A Glorious Union or America: the New Sparta
- Thread starter TheKnightIrish
- Start date
Thank you old man. I'd be delighted to know what aspects appealed most.
I am hoping to get the final domestic chapter posted tomorrow morning.
MERRICA
Banned
My favorite aspects were one that didn't necessarily deal with the battle of the Civil War as i mostly skimmed them. But the political situation as well as foreign affairs really drew me into this TL. I especially like trying to figure the order of the presidents after Lincoln. So far it seems that Kearney will almost certainly be be President after lincoln and might be a 2-termer.
Just came upon this today and it's topic felt like a good fit for this timeline:
Driven from Home: North Carolina's Civil War Refugee Crisis (UnCivil Wars Ser.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0820349461/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_U7Y5wbPYZ4V9N
And I'm not just saying that since the author was a member of my committee
. (His previous book on changing perceptions of suicide after the Civil War may be of interest to you too!)
Driven from Home: North Carolina's Civil War Refugee Crisis (UnCivil Wars Ser.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0820349461/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_U7Y5wbPYZ4V9N
And I'm not just saying that since the author was a member of my committee
. (His previous book on changing perceptions of suicide after the Civil War may be of interest to you too!)
Chapter One Hundred and Forty Nine Domestic Bliss: Part Four
Chapter One Hundred and Forty Nine
Domestic Bliss: Part Four
From “The Noblest of Undertakings” by T. Peck Williams
University of Virginia 2008
“There was something about the overwhelming passage of the 14th Amendment that caused a final widespread boiling over of feeling in the Deep South. All the South was now in the hands of Republicans of varying stripes. The 40th Congress would see several states in the hands of Black Republicans, actual black Republicans. The loss of their natural leaders, the constitutional enshrining of the threat of proscription…it all proved too much…
In Memphis it was the Irish, competed out of work by the newly freed negros. In Charleston it was the ragged veterans, outraged at the influx of freedmen from the countryside and indeed from Georgia and North Carolina. In New Orleans it was the wharf rats who needed little excuse for a riot in any event. In Montgomery it was protesting farmers, angered at the Bureaus of Collectors and of Freedmen preference for unionists, spinners and freedmen over rebel farmers who had lost everything to McClernand’s torches…”
Early stage of the Charleston riot
From "The Great Constitutional Crisis" by Dr. Lee M. King
Carlotta 1962
“Tensions were heightened in several states as the Federal Army used black regiments to patrol the conquered south (this was particularly true in Tennessee and North Carolina where this shocking development followed the resignation of General Wallace and reassignment of General Hancock). It was like "taking a troop of lions to guard a herd of unruly cattle" (Lew Wallace)…
There was competition throughout the South between the military authorities, sanctioned by General Kearny alone, and the local governments (of varying degrees of legitimacy and legality) as to who was in charge. The growing power of both the Freedmen's Bureau and the avaricious Bureau of Collectors only added to the ambiguity…”
From “The Noblest of Undertakings” by T. Peck Williams
University of Virginia 2008
“A degree of trouble had been anticipated. The passage of the amendment occurred during a period when large tranches of troops were finally being mustered out. Combined with the tension felt throughout the country as the papers reported day by day on the trials of Jeff Davis and Rhett large parts of the country were a powder keg of tension…
During the four weeks following passage over 800 people were killed in incidents throughout the South. Indeed only the states of Virginia, Kentucky and Florida were spared major riots. Most local military commanders followed Israel Richardson’s example in Charleston by aggressively putting down the riots with the full force of the military available. Few however still had the resources, or for that matter the merciless attitude to casualties, that Richardson had. When Davis’ second sentence of death was handed down at the hands of the Federal Government it caused a spasm of violence among the impoverished southern veterans. They had not yet learned the lesson that the “Hammer” would not tolerate such disorder. In a single 12 hour period 18 freedmen, 3 soldiers (2 of them also negros) and 86 rioters were killed. An English observer in Charleston, Charles Pratt, noted that after the riot the city was only safe for a white man “if he was in a blue tunic”. This signalled the end of Charleston as a “white southern city”…
In Texas A.A Humphrey had the added problem that riots resembled more of a war as Texan-Germans, unionists almost to a man who had been brutally suppressed during the war, finally took advantage of the shortage of Union troops in West Texas. The Unionist, largely German, Texan militia meated out very rough justice to rioters and protestors throughout west and central Texas…”
From “The Radicals 1860-1872” by Hugh W. McGrath
New England Press 2001
“The North was horrified by this latest outbreak of violence at a time when the majority of the public at large were trying to put the war behind them. The riots blessed the radicals with new enthusiasm and converts to their cause. It was also a boon to those pushing for the maintenance of a larger regular army...
From “The Radicals 1860-1872” by Hugh W. McGrath
New England Press 2001
“The North was horrified by this latest outbreak of violence at a time when the majority of the public at large were trying to put the war behind them. The riots blessed the radicals with new enthusiasm and converts to their cause. It was also a boon to those pushing for the maintenance of a larger regular army...
In Texas the rioters were lucky if they fell into regular army hands. The German and Freedmen militia dealt brutally with their former oppressors.
