Freedom

Speaking more of LIFE, the WAR was almost over. The SOUTH though full of spirit, had no food, supplies or even GUNPOWDER left. Remember, they started this with just one munitions factory, and that was in Florida. So the NORTH would win because our ARMY had everything we could want. We came across many demonstrations of the coming PEACE. Today we saw a group of men, recently SLAVES, who came under our protection and therefore were beneficiaries of the EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, stated two years before. They danced until they fell down, they were so expectant of the future FREEDOM. We had seen this dance many times before when we have freed control of the CONFEDERATES as we went SOUTH. This time it was different. The BLACK MEN wore cardboard masks painted WHITE. We didn't know if this was a welcome or a reproach for not coming sooner. Maybe they wanted to resemble us, the FREE MEN. We worried about them, they'd never had a choice in what they could do. After the ARMY, which tells you what to do every minute, to put one foot in front of the other, I can't expect I'll do much better for a while. I'll just have to follow my instincts like a hawk catching a FROG, a FROG catching a FLY, and a FLY - well, you know what they like. But there's HOPE. We hear the PEACE terms will allow the EX-SLAVES to have 40 acres and a mule and be whatever they want. I sure HOPE so. It would lmake these four years of Misery worth it. At least the NATION's conscience would feel better after two hundred years of Free Labor.

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