[GCC Catholic]

Nope. Not buying it. The South chose a path of violent secession and lost. Men like Jeff Davis and Robert E. Lee have the blood of some 700,000 Americans on their hands and Lincoln never prosecuted them for what they did. Of course political expediency had a lot to do with that decision but Lincoln would have been well within the Constitution to have had them both hung. The North didn't open fire first. The South did.

Now in the truest sense, I have no dog in this fight (my ancestors immigrated to the US after the Civil War). However, I am from the North (PA). The whole story is much more complex than you would make it out to be—there were mixed motives all around, with some of the "villains" having their moments of decency and honor, and some of the "heroes" having their moments of treachery and inhumanity.

Lincoln certainly had the right to see both Davis and Lee hanged... but reconciling a broken nation required the magnanimity of welcoming them back as brothers and fellow Americans—from Lee and Davis all the way down to every ordinary farmer who donned the Confederate gray. Lincoln let them keep a shred of their dignity even in defeat. Lincoln's magnanimity allows us to see him as one of the great leaders of history (and allows us to overlook some of his more unfortunate views/decisions, such as the suspension of habeas corpus in Maryland and his racism toward blacks).

Rubbing a loss into the losers' faces rarely endears them to the winners, and more often than not, leads the former losers to rise up again (and if you need an example, look at the way the Germans were shamed by the French actions in the Rhone Valley following WWI, and how that contributed to the rise of Hitler). Hanging Davis and Lee would have made some folks feel better for a time, but it would have run at cross-purposes to Lincoln's primary goal: preserving the Union. That is far more than mere "political expediency."

Finally, If I were visiting the Jefferson Davis museum, even I would wear the hat. The haters need to get over themselves.

[jmacusa]

I do have a dog in this fight. I have an ancestor who fought for The Army of The Potomac. All due respect friend but the matter is simple. The South launched a violent war of secession to preserve an economy based on the use of slave labor. They enshrined that fact in their Constitution. It's popular to say slavery was dying out before the war began. If that was the case then why did the South go to war over it? And here's a question for you:If the South had won the war would they have freed the slaves?

[DiogenesLamp]

Now in the truest sense, I have no dog in this fight (my ancestors immigrated to the US after the Civil War).

Same with me. My ancestors didn't arrive until the 1900s, and they didn't settle in any of the Confederate states.

Lincoln certainly had the right to see both Davis and Lee hanged..

No he didn't. In fact, the judicial authorities informed the Union prosecutors that if they brought Davis to trial, it would go very badly for them. According to one of the Supreme Court justices commenting on the case, they would lose everything in court that they had gained on the battlefield.

They wisely let Jefferson Davis go, because his trial would have exonerated Davis and condemned the North. In fact, I think the very words of that Justice were "Would condemn the North."

In the last few years, i've learned there is a lot about this war that people have refrained from including in the normal history lessons on the subject. Till a couple of years ago, I had no idea that Lincoln sent warships with orders to attack the Confederates around Fort Sumter!

I think most people have absolutely no knowledge of this aspect of what started the war.

[Pelham]

You should try to find a copy of Charles Francis Adam Jr’s “Shall Cromwell Have a Statue?” The title implies it’s about Cromwell, it’s actually about Robert E Lee and whether or not secession was Constitutional.

Charles Francis Adams Jr was the g-grandson & grandson of John Adams and John Quincy Adams. A Union officer in the Civil War who was in combat against Lee. And his conclusion on the legality of secession will come as a surprise to most.

https://archive.org/details/shallcromwellhav00adam/page/n5

[wardaddy]

Well done

Reasonable thought will go for naught though with this crowd

Cheers to Pennsylvania

[wardaddy]

All this south bashing and baiting over a confederate forager cap

Man it takes litlerally nothing to get the resident assholes here going does it