“The older I get the more I’m convinced that it’s the purpose of politicians and journalists to say the world is very simple, whereas it’s the purpose of historians to say, ‘No! It’s very complicated.” — David Cannadine (British historian at Princeton)

It’s epilogue time. Join Greg and Cielle as they talk in broad strokes about one of the darkest periods of American history: Reconstruction and the (post-Civil War) Indian Wars. In the process, we’ll revisit a few fascinating figures who seem to reject fitting into simple boxes, like Confederate-turned-Radical-Republican James “Old Pete” Longstreet and Union-war-hero-turned-Indian fighter, Phil Sheridan.

Finally, we’ll say goodbye to another HTDS friend. First, it was Josh. Now, it’s Cielle. Thanks a lot, 2020.

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“Church bristled and pooh-poohed at the subject when I suggested that he write a reply to Virginia O’Hanlon.”

This is the story of America’s most famous editorial.

Virginia O’Hanlon is an inquisitive eight-year-old. She’s debated with her friends and studied out the matter, but she still can’t decide: is there a Santa Claus? At her father’s suggestion, she writes to New York’s great arbiter of truth: The Sun. Her letter is handed to an editorial writer by the name of Francis “Frank” Pharcellus Church.

But Frank doesn’t want to answer the letter. Emotionally scarred by what he witnessed reporting on during the Civil War, Frank is a cynic. Further, as a man without a wife, children, or faith, a religious or faith-filled holiday focused on children really isn’t his thing. What exactly can he say to this little girl? The result is the most famous editorial in the history of American newspapers.

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“Does this court think an Indian is a competent witness?”

This is the story of the start of Indigenous civil rights.

Since the arrival of Lewis and Clark, the Nez Perce have lived peacefully beside US citizens. The Pacific Northwest Indigenous group is proud of the fact that not one of them has ever killed a white person. But things are changing. New settlers are flocking, and the US government wants the Nez Perce to cede more land. In 1863, the Upper Nez Perce sign a treaty that cedes Lower Nez Perce lands without their consent. Meanwhile, settlers who wrong the Nez Perce (even murdering some), aren’t being charged with crimes. Amid these crimes and forced removal, peace can’t hold. Nez Perce leaders like Chief Joseph soon find themselves fighting a war they don’t want.

But can the US government forcibly remove indigenous people to reservations, and further force them to stay there? Or do they have civil rights? Ponca Chief Standing Bear is raising that very question by suing for a writ of habeas corpus in Omaha, Nebraska. The legal precedent-setting decision rests with Judge Elmer Dundy.

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“There’s a good fight coming over the hill. That’s where the big fight is going to be. We’ll not miss that one.”

This is the story of the Battle of the Little Bighorn (or the Greasy Grass). 

In 1868, representatives of the US government meet leaders from a few indigenous nations at Fort Laramie to sign a treaty. The agreement creates the boundaries for a Great Sioux Reservation and “unceded” Sioux territory. But the treaty soon falters: With the discovery of gold in the Lakota’s sacred Black Hills, miners and settlers flock to the reservation’s mountain range. Meanwhile, thousands of Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho “non-treaty Indians” refuse to move to the reservation. The US government responds by designating them as “hostile.”

In 1876, three US armies move out to force the now thousands-strong non-treaty village to the reservation. Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer’s 7th Cavalry finds them first. Will he succeed in forcing them to the reservation? Or will Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse’s village defeat the cavalry and maintain its liberty? It will all come down to a battle on the hills just above the eastern bank of the Little Bighorn River.

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“To be hanged by the neck until he is dead.”

This is the story of the US-Dakota War. The most eastern of the three major Sioux peoples, the Dakota are indigenous to Minnesota. They’ve lived beside trappers, fur traders, and the like, for quite a while (salut, les Canadiens-français). But now, more white settlers are showing up and setting up farms, and American officials are buying lands in exchange for long-term payments.

But what happens when those payments are late? Shorted? Meanwhile, traditional hunting grounds are gone. Amid these tensions, four hungry Dakota men on a failed hunt kill two settler families. Other settlers only see a seemingly random act of murder; the Dakota see men pushed beyond their limits. A war ensues. The settlers win quickly but suffer hundreds of deaths in the process.

Now questions arise: Are warriors guilty of murder? Are some guilty of massacring? Many Minnesotans say yes to both, and over 300 Dakota men are sentenced to death. Settlers are crying for blood as the final decision to approve or deny these sentences go all the way to the top. It’s your call, President Abraham Lincoln.

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“Hang Kellogg! We’ll fight!”

This is the story of the end of Reconstruction.

Voter fraud and intimidation has made Louisiana’s 1872 Gubernatorial election a mess. So, when a Federal judge and Republican President Ulysses S. Grant uphold the Republican candidate, the stage is set for more partisan and racial violence in the Bayou State. The outcome is Reconstruction’s worst episode of violence and murder (the Colfax Massacre), and a full-on street battle in New Orleans between the paramilitary White League and the racially integrated state and municipal police (the Battle of Liberty Place). 

Meanwhile, Democrats have grown sick of what they see as Federal overreach imposing Republican policies to rule over them. Starting in Mississippi, they come up with a new plan to disenfranchise Republicans in order to reestablish “home rule.” 

But will the federal government allow this to happen? With Ulyss leaving the White House, the 1876 presidential election’s voter fraud and backroom dealings create a compromise that ensures Republicans retain the presidency, while Democrats regain control of the South. Reconstruction is over. Welcome to the era of Jim Crow.

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“Boys, let us get up a club or society of some description.”

This is the story of Reconstruction peaking and its opponents organizing to fight back.

With Radical Republicans at the helm of Reconstruction, the former Confederate states are forced to make new state constitutions that include black men in the process. The outcome is nothing short of revolutionary. Black men not only come away with the vote but the ability to run for office! Black Americans like PBS Pinchback, Robert Smalls, and Robert Elliott are soon filling the highest offices in the land—even Congress.

But this change is far too radical for some ex-Confederates. When six Tennessean men form a social club, it quickly takes a paramilitary turn. Its former rebel members realize that the only way to restore the antebellum world they long for is through violence and murder ... and they aren’t above resorting to such measures.

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 "The office has come to me unsought; I commence its duties untrammeled. I bring to it a conscious desire and determination to fill it to the best of my ability to the satisfaction of the people. "

This is the story of scandal.

Ulysses S. Grant has just been elected as the youngest US President to date. He has great hopes to usher in a new era of civil and political rights for African Americans and American Indians, as evidenced by the new 15th amendment. But can the honest Civil War hero do so when his Vice President and trusted former officers are busy making corrupt, illegal deals that inflate the value of gold, cost of railroads, and dodge taxes? 

Welcome to the Grant Administration.

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“You are placed in a position where you have the power to save or destroy us; to bless or blast us--I mean our whole race.”

This is the story of the first US Presidency to end in impeachment. This is the story of Andrew Johnson.

The post-Civil War government of the United States faces difficult decisions. Should it be lenient to former Confederate states? Or should it take a hard hand? Should the Federal government play a role in reconstructing state governments (Reconstruction)? Or should it leave the states to their own devices? Slavery’s over, but does that mean black Americans are equal citizens with white Americans? Or can states enact laws, called “Black Codes,” that only apply to its black residents? Can states deny them the vote?

These are the questions facing VP-turned-President Andrew Johnson, and he doesn’t seem to agree with Congress on much. Can Congress impeach and convict him for firing War Secretary Edwin Stanton? Or will the case fall apart? We’ll find out. 

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