d counties in which the colored vote proved to be potential and
decisive. But enough has been written to show the absurdity of the claim
that the suppression of the colored vote is necessary to prevent "Negro
Domination." So far as the State of Mississippi is concerned, in spite
of the favorable conditions, as shown above, the legitimate State
Government,--the one that represented the honestly expressed will of a
majority of the voters of the State,--was in the fall of 1875 overthrown
through the medium of a sanguinary revolution. The State Government was
virtually seized and taken possession of _vi et armis_. Why was this?
What was the excuse for it? What was the motive, the incentive that
caused it? It was not in the interest of good, efficient, and capable
government; for that we already had. It was not on account of
dishonesty, maladministration, misappropriation of public funds; for
every dollar of the public funds had been faithfully accounted for. It
was not on account of high taxes; for it had been shown that, while the
tax rate was quite high during the Alcorn administration, it had been
reduced under the Ames administration to a point considerably less than
it is now or than it has been for a number of years. It was not to
prevent "Negro Domination" and to make sure the ascendency of the whites
in the administration of the State and local governments; for that was
then the recognized and established order of things, from which there
was no apprehension of departure. Then, what was the cause of this
sudden and unexpected uprising? There must have been a strong, if not a
justifiable, reason for it. What was it? That question will be answered
in a subsequent chapter.

CHAPTER X

OVERTHROW OF THE REPUBLICAN STATE GOVERNMENT IN MISSISSIPPI

In the last preceding chapter it was stated that the reason for the
sanguinary revolution, which resulted in the overthrow of the Republican
state government in the State of Mississippi in 1875, would be given in
a subsequent chapter. What was true of Mississippi at that time was
largely true of the other Reconstructed States where similar results
subsequently followed. When the War of the Rebellion came to an end it
was believed by some, and apprehended by others, that serious and
radical changes in the previous order of things would necessarily
follow.

But when what was known as the Johnson Plan of Reconstruction was
disclosed it was soon made plain that if that p