[SWAMPSNIPER]

The Klan was formed as a result of the harsh excesses of reconstruction. I don't condone the path it took in later years, but at it's formation it represented the only force protecting Southern white people.

The United States has never treated a defeated foreign enemy as harshly as the South was treated.

I am old enough to have heard first hand the reports of people who lived through those days. The North was bent on vengeance, plain and simple.

[AuntB]

“The United States has never treated a defeated foreign enemy as harshly as the South was treated.

I am old enough to have heard first hand the reports of people who lived through those days. The North was bent on vengeance, plain and simple. “

Swampsniper, I don’t know how much retaliation came from the Union, but it did exit. My grgrgrandfather was tried for treason at Fort Smith, Ark. 10 years after the war. But that was more about him being Indian than being confederate. It’s just all at the time they could come up with to harass him over. He was a lawyer, defended himself and was cleared.