A theory to help explain the rise of hate groups like the KKK and post Civil War violence.
*Images coming soon due to Steemit bandwidth limitations
Introduction
I argue that Terror Management theory is a valid and explanatory theory as it pertains to the increase in violence and the rise of white terror groups in the American South during Reconstruction. Out-groups were specifically targeted to preserve southern culture, status, and identity. The application of this theory helps to provide a more in depth explanation than other historians accounts because it describes what drives southern motivations from a scientific perspective. The basis of these claims relies on empirical scientifically tested and replicated claims. While psychology remains a “soft science” particularly because of the level of complexity of behavior, it offers a general direction to make predictions and can add to any historical interpretation.
What is Terror Management Theory?
Terror Management Theory is the idea that death brings a looming anxiety which, when presented, must be dealt with. Individuals manage to avoid thinking of death in many day to day instances but employ defense mechanisms when reminded. In response to the reminder of one’s own mortality, one responds in either a creative or destructive way. As biological beings who are aware of their own impending deaths, people attempt to escape death by redefining the problem. Immortality projects are formed in creative ways through literally surviving forever, which is to believe there is an immaterial soul that survives biological death. Individual death can also be avoided by creating Earthly things which will last long after one’s death such as, reproducing, creating a legacy, creating great art, and having done things that impact the course of history. Culture is another way to escape death. It allows people to become a small part of a greater self, one that has the potential to last forever. Culture establishes a structure which individuals can compare themselves with and contribute to. Societal norms dictate what it means to be a successful member, what goals to achieve, and a means for achieving those goals. Often individuals compete within cultures with things like money or influence, to establish a sense of personal and group worth.
What are Threats to Immortality?
“The first component of TMT states, individuals need to sustain faith in a meaningful worldview. The second states that individuals need to feel as if they are valuable protected members objects of significance within this worldview”[1] When these components are questioned or suspected to be wrong, a threat is presented. Other cultures, ideologies, and worldviews, similarly present a threat to immortality models. The idea that other groups hold different ideas about the nature of reality and meaning of life are threatening because they suggest the possibility for one’s own ideas to be wrong. If one’s ideas about immortality are wrong, then the individual’s immortality model becomes unsustainable. When faced with a substantial threat, a four step process emerges “The first is to dismiss a person or culture as an inferior form of life”[2] When the conflicting cultures are observed to be successfully upholding other immortality views, dismissal is often not enough to cope with the possibility the other group could be right. The second method is assimilation. When a culture cannot dismiss another, it tries to find common ground and merge the ideologies together to minimize differences. An example of this is mainstream America incorporating aspects of the counterculture movement such as blue jeans or natural granola bars, which were originally intended to rebel against society. “Mainstream America adopted appealing aspects of the counterculture and cut off the threatening aspects. In effect, designer blue jeans and highly processed granola bars became popular which twisted their original meaning.”[3] However assimilation usually fails in major areas of belief and differences cannot be resolved. The third method is accommodation. To compete with other views, it is empowering to have more subscribers that reinforce one’s own view. This is most evident in the of practice of missionaries. By gaining more followers or achieving higher levels of conformity, individuals become more convinced their own worldview is correct. The 4th and final method of dealing with a cultural threat, is annihilation. When all else fails the only other way to deal with the threat is to destroy it. This destruction can be through actual physical violence, destruction of ideas, or changes in ways of life.
How Does This Theory Describe the American South?
The South became threatened by out groups long before the Civil War especially with the introduction of slavery. Africans did present a starkly alternate culture but it was completely and swiftly dismissed as an inferior form of life as their immortality view had no chance of being right. They were seen as lower life forms and could not compete with the immortality views of their superior captors. Immigrants also presented an alternate worldview. They were mostly white Christian Europeans however, which made them less threatening by way of their similarities. While most immigrants were attracted to the northern industrial labor market, those who came to the South were not perceived as threats so long as they supported white supremacy and the southern slave society. The North threatened the South when it became more industrial and deviated from an agricultural based economy. It created a cultural divide in the country consisting of different ways to thrive and live a successful life. These threats were also sufficiently low enough to deal with by dismissal or assimilation. So “The Yankee way of life is different, but they aren’t any better than us, our way of life is thriving”. Southerners acknowledged Northerners as serving an important (but not more important) role in the country. Assimilation was a common tactic employed with those in new states to convince them to adopt slave societies. Assimilation was also used between southerners who generally shared characteristics but differed in smaller levels within the in-groups. Commonalities such as race, religion, and American values, all served to unite North and South on some level. In some ways they formed a symbiotic relationship that worked together for each other’s benefits, namely economic in instances of trade. These commonalities were sufficient enough for other differences (or threats) to be overlooked if they could not be ignored.
