Albert Pike
| Albert Pike | |
|---|---|
| Former Associate Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court From: June 8, 1864 – May 28, 1865 | |
| Predecessor | Hulbert F. Fairchild |
| Successor | Charles A. Halper |
| Information | |
| Party | Whig (until 1844) Know Nothing (1844–???) Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Ann Hamilton |
| Religion | Luciferian |
| Military Service | |
| Allegiance | Confederate States of America |
| Service/branch | Confederate States Army |
| Service Years | 1861–62 |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
| Commands | District of Indian Territory |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Pea Ridge |
Albert Pike (December 29, 1809 – April 2, 1891) was a Democratic jurist, 33-degree Freemason,[1] likely Klansman,[2][3][4] and Luciferian occultist who served on the Arkansas Supreme Court during the late Civil War period.
Early life and education
Pike was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1809 to Sarah Andrews and Benjamin Pike, one of six children.[3] After obtaining education which taught him literature both classical and contemporary at the time, as well as Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and was admitted to Harvard University at the age of sixteen. Due to his inability to afford tuition, Pike taught at schools in Gloucester, Newburyport, and Fairhaven.
In his early years, Pike began writing poetry, which continued throughout his lifetime.[3]
Pre–Civil War career
In the 1830s, Pike worked as a writer in Arkansas politics. His 1833 anonymous newspaper letters, signed "Casa," (named after an assassin of Julius Caesar) supported the territorial delegate candidacy of Robert Crittenden, propelled his statewide reputation and drew the attention of Charles Bertrand, who owned the Whig-affiliated Arkansas Advocate.[3] During Pike's tenure as a writer for the Advocate, he published memoirs which appeared in "Prose Stories and Poems Written in the Western Country."
Around the mid- to late 1830s, Pike passed the state bar exam and became a lawyer, exhibiting boldness in representing clients at varying court levels, including the Supreme Court.[3] They included Native Americans, whose dialects he learned while serving.
Party politics
Pike began his political career affiliated with the Southern element of the Whig Party,[5] though abandoned it due to its lacking sound stance on the issue of slavery, which exacerbated in prominence following the Mexican–American War Pike eagerly supported.[3]
He joined the Know Nothing Party upon its establishment due to his anti-Catholic viewpoints, and attended its 1856 national convention.[3] However, since the party refused to insert a pro-slavery plank into its platform, Pike joined fellow Southern delegates in walking out of the convention. He later affiliated with the Democratic Party.
War years
As a Southerner, Pike supported secession.[3] When the American Civil War broke out, the Confederate War Department appointed him as a brigadier general due to his treaty experiences with Indian tribes, and bolstered units in the Indian Territory which collaborated with the Confederacy. Pike led the Confederate military forces in the Battle of Pea Ridge and embarrassingly proved a poor leader, subsequently returning to the Territory.[3]
Pike fell out of favor with Thomas C. Hindman, the commander of Confederate forces in Arkansas, which exacerbated into a fracas when he issued a circularrefusing to surrender control in addition to denouncing Hindman as substituting democratic government for despotism.[3] Authorities in Richmond rebuked Pike, who subsequently resigned in protest. He later served for a year on the Arkansas Supreme Court.
Antebellum years
According to one account as recorded in Jimmy C. Cameron's book "Racism and Hate: An American Reality," Pike's pardoning by President Andrew Johnson was due to an agreement made with Freemasons—when Pike, a high-ranking Mason, was exonerated from his punishment for treason that resulted from his treacherous Confederate leadership, Johnson was promoted from a third-degree to fourth-degree Mason.[4]
Ku Klux Klan and Masonic activities
Despite powerful contemporary insistence by mainstream sources denying sufficient evidence to establish Pike's Ku Klux Klan membership, Cameron writes that he was a "top KKK organizer."[4] M. L. Johnson states of Pike's Klan organization and his Luciferianism:[1]
| “ | General Albert Pike, whom Marquis names as being a member of the Illuminati, is the one who organized the Ku Klux Klan in the south as well as a 33° Mason. Pike was also head of the southern jurisdiction of freemasonry. He spoke sixteen ancient languages, and is the author of the Masonic bible, Morals and Dogmas, an 816-page book of instructions. According to Marquis, there were two versions of this book, exoteric and esoteric. The exoteric version of Morals and Dogmas was for the lower-degreed Masons, but the esoteric version is allegedly appended with a dictionary or concordance which allows the highest-degreed Mason to understand the actual meanings of the text. This esoteric version is given to the Masonic member, to be returned back to the lodge after the member's death. In Morals and Dogmas, Lucifer is the God of the universe! | ” |
—"Overcoming Racism Through the Gospel," p. 310 | ||
Pike's cultist views were accompanied by his racism, reinforcing the status quo of mainstream Masonic Lodges which segregated black members and subjected them to humiliation.[6] He fervently insisted that Freemasonry, in accordance to the nature of other institutions at the time, remain segregated. Pike declared in 1875:[7]
| “ | Prince Hall Lodge was as regular as any lodge created by competent authority and had a perfect right to establish other lodges, and make itself a mother lodge. I am not inclined to meddle in this matter. I took my obligation to white men, not Negroes. When I have to accept Negroes as brothers or leave Masonry, I shall leave it. | ” |
—Pike, 1875 | ||
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Johnson, M. L. (2007). Overcoming Racism Through the Gospel, p. 310. Google Books. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ↑ Albert Pike. History and Social Justice. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 Moneyhon, Carl H. (October 13, 2022). Albert Pike (1809–1891). Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Cameron, Jimmy C. (December 2013). Racism and Hate: An American Reality, p. 50. Google Books. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ↑ The Whigs were a loose coalition united mostly on economic issues, and slavery divided the party. The Northern factions were divided between "Conscience Whig" abolitionists and compromisers/appeasers, while Southern Whigs often competed with their Democratic rivals for the pro-slavery badge.
- ↑ Porter, Joy (2011). Native American Freemasonry. Google Books. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ↑ Minges, Patrick Neal (2003). Slavery in the Cherokee Nation: The Keetoowah Society and the Defining of a People, 1855-1867. Google Books. Retrieved April 17, 2023.