Sometimes the Negroes themselves arranged the festival and invited prominent whites, for whom a separate table attended by Negro waiters was reserved; and after dinner there followed speeches by both whites and blacks.
With the organization of the League, the Negroes grew more reserved, and finally became openly unfriendly to the whites.The League alone, however, was not responsible for this change.The League and the Bureau had to some extent the same personnel, and it is frequently impossible to distinguish clearly between the influence of the two.In many ways the League was simply the political side of the Bureau.The preaching and teaching missionaries were also at work.And apart from the organized influences at work, the poor whites never laid aside their hostility towards the blacks, bond or free.
When the campaigns grew exciting, the discipline of the order was used to prevent the Negroes from attending Democratic meetings and hearing Democratic speakers.The leaders even went farther and forbade the attendance of the blacks at political meetings where the speakers were not endorsed by the League.Almost invariably the scalawag disliked the Leaguer, black or white, and as a political teacher often found himself proscribed by the League.At a Republican mass meeting in Alabama, a white Republican who wanted to make a speech was shouted down by the Negroes because he was "opposed to the Loyal League." He then went to another place to speak but was followed by the crowd, which refused to allow him to say anything.All Republicans in good standing had to join the League and swear that secession was treason--a rather stiff dose for the scalawag.Judge (later Governor) David P.Lewis, of Alabama, was a member for a short while but he soon became disgusted and published a denunciation of the order.Albion W.Tourgee, the author, a radical judge, was the first chief of the League in North Carolina and was succeeded by Governor Holden.In Alabama, Generals Swayne, Spencer, and Warner, all candidates for the United States Senate, hastened to join the order.
As soon as a candidate was nominated by the League, it was the duty of every member to support him actively.Failure to do so resulted in a fine or other more severe punishment, and members who had been expelled were still considered under the control of the officials.The League was, in fact, the machine of the radical party, and all candidates had to be governed by its edicts.As the Montgomery Council declared, the Union League was "the right arm of the Union-Republican party in the United States."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.It was almost necessary, as a measure of personal safety, for each black to support the radical program.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 actually dangerous for a black to be a Democrat; that is, to try to follow his old master in politics.The whites in many cases were forced to advise their few faithful black friends to vote the radical ticket in order to escape mistreatment.Those who showed Democratic leanings were proscribed in Negro society and expelled from Negro churches;the Negro women would not "proshay" (appreciate) a black Democrat.Such a one was sure to find that influence was being brought to bear upon his dusky sweetheart or his wife to cause him to see the error of his ways, and persistent adherence to the white party would result in his losing her.The women were converted to radicalism before the men, and they almost invariably used their influence strongly in behalf of the League.If moral suasion failed to cause the delinquent to see the light, other methods were used.Threats were common and usually sufficed.Fines were levied by the League on recalcitrant members.In case of the more stubborn, a sound beating was effective to bring about a change of heart.The offending party was "bucked and gagged," or he was tied by the thumbs and thrashed.Usually the sufferer was too afraid to complain of the way he was treated.
