Waving the bloody shirt

"Waving the bloody shirt" and "bloody shirt campaign" were pejorative phrases, used during American election campaigns during the Reconstruction era, to deride politicians who, for political gain, evoked emotional memories and experiences of the Civil War or violence in its immediate aftermath. The phrases were most often used against Radical Republicans, who were accused of using the vivid and violent reminisces of the war to their political advantage. Democrats were not above using memories of the Civil War in such a manner as well, especially while campaigning in the South.