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who she hates most, she says: 'The Scallywags.' People, thank
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God, remember things like that."
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Scarlett's voice rose furiously. "And I suppose you tell her I'm a
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Scallawag!"
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"Daddy!" said the small voice, indignant now, and Rhett, still
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laughing, went down the hall to his daughter.
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That October Governor Bullock resigned his office and fled from
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Georgia. Misuse of public funds, waste and corruption had reached
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such proportions during his administration that the edifice was
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toppling of its own weight. Even his own party was split, so great
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had public indignation become. The Democrats had a majority in the
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legislature now, and that meant just one thing. Knowing that he
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was going to be investigated and fearing impeachment, Bullock did
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not wait. He hastily and secretly decamped, arranging that his
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resignation would not become public until he was safely in the
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North.
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When it was announced, a week after his flight, Atlanta was wild
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with excitement and joy. People thronged the streets, men laughing
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and shaking hands in congratulation, ladies kissing each other and
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crying. Everybody gave parties in celebration and the fire
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department was kept busy fighting the flames that spread from the
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bonfires of jubilant small boys.
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Almost out of the woods! Reconstruction's almost over! to be sure,
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the acting governor was a Republican too, but the election was
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coming up in December and there was no doubt in anyone's mind as to
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what the result would be. And when the election came, despite the
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frantic efforts of the Republicans, Georgia once more had a
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Democratic governor.
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There was joy then, excitement too, but of a different sort from
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that which seized the town when Bullock took to his heels. This was
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a more sober heartfelt joy, a deep-souled feeling of thanksgiving,
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and the churches were filled as ministers reverently thanked God for
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the deliverance of the state. There was pride too, mingled with the
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elation and joy, pride that Georgia was back in the hands of her own
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people again, in spite of all the administration in Washington could
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do, in spite of the army, the Carpetbaggers, the Scallawags and the
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native Republicans.
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Seven times Congress had passed crushing acts against the state to
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keep it a conquered province, three times the army had set aside
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civil law. The negroes had frolicked through the legislature,
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grasping aliens had mismanaged the government, private individuals
|
had enriched themselves from public funds. Georgia had been
|
helpless, tormented, abused, hammered down. But now, in spite of
|
them all, Georgia belonged to herself again and through the efforts
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of her own people.
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The sudden overturn of the Republicans did not bring joy to
|
everyone. There was consternation in the ranks of the Scallawags,
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the Carpetbaggers and the Republicans. The Gelerts and Hundons,
|
evidently apprised of Bullock's departure before his resignation
|
became public, left town abruptly, disappearing into that oblivion
|
from which they had come. The other Carpetbaggers and Scallawags
|
who remained were uncertain, frightened, and they hovered together
|
for comfort, wondering what the legislative investigation would
|
bring to light concerning their own private affairs. They were not
|
insolent now. They were stunned, bewildered, afraid. And the
|
ladies who called on Scarlett said over and over:
|
"But who would have thought it would turn out this way? We thought
|
the governor was too powerful. We thought he was here to stay. We
|
thought--"
|
Scarlett was equally bewildered by the turn of events, despite
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Rhett's warning as to the direction it would take. It was not that
|
she was sorry Bullock had gone and the Democrats were back again.
|
Though no one would have believed it she, too, felt a grim
|
happiness that the Yankee rule was at last thrown off. She
|
remembered all too vividly her struggles during those first days of
|
Reconstruction, her fears that the soldiers and the Carpetbaggers
|
would confiscate her money and her property. She remembered her
|
helplessness and her panic at her helplessness and her hatred of
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the Yankees who had imposed this galling system upon the South.
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And she had never stopped hating them. But, in trying to make the
|
best of things, in trying to obtain complete security, she had gone
|
with the conquerors. No matter how much she disliked them, she had
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surrounded herself with them, cut herself off from her old friends
|
and her old ways of living. And now the power of the conquerors
|
was at an end. She had gambled on the continuance of the Bullock
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regime and she had lost.
|
As she looked about her, that Christmas of 1871, the happiest
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Christmas the state had known in over ten years, she was disquieted.
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She could not help seeing that Rhett, once the most execrated man in
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Atlanta, was now one of the most popular, for he had humbly recanted
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his Republican heresies and given his time and money and labor and
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thought to helping Georgia fight her way back. When he rode down
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the streets, smiling, tipping his hat, the small blue bundle that
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was Bonnie perched before him on his saddle, everyone smiled back,
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spoke with enthusiasm and looked with affection on the little girl.
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Whereas, she, Scarlett--
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