Norrell begins the book with the story of James Alston, the local black Republican leader who returned home from a Republican meeting and was sent to bed with a burst of gunfire, wounding him as well as his pregnant wife. Since the title of this chapter is “Perfect Calm, Peace and Harmony,” it is obvious that nothing the title implies is actually the case. Norrell goes on to describe the events of Reconstruction and the feud between Republicans and Democrats. A political battle of intimidation and fraud erupted as white Democrats and conservatives regained political control. After this battle, blacks began planning to leave Alabama, but whites needed them to maintain economic control. Thus, the idea of ​​creating a school for blacks arose not only to keep blacks in the community and in the workforce, but also to attract more blacks to expand the workforce. Booker T. Washington came to Tuskegee in 1881 with the establishment of the Tuskegee Institute for blacks. This school exuded the feeling of a model community in which racial conflicts and tensions seemed nonexistent. White citizens of Tuskegee were satisfied with their control over blacks, especially since most of the funding and guidance for the school came from white conservatives. However, their satisfaction with the conditions of the 1880s would later turn against the white and black civilians of Tuskegee. Shortly after the death of Booker T. Washington, Charles Gomillion took the helm of the civil rights movement. Before his arrival, a hospital was built in Tuskegee, which sparked racial conflict in the community. However, the hospital soon opened positions to blacks, creating another black institution... middle of paper ... conservative control over the community. The more blacks crowded into the community, the more white definition was noticed and the quicker action was taken against it. This action began with Charles Gomillion and his inability to accept white conservative control. Gomillion was determined to register to vote and succeeded in 1939, five years after he began applying. He began encouraging all blacks in the community to register as well, prompting the state legislature to redraw the city's boundaries to maintain conservative control and keep voting rights away from blacks. This gerrymandering outraged Gomillion and his supporters, who quickly took the matter to court. At first, gerrymandering was declared legal by Judge Johnson, who was only following the law, even though he realized it would harm his belief in integration and civil rights..