Vince, I am very pleased at your grasp on American History! I think you ,may perhaps, should find yourself a teaching spot of some sort. I cannot tell you how grateful I am that you make posts such as these as I enjoy reading them and I hope it helps others to be educated a bit. American History, when its not watered down and the truth is told I think is the most fascinating in all of the world.
Maybe one day. But do understand that I'm stating this in consequence to folks who act as though they know Southern history. My family didn't fair too well in slavery and around 1820-1830, half of my family tree was sold off to a plantation in Virginia. My grandmother told me that her grandmother and grandfather were subject to pretty severe beatings if they didn't meet the daily quota of cotton picked that day and were fed mostly scraps of the pig although they did allow them to raise some chickens for the occasional eggs, fished in the ponds and maintained a garden. I'm fortunate to be able to pick up their green thumb.
The only good (or decent) thing that happened was after the Civil War was that my family worked out some sort deal and actually continued to work the land and pick cotton in the summer and other odd jobs in return for a nice wage, a house and some land. The guy my grandfather worked for was in the KKK and he gave him a ride home every day but right after work, he would have to get in the back of the truck and put a blanket over his body or wood and lay still while he went to the Klan meetings because if they ever found him in that truck, he would have likely been lynched as the KKK was pretty bad down in Eastern NC for a time.
All of the seasoning picked went up until at least 1965 when Mr. Taylor (the guy my family worked for or desendant or whatever) bought cotton baling machines or something...not exactly sure. But afterwards, there was still pay for crushing cotton down in the bins. My cousin was getting about 40 bucks a day to jump up and down on a wooden board which pushed down the cotton for a couple hours. In 1989, that was actually pretty good tax free money for little work. Soon after my grandfather passed away in 1991, my grandmother was sent to a nursing home and that pretty much ended that as everyone left moved on and away. They are actually buried on a church that was right next to the fields.
To be honest, there was a lot of struggles for my family but they kicked in and took care of things and didn't complain about the circumstances.
But getting back to Bachmann, my anger is that she signed something without having any idea or clue as to what slavery for blacks was all about for political gain. The Civil War was bad for both sides, there were a number of atrocities and dishonorable acts committed in the name of slavery and I don't think she should comment or make a statement about it unless she comes down here and actually talk to the folks who were born and raised here
