A period of darkness now settled down upon these unhappy communities blacker and more hopeless than the worst experiences of the war. The conduct of the men who now appeared upon the scene as the creators of the new South was so tyrannic, corrupt, mean and vulgar as to repel the historian from attempting any detailed account of their doings, and incline him to the vaguest outline. Moreover it is most difficult to fix upon reliable facts in this period of confusion and political night, illuminated only by the lurid gleams of passion and hatred. It is best for the North, best for the South, best for the whole country, and best for the world that this terrible mistake of the North and this terrible degradation of the South should be dealt with briefly and impersonally, and that lessons of warning should be drawn from these experiences, instead of multiplying criminations and recriminations in regard to them. {247} CHAPTER XII "CARPET-BAG" AND NEGRO DOMINATION IN THE SOUTHERN STATES BETWEEN 1868 AND 1876 Escape of Virginia, Georgia and Texas from Negro Rule--North Carolina's Rapid Recovery from Negro Rule--The Loyal League--Origin of the K. K. K.'s--Methods of the Ku-Klux--Periods in the History of Negro Rule--The Act for the Enforcement of the New Amendments--The Corruption in the New "State" Governments--The Supplemental Enforcement Act--The President's Proclamation of March 23d, 1871--The Ku-Klux Act of April 20th, 1871--Interference of the United States Military Power in the Affairs of South Carolina--The President's Proclamation of May 3d, 1871--The President's Proclamation to the People of South Carolina--The Ku-Klux Trials--Corruption in the "State" Governments of the South--The Revolt in the Republican Party--The Liberal Republican Convention of 1872--Acceptance of the Liberal Republican Candidates by the Democrats--Division in the Democratic Party--The Republican Platform and Nominees--The Republican Triumph--Events in Alabama--Events in Louisiana--The Downward Course between 1872 and 1874--The Elections of 1874--The Change in Alabama, Arkansas and Texas--The Status in South Carolina in 1874--The Day of Complete Deliverance--The Status in Mississippi in 1875--Fiat Money and the Resumption of Specie Payments--The Inflation Bill of 1874 and the Veto of it by the President. [Sidenote: Escape of Virginia, Georgia and Texas from negro rule.]