Going Greene

   Astin Greene could have been almost a stereotype had he so chosen to be. He came from a family of means and at least four generations of inherited wealth. His father, Sheraton Mascot Robert Greene, was a very influential man in his home state Mississippi. He had political connections that ran deep in both the HP and DCP. The man had a legion of devoted followers as well as a sizable group that hated him just as much. That is quite normal for a man in the elder Greene’s position but, in his case, Robert Greene seems to have earned it. This would play greatly in shaping the lives of his eight children, of which Astin was the second to youngest and one of only three boys.
Robert Greene was a veteran of the American 61 and, while he did see combat, he never seems to have stood out in any particular way. As far as the official record goes, Robert never achieved any status beyond that of a private soldier. He would later claim the title of colonel and, while he never once directly claimed that this was anything other than ceremonial he, also, never went out of way to say that it was not. Robert himself had come from a large family and at least two of his brothers had fought for the United States. In 1900 his youngest sister, Eliza Greene May, was still living in Chicago and was something of a prominent citizen there. Robert never tried to hide any of this but, like his phantom colonelcy, never advertised the connection either.
All of these family connections would come to play in the shaping of Astin’s life. Unlike so many of their neighbors in the Mississippi river valley, the Greene’s plantation and lands came through the American 61, largely in tact. Although many have speculated that this was due to Greene’s traitorous brothers this does not seem to be the case. There is no direct evidence but, Robert Greene’s home seems to have been spared due to his own father’s Masonic ties. In either case, when Robert returned from the war he had a roof to put over his head. That was more than many in the area could boast since large sections of Mississippi had been occupied, by the enemy, for over two years. This was the source of much of the animosity, towards Greene, and when the time came to hand out indemnity payments it only got worse.
After the war the United States had been obligated to make several large payments to the Confederacy. They were sizable payments, to compensate their former states for the damage done by the US Army. They were spread out over the better part of almost three decades and, in reality, the US never finished paying it before the start of the next war. What amounts they did pay were quite often devalued. Much political hay has been made about several of the prewar depressions and there are those who suspect that these were deliberately caused the US government. There is no direct evidence of this but, it is curious that a great deal of these economic down turns occurred almost in synch with the payment schedule to the CSA. In effect, the inflation was reducing the actual value of the paper currency transfers.
The US also drug it’s feet but, not for the reasons one might think. Many in the US realized that as long as the payments were going on then they would have some amount of influence in Confederate politics. They were not wrong. When you look at this situation you then realize that the damage to the CSA was not only beyond the ability of the US to pay for but, there was probably not enough wealth in all of North America and Europe, combined, to cover the mess. Now you can begin to see the problem faced by many Confederate politicians.
In defense of the Confederate leadership, you can understand that they had something of a duty to make sure this income was invested in sectors of their infant nation that would ensure it’s future. Much of the criticism they faced (which must be noted that it came long after this entire affair was said and done with) is true in that the system of payments did become hopelessly corrupt but, in the end, it does seem to have been spent wisely even if it was unfair. Some states, such as Arkansas, actually held lotteries to see who would get what and when. This seems to have been the least corrupt method employed but, even so, the system still did not avoid any of the controversy that was seen in other states. Also, Arkansas was proclaimed as having the hardest time of any state in recovering from the war.
The state of Mississippi was not so visible in it’s methods of distributing the indemnity and the fact that there was any money at all was not even widely reported in Mississippi. The time tables were kept so tightly guarded that one might think they were a military secret. That is why it is impossible to know exactly how Robert Greene managed to get a sizable sum of the money. There is no doubt he was owed something but, many were angered in the fact that he had started off much better than everyone else. Even the most reasonable of people had to ask why it was that he deserved any of the limited funds, that were trickling down, when others were living in tents.
Robert Greene’s actions explain the situation better than any words written on the matter. He did use the money to improve his own property and businesses but, these were interests that also benefited the entire county he lived in. This did leave him as the undisputed, if unofficial, king of the county but, it also ensured that people had food clothing and shelter at the same time. Despite the fact that he was putting back into the community, many were more angered by Greene’s investments than even the fact that he got money that they felt were owed directly to them.
The CSA had fought against change. That was a basic concept that even those who didn’t truly understand it, felt on an almost instinctual level. Now that they had won the war, many were angered over the fact that their own leadership were changing the very things that they had fought to preserve. Men like Greene were a symbol of this hate. What a lot of these people failed to grasp was the fact that it was one thing to backseat drive and complain (while they were US citizens) but, quite another to actually have to run their own nation without the benefit of blaming their former brethren who now sat north of an international border. Now, if the Confederacy were too survive, they would have to implement the very changes they had fought against.
This was the environment that Astin Greene grew up in. Judging by his own writings he seems to have largely ignored it. In that respect, Astin would appear to be quite typical of most engineers in that his attitudes and dealings with his fellow humans were quite simplistic. Astin’s mind seems to have always been hopelessly deluged in the world of machines. He was a consummate tinkerer and this fact was not lost on his father. Of course, Robert most definitely wished to separate his children, and by extension the reputation of his family, from the constant political turmoil that had become his life. This is probably why he sent young Astin abroad for his education.
It was common for wealthy Confederates, of the time, to attend prestigious Universities in England. Robert had already educated two sons by this method and, was sorely disappointed with the results. It had cost him a great deal and he seemingly got little in return. At Robert’s core, he was a business man and if not exactly cheap, he did not see that he could keep his fortune by spending money just for the sake of it. His sister, in Chicago, had a suggestion for Astin and this involved a new University in California, called Stanford. She wrote Robert and explained that, if accepted, Freshmen did not have to pay tuition. It was more than enough to get Robert to agree.
At the age of 17, in 1891, a somewhat socially inadequate, Astin Greene took his first trip to a foreign country. The son of a wealthy Mississippi planter enrolled in a university belonging to his nations most hated enemy, the United States. While this was not exactly rare it was not common either. Astin found himself isolated and the attitudes of many on campus were not favorable towards him.  This seems to be as much a result of Astin’s intelligence as it was his nationality. Astin showed an uncanny disposition towards engineering and would often show many of his fellow classmates up. He never seemed to understand the ill will that it generated.
Astin’s oddball status would also ensure that he would find himself in the company of two other social un-desirables. The first was Herbert Hoover. The man had not even attended high school, had been admitted to Stanford when he failed the entrance exams twice, and was working his way through school. His future wife, Lou, was also a student and stood out from everyone else because she was a true minority on campus. She was the only woman there. Lou was not the kind of person to let her gender stand in her way. On more than one occasion she was noted as acting and even dressing as a man, participating in male activities, and she carried herself with a determination to do something besides find a husband, get married, and have children. In this day and age it was somewhat scandalous. It was also the reason why she, her future husband Herbert, and Astin all closely bonded.
By 1898, they would find themselves living in two separate nations that were at war with each other. It would weigh heavily on Astin and he seems to have buried himself in his work. Of course, he spent the first year and a half, of the war, working primarily in Montgomery where the Confederate Steel industry was centered. He had workshops there and was involved in virtually every project that the CSN considered important. Many of his innovations and inventions would wind up on the revolutionary battleship, the CSS Texas. Many would become standard on every new class of vessel. Then there were the Holland submersibles. While we take Astin’s inventions for granted, today, they were all something of a surprise to those who actually knew the man personally. Just the fact that he joined the Navy was earth shattering to many.