No side was really solely responsible for ending Reconstruction in the United States, but it was certainly the case that Southern Democrats, known as "Redeemers," had pushed for an end to Congressional Reconstruction for some time when it was finally brought to a close (by getting rid of the few remaining federal troops and military governors in the South) in 1877. This process had really begun in the early 1870s, as some states had already been returned to the control of the Democratic Party. This occurred because powerful politicians were able to forge alliances between poor whites and some business leaders, and it always had the support of secret organizations like "rifle clubs" and the infamous Ku Klux Klan, who aided in suppressing black voters. By 1877, when a political compromise ended Reconstruction in exchange for effective Southern acquiescence in the election of Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes, these "redeemers" were already in control of most of the former Confederacy. So Democrats were mostly responsible for bringing Reconstruction to an end. But they did so with the acceptance of many northern Republicans, who lacked the political will to continue Reconstruction in the face of flagging public interest.
Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
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