CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION
IN ALABAMA

 

 

 

 

CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION

IN

ALABAMA

 

BY
WALTER L. FLEMING, Ph.D.
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY

 

 

New York
THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, Agents
LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd.
1905

All rights reserved

 

 

Copyright, 1905,
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.

Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1905.

Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing & Co.—Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

 

 

TO
MY WIFE
MARY BOYD FLEMING

 

 

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PREFACE

This work was begun some five years ago as a study of Reconstruction in Alabama. As the field opened it seemed to me that an account of ante-bellum conditions, social, economic, and political, and of the effect of the Civil War upon ante-bellum institutions would be indispensable to any just and comprehensive treatment of the later period. Consequently I have endeavored to describe briefly the society and the institutions that went down during Civil War and Reconstruction. Internal conditions in Alabama during the war period are discussed at length; they are important, because they influenced seriously the course of Reconstruction. Throughout the work I have sought to emphasize the social and economic problems in the general situation, and accordingly in addition to a sketch of the politics I have dwelt at some length upon the educational, religious, and industrial aspects of the period. One point in particular has been stressed throughout the whole work, viz. the fact of the segregation of the races within the state—the blacks mainly in the central counties, and the whites in the northern and the southern counties. This division of the state into “white” counties and “black” counties has almost from the beginning exercised the strongest influence upon the history of its people. The problems of white and black in the Black Belt are not always the problems of the whites and blacks of the white counties. It is hoped that the maps inserted in the text will assist in making clear this point. Perhaps it may be thought that undue space is devoted to the history of the negro during War and Reconstruction, but after all the negro, whether passive or active, was the central figure of the period.

Believing that the political problems of War and Reconstruction are of less permanent importance than the forces which have shaped and are shaping the social and industrial life of the people, I have confined the discussion of politics to certain chapters chronologically arranged, while for the remainder of the book the topical method of presentation has been adopted. In describing the political events of Reconstruction I have in most cases endeavored to show the relation between national affairs and local conditions within the state. To such an extent has this been done that in some parts it may perhaps be called a general history with especial reference to local conditions in Alabama. Never before and never since Reconstruction have there been closer practical relations between the United States and the state, between Washington and Montgomery.

As to the authorities examined in the preparation of the work it may be stated that practically all material now available—whether in print or in manuscript—has been used. In working with newspapers an effort was made to check up in two or more newspapers each fact used. Most of the references to newspapers—practically all of those to the less reputable papers—are to signed articles. I have had to reject much material as unreliable, and it is not possible that I have been able to sift out all the errors. Whatever remain will prove to be, as I hope and believe, of only minor consequence.

Thanks for assistance given are due to friends too numerous to mention all of them by name. For special favors I am indebted to Professor L. D. Miller, Jacksonville, Alabama; Mr. W. O. Scroggs of Harvard University; Professor G. W. Duncan, Auburn, Alabama; Major W. W. Screws of the Montgomery Advertiser; Colonel John W. DuBose, Montgomery, Alabama; Mrs. J. L. Dean, Opelika, Alabama; Major S. A. Cunningham of the Confederate Veteran, Nashville, Tennessee; and Major James R. Crowe, of Sheffield, Alabama. I am indebted to Mr. L. S. Boyd, Washington, D.C., for numerous favors, among them, for calling my attention to the scrap-book collection of Edward McPherson, then shelved in the Library of Congress along with Fiction. On many points where documents were lacking, I was materially assisted by the written reminiscences of people familiar with conditions of the time, among them my mother and father, the late Professor O. D. Smith of Auburn, Alabama, and the late Ryland Randolph, Esq., of Birmingham. Many old negroes have related their experiences to me. Hon. Junius M. Riggs of the Alabama Supreme Court Library, by the loan of documents, assisted me materially in working up the financial history of the Reconstruction; Dr. David Y. Thomas of the University of Florida read and criticised the entire manuscript; Dr. Thomas M. Owen, Director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, has given me valuable assistance from the beginning to the close of the work by reading the manuscript, by making available to me not only the public archives, but also his large private collection, and by securing illustrations. But above all I have been aided by Professor William A. Dunning of Columbia University, at whose instance the work was begun, who gave me many helpful suggestions, read the manuscript, and saved me from numerous pitfalls, and by my wife, who read and criticised both manuscript and proof, and made the maps and the index and prepared some of the illustrations.

WALTER L. FLEMING.

New York City,
August, 1905.

