The Nation’s Peril.
TWELVE YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN THE SOUTH.
THEN AND NOW.
The Ku Klux Klan
A COMPLETE EXPOSITION OF THE ORDER:
ITS PURPOSE, PLANS, OPERATIONS, SOCIAL
AND POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Nation’s Salvation.
Wherefore say unto the Children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out fromunder the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeemyou with a stretched-out arm, and with great judgments.—Exodus, VI, 6.
NEW YORK:
Published by the Friends of the Compiler.
1872.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, by
E. A. IRELAND,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
INTRODUCTORY.
The facts contained in the succeeding pages, have been compiled fromauthenticated sources, and with especial reference to their truthfulness.
That portion derived from the diary of a gentleman, twelve years aresident of the South, was not originally intended for public circulation;but this, with a variety of other matter obtained from official records,formed the basis of a lecture delivered at Tremont Temple, in the city ofBoston, on the evening of March 27th, 1872, and excited a great degree ofinterest among the people to learn more of the subject-matter treatedupon.
Communications relating thereto came in from all parts of the country, andit was decided by the friends of the compiler to present all the facts inconvenient form for general circulation, as the best means of complyingwith this demand.
They are here given with such additions to the original matter, as willenable the general reader more fully to comprehend the origin, rise andprogress of the various orders of the Ku Klux Klans, their social andpolitical significance, and their general bearing upon the welfare of thenation at large.
The thrilling stories of outrage and crime herein narrated, are[Pg 4]authenticated beyond the power of refutation.
“Against all such crimes, as well as against incompetency and corruptionin office, the power of an intelligent public sentiment and of the courtsof justice should be invoked and united; and appealing for patience andforbearance in the North, while time and these powers are doing theirwork, let us also appeal to the good sense of Southern men, if theysincerely desire to accomplish political reforms through a change in thenegro vote. If their theory is true that he votes solidly now with therepublican party, and is kept there by his ignorance and by deception, allthat is necessary to keep him there is to keep up by their countenance,the Ku Klux Organization. Having the rights of a citizen and a voter,neither of those rights can be abrogated by whipping him. If his politicalopinions are erroneous, he will not take kindly to the opposite creed whenits apostles come to inflict the scourge upon himself, and outrage uponhis wife and children. If he is ignorant, he will not be educated byburning his school houses and exiling his teach