the shades and shadows undulate in my perception

Two hundred years ago...

"During the first part of the nineteenth century, the American government policy was to remove Indians from east of the Mississippi River and to “give” them reservations in Indian Territory. The primary argument in favor of Indian removal claimed that European Christian farmers could make more efficient use of the land than the Indian heathen hunters. This argument conveniently ignored the fact that Indians were efficient farmers and had been farming their land for many centuries."
~~Neeta Lind

From genocide to deep-seated racism, the original purpose of the Second Amendment:

"The real reason the Second Amendment was ratified, and why it says 'State' instead of 'Country' (the Framers knew the difference--see the 10th Amendment), was to reserve the slave patrol militias in the southern states, which was necessary to get Virginia’s vote. Founders Patrick Henry, George Mason, and James Madison were totally clear on that...and we all should be too."
~~Tom Hartman (quoted from another article in Alternet

As a rule, I do try to avoid political discussion unless it relates to steampunk alternate history, or Victorian or Edwardian real history...but these articles, I wanted to preserve and offer for the value--and the weight--of their perspective.

While writing this, I also found another take on history, though do perceive before clicking--it is a video documentary, and it clocks in at slightly over three hours. I'm enjoying watching it, but then, I have always enjoyed tales of hauntings, historical or not.