 

 

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CONTENTS

PART I INTRODUCTION   CHAPTER I Period of Sectional Controversy   PAGE Composition of the Population of Alabama 3 The Indians and Nullification 8 Slavery Controversy and Political Divisions 10 Emancipation Sentiment in North Alabama 10 Early Party Divisions 11 William Lowndes Yancey 13 Growth of Secession Sentiment 14 “Unionists” Successful in 1851-1852 16 Yancey-Pryor Debate, 1858 17 The Charleston Convention of 1860 18 The Election of 1860 19 Separation of the Churches, 1821-1861 21 Senator Clay’s Farewell Speech in the Senate 25   CHAPTER II Secession from the Union Secession Convention Called 27 Parties in the Convention 28 Reports on Secession 31 Debate on Secession 31 Political Theories of Members 34 Ordinance of Secession Passed 36 Confederate States Formed 39 Self-denying Ordinance 41 African Slave Trade 42 Commissioners to Other States 46 Legislation by the Convention 49 North Alabama in the Convention 53 Incidents of the Session 56   PART II WAR TIMES IN ALABAMA   CHAPTER III Military and Political Events Military Operations 61 The War in North Alabama 62 The Streight Raid 67 Rousseau’s Raid 68 The War in South Alabama 69 Wilson’s Raid and the End of the War 71 Destruction by the

Armies 74 Military Organization 78 Alabama Soldiers: Number and Character 78 Negro Troops 86 Union Troops from Alabama 87 Militia System 88 Conscription and Exemption 92 Confederate Enrolment Laws 92 Policy of the State in Regard to Conscription 95 Effect of the Enrolment Laws 98 Exemption from Service 100 Tories and Deserters 108 Conditions in North Alabama 109 Unionists, Tories, and Mossbacks 112 Growth of Disaffection 114 Outrages by Tories and Deserters 119 Disaffection in South Alabama 122 Prominent Tories and Deserters 124 Numbers of the Disaffected 127 Party Politics and the Peace Movement 131 Political Conditions, 1861-1865 131 The Peace Society 137 Reconstruction Sentiment 143   CHAPTER IV Economic and Social Conditions Industrial Development during the War 149 Military Industries 149 Manufacture of Arms 150 Nitre Making 153 Private Manufacturing Enterprises 156 Salt Making 157 Confederate Finance in Alabama 162 Banks and Banking 162 Issues of Bonds and Notes by the State 164 Special Appropriations and Salaries 168 Taxation 169 Impressment 174 Debts, Stay Laws, Sequestration 176 Trade, Barter, Prices 178 Blockade-running and Trade through the Lines 183 Scarcity and Destitution, 1861-1865 196 The Negro during the War 205 Military Uses of Negroes 205 Negroes on the Farms 209 Fidelity to Masters 210 Schools and Colleges 212 Confederate Text-books 217 Newspapers 218 Publishing Houses 221 The Churches during the War 223 Attitude on Public Questions 223 The Churches and the Negroes 225 Federal Army and the Southern Churches 227 Domestic Life 230 Society in 1861 230 Life on the Farm 232 Home Industries; Makeshifts and Substitutes 234 Clothes and Fashions 236 Drugs and Medicines 239 Social Life during the War 241 Negro Life 243 Woman’s Work for the Soldiers 244   PART III THE AFTERMATH OF WAR   CHAPTER V Social and Economic Disorder Loss of Life in War 251 Destruction of Property 253 The Wreck of the Railways 259 The Interregnum: Lawlessness and Disorder 262 The Negro testing his Freedom 269 How to prove Freedom 270

class="dent2">Suffering among the Negroes 273 Relations between Whites and Blacks 275 Destitution and Want, 1865-1866 277   CHAPTER VI Confiscation and the Cotton Tax Confiscation Frauds 284 Restrictions on Trade in 1865 284 Federal Claims to Confederate Property 285 Cotton Frauds and Stealing 290 Cotton Agents Prosecuted 297 Statistics of the Frauds 299 The Cotton Tax 303   CHAPTER VII The Temper of the People After the Surrender 308 “Condition of Affairs in the South” 311 General Grant’s Report 311 Carl Schurz’s Report 312 Truman’s Report 312 Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction 313 The “Loyalists” 316 Treatment of Northern Men 318 Immigration to Alabama 321 Troubles of the Episcopal Church 324   PART IV PRESIDENTIAL RESTORATION   CHAPTER VIII First Provisional Administration Theories of Reconstruction 333 Presidential Plan in Operation 341 Early Attempts at “Restoration” 341 Amnesty Proclamation 349 “Proscribing Proscription” 356 The “Restoration” Convention 358 Personnel and Parties 358 Debates on Secession and Slavery 360 “A White Man’s Government” 364 Legislation by the Convention 366 “Restoration” Completed 367   CHAPTER IX Second Provisional Administration Status of the Provisional Government 376 Legislation about Freedmen 378 The Negro under the Provisional Government 383 Movement toward Negro Suffrage 386 New Conditions of Congress and Increasing Irritation 391 Fourteenth Amendment Rejected 394 Political Conditions, 1866-1867; Formation of Parties 398   CHAPTER X Military Government, 1865-1866 The Military Occupation 408 The Army and the Colored Population 410 Administration of Justice by the Army 413 The Army and the White People 417   CHAPTER XI The Wards of the Nation The Freedmen’s Bureau 421 Department of Negro Affairs 421 Organization of the Bureau 423 The Bureau and the Civil Authorities 427 The Bureau supported by Confiscations 431 The Labor Problem 433 Freedmen’s Bureau Courts 437 Care of the Sick 441 Issue of Rations 442 Demoralization caused by Bureau 444 The Freedmen’s Savings-bank 451 The Freedmen’s Bureau and Negro Education 456 The Failure of the Bureau System 469   PART V CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION   CHAPTER XII Military Government under the Reconstruction Acts Administration of General John Pope 473 Military Reconstruction Acts 473 Pope’s Control of the Civil

