General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)Why is it we forced "de-nazification" on Germany but not the equivalent on Confederates? [View all]
In some respects, Lincoln was too kind to Southern leaders, wanting a gentler, conciliatory reconstruction rather than bringing their leaders low and root out violent racists the way Ulysses S. Grant later did as president--but too late to have the public behind him.
As Dylan Roof lamented, the Klan and other racist groups never quite recovered from Grant's work in South Carolina.
It seems a little reminiscent of the Wall Street bailout. Wealthy Southern planters profited mightily from the labor of slaves, started a war that damaged the entire country, and Lincoln was most concerned about bringing those very enslavers and traitors back into the family.
That soft approach seems to have led to Jim Crow and the lingering injured pride of Southerners, whose heroes were allowed to keep their honor.