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This organization was
formed in 1862 to "make loyalty effective." The members of the United
States Sanitary Commission began the organization in 1862, in Ohio,
Philadelphia, and New York. Leagues were formed all over the North before
the end of 1863. The members were pledged to repudiate any political
belief that conflicted with unconditional loyalty to the Union. Several
similar orders were absorbed by the Union League. The organization
distributed more than 5,000,-000 political pamphlets; recruited negro
regiments; sent teachers to instruct the negroes; and demanded negro
suffrage in 1865. The league was gradually extended into the South among
the "Unionists," and during 1865-66 had a strong membership of whites in
the mountain districts of that section. In 1867 negroes were admitted to
the order in the South and at once nearly all of the whites deserted. From
1867 to 1876 the league and its offshoots formed the "machine" of the
Radical party in the South. It controlled the negro vote absolutely and
organzied it well; it made all nominations for office, and severely
disciplined those who disobeyed orders. A constitution and ritual were
adopted for use in the South. There was a weird initiation ceremony to
impress the negroes. The members swore to vote for no one except members
of their own order. An ex-Confederate could not join unless he would
acknowledge that his course during the war had been treason, and under no
circumstances was he eligible to office in the order or to become a
candidate for political office. The administration of the league was in
the hands of the so-called carpet-baggers or political adventurers from
the North. The local assemblies were called councils; these together
formed the Union League of America, with headquarters in each Southern
state and general headquarters in New York. In the councils the negroes
were drilled in the faith of the Republican party, a catechism being
prepared for that purpose. There was complaint that the league was a cause
of disorder and violence among the blacks on account of its incendiary
teachings. At one time it was said that the membership reached 500,000 in
the South. In the North after 1865 the order gradually died out, the
surviving leagues becoming social clubs. As an institution of
reconstruction the Union League was most important. The rigid organization
and the strict control imposed by it upon the blacks, made it possible for
them to vote as a race and vote the Republican ticket. |