Government 477 Pope and the Newspapers 485 Trials by Military Commissions 487 Registration and Disfranchisement 488 Elections and the Convention 491 Removal of Pope and Swayne 492 Administration of General George G. Meade 493 Registration and Elections 493 Administration of Civil Affairs 495 Trials by Military Commissions 498 The Soldiers and the Citizens 500 From Martial Law to Carpet-bag Rule 501   CHAPTER XIII The Campaign of 1867 Attitude of the Whites 503 Organization of the Radical Party in Alabama 505 Conservative Opposition Aroused 512 The Negro’s First Vote 514   CHAPTER XIV The “Reconstruction” Convention Character of the Convention 517 The Race Question 521 Debates on Disfranchisement of Whites 524 Legislation by the Convention 528   CHAPTER XV The “Reconstruction” Completed “Convention” Candidates 531 Campaign on the Constitution 534 Vote on the Constitution 538 The Constitution fails of Adoption 541 The Alabama Question in Congress 547 Alabama readmitted to the Union 550   CHAPTER XVI The Union League of America Origin of the Union League 553 Its Extension to the South 556 Ceremonies of the League 559 Organization and Methods 561   PART VI CARPET-BAG AND NEGRO RULE   CHAPTER XVII Taxation and the Public Debt Taxation during Reconstruction 571 Administrative Expenses 574 Effect on Property Values 578 The Public Bonded Debt 580 The Financial Settlement 583   CHAPTER XVIII Railroad Legislation and Frauds Federal and State Aid to Railroads before the War 587 General Legislation in Aid of Railroads 589 The Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad 591 Other Indorsed Railroads 600 County and Town Aid to Railroads 604   CHAPTER XIX Reconstruction in the Schools School System before Reconstruction 607 School System of Reconstruction 609 Reconstruction of the State University 612 Trouble in the Mobile Schools 618 Irregularities in School Administration 621 Objections to the Reconstruction Education 624 Negro Education 625 Failure of the Educational System 632   CHAPTER XX Reconstruction in the Churches “Disintegration and Absorption” Policy 637 The Methodists 637 The Baptists 640 The Presbyterians 641 The Churches and the Negro during Reconstruction 642 The Baptists and the Negroes 643 The Presbyterians and the Negroes 646 The Roman Catholics 647 The Episcopalians 647 The Methodists and the Negroes 648

  CHAPTER XXI The Ku Klux Revolution Causes of the Ku Klux Movement 654 Secret Societies of Regulators before Ku Klux Klan 659 Origin and Growth of Ku Klux Klan 661 The Knights of the White Camelia 671 The Work of the Secret Orders 675 Ku Klux Orders and Warnings 680 Ku Klux “Outrages” 686 Success of the Ku Klux Movement 690 Spurious Ku Klux Organizations 691 Attempts to suppress the Ku Klux Movement 694 State Legislation 695 Enforcement Acts 697 Ku Klux Investigation 703 Later Ku Klux Organizations 709   CHAPTER XXII Reorganization of the Industrial System Break-up of the Ante-bellum System 710 The Freedmen’s Bureau System 717 Northern and Foreign Immigration 718 Attempts to organize a New System 721 Development of the Share and Credit Systems 723 Superiority of White Farmers 727 Decadence of the Black Belt 731   CHAPTER XXIII Political and Social Conditions during Reconstruction Politics and Political Methods 733 The First Reconstruction Administration 733 Reconstruction Judiciary 744 Campaign of 1868 747 The Administration of Governor Lindsay 750 The Administration of Governor Lewis 754 Election of Spencer to the United States Senate 755 Social Conditions during Reconstruction 761 Statistics of Crime 762 Social Relations of Negroes 763 Carpet-baggers and Scalawags 765 Social Effects of Reconstruction on the Whites 766 Economic Conditions 769   CHAPTER XXIV The Overthrow of Reconstruction The Republican Party in 1874 771 Whites desert the Party 771 The Demand of the Negro for Social Rights 772 Disputes among Radical Editors 773 Demand of Negroes for Office 773 Factions within the Party 774 Negroes in 1874 775 Promises made to them 775 Negro Social and Political Clubs 776 Negro Democrats 777 The Democratic and Conservative Party in 1874 778 Attitude of the Whites toward the Blacks 779 The Color Line Drawn 780 “Independent” Candidates 781 The Campaign of 1874 782 Platforms and Candidates 782 “Political Bacon” 783 “Hays-Hawley Letter” 786 Intimidation by Federal Authorities 789 Intimidation by Democrats 791 The Election of 1874 793 The Eufaula Riot 794 Results of the Election 795 Later Phases of State Politics 798 Whites make Secure their Control 798 The “Lily Whites” and the “Black and Tans” 799 The Failure of the Populist Movement 799 The Primary Election System 800 The Negroes Disfranchised 800

  Successes and Failures of Reconstruction 801   Appendices: Cotton Production in Alabama, 1860-1900 804 Registration of Voters under the New Constitution 806   Index 809