Congress demanded action and names provided by the local military commanders found their way to the desk of General Thomas Ewing in the Office of Proscription. It would be the first exercise of the new law against deeds committed after the war itself…
The response to the riots amongst both northerners and enfranchised southerners alike was very heartening to Benjamin Wade. He was at the forefront of the campaign to see the transgressors proscribed. Limited attempts by President Lincoln to reduce the scope of this latest round of proscription were of limited success. Wade had the better of the fight in Congress and most expatriated former Confederates whose name made it to Ewing’s desk were proscribed without much further ado…”
Benjamin Wade looked increasingly like a strong candidate for President in 1868 as the power of his radical faction in the Republican party grew in the wake of the 1867 riots.
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Really short chapter to confirm I am alive but ridiculously busy at work. Will do another update or two over the Easter break.
Great update! The mention of Texan-Germans actually reminded me that the first permanent Polish settlements in the US were in Texas (Panna Maria) and they suffered after the Civil War when pro-Confederates threatened to attack their community to keep the from registering to vote. Anything similar occurring in the ATL?
TFSmith121
Banned
TKI - nice update
TKI - nice update.
Same here re work, but the horse soldiers are riding out...
Best.
TKI - nice update.
Same here re work, but the horse soldiers are riding out...
Best.
And so goes the antebellum South and its many horrors. Looks like more folks will be ending up in Mexico!
Great update TKI, looking forward to whats next.
As an aside, any idea what events those pictures are depicting in OTL? (To be honest the first riot makes me think of cowboys fighting sailors...)
Great update TKI, looking forward to whats next.
As an aside, any idea what events those pictures are depicting in OTL? (To be honest the first riot makes me think of cowboys fighting sailors...)
TFSmith121
Banned
You may want to consider the color of the shirt of the central figure
You may want to consider the color of the shirt of the central figure; or even just click on the picture for the link:
https://www.geni.com/projects/Black-History-From-Reconstruction-to-the-Present-US/8072
Eric Foner's Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution is a pretty approachable survey.
Best,
You may want to consider the color of the shirt of the central figure; or even just click on the picture for the link:
https://www.geni.com/projects/Black-History-From-Reconstruction-to-the-Present-US/8072
Eric Foner's Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution is a pretty approachable survey.
Best,
The Germans in Texas I have read a lot about but the Polish community was new to me. I shall bear them in mind. They will definitely have been persecuted in largely the same way by the Texas Confederate authorities right towards the end of the war (given their location). I certainly expect both they and the Germans to do very well out of the allocation of confiscated lands in Texas to active Unionists postbellum.
After a short briefing on the economy and the early history of some significant economic figures I get onto my favourite stuff - the military and foreign affairs!
You may want to consider the color of the shirt of the central figure; or even just click on the picture for the link:
https://www.geni.com/projects/Black-History-From-Reconstruction-to-the-Present-US/8072
Eric Foner's Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution is a pretty approachable survey.
Best,
I think its an Atlanta race riot from the early 1900s. The other picture relates to Texas Unionists being abused, though why they have an African American dishing out the flogging is a mystery to me. It serves my purpose better.
Hmmm, I see the potential for a Constitutional crisis. Proscription for what can be termed as criminal acts (rioting) as opposed to attempting to overthrow the government or seceding from the Union. How long before proscription is used for regular criminal acts with no political overtones?
Aha! Hence a whole chapter on the Supreme Court's activities during Lincoln's Second Term is also on its way...
Does it make a difference that the rioters proscribed were already expatriated persons?
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Would they be in the country illegally then? If so, I see less of a problem as their citizenship would have been stripped due to actions during the recent insurrection. However, to strip citizenship for actions after the war is over and for what would be considered just plain criminal actions if they had taken place in Wisconsin, Indiana, New York or Michigan is problematic in my opinion.
The expatriated persons, i.e. those that abandoned their citizenship of the US by supporting the Confederacy, are in many senses on probation in the US. Those that can convince a Federal Judge to issue the oath can be re-naturalised under the Naturalization Act 1865. As citizens they have all the protection of a normal citizen. Alternatively if an expatriated person misbehaves its a short hop to find themselves on the List of Proscribed Persons and expelled under the Undesirable Aliens Act 1865
I had not grasped everyone who had supported the Confederacy at any level had their citizenship taken away, I was thinking it was the officers and above. That makes a difference as you note they were more or less on probation. I can see the argument of those who had been given a second chance and then do things that show they had not learned their lesson do not deserve a third chance.
What I wonder about is the difference between the guy who riots because he can't find work or is rioting over his objection to the 14th Amendment. Would the Radicals make the distinction?
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Ah that makes sense. I admit I was quite surprised to see a period picture of what looked like a mixed race crowd killing people, honestly the image makes much more sense in the context of your TL than its real life portrayal
To be honest, I didn't know much about the Texas Polish community myself until recently. I've been working on a study of Polish roadside crosses and shrines (mainly in Wisconsin, Ontario and North Dakota) so I've been keeping an eye out for any other Polish rural settlements to see if the shrines show up in them. That lead me to discover Panna Maria and the Texas community. They appear to have had a fascinating history.