Saturday, April 9, 2011

A civil ending

April 9
This is the date that marks the unofficial ending to the American civil war. Gen Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse with his army of Northern Virginia, thus ending most of the war of northern aggression. Ironic that the general who offered the fair terms for surrender would end up being in charge of the nation when its reconstruction would turn into an epic fail. Rather than trying to punish Lee and his men, Grant allowed them to keep their horses and all personal property, weapons included. Seems like a nice gesture towards an enemy which killed thousands or your comrades. When Grant was president he was in charge of reconstructing the south, both politically and economically. It was his job to have blacks integrated into society as best he could, and although he made it his personal crusade to pursue the Ku Klux Klan, Grant failed in his primary objectives. The south still hasn't recovered fully, and racism is still abundant. Good general, bad president.

2 comments:

  1. We went to New Orleans two years ago and drove through Mississippi and Georgia, woah! Ever see the movie 'American History X'?

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  2. Exactly, perhaps we would have been better off with the Confederation being their own country(- the slavery of course). Let them live in their own white world. I like diversity,.

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