The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 100, February, 1866: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and PoliticsVarious
History
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 100, February, 1866: A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics
Various
American periodicals
Much is said of the hypocrisy of the South. I found but little of it
anywhere. The North-Carolinian calls himself a Unionist, but he makes no
special pretence of love for the Union. He desires many favors, but he
asks them generally on the ground that he hated the Secessionists. He
expects the nation to recognize rare virtue in that hatred, and hopes it
may win for his State the restoration of her political rights; but he
wears his mask of nationality so lightly that there is no difficulty in
removing it. The South-Carolinian demands only something less than he
did in the days before the war, but he offers no plea of Unionism as a
guaranty for the future. He rests his case on the assumption that he has
fully acquiesced in the results of the war, and he honestly believes
that he has so acquiesced. His confidence in South Carolina is so
supreme that he fails to see how much the conflict meant. He walks by
such light as he has, and cannot yet believe that Destiny has decreed
his State a secondary place in the Union. The Georgian began by
believing that rebellion in the interest of Slavery was honorable, and
the result of the war has not changed his opinion. He is anxious for
readmission to fellowship with New York and Pennsylvania and
Connecticut, but he supports his application by no claim of community of
interest with other States. His spirit is hard and uncompromising; he
demands rights, but does not ask favors; and he is confident that
Georgia is fully as important to the United States as they are to
Georgia.
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