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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
Deglassco ("Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco") wrote:

Reconstruction was the first great inkblot. The war was over. The Union preserved. Slavery abolished. To freedmen, it meant democracy fulfilled: citizenship, schools, the vote. To white southerners, it meant humiliation: Black men in office, white supremacy shaken. The same moment: freedom, or tyranny.

2/17

Image: Union soldier representing the Freedman's Bureau / Drawn by A.R. Waud, 1868. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/92514996

A Reconstruction-era illustration titled The Freedmen’s Bureau by A.R. Waud. At the center, a Union officer in blue uniform stands with arms outstretched, attempting to keep peace between two hostile groups. On the left, armed white men with knives, clubs, and guns confront him aggressively. On the right, freed Black men, some with raised fists and makeshift weapons, stand defiant. An American flag waves behind the officer, symbolizing federal authority.