From this time forward the order consisted mainly of blacks with enough whites for leaders.

In the Black Belt the membership of native whites was discouraged by requiring an oath to the effect that secession was treason.

The carpetbagger had found that he could control the Negro without the help of the scalawag.

The League organization was soon extended and centralized; in every black district there was a Council; for the state there was a Grand Council; and for the United States there was a National Grand Council with headquarters in New York City.
The influence of the League over the Negro was due in large degree to the mysterious secrecy of the meetings, the weird initiation ceremony that made him feel fearfully good from his head to his heels, the imposing ritual, and the songs.

The ritual, it is said, was not used in the North; it was probably adopted for the particular benefit of the African.