If Lincoln had not died

[Liz Rosenthal]

(01-09-2013 03:07 PM)Laurie Verge Wrote:  Other than the 10% plan, this still doesn't answer my question as to whether or not in-print records of pre-planning by Lincoln and the Cabinet exist regarding the first year of Reconstruction, a five year plan, etc.

I would guess that, by mid-1864, the Union had a good idea that they might just defeat the Confederacy. Surely, the leaders in Congress as well as the executive branch would have been working on plans for "binding up the wounds" or "hanging Jeff Davis" and followers and putting those plans on paper. At some point, they would have to realize that achieving a successful reconstruction would need planning by the legislature, the executive, and the judicial branches of our government. Is there any proof that anyone did do reasonable planning ahead of April 9, 1865?

Maybe I'm missing something, but we seem to depend on Lincoln's character, his ability with words and platitudes, etc. to surmise what Reconstruction under his leadership would have been. I guess I want to see more hard evidence. BTW: I have no intention of denigrating Lincoln here (before I get accused of it). I certainly think that his leadership through Reconstruction would have been valuable and less contentious. I just don't see the Radicals adhering to all of Lincoln's thoughts on the subject, and I would like to see what his plans were.

Laurie:

There is nothing in writing as to what Lincoln's plans for Reconstruction were other than the 10% plan that Rob mentioned. Lincoln was feeling his way on Reconstruction just as he was in prosecuting the war. Any of his thoughts he kept very close to the vest. He would not have relied much on his Cabinet in all probability because most of his very important decisions were made without the Cabinet's input. (For example, he decided to issue the 1862 Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and put his first draft before the Cabinet only to get their input on language, but not on the decision with regard to issuing it. He did listen to Seward, though, in delaying its issuance until the Union had a military victory, and Antietam in September - barely - provided that victory.)

Most of the work Lincoln was doing on Reconstruction prior to War's end, with respect to those states or parts of states that had been conquered, he did by himself, through correspondence and meetings with various individuals. I would recommend looking at the New American Library 2-volume set of Lincoln's writings and speeches to get an idea of how he operated. (It makes a great read, anyway!)

However, it was not at all clear by mid-1864 that the war would be won soon. In fact, things were so bad on the battlefield during the summer of 1864 that Lincoln feared he would not be reelected. That all changed in early September 1864 when General Sherman sent news that he had taken Atlanta. Even so, all Lincoln could do concerning Reconstruction was concentrate on the places under Union control, in the informal way he had of working on such things, while he continued to prosecute the war.

Since the war was an unprecedented circumstance in American history, so was Reconstruction. Lincoln did not have a manual to work with and was not in the habit of delegating major decisions concerning policy to anyone. As some have observed -- including David Homer Bates in the book, Lincoln in the Telegraph Office -- Lincoln tended to think things through and write them down once his thought process had reached a conclusion about a policy or a manner of expressing a concept. He had a mathematical mind and relied on his powers of reasoning more than anything else. This is another reason why you wouldn't likely find rough drafts of his thoughts on Reconstruction.

With regard to your last comment about the wisdom of criticizing Lincoln's decisions, I don't think that any of us here would argue that he is beyond criticism. However, it's useful to point out how and why he did what he did.