The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan Read online

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  THE CLANSMAN

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  The Illustrations Shown in This Edition Are Reproductions of Scenesfrom the Photo-Play of "The Birth of a Nation" Produced andCopyrighted by The Epoch Producing Corporation, to Whom the PublishersDesire to Express Their Thanks and Appreciation for Permission to Usethe Pictures.

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  THE REIGN OF THE KLAN]

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  THE CLANSMAN

  An Historical Romanceof the Ku Klux Klan

  ByTHOMAS DIXON

  Author OfThe Leopard's Spots, Comrades, Etc.

  Illustrated With Scenes From The Photo-PlayTHE BIRTH OF A NATIONProduced And Copyrighted ByEpoch Producing Corporation

  GROSSET & DUNLAPPublishers :: New York

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  Copyright, 1905BY THOMAS DIXON, JR.

  The Country Life Press, Garden City, N. Y.

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  TO THE MEMORY OFA SCOTCH-IRISH LEADER OF THE SOUTH

  MY UNCLE, COLONEL LEROY MCAFEE

  GRAND TITAN OF THE INVISIBLE EMPIREKU KLUX KLAN

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  TO THE READER

  "The Clansman" is the second book of a series of historical novels plannedon the Race Conflict. "The Leopard's Spots" was the statement inhistorical outline of the conditions from the enfranchisement of the negroto his disfranchisement.

  "The Clansman" develops the true story of the "Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy,"which overturned the Reconstruction regime.

  The organization was governed by the Grand Wizard Commander-in-Chief, wholived at Memphis, Tennessee. The Grand Dragon commanded a State, the GrandTitan a Congressional District, the Grand Giant a County, and the GrandCyclops a Township Den. The twelve volumes of Government reports on thefamous Klan refer chiefly to events which occurred after 1870, the date ofits dissolution.

  The chaos of blind passion that followed Lincoln's assassination isinconceivable to-day. The revolution it produced in our Government, andthe bold attempt of Thaddeus Stevens to Africanize ten great States of theAmerican Union, read now like tales from "The Arabian Nights."

  I have sought to preserve in this romance both the letter and the spiritof this remarkable period. The men who enact the drama of fierce revengeinto which I have woven a double love story are historical figures. I havemerely changed their names without taking a liberty with any essentialhistoric fact.

  In the darkest hour of the life of the South, when her wounded people layhelpless amid rags and ashes under the beak and talon of the Vulture,suddenly from the mists of the mountains appeared a white cloud the sizeof a man's hand. It grew until its mantle of mystery enfolded the strickenearth and sky. An "Invisible Empire" had risen from the field of Death andchallenged the Visible to mortal combat.

  How the young South, led by the reincarnated souls of the Clansmen of OldScotland, went forth under this cover and against overwhelming odds,daring exile, imprisonment, and a felon's death, and saved the life of apeople, forms one of the most dramatic chapters in the history of theAryan race.

  Thomas Dixon, Jr.

  Dixondale, Va. December 14, 1904.

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  CONTENTS

  BOOK I

  THE ASSASSINATION

  CHAPTER PAGE I. The Bruised Reed 3 II. The Great Heart 19 III. The Man of War 33 IV. A Clash of Giants 38 IV. The Battle of Love 56 VI. The Assassination 61 VII. The Frenzy of a Nation 80

  BOOK II

  THE REVOLUTION

  CHAPTER PAGE I. The First Lady of the Land 90 II. Sweethearts 101 III. The Joy of Living 112 IV. Hidden Treasure 115 V. Across the Chasm 120 VI. The Gauge of Battle 131 VII. A Woman Laughs 136 VIII. A Dream 148 IX. The King Amuses Himself 152 X. Tossed by the Storm 162 XI. The Supreme Test 165 XII. Triumph in Defeat 179

  BOOK III

  THE REIGN OF TERROR

  CHAPTER PAGE I. A Fallen Slaveholder's Mansion 187 II. The Eyes of the Jungle 204 III. Augustus Caesar 209 IV. At the Point of the Bayonet 218 V. Forty Acres and a Mule 235 VI. A Whisper in the Crowd 244 VII. By the Light of a Torch 254 VIII. The Riot in the Master's Hall 263 IX. At Lover's Leap 276 X. A Night Hawk 284 XI. The Beat of a Sparrow's Wing 297 XII. At the Dawn of Day 305

  BOOK IV

  THE KU KLUX KLAN

  CHAPTER PAGE I. The Hunt for the Animal 309 II. The Fiery Cross 318 III. The Parting of the Ways 327 IV. The Banner of the Dragon 337 V. The Reign of the Klan 341 VI. The Counter Stroke 351 VII. The Snare of the Fowler 358 VIII. A Ride for a Life 362 IX. "Vengeance Is Mine" 369

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  LEADING CHARACTERS OF THE STORY

  Scene: Washington and the Foothills of the Carolinas.

  Time: 1865 to 1870.

  Ben Cameron Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux KlanMargaret His SisterMrs. Cameron His MotherDr. Richard Cameron His FatherHon. Austin Stoneman Radical Leader of CongressPhil His SonElsie His DaughterMarion Lenoir Ben's First LoveMrs. Lenoir Her MotherJake A Faithful ManSilas Lynch A Negro MissionaryUncle Aleck The Member from UlsterCindy His WifeColonel Howle A Carpet-baggerAugustus Caesar Of the Black GuardCharles Sumner Of MassachusettsGen. Benjamin F. Butler Of Fort FisherAndrew Johnson The PresidentU. S. Grant The Commanding GeneralAbraham Lincoln The Friend of the South

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  THE CLANSMAN

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