DECEMBER 22, 1863:
The Confederate Union of Milledgeville,
Georgia, prints an editorial mocking Abraham Lincoln’s “Proclamation of Amnesty
and Reconstruction.” In response to the limitations of the amnesty offered, the
newspaper’s editors say:
What a kind and
considerate conqueror is Abraham! The very men who could make a peace are
barred the privilege.
So, despite their abrasive tone, there is a longing
undertone to their critique, as though they would have preferred a reasonable offer
of peace---though what is “reasonable” they do not say.
