, gave a clear account of the
conditions in Georgia that led to the organization of the defensive
societies of whites.[10] In Georgia the state of affairs where General
Gordon lived was in some respects unlike conditions in Tennessee. In
Tennessee the whites were somewhat divided among themselves and there
were not so many blacks. In Georgia, according to Gordon, the
principal danger was from blacks, incited to hostility and violence by
alien whites of low character. The latter organized the negroes into
armed Union Leagues, taught them that the whites were hostile to all
their rights, and that the lands of the whites were to be, or ought to
be, divided among the blacks. Under such influences the negroes who
had not made trouble began to show signs of restlessness; some of them
banded together to plunder the whites, and serious crimes became
frequent, especially that of rape, and men were afraid to leave their
families in order to attend to their business. The whites feared a
general insurrection of the blacks, and as Gordon stated, "if the sort
of teachings given [to the negroes] in Georgia had been carried out to
its logical results the negroes would have slaughtered whole
neighborhoods." That they did not do so, was, in his opinion, due to
the forbearance and self-control of the whites, and to the natural
kindness and good disposition of the negroes and their remembrance of
former pleasant relations with the whites. There was no great danger,
as one can see today, of the negro uprisings, but the whites thought
then that there was. The religious frenzy of the blacks during the
year after the war also alarmed the whites. The black troops stationed
in Georgia were frequently guilty of gross outrages against white
citizens and were a constant incitement to violence on the part of
their fellow blacks. The carpetbag government pardoned and turned
loose upon society the worst criminals. There was no law for several
years. The whites were subject to arbitrary arrest and trials by
drumhead courts-martial; military prisoners were badly mistreated. In
general, society and government were in a condition of anarchy; the
white race was disorganized, and the blacks organized, but not for
good purposes.

[Illustration: GENERAL JOHN B. GORDON
Head of Klan in Georgia
FACING PAGE 33]

General Gordon spoke of another matter often mentioned by the best
class of ex-Confederate soldiers: the Southern soldier believed
that the