Accommodation was also evident in southern culture but served to reinforce notions of conformity in southern culture rather than to attract more members of other outgroups such as Northerners or immigrants. Differences between the North and South however, were brought to a bottleneck in the mid 19th century. Understanding why the clash of ideologies developed in a way that could not be contained by prior methods lies in expansion. The expansion into new territories, presented the question of “who’s worldview is the better one for the future of the country?” and “which political/economic system is a better way to live?” Steadily making claims by both sides to adopt northern or southern (which is to say slave or labor societies) ideals to new western states could only be done for so long. Since methods of dealing with an conflicting worldview are primarily it forced the nation to split rather than to adapt. Two conflicting worldviews forced the nation to wage war with itself in an effort to establish one predominant worldview. With the expansion into new territories, more economic opportunities, general similarities between Americans were overlooked and ideological tensions magnified. Thus the fourth method of annihilation was evoked and the Civil War began.
The conflict of ideologies did not end with the Civil War however. It could be argued that in many ways it heightened the anxiety felt by Southerners. Southern culture was still intact and most southerners were still alive, only with a less certain future. After the war, Southerners were more vulnerable than ever, except now they had no military force to defend southern culture with. The fight could then only be fought by individuals and their cooperation in rural areas rather than collectively as a whole.
The end of the Civil War presented a major problem for these death defying mechanisms for white Southerners. Their idea of culture and self-worth was socially recognized to be destroyed by Northern force. Again, just as before the war, the same methods were evoked to deal with the Southern cultural threat but the parameters had changed. Dismissing the Yankee culture was impossible now that they were recognized by the world to have defeated the confederate military. Dismissing African Americans was also not a viable option, as the 13th amendment forced the nation to regard their rights as persons by official rule of law. During Reconstruction, assimilation failed to encourage slavery to new states because slavery was abolished altogether. The South did not necessarily seek new members of southern culture, but again it strengthened ideas of southern culture by encouraging those who conformed to southern virtues and discouraging those who did not. The ability for annihilation was extremely limited after the Confederate Army was disbanded, there was no organized force to combat conflicting worldviews. With most of the methods of dealing with conflicting worldviews having failed, many southerners would do whatever it took to preserve their society.
Did Terror Management Theory Apply Equally to All Southerners?
Because Terror management theory ascribes a great deal to the notion of self worth as a means of dealing with threats, people who were financially or socially better off had more self-esteem and less anxiety than those who lost every aspect of their lives from the war. Those who had some money or political influence maintained a level of control, which alleviated a sense of helplessness that many others could not escape. The less threatened still faced some of the same death anxieties, but they were likely affected in a less dramatic way and had a means to change their environment to an extent. Taking this into consideration, there becomes a situation in which there are some well-endowed southerners who are looking to improve their post-war circumstances, and an overwhelmingly large population whose self-worth and culture has been under the most extreme attack. This situation opens the opportunity for southerners with some power to employ and manipulate more threatened citizens, all in the name of restoring southern culture while in reality some leaders had only self-interests. Given the rural and communal nature of many southern states, most southern people were affected by this anxiety including, police, judges, religious leaders, farmers, and laborers alike. This is a crucial point, which helps to understand how widespread hatred, and violence came to be accepted. Those who were not representative of the majority were commonly afraid to speak or act against the rest of the anxious population.
