"The people of the North and South had traduced and vilified each other ..."

Astute views of legendary old time Texas Ranger Captain John Salmon "Rip" Ford on the American Civil War 1861 - 1865.

Snippet from Thomas Tyree Smith's excellent book Fort Inge: Sharps, Spurs, and Sabers On the Texas Frontier 1849 - 1869.

Page 129.

"The people of the North and South had traduced and vilified each other until they seemed to have lost sight of the fact that they were one people ...

"War came with all its calamities, its rending of family ties, its sacrifice of life, its hardening influences, its extravagant expenditures of treasure.

"The South spent the hoarded wealth of centuries, and the North created a debt of billions of dollars before either seemed disposed to consider the awful consequences of a war between brothers ..."

Folks, for whatever it's worth he's talking billions of dollars -- way back roughly 150 years ago! :(