People in our time tend to look back on events in the distant past and use their own moral code to interpret events. Looking back on American history between 1857 and 1876, people tend to believe that racism must have been the real cause of the war and the subsequent violence against black people.

The problem is, most people at that time held racist views. Some of the most racist state laws ever enacted were on the books in midwestern states like Illinois. And they were rigorously enforced. For that matter, race riots in Northern cities were not unusual during that period. Hundreds of innocent black people were killed in states like New York and Illinois.

During Reconstruction and even afterwards, laws in Northern states concerning the free exercize of civil rights were quite similar to 'Jim Crow' laws in the South. Former slaves and other minorities, such as the Chinese were strongly discouraged from even entering many communities. They could not serve on juries, could not enlist in the militia, and were limited as to the kinds of jobs they could pursue. North of the Ohio River, integration came about very slowly, if at all.

North of the Ohio River, two factors made Southern racism a little different. First, prosperity and availability of jobs took some of the edge off Northern racism. The opposite was true in the South, where the agricultural economy had been destroyed, small farmers had to sell their land in order to pay taxes, and wage-earning jobs of any kind were scarce. Competition with ex-slaves drove wages down, and everyone suffered. Men who can't feed their families quickly become frustrated and angry. Casting about for someone to blame, easy targets within reach were usually poor blacks not unlike themselves.

Second, everyone likes to feel as if they have some control over their lives. Here's another example in which loss of control drove white men to take their frustrations out on ex-slaves. After the war Congress in its wisdom disenfranchised most Southerners and allowed former slaves and outsiders to run state and local governments. Northern soldiers remained on duty in the South to enforce this complete reversal in civil order. The natural response during Reconstruction was the Klu Klux Klan.

Northern veterans came home to states in which men like themselves retained political control. There was no threat to their society by outsiders of any kind, and none would have been allowed. There was little to disturb good men in these states other than unchecked greed and corruption in business and public office.

Meanwhile, back in the South --- I would have had no problem with joining a 'secret society' like this during those years. The phrase, "Do the right thing" comes to mind.

On a related topic, I came across a New Englander's journal of a trip to east Tennessee during the post-war years. His confusion about some Southern attitudes was highly amusing. For instance, he found himself in a strongly Unionist, pro-Republican area and noticed there were no black people around. The New Englander was astonished to hear that any "darkies" that came into the area were always given fair warning to leave before there was any resort to violence.

Perhaps there's a reason that 'Unionist' rhymes with 'racist'!