Happy Appomattox Day!

[Dinner]

Johnson was, in my opinion, the worst president the United States has ever had. Interestingly, it appears he was probably more racist than Stonewall Jackson and even Lee. Or so I've read. That could be some revisionist bull**** but I think it's true.

He really couldn't govern effectively because of who he was. He was a southrrner who had stayed loyal to the Union so to northerners he was always viewed suspeciously as being sympathetic to the southern cause especially when he wanted to treat the south relatively generously while the southerners all saw him as a traitor to his state and hated his guts.

[Hauldren Collider]

Johnson was responsible for reversing the gains of Reconstruction. Had he stuck to Lincoln's agenda, blacks would have had civil rights 100 years sooner. He was also totally racist, and barely supported emancipation.

[jsorense]

Stonewall Jackson secretly taught blacks to read when he was a professor at VMI in contravention of Virginia law; he was definitely less racist than Johnson.

Maybe we should have some American Indians (or First Nations People if you prefer) weigh in on this comparison.

[The Mad Monk]

Speaking as an Official Cherokee, I really don't care.

[Imran Siddiqui]

He really couldn't govern effectively because of who he was. He was a southrrner who had stayed loyal to the Union so to northerners he was always viewed suspeciously as being sympathetic to the southern cause especially when he wanted to treat the south relatively generously while the southerners all saw him as a traitor to his state and hated his guts.

He basically wanted the South to get off with a slap to the wrist and firm talking to (now, Lincoln's plan wasn't all that different than Johnson's to be fair, but Lincoln would have worked with the Republicans in Congress and likely would have attempted more concessions from the Southern states). Johnson was obviously in awe of the upper class of the South. He pardoned of bunch of folk so he could be their friends - as he was never able to be as a Senator.

[Sava]

Most civil wars end in atrocities against the losing side. The US Civil War ended about as gracefully as possible, thanks to Lee and Grant.

IMO, there should have been more against the south. Maybe if they were taught manners back then, we wouldn't have the political mess we have now.

[Dr Strangelove]

Stick around, in a few more days we'll celebrate Lincoln Killin' Day!

It's not fair to blame Johnson for the failure of Reconstruction. Thaddeus Steven's "radical" Republicans had their day immediately after the end of he war and after Lincoln's assassination. They managed to ram through the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments but enforcing Reconstruction meant keeping a large army garrisoned throughout the South. No one wanted that, by 1870 it was politically not feasible to continue to do so. The American people were simply not interested in enforcing social engineering upon the South. They got their Union back and that was good enough for them.

[Hauldren Collider]

IMO, there should have been more against the south. Maybe if they were taught manners back then, we wouldn't have the political mess we have now.

ily2 sava

[Hauldren Collider]

Stick around, in a few more days we'll celebrate Lincoln Killin' Day!

It's not fair to blame Johnson for the failure of Reconstruction. Thaddeus Steven's "radical" Republicans had their day immediately after the end of he war and after Lincoln's assassination. They managed to ram through the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments but enforcing Reconstruction meant keeping a large army garrisoned throughout the South. No one wanted that, by 1870 it was politically not feasible to continue to do so. The American people were simply not interested in enforcing social engineering upon the South. They got their Union back and that was good enough for them.

The Republicans + Radical Republicans had a supermajority in congress during the Johnson administration, so it was ipso facto politically feasible.

[Elok]

Only a small minority of Northerners were ever abolitionists, and only a small minority of abolitionists ever really believed that blacks were equal to whites--the rest thought they were basically talking monkeys, but that was no reason to enslave them. The war (IIUC) was fought to keep slavery as an economic system contained so free white labor would have a chance. Far too few people actually gave a damn about the livelihood of blacks to commit the necessary resources to bring them real equality. Especially not with troops badly needed out west to clear out the Indians.