These Federal officials broke the unanimity of the white South, and they were supported by thousands of negroes.

Some individuals among them were shrewd politicians, but the contest was unequal from the beginning.

On one side was intelligence, backed by loyal followers fiercely determined to rule.

On the other was a leadership on the whole less intelligent, certainly more selfish, with followers who were ignorant and susceptible to cajolery or intimidation.
Before the downfall of the Reconstruction governments, and in the first few years afterward, there was much intimidation of negroes who wished to vote.

Threats of loss of employment, eviction from house or plantation, or refusal of credit were frequent.