Nissenbaum's main point for the strange introduction was to point out that Reconstruction, "Above all, did not address at all the one problem that was was responsible for the insurrection rumors about the "Christmas riots" of 1865: the confiscation and redistribution of lands once belonging to wealthy white slaveholders. Instead, Congressional Reconstruction-era legislation was focused on the political equality of blacks ” The story is about whites and blacks in the South spreading rumors and making assumptions about each other as they determined how to provide the newly freedmen with a more stable life was the subdivision of lands, which was the main source of income as well as pride for most Southerners The approach of Christmas was raising blood pressure because, historically, Christmas was a time of drinking, gaming and social freedom, when whites gave gifts to their slaves and. they let them roam free. These more encouraging hopes collaborated with the newly legally free men, who created the assumption that they could be granted the land they desired. In turn, rumors began to spread that shocked whites, and as things escalated promises were made and even the government got involved, only for nothing to happen.