There was no magic cure or set of steps that could’ve been followed that would’ve made Reconstruction particularly better, even under Lincoln. A lot of it was simply either/or. Most Southern Whites didn’t want Blacks (many of whom were illiterate slaves) to have political power (and majority power at that, since Blacks outnumbered Whites in many locales, such as SC & MS). Any attempt to give Blacks power and keep them in power would’ve continued to result in a violent reaction by Whites.
Probably one of the few equitable solutions at the time would’ve been relocating the bulk of Blacks to low-population Midwestern states or territories (a la Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas) so they could have their own land, government, education systems, et al, without interference. Whites would’ve put up a fight to keep that from happening in those areas as well, so removing all those opposed to that solution living in those areas likely would’ve had to occur.
It’s astonishing with all the well-educated people around at the founding of this nation (if not before) could not see what the madness of slavery would yield within time. I remember looking at some of the population figures in South Carolina, where you had areas outnumbered 10-to-1 by slaves to Free Whites. This was a ticking time bomb for a long time, and no one should’ve been shocked when it finally went off.
Indeed. We’ve discussed a mass shipment back to Liberia before. I know you don’t think that would’ve worked, but I still maintain it was the best of the (bad) options available.
Forming Black states in the west would have made sense.
2006 in reverse, would have been sweet, yes.
I couldn’t see Jr. Bush getting a rematch in 2004, after 2 of the previous 3 elections had been a loss by a Bush after each had started out as the favorite.
McCain would have run again, George Allen may have run. Given the GOP penchant for rewarding the runner up of the last election, it probably would have been McCain.