15 aAnd leave it to the south to figure out how they should treat all the free black people who weren't going to be slaves anymore.
16 bOn the other hand, there are a lot of white northerners and black southerners who think the worst thing about cReconstruction was that it didn't last long enough,
17 And finally got repealed,
18 Because it was really working the whole time,
19 Even when it didn't look that way,
20 At all,
21 dAnd would have given black people their rights about a hundred years before they decided to go get their rights all by themselves.
22 Still, the one point that all Yanks agree on is that eReconstruction was a disaster, one way or the other,
23 fFor the south,
24 gFor black people,
25 hAnd for everybody else too,
26 Except the carpetbaggers.
CHAPTER 491 Actually, the carpetbaggers were never very popular with anyone,
2 Which is why they finally decided they needed their own president,
3 One who would be too busy thinking all the time to keep a close eye on Reconstruction,
4 Which is why it was so lucky that iU.S. Grant was available,
5 And still every bit as ready for great responsibility as he had always been,
6 jThinking more and more all the time,
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7 Which proved that he was obviously presidential material.
8 In fact, Grant was elected president twice,
9 Even though nobody knows whether he was born in a log cabin or not,
10 Although he probably wasn't,
11 Since the Grant administration didn't turn out to be very honest or great,
12 At all.
CHAPTER 501 It was during Grant's two terms in office that the south got kind of bitter about how everything had turned out.
2 In the old days, the south had lots of kplantations,
3 lAnd a lot of money,
4 And a lot of big dresses,
5 mAnd a lot of fancy parties,
6 nAnd a lot of exquisitely tailored southern gentlemen,
7 oAnd a lot of beautifully fashionable southern belles,
8 pAnd a lot of poor obedient slaves.
9 In the new postwar days,
10 qThe south had a lot of blackened ruins,
11 rAnd a lot of grinding poverty,
12 sAnd a lot of white robes and hoods made out of old sheets,
13 tAnd a lot of lynching parties,
14 uAnd a lot of disreputable and hard-drinking southern gentlemen,
15 vAnd a lot of faded and unhappy southern belles,
16 wAnd a lot of poor black freemen who couldn't find a job,
17 xUnless they wanted to run for the state legislature,
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