If Lincoln hadn’t been killed, I can’t see as there would’ve been a substantial difference in the Reconstruction period. There was no magical solution that Lincoln had to have made everything sunshine and lollipops. He would’ve been diminished as a political figure having to deal with that mess that Johnson had to (assuming he’d have lived that long - even Lincoln himself knew he wasn’t going to survive to the end of a second term. I cannot imagine the enormity of the stress he was under).
Ok Negative Nelly, can I have some happy thoughts?
Lincoln lived out his second term and shipped the contraband back to where it originated from, even if it was a generation or 2 in some cases.
I don’t care if they don’t/wouldn’t fit in. Not my/our problem. It’s was the Rebs’ mess. They got the 1800s version of Hiroshima-ed and the victors would have taken care of their mess - by getting the problem out of here. Bye-bye and gone.
This country would be INFINITELY better today.
“...I cannot imagine the enormity of the stress he was under...”
The primitive photos of the time capture the toll of stress on Lincoln. He aged very quickly...