At a time of rampant anti-Semitism, “Jews” ended up as a shorthand for unscrupulous traders. As Sherman wrote from Memphis, “I found so many Jews & Speculators here trading in cotton . . . that I have felt myself bound to stop it. This Gold has but one use, the purchase of arms & ammunition.”45 Of course, the great majority of those involved in the illicit trade were gentiles, but Jews were much easier to scapegoat.
