CHAPTER XXVII.
THE AFRO-AMERICAN LEAGUE.
THE condition of the Afro-American in the Union, particularly in the South, as to protection of life and property, the lack of enjoyment of equal rights and privileges in every instance previous to and since 1887, made the demand for an organized effort of some character upon the part of the Afro-American to maintain and defend his rights a necessity. "What shall we do to save ourselves, and our people?" was a question of pressing importance to every one of the emancipated freedmen. The decision of Chief Justice Taney, which is remembered by the blacks with regret, and by many of the whites with pleasure, and the Southern policy of President Hayes, with the repeated declarations of Chief Executives and Congress to Afro-American delegations that they could not interfere with State rights, hence could do them no good, made the demand for race concentration greater and greater every day. The race leaders were put to their wits' end to devise some means which would lead to the accomplishment of their desire. From the first sitting of an Afro-American convention in Syracuse, N. Y., October 4th, 1864, to the present day, these grave questions confronting the race have