Linking Behavior of Southerners to TMT
Methods dealing to protect a worldview were discussed earlier, but they do not say much about how ideas translate into action. Terror Management Theory suggests an influential proposal, the Mortality Salience process – If a reminder of death is presented to an individual, they will react hostilely to others who have a conflicting worldview and positively to those who share the same worldviews.[4] Researchers developed a series of empirical experiments to test this claim. One of these studies involved Christian subjects, half of whom were reminded of their own mortality in a survey. They were then asked to rate their impressions of two individuals who shared certain personality traits, one being Christian and the other being Jewish. The researchers hypothesis was that the students who were reminded of their own death would react more negatively toward the Jewish individual and more positively toward the Christian individual. Their hypothesis proved to be correct.[5] Another such study included a group of municipal court judges in Tucson, Arizona. The judges were given surveys – half of the surveys included questions which reminded the judges of their own mortality. They were then asked to post bail for the most common offense in Tucson, solicitation of prostitution. The hypothesis was that the half who were reminded of their own death would give more punitive responses than the ones who had not been reminded. What researchers found was the judges who were reminded set an average bail of $455, while the judges who were not reminded posted an average bond of $50 (which was closer to the real average)[6]. The situation was perhaps even more apparent in the American South. Black citizens especially were denied the same privileges as other white southerners and systematically mistreated and Northerners and Republicans received a similar treatment, though often in slightly different ways. The South was not given a survey that explicitly reminded them of their own mortality, however, they were reminded regularly that their culture was under threat of change, which can be translated as an attack on their immortality views.
There are many examples of death in southern culture both literally and symbolically. There were many examples, which indicated the collapse of southern society that were painfully obvious. When Confederate soldiers returned home from battle, many returned to a post-apocalyptic version of their cities which had been nearly destroyed by Union forces. Ex-Confederates also had to “swallow the dog” or pledge allegiance to the United States and renounce all association with “so called” Confederate States, which was perhaps most degrading to an honor culture such as the South. Threats were also ambivalently present throughout daily life in ways that many would not consciously notice. Republican politics, progress of the North, absence of jobs from a changing economy, and general changes in life, could all be viewed as unconscious death reminders that provoke a similar out group hostility as literal death reminders. To test the claim that most of our reminders of death are actually unconscious ones, researchers developed an empirical experiment. They appropriately named it The Subliminal Death Prime. A subject is asked to make word distinctions on a computer screen then pressing a button to advance to a new word distinction. The distinctions were put in place only to get the subjects to look at the screen. In between these word distinctions flashes “death” for 21 milliseconds – while it takes about 30 milliseconds for the brain to consciously recognize a word, the subjects were never aware of the word flashes.[7] Half of the subjects were given the subliminal primer “death” in between words.[8] The results were nearly identical to earlier survey experiments where subjects were directly asked to think about their own mortality. They showed greater positivity toward people who shared many of their same beliefs and showed negativity to those who did not. This experiment, as all others presented in this paper, have been replicated hundreds of times around the world over the past few decades and results appear to be the same cross-culturally suggesting this reaction to the idea of death is universal. It is not a stretch to imagine replacing subliminal “death” with such words as “republican” or “equality”, would yield a different result given the subjects were Southerners from the Reconstruction. Examples of such reminders were ubiquitous throughout the south, which likely fed into their out group hostility.
Southern Post War Response to Death Anxiety
Southern defeat was difficult to accept practically on every level. After recognizing that all methods to cope with this threat would fail, violence was immediately evoked and expressed in a variety of ways. One of the most notable acts of violence, literal and symbolic, was the assassination of President Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth. Thomas Goodrich, the author of The Day Dixie Died, asserts that the northern sentiment was one that blamed the entirety of the South for the act. Reasons for holding the South culpable for such an event come from the general attitude that was produced there and their strong resistance to northern imposition. They viewed the event not as an attack by Booth, but as an attack by the South itself. Though the assassination was not a Confederate conspiracy, parts of the south were not particularly upset by the event. It may have symbolically suggested that the alternate worldview of the North became weaker through the assassination. The and actions of a southern individual helped to empower the South in that it still had the ability to influence major political changes even through the helplessness of defeat.
