Courtney Hartgrove

2. White supremacy, the belief held by white Anglo-Saxons that they are the chosen peoples,
divined by God as the purest and most holist of all created races can be found as reoccurring
theme throughout Charles Chestnutts Marrow of Tradition. There are several examples in the
novel where the white aristocrat characters such as Major Carteret often snubbed others only
because of the color of his or her skin. For example during the Christening party Carteret openly
expressed his views on the inferiority of blacks throughout the dinner conversation. On a
number of accounts Negros were described as servile by Carteret (Chestnutt, Chapter II 484485.). Ideologies such as Negros as a naturally servile people did not limit themselves to only
Major Carteret. In an attempt to eliminate the insidious black threat in the town of Wellington,
Carteret collaborated intimately with a General Belmont and Captain McBane. Together these
three devised an implemented a spiteful campaign centered on the model of white supremacy.
Chestnuts big three; Carteret, Belmont, and McBane; developed a blueprint to overthrow the
rising black and white Republican power in Wellington (Chestnutt, Chapter III 492-495).
Because these three thought that whites were being threatened by the rising political power of
black, they combined resources, forming a coalition of sorts determined to return the white elite
to their rightful place a supreme. The white supremacy campaign was conceived at the first
assemblage in Chapter III. As the mastermind Carteret identified both Belmont and McBane as
the most qualified men in town to change these degrading conditions (Chestnutt, Chapter III,
491). Organized, they began to orchestrate the beginning of the end for the Negro ascendancy.
Six months later however there was little progression; the campaign for white supremacy was
stagnant despite Carterets daily publishing on racial propaganda. Void of an immediate reaction

from a state two-thirds white led to another meeting for the Big Three (Chestnutt, Chapter VIII,
528). After Belmonts allusion to the movements incompetence, the three decided to expand,
targeting the North in an attempt to persuade Northerners, disguising their true intent. Extending
white supremacy to a national operation required Belmont, McBane and Carteret to consider
both offensive and defensive strategies in order to undermine objective of enemies and gain the
trust of Northern whites (Chestnutt, Chapter VIII, 527-532). The Big Three needed as many
people aligned with them as possible. This is the age of crowds, and we must have the crowd
with us (Chestnutt, Chapter VIII, 529).
The crowd would presumably be aligned with the Big Three after the public opinion was
sufficiently manipulated. Here specific tasks allocated determined on different distinguishing
characteristics of each member of the Big Three and events planned. Carteret as a writer and
prominent editor administrated the press campaign. His duties were to aggravate the community
along colored lines, to convince all local white southern of their natural birthright. Belmont, as a
lawyer, had the favorable circumstances to be able to whisper in the ear of legislator, law makers,
and other national bigwigs in Washington and New York. McBane was sent traveling throughout
the state to rally others to advocate the movement. His own obvious passion and disgust for the
entire Negro race would strongly translate in his state-wide addresses (Chestnutt, Chapter IX,
536).
Although the white supremacy campaign in Wellington was group project, each of the three has
their own personal agendas. McBanes background suggests he wanted more. His familial line
consisted of poor whites and slave drivers; he did not have the seemingly inborn mannerisms of a
gentleman like Carteret and Belmont. As old money aristocrats Belmont and Carteret were
literally and figuratively members of a club in which McBane desired to be a part. This man

would not be satisfied unless he too was established and formally recognized as a gentleman.
Belmont was exploiting the white supremacy scene for self-promotion with hopes that his
involvement would result in nomination for governor. Carterets ambition initially involved his
sons future however appearances aside his actual objective was to assert the absolute authority
of his race (Chestnutt, Chapter IX, 533,537).
The murder of Mrs. Ochiltree proved to be a significant and dangerous catalyst for the
Wellington white supremacy campaign. On the morning of her murder the Big Three met at the
office of the Morning Chronicle. The general response was to make an example of Delameres
servant, Sandy. The necessity of an example, title of chapter XXI, was a message to Negros of
Wellington; the entire race was too condemned for the criminality of one. An additional edition
of the Morning Chronicle was printed expressing this exact sentiment, brutalizing blacks (in
particular black men) as murderous beings seeking to destroy the elite by attacking white woman
hood.
Finally, the white population of Wellington organized to lynch Sandy. Instigated by the newest
Morning Chronicle, whites chose to assert their inherent sovereignty (Chestnutt, Chapter XXI,
608). This plot did not end cruelly. Sandy was proven to be innocent and released however his
release was only a minor setback. Even though the white supremacy campaign cooled off in
Wellington, the national campaign was nearly full force (Chestnutt, Chapter XXVIII, 649).
Throughout the South, anti-Negro sentiment was growing through the manipulation of crime
statistics to show Negros in a less than favorable light and lynching. In the North a new
generation had arrived one that navely trusted the inaccuracies of the Southern reports.
Ultimately nationwide whites were able to circumvent the 15th amendment with the grandfather

clause which allowed poor whites to vote while excluding blacks (Chestnutt, Chapter XXVIII,
648-653).
The white supremacist progress on the national level was not urgent enough for Wellingtons Big
Three. Local elections were soon and blacks would still be attending the polls. Another meeting
convened to brainstorm solutions. It was concluded that the local white Southerners need to be
inflamed once again. To do so Barbers article on lynching was published with Carteret
commentary. In the words of McBane, The time is ripe to scare Negros away from the polls
(Chestnutt, Chapter XXVIII, 653).
Within the next few days the Big Three gained the reaction from the white population that they
desired. The whites implemented de facto segregation, voluntarily kept to themselves, and
quickly collected weapons. At the same time blacks were denied the right to purchase arms as
terror slowly crept upon the Negros of Wellington (Chestnutt, Chapter XXIX, 657).
There was a final rendezvous among the Big Three where they explicitly listed targets of the
imminent white riot. The list included Barber (editor of Afro-American Banner), a black real
estate agent, Mr. Watson (black lawyer), and white Republican mayor Billings. Thirty minutes
later McBane, Belmont, and Carteret disbanded with all the details laid out to culminate the riot
in Wellington (Chestnutt, Chapter XXIX, 657-661).

Works Cited
Chestnutt, Charles W. The Marrow of Tradition. New York, NY: Literary Classic of the United
States, 2002.