The
political campaign of 1872 saw Grant win the presidency again, though
the corruption and scandals of his administration like Credit Mobilier
would not surface until after his reelection. His opponent, Horace
Greeley, was outspoken against the black vote being manipulated by
Grant’s party, stating that “they are an easy, worthless race, taking no
thought of the morrow.” He thought the freedmen no longer deserved
government support, his harsh injunction being that they must “root,
hog, or die.”
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
"Unsurpassed Valor, Courage and Devotion to Liberty"
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
Campaign of 1872 in North Carolina
“In
the summer of 1872 . . . my immediate recreation was the heated
political campaign which was then in full swing . . . the Republicans
had put forward their contention along the most radical lines. A black
Negro man had practically dictated the platform, claiming complete civil
and social rights; endorsing [scalawag Governor W.W.] Holden, who had
been removed by impeachment from his governorship; and injecting various
“isms” which had been imported by the carpet-bag elements.
The
Democrats . . . had named for governor Judge [Augustus S.] Merrimon,
from the mountain country and a life-long rival of Governor [Zebulon]
Vance, a representative of the Union and war sentiment. In those days
there was no place for a Democrat on the Democratic ticket. Judge
Merrimon was a ponderous person, addicted to the Websterian style of
garment and the Websterian habit of four-hour speeches. Vance had
declined the nomination.
The
national features of this election were historically and dramatically
set. As North Carolina voted in August, it led the procession . . . The
Negroes voted for the first time for a president and were drilled [by
Republicans] to vote early and often. The presidential contest was
between the regular Republican party, supporting Grant, and the Liberal
Republicans, whose candidate, Horace Greeley, had been endorsed by the
Democrats.
Fred
Douglas, the Negro orator, was sent into the denser populations of
colored people in the eastern counties. He spoke before a multitude in
Warrenton. His racial instinct to magnify himself and display his
superiority made him speak along lines that were so much metaphysics to
the audience. They had come to hear paeans of praise for [Republican]
officeholders and denunciation of the old masters, with jests broad
enough to get over the platform.
John
Hyman, a colored barkeeper and later successful candidate for Congress,
had placed on the speaker’s table a glass of sherry for Fred Douglas’s
refreshment. Douglas sipped it between perorations, explaining it to
his audience that it was not liquor, but sherry wine; and that while it
might have been worse, it puzzled him to see how.
This
gave great offense. His hearers did not believe him; and John Hyman,
who had donated the wine, remarked that “Mr. Douglas’s manners – what he
has – may be good enough for his northern friends but they don’t set
well with folks who know what manners is.”
The
regular Republicans followed the military tactics of Grant, their
leader, and they sat down to the task of carrying the State in a
thoroughly businesslike manner. The Federal courts were prostituted to
their purpose and issues thousands of orders for arrest for Democrats
who were accused of belonging to the Ku Klux.
A
quarter of a million dollars was spent on tipstaffs and underlings
connected with the courts. Every branch of the Government was called
upon to furnish its quota of force. The Congress had passed bills
promising social equality to the black; every State had a garrison of
[Northern] troops placed conveniently to suppress any outbreak which
should be kindled by political provocation.
The
idea of allowing the possession of the Government to pass out of the
[Grant Republican] party’s hands was not tolerated [and] . . . The
result of the election was foregone.”
(Southern Exposure, Peter Mitchel Wilson, UNC Press, 1927, pp. 83-87)