Violence thereafter was used primarily against two groups who presented the largest threat to southern culture and identity. The first were African Americans, and the second Republicans/Northerners. President Andrew Johnson, though traditionally against the southern planter class, allowed for southern state governments to recover to a position structurally similar to the pre-war South. These governments had to conform to federal law to an extent (mostly what Johnson would allow) but could then effectively take measures against threats to their worldview. Black Codes were instituted for reasons of white supremacy, but also to control the vote. Some states even endorse beating African Americans for trivial reasons. With most African Americans presumed to vote Republican, developing black codes alleviates both racial and political anxieties. Republican Governor James Madison Wells, of Louisiana, supported by a Republican congress, attempted to gain a Republican political foothold in the South by granting African American suffrage in the state. In 1866, A meeting of delegates at the Mechanics Institute in New Orleans turned out to be an explosive situation when local ex-Confederate leaders reacted with the fourth method of annihilation to the threatening meeting. Because President Johnson instructed federal troops not to interfere with the event, the armed ex-Confederate force were free to kill or injure anyone involved with the convention. No policemen or citizens were arrested for the violence that later became known as the New Orleans Massacre.[9] Events similar to those which took place in New Orleans backfired on Southerners however. They ultimately lead to an overwhelming majority of Republicans elected in congress from outraged northern states. Republicans could then override Johnson’s veto power and pass the Reconstruction Acts, which, in parts, disbanded previous elected officials in southern states and allowed for freedmen to vote in new elections. This turned out to be one of the biggest threats to southern culture as it was more at risk of death then compared to ever before. Terror Management Theory would suggest that this pinnacle threat level of African American suffrage and Republican political domination would also correlate to pinnacle levels of violence to out-groups. Radical Republicans like Arkansas Governor Powell Clayton and Representative D. P. Upham, and Tennessee Governor William Brownlow, serve as examples in that they were adamant for social change, and were willing to fight to suppress old southern ideals. Brownlow was notorious for his anti-confederate rhetoric and made some of the most contrasting and dramatic motions against southern democrats. Brownlow owned a newspaper called “Brownlow’s Whig” and later “The Rebel Ventilator”. Known as “Bloody Bill Brownlow”, and “the most hated man in Tennessee”, Brownlow in relation to Tennesseans, serves an excellent example of conflicting worldviews, presented immortality threats, and the extent foregone to mitigate those threats. Brownlow heightens anxieties in Tennesseans with the (rather forced) ratification of the 14th amendment which grants suffrage to African Americans and limits the abilities of ex-Confederates. This radical political and social shift is almost too shocking for Tennesseans to deal with and will employ any means to deal with this threat. Brownlow too exhibits anxieties and is forceful to see that his (and the Union’s) worldviews prevail.
With the ability for African Americans to vote, the south became more threatened than ever. The reaction of the south was expressed the escalation of a paramilitary group in Pulaski Tennessee, known as the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan’s purpose became one that suppressed republican/black votes and aimed to restore the south to its pre-war days. As Eric Foner puts it:
Its purposes were political, but political in the broadest sense, for it sought to affect power relations, both public and private, throughout Southern society. It aimed to reverse the interlocking changes sweeping over the South during Reconstruction: to destroy the Republican party’s infrastructure, undermine the Reconstruction state, reestablish control of the black labor force, and restore racial subordination in every aspect of Southern life.[10]
With the threat level of cultural death approaching its height as other states attempt to introduce the freedman vote, the violence and intimidation correlate. The Klan terrorized Republicans and African Americans in Tennessee as well as the rest of the South, especially in states where the 14th amendment was or proposed to be ratified. This is most evident in the lengthy and detailed Klan Hearings, which is a collection of testimonies taken in 1872 by individuals from every social class including those who were Klan members, victims, and bystanders. They are filled with accounts such as the testimony of former Klan member Thomas L. Berry:
Q: Whether you were a member of the Ku- Klux organization?
“A: I was, sir. I joined in January last.
“Q: What did you find to be the purpose of the organization after you got in?
“A: The purpose of the organization was to break down the radical party by whipping and killing….
“A: Wesley Smith told me that he and William White, William Smith, and Mr. Spender killed Charley Good because he belonged to the radical party—at least, I don’t know any other reason…[11]
William Brownlow receives death threats from the Klan after some conflict, which might as well have been written to the Union itself:
We intend to keep the law in our own hands and administer justice by lash, hanging and shooting as long as you continue to pardon every criminal of the League that is put in the state prison. Once more – If you don’t stop it- you will be visited and wake up some morning with a rope around your own neck. By saying the word, I could have you sent into the bottomless pits of Hell where you ought to be__ any week. I write you this as a warning and you had better heed it – for every member of the Kuklux Klan are aching to get their hands on you – you will not be notified again.
