The Fire-Eaters
It is a natural phenomenon that whenever a crime occurs, copycat crimes spring up like weeds. This is especially true when it is easy to frame others for one's own misdeeds, as is the case with this current situation.
Even just a few years ago, it was a famous anecdote that American merchants sold opium to the Qing Dynasty with gusto, all while pretending to be British merchants. Of course, it is said that British merchants also sold opium while pretending to be Americans, so neither side could really claim to be the victim.
However, this time, it is not state-sponsored banditry, but merely a few gangs of thieves, crazed by greed, running wild while selling the name of John Brown. I had once thought, "If we just increase the number of plantation guards and keep a tight watch for about a month, they’ll either be suppressed or lose their momentum on their own."
But then, reality hit.
"Attacks are occurring in succession across Texas and Louisiana, and recently, a plantation in Mississippi has fallen victim as well."
"This is absurd. There are no victims in the North, right?"
"Yes. That self-proclaimed Arrow of Freedom targets only the South. In the North, they are likely laughing, feeling a sense of relief."
Indeed, the nuance in the reports from pro-Northern newspapers regarding the looting in the South was extremely subtle. Naturally, they acknowledged that robbery and looting were bad, but they framed the South's weak security—which failed to control such events—as the real problem. They consistently inserted phrases into their articles noting that the victims were those notorious for abusing their slaves, subtly leaving room to continue insulting the South.
"But if this trend continues, won't the Northern newspapers eventually notice that something is wrong?"
"They probably notice already. They just hate the South so much that they are desperately turning a blind eye and pretending not to see."
It was so bad that even Carnegie, who had suggested we use this situation to make some money, had retracted his opinion.
"Leo, there haven't been any major incidents around our plantation, have there?"
"No. However, since our plantation guards cannot carry weapons outside the master's property, it is a structure where it is difficult to know what is happening outside our territory."
"I'll handle that by extracting information from the vigilante groups. The planters at the horse racing club are on high alert these days, so the vigilantes should be more active, right?"
I had heard stories that during the Wild West era, there were so many bandit gangs robbing villages that every town formed a militia. But I had never heard of such things happening in the South, where the frontier had long since been settled. What on earth was going on?
Realizing that his name was being sold for such banditry, John Brown secretly sent his son, Owen, to inform me of the gravity of the situation.
"Mr. Sett, as you have likely heard, the current situation seems to have exceeded the level we can control."
"Is that why Mr. John Brown couldn't come himself?"
"Yes. My father is strongly protesting that this has nothing to do with him, but no one believes him. So, he is intentionally traveling around with his identity exposed to create an alibi."
"That could be dangerous."
"He seems to think there is no other choice. In fact, at first, we thought someone was just using my father's name to conduct an abolitionist movement. We responded passively for a while, but looking at it now, it's far beyond that."
The North and the South are both keeping quiet for different reasons, but over 14 plantations have already been raided, and the number of casualties is not insignificant. The South threatened to mobilize the military for a suppression operation, but this country is vast. Furthermore, the South has a low population density, and with hiding spots everywhere, it was difficult to catch the bandits even with military intervention. With Texas's population barely over 500,000 and Mississippi, the most populous, still under 800,000, what more needs to be said?
"Do they think in the North that this incident is tied to John Brown?"
"Because my father denies it so vehemently, the Republican side seems to believe him. After all, no matter how radical my father may be, he has never looted money or extorted food. Anyone who is truly interested in us knows we wouldn't do such things."
"The North might think so, but the South will attack with glee, claiming John Brown's wicked nature has finally exploded. To be honest, whether it's actually John Brown's doing or not doesn't really matter to them."
This was the exact point where I felt a strong sense of dissonance.
Right now, anger toward the North and John Brown is burning quite fiercely in the South. There is a proverb that says the sister-in-law who stops you is more hateful than the mother-in-law who hits you, but strangely, the anti-Northern sentiment in the South is currently at an all-time high.
"Our good plantation owners in the South are suffering, but those Northern bastards are just laughing."
"They say the North is actually encouraging the Arrow of Freedom to run wild."
Articles like this were frequently published as if to show off, and quite a few people had begun to believe that the fake Arrow of Freedom was truly in cahoots with the North. Isn't it strange? At this point, I even doubted whether the military's inability to catch those guys was truly just because the land was wide and the population was small. If this wasn't a natural occurrence, but a flow created artificially by someone... what on earth were they trying to achieve?
At first, I had no inkling, but seeing the subtle shift in Southern public opinion, the picture was starting to become visible.
"Owen, for now, can you stay here until this incident is over and keep in touch with Mr. Brown? You must have some secret channel of communication."
"Of course. That is why I came here."
No matter how I look at it, this matter feels like a thorn in my throat, nagging at me. I need to clear John Brown's name, incur a debt of gratitude from him, and at the same time, identify what lies behind these impersonators. I cannot let them throw cold water on the current momentum we are building.
