“And The War Came…”
These are the four powerful words spoken by Abraham Lincoln on March 4th, 1865 – that sum up so much and are still echoing in my brain.
How can only four years scar eternity?
After last weeks class, I had so many questions and not enough answers.
Not enough, because there is no way we will ever know.
How different would the world be if the south won the war?
What if Lincoln lived?
Is it better to kill if it saves lives?
I just don’t know.
After reading Melville’s The Martyr, and realizing my entire body was covered in goosebumps, I became curious about the line, “Bare the iron hand.”
“But the people in their weeping
Bare the iron hand” - Melville
The “iron hand” is possibly the government that they had to face, without Honest Abe to lead them.
Perhaps.
Or maybe they bare a conscious? The guilt of being blind to evil and wrong doers has struck them down and taken their leader, their President.
Perhaps.
After John Wilkes Booth killed the President, he ran. He wasn’t thought of as a hero, he murdered the only chance the south had at a real reconstruction.
Andrew Johnson, who became president after Lincoln was shot, was a southern racist who was interested in restoring only the seceded states and not helping the freed men and women. It was this particular reason that lead to his impeachment by a disgusted congress.
I don't know what the world would be today if the south won, but I have a feeling it might look alot like the movie The Postman, starring Kevin Kostner. If you haven't seen the film it is highly reccomended, especially for Tom Petty fans. Sorry if I digress, but here is a short clip:
And lastly because I feel like people need to know more about Fredrick Douglas, I give you this, Drunk History, Enjoy.
First of all, I really like your blog title. Second, I really loved your post. I took History 111 last semester and it blew my mind. I love the dynamics that this country was built on. I don't know where I was in high school, but it was all new to me.
ReplyDeleteI watched a documentary on John Wilkes Boothe at the gym once and I felt really bad for him. When he assassinated Lincoln he thought everyone would be like super happy with him. But it's true, Lincoln was the South's only chance at a decent reconstruction and Boothe ruined that.
I have no idea how the world would be today if the South had won. If I got to be just like Scarlett O'Hara I don't think I would mind much..
This response is to the first question that you posted. "What if The south had won the war?" I believe that if the south had won the war things would be a lot more militarily based in our society. The south was the military powerhouse in the war, and their main schools were military colleges, and they trained very hard in the military. If they had won I believe that the colleges throughout the country would have converted to more of that type of schooling. Also that would have caused a ripple effect making our country have even more of a powerhouse of a military (if that is possible). I think that we would have people, even where we live, that would be pushing their children into the military after they graduate high school.
ReplyDeleteI can not even come up with a scenario that would have played out if Lincoln had lived.
I know that my rant about some fictional play out of the civil war recreation was a little weird, but it was pretty cool to think about. Thank you for the opportunity!!!
Great conversation here. Just a couple of quick thoughts:
ReplyDelete@Kailie -- It's true, Boothe thought he was going to be celebrated across the country for killing Lincoln. It's almost heartbreaking to read his journal as he realizes the opposite is happening, and he is the most hated man in the country . . . or as heartbreaking as it is possible to have sympathy for a egomaniacal white-supremacist assassin. Sarah Vowell has a great book called "Assassination Vacation" that covers this (and other assassination) really well.
@Unknown -- While it's true that the South was seen to have better military leadership in the war, they were far from a powerhouse. The North had many more soldiers, more manufacturing capacity, more weapons (a standing Navy), etc.
David Blight, my favorite CW historian (yes, I have a favorite), covers this pretty well here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW5tiuRuNm0&feature=BFa&list=SP5DD220D6A1282057&lf=list_related