Was Grant "wrong" to have been so generous at Appomattox & Reconstruction?
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I share his idealistic notions and overtures of reconciliation toward a once united people, yet hindsight may conclude that we're in our current pickle as a direct result (chain reaction over time) by having allowed former members of the confederacy to have gained traction after the war as a subversive force to continually operate behind the scenes. While this force is many times removed from what it once was, it's still being "leveraged" to game our Republic, IMO.
While there was certainly tough measures / martial law in some areas during the early phases of Reconstruction, would it have been better to keep the south effectively in irons for 10 years and only then slowly release them after another 20?
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
I think it was Johnson rather
I think it was Johnson rather than Grant that gave the South most of its breaks after the war, but I don't think making it tougher on the South would have helped at all; in fact, it probably would have increased the hatred some in the South still feel for the North.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: thinthread
Jesus Christ guy give it a
Jesus Christ guy give it a rest already
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: jazfish
If the north tied the hands
If the north tied the hands of the Carpet Baggers during reconstruction, the South would have contributed more to restoring relations.
Perhaps.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Thomas O' Bagenhammers
Someone has had way to much
Someone has had way to much to think.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: .............
It was Johnson, based on
It was Johnson, based on Lincoln's wishes.
When Lincoln addressed the public (from the second story "porch" at the white house) to announce the surrender, the crowd was anticipating his reaction. According to everything known at the time, the citizens of the North wanted to see the South severely punished. According to many volumes of history of the era that Ive read, along with many documentaries watched, the public wanted something along the lines of the Nurembourg Trials, due to the massive amounts of bloodshed, carnage, and loss.
Lincoln's attitude was "we ve been fighting long enough, its time for healing." Johnson carried out those wishes as the assisination itself proved his point. The country needed to heal. We came very , very , very close to starting right back up into Civil War part 2, and although there are arguements for both sides, most historians believe Lincolns path was the right one to take, even if the "Reconstruction" plans were a joke, and may have sent the country backwards , it also may have helped keep the peace. Who knows what would have happened had he lived.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Ken D.
What Surf said.
What Surf said.
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and all nations." - Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Vann Kliburn
Jesus Christ guy give it a
Jesus Christ guy give it a rest already,<<<<<<<<<<
ha ha HA
I have to agree
Can we open a "History Channel" folder here please. I'll play.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: New & Improved
FOM is reading a book.
FOM is reading a book.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: jazfish
It's a thread.
It's a thread.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 19.5 Degrees
Johnson certainly wore kid
Johnson certainly wore kid gloves re: the south, but Grant set the tone as far as providing generous terms at Appomattox to Lee (and consequently all other armies that had yet to surrender). And yes, Grant seemed to share a similar overall vision as Lincoln in terms of reconciliation and Emancipation, but it didn't take very long for the (original) KKK to wreak havoc & terror in the south on a massive scale; prompting martial law to various extents in different locales that was reactionary vs. a long term comprehensive strategy.
While Grant was persistent in clamping down on violence as President, I can't help but wonder if he'd adopted a more militant tone at the surrender and in his supporting role to the Johnson administration might that initial surge of being able to "network" in order to gain traction in the realm of terror could've been avoided? It seems as if we've been looking at derivatives ever since to this very day.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 19.5 Degrees
Someone has had way to much
Someone has had way to much to think<<<
Do all of your thoughts and actions exist independently of what has gone down in the past?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: .............
Grants actions at Appomatoxx
Grants actions at Appomatoxx was just one of many "surrenders" that had to happen. In fact, the fighting in the west went on for almost two weeks until the word had gotten to everybody. I love the story of Lee coming to Appomatoxx that day dressed to the nines in his finest, cleanest, uniform, while Grant greeted him with mudstained pants and boots.
Grant not only allowed the rebel soldiers to start to walk home, he let many , if not most , keep their guns after surrendering all ammunitions. Those were differant days, and also, the fact that Grant was looking eye to eye with another American had alot to do with it.
I think everyone was just done...put a fork in me type done, and figured they'd let the politicians figure it out. Who knows if Grant had any idea at that time what his future had in store. Remember, he doesnt become prez until 1869.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alias
They wanted to encourage
They wanted to encourage orderly settlement of the frontier, and if they had cracked down any harder you would have had tremendous guerilla warfare and proxy wars in the territories and along along the trails out west. You still had a little of that with Jesse James and such, but it would have been far worse. They needed for Lee to be able to credibly call people home and tell them to come and rebuild. If that wasn't happening, then a lot more Confederate soldiers would have drifted into the woods and kept on fighting.
And also, if the purpose of the fight was to keep the country a union, then you did have to let the people you call your countrymen take a seat at the table. This is part of that moral high ground that the nation prides itself on.