Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 12.djvu/370

854 that these were mainly white strangers to the people, and that they controlled the negro element. Some of the Southern whites, who could not get office from the people among whom they lived, except in such upheavals of society, united with them and were even more extreme than the white aliens ; they, too, were striving for influence among the negroes to hold office by their votes, and had to keep abreast of or surpass their alien white colleagues to allay their suspicions of loyalty to the new order of things, in order to win the confidence of the negroes by posing as their foremost defenders in their newly given rights obtained by military power.

There were some good white men in these conventions and legislatures intent on trying to get the best possible government, but these were silenced. Instead of realizing the dangerous situation, the new lawmakers began discussing, with most inflammatory language and bearing, the matter of intermarriage of the races, the further disfranchisement of classes of whites who might throw obstacles to their proposed plans, and mixed schools in common for all children, white and black. When it is. recalled now that in some of the States the negroes were largely in the majority, and in others nearly equally divided, this complete social upheaval was enough to turn the heads of the worst element of a more fortunate race than that of the negro. But even with these temptations the crime of rape was not committed then, for the shrewd carpet-bagger knew that this one offense would not be tolerated, and so long as they remained, it did not occur except in most isolated cases. The older negroes, too, and pleasure is taken in stating it, under the influence of even the great temptations and their previous living among the white people as slaves, never dreamed of such a crime, and held their growing sons for a time under that control which they had had under the system of slavery. No other race, under similar temptations and surroundings, would have done better.