Civil War...Reconstruction?

Question

If you were a northern legislator, would you rule and rebuild the south with an iron fist or show mercy?Explain.

Answer 1

If I was a northern legislator I would have rebuilt the south with compassion, not like what we did. Due to the assassination of Lincoln, the South was harassly dealt with, stripped of its dignity and natural resources to serve the North.

Answer 2

In other words, would you be a Radical Republican like Thad Stephens or would you be more rational, as it appears Lincoln would have been?

All in all, I think I would have been more pragmatic than the Radical Republicans. I would not have jailed Jefferson Davis -- that only made a martyr out of him (and it actually saved his reputation). I would have looked for ways to help the working class Southern white, who bore the brunt of fighting and was basically used and abused by the aristocracy. Besides schools for the freed blacks, I would have had schools for the poor whites as well. I would have encouraged more joint North-South enterprises, where entreprenuers from Northern States went down and worked with Southerners with the aim of truly rebuilding the economy. I would have had more oversight on those who went South only to exploit the situation. The key would have not been on punishment but on real reconstruction.

Each state would have remained a part of the Union and would never have had to request re-entry. The price for troops leaving would have been to repeal the statutes of secession and ratifying the 13th Amendment. All men who took the Loyalty Oath would be allowed to vote.

The tricky bit would be what to do about the freed slaves. As you may know, many Northern states imposed Black Laws, banning the freed slaves from entering. So racism was not a strictly Southern phenomenom. I still think that breaking up the large plantations owned by those most responsible for the war might have been a good idea, with 40 acres and a mule given not only to freed slaves but to poor whites as well---via a sort of Homestead Act. I think it would have been wise to allow for a gradual enfranchisement--as Lincoln suggested, allowing those who wore the uniform for the North to vote first, then adding others as they gained education--but again, this would apply to everyone. I think if poor whites and freed blacks were both given chances to succeed and come up in the world, things might have changed faster in the South.

Answer 3

well during Reconstruction the radical republicans were in office at the time. most wanted to make it hard to forgive the south but Lincoln and his successor Johnson wanted to make it easy to forgive them. yet congress holded most of the power during reconstruction. so yeah the northern legislators would most likely rebuilt with an "iron fist"

Answer 4

Well obviously most people in the North were abolutionists, and fought the south. So I would say they used a prodigous iron fist. They had to teach the south a lesson, so they would never try again.

Answer 5

Ruling with an iron fist would do nothing to promote peace within the country.

Answer 6

Mercy....The south was the bread basket of the (Country) as well as the heart of the textile industry and the North wanted to control it with Tariffs. That's why the war was fought to begin with. Not Slavery!!!

Answer 7

"i'm a little verklempt! talk amongst yourselves. i'll give you a topic. the exciting reconstruction of the civil war was neither exciting, nor constructive."- mike myers SNL