By: Pinky LeBow, head investigative journalist with the Chicago Sun
Vicksburg, Mississippi
September 23. 1869
The Civil war ended almost five years ago, but in some ways the war had just begun. The new reconstruction policies have the South in an uproar. The policies, which try to establish a stable economy and a bureau to help the poor and African-Americans, are met with strong resistance in almost all quarters of the south. Hatred of northerners, "Carpetbaggers" or "Those Damn Yankees", is present everywhere. The military presence has incited acts of violence, mostly by a group of white supremacists that call themselves the Klu Klux Klan. The KKK attack blacks and white northerners, trying to change what they see as bad policies. They don't realize that they are only cementing the north's cause.
However, as President Johnson pardons more and more of the Southern planter aristocracy one wonders if the north has a leg to stand on. President Lincoln's 10% plan is almost non-existent. President Johnson is unable to maintain a steady opinion. First he was a proponent of hash punishment for the Planter Aristocracy, and now he pardons almost all who ask him to. It is believed by this author that he must make up his mind, control the reconstruction and stick to his guns. From Vicksburg, Pinky LeBow reporting.
However, as President Johnson pardons more and more of the Southern planter aristocracy one wonders if the north has a leg to stand on. President Lincoln's 10% plan is almost non-existent. President Johnson is unable to maintain a steady opinion. First he was a proponent of hash punishment for the Planter Aristocracy, and now he pardons almost all who ask him to. It is believed by this author that he must make up his mind, control the reconstruction and stick to his guns. From Vicksburg, Pinky LeBow reporting.
