The War Between the States and the pillaging by General William Tecumseh Sherman’s Union troops left the South devastated. Most properties as well as systems of production and transportation were destroyed. Livestock were slaughtered and crops burned. For most Southerners, survival became a matter of clawing and scraping. The years of radical Reconstruction following the war further demoralized the South. The region was placed under military rule and an inept attempt was made to redistribute land and resources. But those in charge of Reconstruction didn’t understand basic human nature. Nor did they realize, until it was too late, how easily … Continue reading Reconstruction and the Rose Bowl