AHC: Lincoln at 100

I assume that the assassination attempt failed and/or he had competent doctors working to save his life. Either way he would have a tidal wave of sympathy and support to implement his Reconciliation policy towards the South, very much like Andrew Johnson. But the Radical Republicans wouldn't be able to stop up the works in time to force Lincoln to change course, and by the time they did Lincoln could accuse them of stirring up a hornet's nest and risking the Union and be taken seriously. Ironically Southerners would see Lincoln as a champion of their rights.

Reconstruction would end quickly, Jim Crow would reign in the South, the Radicals would be broken, and Lincoln would be treated with reverence the rest of his life.
 
Except Lincoln's last speech mentioned giving Freedmen the vote in certain cases.

He'd manage to chart a middle course, giving the Freedmen their 40 acres, maybe pushing for a homeland of sorts for them - there might be le4ss than 50,000 go to New Mexico but I think Lincoln pushes for this and maybe some of the land the Exodusters later pushed for OTL, as they settled in Western Kansas and places like that. Perhaps Colorado gets a large number of blacks, too, or Wyoming/Montana.

Lincoln pushes for an end to the Black Codes in exchagne for some states being allowed in quickly, as noted, and so Jim Crow exists, but in certain states, the plight of the Freedmen is greatly enhanced; Louisiana for one was a place where they were trying to develop under the German (I think even German-born) governor for a while. Tennessee, too, could have that.

So, Lincoln might well encourage these states as "noble experiments," while focusing on blacks trying to get into areas such as sports - my 2 AH POD books might see something slightly different but still very similar to thsoe TLs. Lincoln liked baseball OTl and reportedly was lpaying it when informed of his nomination, before they had pro teams.

So, the turn of the century woudl see a patchwork of places even int he South which were much clsoer to the North (like Louisiana and Tennessee), places in the North which are starting to see integration (New York City police, IIRC, had their first black patrolman around this time, it hink baseball could remain integrated with a limit like the NFL had of 2 per team for a while). Essentially, Lincoln woudl be seen as charting a middle of the road course even after his Presidency that saw thigns not as good as they could ahve been, but not as bad in some areas, either.
 
Except Lincoln's last speech mentioned giving Freedmen the vote in certain cases.

He'd manage to chart a middle course, giving the Freedmen their 40 acres, maybe pushing for a homeland of sorts for them - there might be le4ss than 50,000 go to New Mexico but I think Lincoln pushes for this and maybe some of the land the Exodusters later pushed for OTL, as they settled in Western Kansas and places like that. Perhaps Colorado gets a large number of blacks, too, or Wyoming/Montana.

Lincoln pushes for an end to the Black Codes in exchagne for some states being allowed in quickly, as noted, and so Jim Crow exists, but in certain states, the plight of the Freedmen is greatly enhanced; Louisiana for one was a place where they were trying to develop under the German (I think even German-born) governor for a while. Tennessee, too, could have that.

So, Lincoln might well encourage these states as "noble experiments," while focusing on blacks trying to get into areas such as sports - my 2 AH POD books might see something slightly different but still very similar to thsoe TLs. Lincoln liked baseball OTl and reportedly was lpaying it when informed of his nomination, before they had pro teams.

So, the turn of the century woudl see a patchwork of places even int he South which were much clsoer to the North (like Louisiana and Tennessee), places in the North which are starting to see integration (New York City police, IIRC, had their first black patrolman around this time, it hink baseball could remain integrated with a limit like the NFL had of 2 per team for a while). Essentially, Lincoln woudl be seen as charting a middle of the road course even after his Presidency that saw thigns not as good as they could ahve been, but not as bad in some areas, either.

Agreed, what people tend to forget is that Lincoln moved more and more towards a more liberal view on race relations during the entire war. A lot of that is due to the fact he didn't want to prove that he was a "secret abolitionist" true and thus lose influence. Lincoln was a master politician who knew when to strike. In politics, like in war, if you strike too soon it is likely to end in disaster.
 
And as a fallback, I wonder if he would push for a more funded and supported colonization program in Liberia to resettle freemen who don't feel like they are welcome anywhere in the country.
 
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