Lee appeared. Lee appeared. Immediately the tumult was hushed, and the general standing in the midst of the excited throng simply said: "Young gentlemen, let the law take its course." The quiet words had the effect of a military order, and the negro's life was spared. When urged to join a Southern colony in Mexico he said: "The thought of abandoning the country and all that must be left in it is abhorrent to my feelings, and I prefer to struggle for its restoration and share its fate." ROBERT E. LEE True, he fought on the other side, but we must not remember that against him now." Once when an attempt was made to lynch a negro at Lexington General Such a man belongs to no one section, any more than Abraham Lincoln. Northerners and Southerners alike can admire his virtues, be glad of his blameless character and claim him as a brother American. He said once after the war to a young friend who spoke ill of the Union soldiers: "Miss Bell; don't say such a thing! Those were brave men that we fought with." General Robert Edward Lee was himself one of the bravest of the men with whom the Union troops fought. Questions and Problems, Chapter X, see page 309 LAND AND WATER ROUTES, 1829-1860 Maps prepared under the direction of Albert Bushnell Hart PRESENT LINES OF TRANSPORTATION Things to note: (1) How the whole country is now tied together with a network of railroads. (2) How the short lines and independent railroad systems of 1829-1860 have given place to great railroad systems that, with their connections, cover the whole country. (3) The present disuse of canals. (4) How transportation on the Mississippi has declined because of the numerous railroads that run through the great Mississippi Basin. (5) How the Western Railroads follow the original Western Trails shown on the first map. PART III Welding the Nation 1865-1897 Pledge of Allegiance "I PLEDGE allegiance to my flag and to the re public for which it stands; one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." The Oath of Allegiance THERE are four steps which an alien must take to become an American citizen: First, he must file a Declaration of Intention; second, a Certificate of Arrival; third, a Petition for Naturalization; fourth, he must appear before a judge, submit to an examination, and declare on oath his allegiance to America. This is the Oath of Allegiance: "I hereby declare on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, and particularly to (name of sovereign of country), of whom I have heretofore been a subject; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same." Reunion of the People, 1865-1897 To Bring all the Southern States Back to the Union was the Work of Several Years WH HEN the war ended, the North was in the most prosperous condition that it had ever seen. Although it had lost nearly four hundred thousand men, mostly young, the population was increased, business was lively, and it was all ready to make another forward movement into the West. It owed about three billion dollars, but at once began to pay off that debt. Not so the South, where the losses of men fell almost entirely on the white population, and where the movement of the armies back and forth had destroyed towns and ravaged plantations. The railroads were almost worn out, and the stocks of goods long since used up. In addition the old slave system was gone. Most of the negroes stayed on or near the old places, because they knew that not a fifth part of the white families ever owned slaves. Most of the Southerners thought of the North only as rough and harsh conquerors who had taken away their negroes and wanted to take away their liberty. The soldiers on both sides respected each other as men of courage, and were among the first to cease from the strong feelings A National UST as the Civil War JUST ended came a great as well as to the North. nothing else to do; but thousands wandered away into the towns or into the North. The South had no money to start up again, and for several years had to live from hand to mouth, till it could again get its plantations and its railroads in order. Most important of all, the war left hatred on both sides. A large part of the Northern people looked on all the white Southerners as traitors and slaveholders; for they did not understand 66 of personal hatred, which stood in the way of putting the Union on its feet again. Need of Reconstruction The name adopted for the process of dealing with the South was Reconstruction"; and that meant that the South was not to be allowed simply to lay down its arms, come back into the Union as as free states and elect senators and members of the House. The theory on which the war began was once a state always a state"; that meant that there could be no such thing as secession, or leaving the Union. Nevertheless eleven states had left the Union, refused to take any part in it, and joined together in war against the Federal Government which represented the whole Union. How could a state be compelled to stay in the Union by force of arms, and at the same time be virtually out of the Union when the war was over? |