Many real friends of the Negro were alarmed at the evils of the reconstruction and were anxious to see the corrupt political leaders deprived of further influence over the race.

To others the constantly recurring Southern problem was growing stale, and they desired to hear less of it.

Within the Republican party in each Southern State, there were serious divisions over the spoils.

First it was carpetbagger and Negro against the scalawag; later, when the black leaders insisted that those who furnished the votes must have the larger share of the rewards, the fight became triangular.

As a result, by 1874 the Republican party in the South was split into factions and was deserted by a large proportion of its white membership.
The conservative whites, fiercely resentful after their experiences under the enforcement laws and hopeful of Northern sympathy, now planned a supreme effort to regain their former power.