartanburg's Civil War,"
Carologue. "As a whole nigger should be treated":
Burton, "Race and Reconstruction,"
Journal of Social History.

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 "
The worst frightened men":
Albion Tourgee to Thomas Settle, June 24, 1869, Thomas Settle Papers, University of North Carolina Library, quoted in Gillette, p. 182.
"
The Northern mind, being full":
Amos Akerman to Benjamin Conley, Dec. 28, 1871, Akerman Letterbooks, University of Virginia Library; quoted in McFeely, "Amos T. Akerman: The Lawyer and Racial Justice," in
Region, Race, and Reconstruction.
"
The principle for which we contended":
Jefferson Davis, quoted in Washburne, p. 32.
Also offensive were the militiamen's: Charleston Daily News,
Mar. 28 and 29, 1871.
For more background on militias, see Zuczek,
Encyclopedia of the Reconstruction Era,
vol. 1, pp. 410–14.

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 "
The long habit of command":
Daniel Chamberlain to President Grant, July 22, 1876, quoted in Allen, p. 322; Louisiana's P.B.S. Pinchback concurred with Chamberlain's view: "The whites...[are] possessed of every avenue of communication and transportation, the telegraph wires, railroads and steamboats all being at their disposal, [so that] in a few hours they can concentrate a large armed force. On the other hand, the colored as a class are poor, without experience, unarmed, no channels of communication or transportation open to them, naturally docile and peaceable, utterly without organization, they scatter at the first appearance of danger." Draft of speech on upcoming Hayes-Tilden election, summer 1877, P.B.S. Pinchback Papers, Moorland-Spingarn Collection, Howard University Library.
"
The fighting men of the South": The Nation,
Mar. 23, 1871. This professional élan no doubt helped the Klan build and maintain its hierarchical structure of klaverns and dens. "A county was divided into a certain number of districts, and each district composed a camp, which was under the command of a captain," a North Carolina Klansman reported. Recounted another, "The meetings were to be held in secret places—in the woods, or some other place distant from any habitation, in order to avoid detection. The disguise prescribed was a long white gown, and a mask for the face ... The sign of recognition of the [Klansmen] was by sliding the
right hand down along the opposite lapel of the coat. If the party to whom the sign was made was a member of the organization, he returned it by sliding the left hand in the same manner down along the opposite lapel of the coat. The word of distress was 'Shiloh.'"
Congressional Globe,
42nd Cong., 1st sess., Mar. 28, 1871.

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 "
It is not law that is wanted in the South": Congressional Globe,
42nd Cong., 1st sess., appendix, p. 71.
"
If the federal government cannot pass laws":
Butler, "Ku Klux Klan Outrages in the South," speech to House of Representatives, Apr. 4, 1871, pamphlet in Benjamin Butler Papers, Library of Congress.
"
Waving the bloody shirt":
Trelease, p. 294; see also Zuczek,
Encyclopedia of the Reconstruction Era,
vol. 1.

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 "
K.K.K. Beware! Beware! Beware!": New National Era,
May 25, 1871.
"
When myself and colleagues shall leave": Congressional Globe,
42nd Cong., 1st sess., quoted in Sterling,
Trouble They Seen,
p. 371.
"
We have reconstructed, and reconstructed": Congressional Globe,
42nd Cong., 1st sess., appendix, pp. 116–17; for discussion of resistance to the Klan bill, see also Gillette, p. 52–53.
"
Restoration of peace and order": The Nation,
Apr. 6, 1871.

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 "
The rule of [the community's] most ignorant members": The Nation,
Mar. 9, 1871.
"
We must ... hand the Government over to the people": The Nation,
Mar. 30, 1871.
"
Sir, we are in terror from Ku-Klux threats":
S. E. Lane to President Grant, Apr. 19, 1871; Grant, pp. 263–64.
"
I am a clergyman, superannuated":
C. F. Jones to President Grant, May 12 1871; Grant, p. 264.

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 "
To let Confederate ideas rule us no longer":
Amos Akerman to George W. Heidy, Aug. 22, 1876, Akerman Letterbooks, University of Virginia Library; quoted in McFeely, "Amos T. Akerman: The Lawyer and Racial Justice."
"
An alarming imposition":
Amos Akerman to George W. Heidy, Aug. 22, 1876, Akerman Letterbooks; ibid.
Congressman Butler helped persuade:
Ibid.

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Akerman identified thoroughly with his mission:
Amos Akerman to Charles Sumner, Apr. 6, 1869, Charles Sumner Papers, Houghton Library, Harvard University.
"
One cause of [the] readiness to secede":
Amos Akerman to E. P. Jackson, Aug. 18, 1871, Akerman Papers, University of Virginia Library; see McFeely,
Grant,
p. 371.

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 "
Black as a highly polished boot":
Morgan, James M., p. 331.
"
Distinguished and agreeable figure": The Louisianian,
May 2, 1874.
More intriguing was the fact:
Lamson, Peggy, pp. 22–33, offers an in-depth discussion of Elliott's mysterious past.

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A Negro from Massachusetts Cowhides a White Carpetbagger":
The story is covered in
Charleston Daily News,
Oct. 23–26, 1869.
In defense of the Ku Klux Klan bill, he tangled: Congressional Globe,
42nd Cong., 1st sess., Apr. 1, 1871.

