Reconstruction era removed civilian governments in the South, and placed the former Confederacy under the rule of the U.S. Army. The army conducted new elections in which the freed slaves could vote, while whites who had held leading positions under the Confederacy were temporarily denied the vote and were not permitted to run for office. In ten states, coalitions of freedmen, recent black and white arrivals from the North (carpetbaggers), and white Southerners who supported Reconstruction (scalawags) cooperated to form Republican biracial state governments. They introduced various reconstruction programs including: funding public schools, establishing charitable institutions, raising taxes, and funding public improvements
The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man (1973) is a children's comic fantasy novel by Lloyd Alexander. Lionel, a housecat given the power of speech by the magician Stephanus, begs his master to turn him into a man. After many objections concerning the depravity of humans, Stephanus relents; and the transformed Lionel begins his adventures to town of Brightford. The mayor and his officers are plaguing Brightford with capricious rule and economic hardship. The mayor is especially covetous of the inn belonging to Gillian, with whom Lionel begins a rocky friendship.