Amergin, I think you're right about Johnson... I think he probably did want to be nice but had to save face somehow. He was in a pretty tough position that most of us wouldn't envy, and is not very well liked around Nashville even to this day.

I have never been to WV but my daddy was from there.

Mister lived in Nashville, Indiana, back in the 70s, where there were maybe only two black families in the whole county. He was friends with one of the guys, nicknamed Pookie. Pookie got a cross burned in his yard because he was dating a white girl. Who knows if it was the Klan or just some local goobers showing their stupidity.

Wavestar, I am not an expert and do not claim to be one but I'll tell you what I know. Socioeconomic disaster and unrest often give rise to people or groups that promise to make things better. Reconstruction was a hard time throughout the South. Thousands upon thousands of men and boys did not come back from the war, which left a lot of widows and orphans to fend for themselves. Thanks to looting, burning and other forms of pillage, many people were left destitute. If you watch the news even now, you know that whenever there's a disaster, somebody steps out of the shadows to take advantage of the situation. Enter the carpetbaggers.

Now imagine if you were returning home after surrendering your arms, to discover that your home was not only demolished, but you had no rights anymore. You couldn't vote, but your former slave suddenly could. You couldn't wear any of your Confederate uniform in public, even if that was the only clothes you had in the world. Now who's the second class citizen?

I have read accounts of some people who said they were not against freedmen having the right to vote, but felt that their rights should be restored to them as well. They surrendered. They went home. They felt like they were being treated unfairly.

Anyway that's all I know.

Cheers ---- Kim