The documents transcribed
and made available on this website provide a picture of the attitudes,
geographical locations and economic attainments of a group of western
North Carolinians who were disqualified from receiving President Andrew
Johnson's Pardon in May 1865. These individuals were an important part
of the social, economic and political elite of this part of the Appalachian
South. Most of them were writing in the immediate aftermath of the defeat
of the Confederacy and were quite candid in their observations about
their previous allegiance. These documents provide a great deal of information
about these people and the society in which they lived. Researchers,
however, will want to consult other contemporary documents to obtain
a balanced understanding of this part of the South in this time period.