they
contributed, and to have a small, but fair, and reasonable proportion of
the positions that were at the disposal of the voters of the State and
of the administration.

While the colored men did not look with favor upon a political alliance
with the poor whites, it must be admitted that, with very few
exceptions, that class of whites did not seek, and did not seem to
desire such an alliance. For this there were several well-defined
reasons.

In the first place, while the primary object of importing slaves into
that section was to secure labor for the cultivation of cotton, the
slave was soon found to be an apt pupil in other lines of industry. In
addition to having his immense cotton plantations cultivated by slave
labor, the slave-owner soon learned that he could utilize these slaves
as carpenters, painters, plasterers, bricklayers, blacksmiths and in all
other fields of industrial occupations and usefulness. Thus the whites
who depended upon their labor for a living along those lines had their
field of opportunity very much curtailed. Although the slaves were not
responsible for this condition, the fact that they were there and were
thus utilized, created a feeling of bitterness and antipathy on the part
of the laboring whites which could not be easily wiped out.

In the second place, the whites of that class were not at that time as
ambitious, politically, as were the aristocrats. They had been held in
political subjection so long that it required some time for them to
realize that there had been a change. At that time they, with a few
exceptions, were less efficient, less capable, and knew less about
matters of state and governmental administration than many of the
ex-slaves. It was a rare thing, therefore, to find one of that class at
that time that had any political ambition or manifested any desire for
political distinction or official recognition. As a rule, therefore, the
whites that came into the leadership of the Republican party between
1872 and 1875 were representatives of the most substantial families of
the land.

CHAPTER XI

RISE OF DEMOCRATIC RADICALISM IN THE SOUTH

After the Presidential election of 1872 no one could be found who
questioned the wisdom or practicability of the Congressional Plan of
Reconstruction, or who looked for its overthrow, change or modification.
After that election the situation was accepted by everyone in perfect
good faith. No one could be found in any pa