He is the one that inflicted them!
He is the one that inflicted them!
Lincoln constantly held out the hand of conciliation and forgiveness to the rebels.
All through 1862 he would have allowed the slave owners to keep their slaves if they would just acknowledge the authority of the national government. He suggested relocation schemes and compensated emancipation schemes; he was always ready to stop fighting and start talking--always.
As late as February 1865 he suggested that $400,000,000 in bonds be made available to the rebel states if they would acknowledge emancipation and federal supremacy.
It was the south that was bent on conquest and subjugation:
"We have the Executive with us, and the Senate & in all probability the H.R. too. Besides we have repealed the Missouri line & the Supreme Court in a decision of great power, has declared it, & all kindred measures on the part of the Federal Govt. unconstitutional null & void. So, that before our enemies can reach us, they must first break down the Supreme Court - change the Senate & seize the Executive & by an open appeal to Revolution, restore the Missouri line, repeal the Fugitive slave law & change the whole governt. As long as the Govt. is on our side I am for sustaining it, & using its power for our benefit, & placing the screws upon the throats of our opponents".
- Francis W. Pickens, Governor of South Carolina, June,1857
That doesn't sound much like, "with malice towards none, with charity for all," does it?
Walt