A Mississippi View of Race Relations in the South

by Dunbar Rowland

"It was, I know, the opinion of Mr. Lincoln and other friends of the colored race—it certainly was mine—that some qualification, such as the ownership of taxable property, the ability to read and write or both, should have been required for the exercise of the right to vote, as an inducement for the acquisition of what is needful on the part of self-governing people."

Previous to the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment there was not a Northern state where the negro had the right to vote. Mr. Garfield wanted an intelligent negro suffrage. He said during the reconstruction debates on that question:

"I regret that we have not found the situation of affairs in this country such, and the public virtue such, that we might come out on the plain, unanswerable proposition that every adult intelligent citizen of the United States, unconvicted of crime, should enjoy the right of suffrage."

Senator Fessenden, of Maine, a very able man, one of the leaders of the Republican party and a member of the reconstruction committee, said in the Senate on the question of negro suffrage:

"I think the honorable Senator from Massachusetts, himself, (Mr. Sumner) who is the great champion of universal suffrage, would hardly contend that now at this time the whole mass of the population of the recent slave states is fit to be admitted to the exercise of the right of suffrage. I presume that no man who looks dispassionately and calmly would contend that the great mass of those who were recently slaves (undoubtedly there may be exceptions) and who have been kept in ignorance all their lives, oppressed more or less, forbidden to acquire information, are fit at this day to exercise the right of suffrage or could be trusted to do it."

Such statements show that the great leaders of the Republican party long after the war had the correct idea of negro suffrage. If such was the opinion of these great and good men, why was it not made the policy of the Republican party? Why was negro suffrage finally determined upon? The only conclusion to which the student of the situation can come is that negro suffrage was adopted as a partisan political measure intended for the perpetuation of political power.

The political situation in Washington in 1867 was exactly suited to bring about the evils of partisan legislation. There was only one party represented at the Capitol. There was no voice there to plead the cause of the people upon whom the ruin of negro rule would fall. They were at home silent and waiting, hoping that the evil might be averted. The extreme radicals of the Republican party, led by Sumner and Stevens prevailed and the reconstruction bill became a law on the 2nd of March, 1867. The negro was made an unwilling instrument for the oppression and humiliation of his best friends. He was made the controlling political influence in the South. He placed himself under the leadership of men who poisoned his mind with a spirit of misrule, and who taught him to mistrust and hate his former masters.

The bitter humiliation of negro domination was borne with fortitude and patience. Under such conditions property was insecure. There was open and notorious plunder without the hope of redress. Ignorance, crime and hatred enthralled the white people. No such evil had ever before been put upon a suffering section. It seemed as if the wheels of civilization had been turned back a thousand years. Ignorant and vicious negroes filled the most important positions of honor and trust. They became county officers, members of the legislature, state officers, members of Congress and United States senators.

The long continued rule of ignorance and vice could only have one result—the ruin of the country and the confiscation of all property by the power of taxation. The people of the South faced that condition after seven years of negro rule. What did they do to remedy it? They did exactly what the Anglo Saxon would have done under like conditions, no matter whether they existed in Mississippi, in Massachusetts, in England or in Germany. They met together in council and after mature and thoughtful deliberation, they pledged their honor, fortune and lives to rid themselves and their posterity from the blight of black supremacy; by peaceful means, if possible, by force if necessary.

The struggle between white and black began. It was a time of deep emotion and intense feeling all over the South. Every white man swore a solemn oath before high Heaven that he would free himself and his posterity from the disgrace of negro rule or die in the attempt. That idea was the battle cry. The people felt that they were struggling against infamy and dishonor. They felt that the peace of their homes, the safety of their wives and the happiness of their children depended on the result. Lawyers left their law books, doctors their patients, preachers their sermons, merchants their stores and farmers their fields and formed themselves into a mighty force for the overthrow of misrule. During the time of such intense feeling and excitement many mistakes were made, many irreparable wrongs were committed and many innocent lives were lost. Truth and candor can now deal with that time. It was a time of revolution when the wishes of wise leaders were often set aside to give way to the passions of the hour. There were frequent armed conflicts between the races, and the negroes always suffered most from them. They were armed and incited to violence by their white leaders who deserted them in time of peril. The issues of that remarkable campaign were clear and well defined, and were: