White League

(noun)

A white paramilitary group started in 1874 that operated to run Republicans out of office and to intimidate freedmen from voting and organizing politically.

Related Terms

Examples of White League in the following topics:

  • White Terror

    • The White League was a white paramilitary group started in 1874 that worked to turn Republicans out of office and intimidate freedmen from voting and organizing politically.
    • During the later years of Reconstruction, the White League was one of the paramilitary groups described as, "the military arm of the Democratic Party."
    • The White League was effective; voting by Republicans decreased and Democrats regained control of the state legislature in 1876.
    • A Harper's Weekly cartoon from October 1874 depicting White League and Klan opposition to Reconstruction.
    • A man from the White League and the KKK shake hands as they loom over the family.

  • The Bourbons and the Redeemers

    • In the 1870s, the Southern Democrats exercised power through paramilitary organizations such as the White League and Red Shirts, especially in Louisiana and Mississippi, respectively.
    • In the 1870s, white Democratic Southerners saw themselves redeeming the South by regaining power.
    • In 1874, the White League turned out six Republican officeholders in Coushatta, Louisiana and told them to leave the state.
    • They also worked to reestablish white supremacy.
    • George Henry White, the last Southern black of the post-Reconstruction period to serve in Congress, retired in 1901, leaving Congress completely white.

  • Legally Free, Socially Bound

    • Coalitions of white and black Republicans passed bills to establish the first public school systems in most states of the South, although sufficient funding was hard to find.
    • In reality, this led to treatment and accommodations that were significantly inferior to those provided for white Americans, systematizing a number of economic, educational, and social disadvantages.
    • In the face of mounting violence and intimidation directed at blacks—as well as whites sympathetic to their cause—the U.S. government retreated from its pledge to guarantee constitutional protections to freed men and women.
    • Hayes withdrew Union troops from the South in 1877, white Democratic southerners acted quickly to reverse the groundbreaking advances of Reconstruction.
    • These techniques were prominent among paramilitary groups such as the White League and Red Shirts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida prior to the 1876 elections.

  • Spectator Sports

    • As the oldest surviving major league, the National League is sometimes referred to as the "senior circuit. " Several other major leagues formed and failed.
    • An injury ended Walker's major league career, and by the early 1890s an unspoken "gentlemen's agreement" effectively barred black players from the white-owned professional leagues, major and minor.
    • The pact formalized relations both between the two major leagues and between them and the National Association of Professional Base Ball Leagues, representing most of the country's minor professional leagues.
    • The Boston Americans of the American League defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League.
    • The next year, the series was not held, as the National League champion New York Giants, under manager John McGraw, refused to recognize the major league status of the American League and its champion.

  • Outdoor Recreation

    • The National League was founded in 1876.
    • As the oldest surviving major league, the National League is sometimes referred to as the "senior circuit. " Several other major leagues formed and failed.
    • An injury ended Walker's major league career, and by the early 1890s an unspoken "gentlemen's agreement" effectively barred black players from the white-owned professional leagues, major and minor.
    • The Boston Americans of the American League defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League.
    • The next year, the series was not held, as the National League champion New York Giants, under manager John McGraw, refused to recognize the major league status of the American League and its champion.

  • Postwar Politics and the Election of 1920

    • Internationally, politicians were arguing over peace treaties and the question of America's entry into the League of Nations, which produced an isolationist reaction.
    • Wilson had hoped for a "solemn referendum" on the League of Nations, but did not get one.
    • Harding waffled on the League, thereby keeping Republican "irreconcilables" in line.
    • He went to the White House to seek Wilson's blessing and apparently endorsed the League, but—upon discovering its unpopularity among Democrats—revised his position to one that would accept the League only with reservations, particularly on Article Ten, which would require the United States to participate in any war declared by the League.

  • The Transformed South

    • After the Civil War, the South was thrown into turmoil as many whites faced their former slaves as equals.
    • The fact that former slaves now held political and military power angered many whites, and this gave rise to movements such as the KKK and other white supremacist organizations.
    • Most white members of both the planter/business class and common farmer class of the South opposed black power and sought white supremacy.
    • Violence occurred in cities with Democrats, Conservatives, and other angry whites on one side and Republicans, African-Americans, federal government representatives, and Republican-organized armed Loyal Leagues on the other.
    • Conservative reaction continued in both the North and South; the "white liners" movement to elect candidates dedicated to white supremacy reached as far as Ohio in 1875.

  • Conservative Resurgence

    • The fact that their former slaves now held political and military power angered many whites.
    • Most white members of both the planter/business class and common farmer class of the South opposed black power, Carpetbaggers and military rule and sought white supremacy.
    • Reaction by the angry whites included the formation of violent secret societies, especially the KKK.
    • Violence occurred in cities with Democrats, Conservatives, and other angry whites on one side and Republicans, African-Americans, federal government representatives, and Republican-organized armed Loyal Leagues on the other.
    • Conservative reaction continued in both the North and South; the "white liners" movement to elect candidates dedicated to white supremacy reached as far as Ohio in 1875.

  • The League of Nations

    • The league was the brainchild of U.S.
    • The Paris Peace Conference approved the proposal to create the League of Nations in January 1919, and the league was established by Part I of the Treaty of Versailles.
    • Representation at the league was often a problem.
    • Harding, continued American opposition to the League of Nations.
    • The league cannot be labeled a failure, however, as it laid the groundwork for the United Nations, which replaced the League of Nations after World War II and inherited a number of agencies and organizations founded by the league.

  • The Nativist Response to Immigration

    • Nativism refers to a political sentiment which favors greater rights and privileges for white, native-born Americans.
    • The Immigration Restriction League was founded in 1894 by people who opposed the influx of "undesirable immigrants" that were coming from southern and eastern Europe.
    • The League was founded in Boston and had branches in New York, Chicago and San Francisco.
    • The League also had political allies that used their power in Congress to gain support for the League's intentions.
    • Kearney's attacks against the Chinese were of a particularly virulent and openly racist nature, and found considerable support among white Californians of the time.