Reconstruction of the South in Smith’s Killers of the Dream

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Reconstruction of the South in Smith’s Killers of the Dream

“Something was wrong with a world that tells you that love is good and people are important and then forces you to deny love and to humiliate people.” P. 39

This single short quote from the first section of Lillian Smith’s Killers of the Dream is a perfect summation of the changing world many Southerners were facing as they approached the 20th Century. Gone were the days of plantation homes, housewives overseeing 50 black slaves, and many of the ideals that this lifestyle carried with it. As the Civil War ended and Reconstruction worked its way through the South, much was uprooted. This change was hard for this “landed aristocracy.” However, it was equally hard on the children.

This quote from page 39 demonstrates why this change was so hard for children. It was hard for children to grow up watching their parents have slaves, abuse these slaves, and then 10 years later watch these slaves rise up as free men and women. After the emancipation of slaves, southern parents reluctantly taught their children that the...

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