old Whigs who could not yet bring themselves to affiliate with the Democrats.
At first it seemed that a respectable number of whites might be secured for
the radical party, but the rapid organization of the Negroes checked the
accession of whites. In the winter and spring of 1866-67, the Negroes near the
towns were well organized by the Union League and the Freedmen's Bureau and
then, after the passage of the reconstruction acts, the organizing activities
of the radical chieftains shifted to the rural districts. The Union League was
greatly extended; Union League conventions were held to which local whites
were not admitted; and the formation of a black man's party was well on the
way before the registration of the voters was completed. Visiting statesmen
from the North, among them Henry Wilson of Massachusetts and "Pig Iron" Kelley
of Pennsylvania, toured the South in support of the radical program, and the
registrars and all Federal officials aided in the work.

* See "The Day of the Confederacy", by Nathaniel W. Stephenson (in "The
Chronicles of America"), p. 121, footnote.


The whites, slow to comprehend the real extent of radicalism, were finally
aroused to the necessity of organizing, if they were to influence the Negro
and have a voice in the conventions. The old party divisions were still
evident. With difficulty a portion of the Whigs was brought with the Democrats
into one conservative party during the summer and fall of 1867, though many
still held aloof. The lack of the old skilled leadership was severely felt. In
places where the white man's party was given a name, it was called "Democratic
and Conservative," to spare the feelings of former Whigs who were loath to
bear the party name of their quondam opponents.

The first step in the military reconstruction was the registration of voters.
In each State a central board of registrars was appointed by the district