Now began, in the latter half of 1866, with some coöperation in the North and probably with the approval of the President, a movement in the South to forestall the radicals by means of a settlement which, although less severe than the proposed Fourteenth Amendment, might yet be acceptable to Congress. One feature of the settlement was to be some form of negro suffrage, either by local action or by constitutional amendment. Those behind this scheme were mainly of the former governing class. Negro suffrage, they thought, would take the wind out of the radical sails, the Southern whites would soon be able to control the blacks, representation in Congress would be increased, and the Black Belt would perhaps regain its former political hegemony. It is hardly necessary to say that the majority of the whites were solidly opposed to such a measure. But it was hoped to carry it under pressure through the Legislature or to bring it about indirectly through rulings of the Freedmen's Bureau. Coincident with this scheme of partial negro suffrage an attempt was made by the conservative leaders in Washington, working with the Southerners, to propose a revised Fourteenth Amendment which would give the vote to competent negroes and not disfranchise the whites. A conference of Southern governors met in Washington early in 1867 and drafted such an amendment. But it was too late. Meanwhile the Fourteenth Amendment submitted by Congress had been brought before the Southern legislatures and during the winter of 1866-67 it was rejected by all of them. There was strong opposition to it because it disfranchised the leading whites, but perhaps the principal reason for its rejection was that the Southern people were not sure that still more severe conditions might not be imposed later. While the President was "restoring" the States which had seceded and struggling with Congress, the Border States of the South, including Tennessee (which was admitted in 1866 by reason of its radical state government), were also in the throes of reconstruction. Though there was less military interference in these than in the other States, many of the problems were similar. All had the Freedmen's Bureau, the negro race, the Unionists, and the Confederates; in every State, except Kentucky, Confederates were persecuted, the minority was in control, and "ring" rule was the order of the day; but in each State there were signs of the political revolution which a few years later was to put the radicals out of power.