Today, we read about General Sherman and the resentment he stirred up by destroying plantations and burning fields in the South. We learned that Lincoln won the election of 1864 in a landslide against George McClellan - about whom we read last week was considered a very weak general - and that Congress passed the thirteenth amendment, which banned slavery in the US (although it had a loophole, which we discussed). The amendment was quickly ratified by the states and we concluded that it was now time to rebuild the nation. We will be discussing the era of Reconstruction for the remainder of this week.