Incident at an Antique Store

[David Lockmiller]

Although he has the advantage over Johnson as he was a Republican and much smarter, Lincoln was cruising for a collision with Congress on Reconstruction, too.

If I understand history correctly, Lincoln's war with the Radical Republicans over the policy of Reconstruction had already begun on July 4, 1864.

"On that same Fourth of July, the president pocket-vetoed the Wade-Davis bill on Reconstruction of the South and thus more or less threw down the gaunlet before the radical wing of his party."

Thus, wrote the 1992 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History, Mark E. Neely, Jr., in his book The Fate of Lberty, Oxford University Press, 1991, pages 91-92.

[Wild Bill]

No argument with any of that. Indeed, one can make an argument that the Republicans' poor showing in the by-election of 1862 stirred the Radicals early on. Or even the debates over the scope of the Confiscation Acts before that. It was an almost constant undercurrent that Lincoln usually managed to blunt with his smooth political style.

[Linda Anderson]

Scott, if possible please give your feedback on "Our Common Country" once you have finished it. I definitely want to get and read it, too, however. Did you know Mr. Conroy is a forum member?
http://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussio...l#pid32548

Eva, I enjoyed the book very much. I'll write more about it in the "One Common Country" thread.

[L Verge]

We sometimes fight like husband and wife, but when I need a Civil War-related question answered, I email Bill Richter. Word of warning on his knowledge of Reconstruction - if I am not mistaken, that has been the subject of at least two of his college theses (not sure if for his two Master's or one Master's and the PhD). He has also written and lectured extensively on Reconstruction.

He will now email me and fuss at me for letting people know how smart he is...

[Rick Smith]

We sometimes fight like husband and wife, but when I need a Civil War-related question answered, I email Bill Richter. Word of warning on his knowledge of Reconstruction - if I am not mistaken, that has been the subject of at least two of his college theses (not sure if for his two Master's or one Master's and the PhD). He has also written and lectured extensively on Reconstruction.

He will now email me and fuss at me for letting people know how smart he is...

And extensive Reconstruction work specifically on the Freedman's Bureau in Texas.

[Wild Bill]

I listened to the hour and a half presentation by Conroy and I essentially agree that Jeff Davis went on with the Hampton Roads conference to make the South realize that they had to fight on as there was no other course. Although he did not say it, I think Lincoln did much the same, shutting up Democrat dissidents and Horace Greeley and forcing the North to go on to complete victory.

The Southern side is presented in Last Confederate Heroes, I, 325-29. This was all coordinated and presented to the public at the African Church in Richmond by none other than Laurie's favorite eminence grise, Sec of State Judah P. Benjamin, to give Jeff Davis plausible deniability. I believe that Eli N Evans' bio of Benjamin, which I used and recommend, goes into all of this.

My MA Thesis was on the Union Cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign. My PhD was on the US Army in Texas Reconstruction. I expanded my PhD after it was published with a second volume on the Freedmen'a Bureau in Texas Reconstruction. Both those books are anathema in Texas academic circles. Now as Yosemite Sam would say, Back off, varmints!!

[Gene C]

I believe that Eli N Evans' bio of Benjamin, which I used and recommend, goes into all of this.

Glad that you recommend this, as I have just started to read it.

[L Verge]

Someone said to me awhile ago (can't remember who) that Lincoln went into the Hampton Roads meeting knowing that Davis would not concede on anything and that he would be made to look uncaring in the eyes of the Southern citizens who were begging for peace. Is that a correct assessment?

And yes, I'm too lazy to look this up, but was any mention made of compensating any of the former slaveholders? I know that this was a sticking point with Marylanders earlier in the war.

[Linda Anderson]

Someone said to me awhile ago (can't remember who) that Lincoln went into the Hampton Roads meeting knowing that Davis would not concede on anything and that he would be made to look uncaring in the eyes of the Southern citizens who were begging for peace. Is that a correct assessment?

And yes, I'm too lazy to look this up, but was any mention made of compensating any of the former slaveholders? I know that this was a sticking point with Marylanders earlier in the war.

This is from Our One Common Country.

After the Conference was finished, "Richmond's Sunday morning was clear and cold as Judge Campbell composed the commissioners' report. Hunter and Stephens endorsed it, and a messenger brought it to Davis. There was no invective in it, just a stark recitation of Lincoln's terms."

"Nothing was said of Lincoln's confession about a shared responsibility for slavery, his support for an immediate restoration of the Southern states' rights, his tolerance for a gradual emancipation, or a $400 million payment for the slaves."

[Wild Bill]

In Texas, slavery existed by force, shooting or hanging, in the NE part of the state well into 1867, when the Freedmen's Bureau agents arrived, planters hoping that their would be some compensation.