Your worst enemy
Stella
Great Grand Cyclops Kuklux Klan[12]
The key to the success of the Klan lies in the overwhelming death anxiety of Southerners. Local governments would take little to no action against the Klan, as it was the only means left to restore southern society. Without the death anxiety reaching the level of annihilation, the Klan would not have been sustainable. In the same way, the Klan became uncontrollable. When the figurehead of the Klan, Nathan Bedford Forrest, was confronted by the Tennessee Militia he ordered the Klan disbanded. This notion was largely rejected as many local Klan dens still thrived around the nation set out to accomplish their own ends and alleviate their own anxieties. If the Klan were only a tool employed by democrats, it would not be so reluctant and widespread. John M. Morris, an agent for the national Republican Party, was sent to report on the state of the Klan in South Carolina. He writes, “It is not safe for me to go alone unarmed into the up-country here. Negroes are daily shot dead or wounded. Nobody is convicted because no adequate testimony is found or the magistrates don’t prosecute. . . I fear that thousands of voters will be kept away or driven from the polls.”[13] A deeper more sociological and psychological explanation (Terror Management Theory applied) is necessary to accurately address the Klan and its survival, but also for the mental motivations of Southerners themselves that defend a culture.
In some states, aggression reaches a point that seems to be micro-civil wars between the Klan and state militia. Murders, assassinations, death threats, martial law, and intimidation, become common first by white terror groups and later by those combating them. Resistance against the Klan became as violent as the Klan themselves, returning acts of violence as retribution and political will. The Klan was eventually overcome (temporarily) by local militias and ultimately a federal military campaign exacted by President Grant. Once again the ability for the South to annihilate threats was taken away. Eventually, Southerners were able to elect officials who better represent their cultural beliefs. A balance is struck between state and federal government that continues today, though to a lesser extent.
The South Today
Political and economic anxieties were never truly eliminated and Southerners were forced to adapt. This adaptation included a search for economic empowerment as a means to combat the anxiety and drove the South to progress even though it was different than previous generations. With a shifting agricultural economy changed by technological advancements, the south gradually reinvented itself to a more industrialized society. Some cultural roots were preserved but with a growing disconnect that focused more on current generational issues. Racial tension however, continued to thrive in the South, especially when white notions of equality challenged identity.
Terror Management Theory could just as equally be applied to the North in many circumstances. Northerners were not threatened to the extent that southern culture was, however, the existence and rebellion of the South was a major threat. One can see this evident not only through the Civil War itself, but also in the actions of individuals like Gov. William Brownlow, D.B. Upham, President Grant, and other public officials who retaliated (arguably out of necessity) violently and fiercely to political opponents and terror groups. Northerners and Republicans who lived or governed in the South had some death denying mechanisms that were effective however. The notion that their side had won the war and their worldview prevailed was reassuring; no matter how many southerners fervently disagreed, federal support was believed to be on their side.
African Americans during and soon after the Civil War had developed some sense of culture, but it was not a fully developed one. As time went on, new legislative measures allowed the opportunity to refine and express culture and develop self worth within that culture. From the time slaves were introduced to the colonies, to the cultural role African Americans have in society today, the development was a slow process, which was parallel to, but not identical with, mainstream American culture. Shared beliefs such as religious ideologies, music, and family values, all served to integrate African Americans with mainstream America. The threat of another culture to Americans was sufficiently reduced by the assimilation of the two. If African culture had completely deviated from American norms since the times of slavery, such that they kept a non-Christian religion or held other beliefs thought to culturally taboo, it would be hard to imagine African Americans struggle for Civil Rights would have made much progress.
Terror Management Theory would also suggest that individuals and groups can express itself in creative capacities, especially when there are no other ways of dealing with anxieties. One would expect a society to develop a distinct culture that incorporates itself to a larger whole which can be observed in the unique American South today.
Criticism
Applying Terror Management Theory to the south, or any other period in history may draw skepticism on the basis of its applicability. Humans have been subjected to a wide variety of situations throughout their existence and comparing them strictly to how people act today could be misleading. That being said, some scientific anthropological truths in behavior have been discovered and successfully added to historical understanding. Aside from historical skepticism, there are psychologists, mainly from the evolutionary spectrum, who refute Terror Management Theory. They claim that behavior is more likely to avoid situations that are threatening. These alternate theories suggest a more adaptive response rather than a confrontational one.