Independence is inherently a very difficult thing. How much suffering did the United States go through to escape the clutches of Britain? Even that might have been impossible if France hadn't been determined to exhaust its national treasury. As such, to achieve the great value of independence, one needs not only effort but also the luck of the era.
The Southern separatists believed that now was that time.
"...Has the Arrow of Freedom retreated as planned?"
"Yes. Since a massive search will be conducted across Texas, I have told them to enter Mississippi for now."
"Good. Then tell them to send a detailed plan of where they intend to raid next. I will review it and map out the optimal route."
The bandit group Arrow of Freedom, currently plunging the American South into violence and terror. The ones operating them from behind the scenes were none other than the Southern radicals known as the Fire-Eaters. They were extremists who clamored that for the future of the South, they must immediately secede from the Union and form an independent nation. They naturally viewed Black people as something akin to monkeys and violently loathed the policies of Buchanan and the Southern moderates who insisted on maintaining slavery within the federal system. They knew very well that as long as they remained in the Union, they could never maintain slavery, no matter how many times they died and were reborn.
"...Chairman, shouldn't we also call Congressman Quitman? It's not just anyone; the presence or absence of a federal congressman makes a huge difference..."
"That man Quitman has been corrupted. Ever since he owed his life to James Sett, all his sharp teeth from the old days have fallen out."
Currently, the Fire-Eaters of Mississippi were divided into those who followed Quitman and those who followed John Peters. Although Quitman was a federal congressman, Peters had also served as the Speaker of the Mississippi State Legislature, so he did not lag far behind in terms of title. Originally, both stood on the position of immediately seceding the South to treat Black people as slaves forever, so there was no reason for their relationship to sour. However, Quitman had been hanging around James Sett lately, and he didn't seem to be pouring as much passion into the Southern independence movement as he used to.
In the end, it meant that James Sett, the hope of the South and the pride of Mississippi, was also a federalist. Even the current governor, Macrae, was clearly showing signs of aiming for a long-term hold on power while backing Sett. Although the Mississippi governor was legally prohibited from serving three consecutive terms, in theory, there was no problem with serving two terms, taking a break, and then being re-elected in the next election. If Macrae were to run for the Senate or House in the next election, and a candidate friendly to Macrae were to emerge for the governor's race, Peters would have to face a difficult fight.
Therefore, a happening that could lower Macrae's approval rating was needed for the next election. Of course, he wasn't doing this absurd thing simply to get himself elected in the next governor's race.
"The confrontation between the South and the North is more severe now than ever before. If we stir up anti-Northern sentiment just a little more here, the voices calling for secession in the South will surely grow louder."
"That will certainly be the case."
"The fear that lunatics like John Brown might come down South at any time and burn their plantations, as long as they are tied to the North in a union. This fear will be the greatest weapon to shut the mouths of the federalists."
It was his grand plan to instantly silence the mainstream Democratic opinion that still couldn't come to its senses and insisted that independence was impossible, and to present the true path the South should take. Arrow of Freedom? Those bandits were merely tools to be used and discarded. He was secretly leaking information to them now so they could run wild, but once their usefulness was over, he could just leak fake information and wipe them out in one fell swoop. Since the bandits didn't know the identity of the person leaking the information, he wouldn't be implicated even if they were caught.
"But Chairman, if we only repeat these small-scale raids, public opinion will slowly lose its fire."
"Of course, I know that. That is why I have been deliberately saving the main dish until now."
As long as those fakes were using the name Arrow of Freedom, there was one target they were bound to be linked with, and had to be linked with: James Sett. Since Cedar Grove Plantation had already become half-fortress, attacking it would be suicide, but very fortunately, James Sett had recently acquired several plantations and slaves. If they attacked the plantations where construction hadn't yet begun and inflicted massive damage...
If James Sett, the great planter Mississippi proudly boasted of, were attacked by those detestable Northerners and suffered tremendous damage, what would happen? If he were to strongly condemn the current governor for failing to prevent this, and if he were to lead a suppression operation that successfully broke the detestable Arrow of Freedom, what would happen? Naturally, the next governor's race would be his, and the separatism of splitting from those detestable Northerners would become the main public opinion of the entire South.
"I only feel sorry for those who have been sacrificed and those who will be sacrificed in the future, but this is entirely for the path of our South's self-reliance and independence."
"That is correct! A greater good inevitably comes with a little sacrifice!"
"For the independence of the South!"
"Slavery is an absolute good!"
"Freedom is impossible without slavery!"
As John Peters raised his glass high, everyone seated shouted the slogans of the Fire-Eaters and brought the red wine to their lips. The great holy war to protect slavery had only just begun in earnest. For this noble purpose, James Sett must willingly accept it, even if some of his plantations or slaves are damaged. At the very least, those gathered here truly believed so.