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region involved, saw only in this movement an attempt on the part of southerners to withhold freedom from those whose sorry plight had moved the North to espouse their cause. Men of the North became imbued with the idea that with citizenship alone could the negro be protected in a country now hostile to him, and the crime of conferring the right of suffrage upon a race until now held in bondage was committed. It must be said to Johnson's credit that he violently opposed this measure but it was passed in spite of him.

While the ballot had been thus extended to a great ignorant mass of humanity, all the leaders of the South-all who were possessed of $20,000 worth of property-were for some time debarred from citizenship. While the most able, most experienced were thus disqualified, adventurers from the North hurried into the southern states and, having only personal profit at stake, did what they could to intensify the bitterness which was growing up between the franchised negro and the unfranchised southerner, meantime shaping matters so that they themselves filled all remunerative positions.

Month by month conditions became more unbearable in the South. It was useless to complain because each complaint was long misinterpreted. To be sure, there were men in the North who saw that the policy followed by Congress in regard to the South was mistaken, but they made small impression upon the sentiment of their day. The Constitution was amended by the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave the right of franchise to the negro, and no state could be received again into the Union until it recognized and conceded the same privilege.

Prevented from making use of regular methods for accomplishing their ends, southern men shortly resorted to unusual methods. In sport a band of young men had hit upon the idea of going about masked among the colored people, bent upon amusement. They found it easy to intimidate them so that they would yield to whatever was required of them. The spirit of jest soon gave way to earnestness. Here, apparently, was a means by which conditions might be made more endurable, and they made the most of it. The youths who originated the plan had styled themselves the Kuklos-meaning the circle; this was soon corrupted into Ku Klux, and Klan was added. Going about among the negroes in the night, on horses, masked

and wrapped in sheets, the ignorant darkies were so frightened that they obeyed injunctions to remain away from political meetings, and to cease to meddle in affairs of which they knew practically nothing. This lawless method of attaining an end worked out differently, according to the neighborhood. Prudent men did not go too far; they confined themselves to threats which they had small intention of executing. Nevertheless, as will always happen under such circumstances, the more impassioned and fearless went to the full length of the opportunity thus offered and many crimes were committed in the name of the Ku Klux Klan. Northerners who were thought to believe in the right of suffrage for the negro were treated severely whenever they came into the territory where the secret society operated. It was remarkable to see how rapidly this lawless system spread. During Grant's administration the federal government was obliged to institute a regular crusade to stamp it out.

For its failure in the policy sustained toward the South, and for many other reasons, the Republican party, which had come out of the war with great prestige, fell into disfavor. The construction of western railroads was begun shortly after the war closed, and while these roads did much to open up the country, it was found that incredible graft was involved in the matter and while Congress censured those who were shown to have been involved, they still held their seats. Finally, in 1873, a serious panic swept over the country, due largely to the imprudent loans which had been negotiated in connection with western railroad building Grant's administration was a disappointment to many-most of all, to himself. Gradually the country came into a normal condition again, and with the opening of Hayes' administration the period of Reconstruction may be said to close.

In 1867 the territory of the United States was materially increased by the purchase of Alaska from Russia. The resources of that region were little appreciated at the time, and it was commonly declared that we had purchased merely icebergs and glaciers. Even today, when the wealth of the northern land has been shown to be rich in coal deposits, minerals and fisheries, many of the possibilities of Alaska are still to be revealed.

The last important encounter with the Indians occurred in 1876. Enraged by the steady advance of the white man toward their remaining tracts, Sitting Bull induced his tribesmen to make an attack upon them. The outbreak was soon quelled but General Custer and his soldiers perished, almost to a man, in one of the ambushes laid for them. Hope of victory being no longer possible, recent years have found the remnant of the Red men reconciled to their fate. While the government is doing much today to educate the young generation, disease frequently overtakes them as a result of radically changed life and makes heavy inroads upon their numbers.

We are still too near the events of the past forty years to view them in a wholly impartial way. The industrial growth of the country has been paramount, casting into secondary importance the political life of the nation. Inventions of many kinds have tended to eliminate distances; the telephone, telegraph cable, improved application of steam, and the discovery of the possibilities of electricity have transformed all enlightened lands, but especially have they wrought changes in a country so vast as this. New farm implements and machinery have given opportunity for the cultivation of wide tracts of prairies hitherto untilled; appliances for mining have led to the rapid accumulation of precious ores. Devices for facilitating manufactures have lessened the cost of production. Because the lot of the day-laborer is far better in America than in European countries, hundreds of thousands of emigrants have flocked to our shores every year. In spite of the steady influx, there is still room for all and work for those who wish it.

Only once since 1865 has the sturdy spirit for arbitrating difficulties given way before provocation for war. In 1898 a wave of hysterical feeling plunged the country into a brief war with Spain. Subsequent events showed that this war was no exception to the general statement-that modern wars have been fought for commercial purposes.

The United States celebrated its first centennial in 1876. That a century had witnessed a complete change in the relations existing between the two countries was sufficiently evident by the fact that Great Britain took a prominent part in the exposition held in Philadelphia. Many beneficial results of this first great exposition in America followed. Heretofore Amer

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icans had been too deeply engrossed in shaping a country for habitation to give special attention to the finer arts of living. Now for the first time beauty was emphasized; comparison of workmanship stimulated the people to put forth fresh efforts. Architecture which had previously been little more than an accident, became a study. From that year may be said to date a new era in the development of culture and refinement, and any particular study of American art must start from that time.

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FAMOUS HISTORICAL ADDRESSES

CHAPTER VIII.

THE CALL TO ARMS.

PATRICK HENRY.

(1775)

No MAN thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen, if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. is no time for ceremony.

This

The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfil the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason toward my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.

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