Universality
Terror Management Theory has been tested in countries around the world with repeatable results suggesting that there is a valid correlation cross-culturally. While cultural (and time) relativism does exist to the extent that some people or groups may be better able to cope or channel anxiety in creative capacities, the overriding universality of the ability to foresee one’s own end is uniquely present in all human beings and clearly has some effect on behavior. The empirical experiments demonstrate this effect; though responses may differ throughout time or culture, there is reason to believe that it will always correlate to behavior in some way though arguable as to how. Whether one is describing the behavior of ISIS, the passivity of Buddhist monks, or works by great artists, there lies the influential factor of death as well as the celebration and proliferation of life.
Why is TMT Important to Historical Study?
The application of Terror Management Theory to the Civil War provides some validation to the theory itself, however the theory has been empirically supported for decades with thousands of repeated empirical experiments and does not rely on historical examples to be scientifically accepted. The value of its application, lies in historical explanation. Though different cultures from different times have reacted differently to the threat of death both individually and culturally, all cultures have had a response. With the specific example of the South in the Civil War, there is sufficient evidence to support the claim that systematic violence was used as a technique to alleviate anxiety. In a general sense, the main philosophy of Terror Management Theory is applicable to the entirety of human civilization throughout history albeit different avenues for different reasons. Because it is helpful in explaining the past, it may also be helpful for understanding the the future. With a better understanding of human nature and its observed consequences, society is better equipped to make decisions. Further pursuits pertaining to the nature of the human mind, whether they apply in every circumstance or not, are useful to historical interpretation.
Bibliography
Becker, Ernest. The Denial of Death. New York: Free Press, 1973.
“A Letter of Advice.” Nathan Bedford Forrest to The Ku Klux Klan. July 1872. In Tennessee State Library and Archives. Library Broadside Collection.
“The Governor William G. Brownlow Papers.” Tennessee State Library and Archives.
Pierson, Hamilton W. A Letter to Hon. Charles Sumner with “statements” of Outrages upon Freedmen in Georgia, and an Account of My Expulsion from Andersonville, Ga., by the Ku-Klux Klan. Washington: Chronicle Print, 1870.
Scott, John, and Luke P. Poland. Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States: Made to the Two Houses of Congress February 19, 1872. New York: AMS Press, 1968.
Kolchin, Peter. American Slavery: 1619-1877. 10th Anniversary Edition.Hill and Wang, 2003.
Allen W. Trelease, White Terror: The Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction (1971; reprint, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1995).
Foner, Eric. A Short History of Reconstruction, 1863-1877. New York: Harper & Row, 1990.
Jeff Greensburg, Sheldon Solomon, Flight from Death. Transcendental Media, 2005. Film.
Reynolds, Donald E..1964. “The New Orleans Riot of 1866, Reconsidered”.Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association 5 (1). Louisiana Historical Association: 5–27. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4230742.
This excerpt is from the testimonies that were taken from 42Nd Congress, 2Nd Session, Senate Report 41, pt. 5 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1872), pp. 1943-1944 (Davis), pp.1945-1946 (Berry), pp. 1951-1952 (Postle).
[1]Jeff Greensburg, Sheldon Solomon, Flight from Death. Transcendental Media, 2005. Film
[2] Ibid
[3]Greensburg, Jeff, Ibid
[4]Jeff Greensburg, Sheldon Solomon, Flight from Death. Transcendental Media, 2005. Film
[5] Ibid
[6] Ibid
[7] This method was found to be reliable as subjects, when asked, could not reliably recall any of the subliminal words flashed even when offered monetary reward for doing so.
[8]Jeff Greensburg, Sheldon Solomon, Flight from Death. Transcendental Media, 2005. Film
[9] Reynolds, Donald E..1964. “The New Orleans Riot of 1866, Reconsidered”.
[10]Foner Reconstruction, p. 425–426
[11] Berry, Thomas, Klan Hearings, 1872.
[12] Stella Great Grand Cyclops Kuklux Klan to Gov. William Brownlow, July 4, 1868.
[13] John M. Morris to William Claflin, September 14,1868