Reconstruction hurt the South far worse than losing the Civil War did. And the feelings left from Reconstruction go far beyond the bayoneting of someone's goose.
A good example of that was the 1866 burning of the town of Brenham, TX. "Historical records indicate on the night of September 7, 1866 there was an altercation between the citizens of Brenham and several drunken Union soldiers. The soldiers were part of a Union company stationed in the town following the end of the Civil War. As a result of this confrontation, part of the town was burned; one month later the Union soldiers again set fire to the town, destroying an entire block of businesses." The previous quotes were taken from information concerning a book titled The Burning of Brenham by Sharon Brass.
This part of Texas was not the site of fighting during the Civil War but with Texas having fought on the Confederate side it came under Federal Reconstruction, The Freedman’s Bureau, and Federal Troop occupation. To this day many Texans do their best to ignore the existence of a Federal Government and the imposition of Sheridan’s Black troops was not well received by the people at the time.
According to my father, my grandfather and his brothers remembered the occupation and the effects of Reconstruction from their boyhood and it angered him far worse in his later years than losing the war did. Losing the war was a 50/50 gamble that everyone recognized. Reconstruction was revenge on the part of the Union that got fueled in part by Lincoln's assassination. If Lincoln had lived, Reconstruction as it was allowed to occur may not have happened.
It's official. I missed the selfie deadline so I'm Maser's sock puppet because rene and the Polish half of the fubar twins have decided that I am.