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 "
Possibly, Mr. Editor":
Greeley-Elliott exchange in
New National Era,
Mar. 16, 1871.
"
A condition of affairs exists in some of the states":
Grant's message to Congress, Mar. 23, 1871, quoted in
Charleston Daily News,
Mar. 24, 1871.

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 "
Very indignant at wrong, and yet master of his indignation":
Amos Akerman to General Alfred H. Terry, Nov. 18, 1871, Akerman Letterbooks; quoted in Trelease, pp. 402–3.
"
Under the domination of systematic and organized depravity":
Quoted in Williams, Lou Falkner, p. 44.
When Akerman returned to York County on October 10: New York Times,
Oct. 31, 1871.

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"
These lawless disturbers of the South":
Cresswell, "Enforcing the Enforcement Acts,"
Journal of Southern History;
see also
Harper's Weekly,
Jan. 27, 1872, and Oct. 19, 1872.
"
The general disposition ... was to assign":
Post, "A Carpetbagger in South Carolina,"
Journal of Negro History.
One New York newspaper was convinced: New York Herald,
Dec. 1, 1871.
"
These outlaws will speedily be taught":
Cresswell, "Enforcing the Enforcement Acts"; see also
Harper's Weekly,
Jan. 27 and Oct. 19, 1872.

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In spite of the successful prosecutions:
Foner, A
Short History of Reconstruction,
p. 197.
He had been particularly irritated by:
Hamilton Fish Diary entry, Nov. 24, 1871, quoted in McFeely, "Amos T. Akerman: The Lawyer and Racial Justice."
Shortly before Christmas 1871:
See McFeely,
Grant,
pp. 373–74, for a discussion of Akerman's forced departure.
"
As a body designed to destroy Reconstruction":
Rable, p. 189.

6. Pinch

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Only colored enough": Louisianian,
May 11, 1872.
"
A bronze Mephistopheles": New York Commercial Advertiser,
Feb. 25, 1875; Haskins, p. 216.

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 "
To the unwritten law that the cleverest colored man":
Ibid., p. 18.
"
A white woman, of English-French stock":
Toomer, p. 23.
"
I ate cakes to fill my stomach":
Ibid.
"
When it was announced I nearly fainted": New Orleans Times,
Mar. 11, 1872.
"
Nearly all the officers inimical to me":
P.B.S. Pinchback to Benjamin Butler, Sept. 10, 1863; in Grosz, "The Political Career of P.B.S. Pinchback,"
Louisiana Historical Quarterly.
He tried joining the Union's fight again the following year, using $1,000 of his own money to recruit a company of black cavalry. General Nathaniel Banks, however, who had replaced Butler, denied Pinchback's request for a commission.

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Ultimately the star cars were eliminated:
Fischer, "A Pioneer Protest,"
Journal of Negro History.
"
The time when every thinking man must come forward":
Draft of Pinchback speech, Montgomery, Alabama, 1865–1866, P.B.S. Pinchback Papers, Moorland-Spingarn Collection, Howard University Library.
"
There is a sense of security displayed by our people":
Draft of Pinchback speech to Louisiana Republican state convention, June 19, 1867, P.B.S. Pinchback Papers.
Pinchback took the lead in authoring:
Constitution of the State of Louisiana with Amendments, New Orleans, 1875; see Article 13.

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 "
The first colored man in America":
Perkins, "Oscar James Dunn,"
Phylon.
A
humiliating incident: New Orleans Crescent,
Sept. 2, 1868; see also Haskins, p. 63.
"
A shooting affray ... with intent to kill and murder": New Orleans Daily Picayune,
Sept. 2, 1868.

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 "
The most fiery speech ever heard": New Orleans Daily Picayune,
Sept. 4 and 8, 1868; see also Haskins, p. 64.
Dunn, a fine-looking man:
Perkins, "Oscar James Dunn."
"
I consider myself just as far above":
Quoted in Haskins, p. 66.

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Brutal atrocities occurred:
Tunnell,
Crucible of Reconstruction,
pp. 154–57.
"
We are told, do not legislate on this subject":
Draft of Pinchback ppeech, Jan. 4, 1869, P.B.S. Pinchback Papers.

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 "
Senator Pinchback ... possesses tact and boldness": New Orleans Republican,
Nov. 27, 1870.

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 Griffe,
meaning a person:
Reuter, p. 115. The
gens de couleur
figured prominently in state history, having fought heroically at the Battle of New Orleans on the nearby Plain of Chalmette in the War of 1812 and been famously commended for their gallantry by none other than General Andrew Jackson. Reportedly it was a slave who suggested to the American commanders the idea of using cotton bales as breastworks against the British, a strategy credited with playing a key role in the American victory. Jordan B. Noble, a black drummer boy in the battle, was an elderly man in Reconstruction New Orleans, telling the story of the great confrontation between American and British forces to anyone who cared to listen and sometimes delighting children by playing on his old drum. Many
gens de couleur
families were socially prominent, assimilated, and well-to-do; President Lincoln had counted on them to enable Reconstruction to take root in Louisiana.