DBWI no treason trials of Confederate leaders

The trials of the important leaders of the former Confederacy for treason in the late 1860s were much criticized, for various reasons. What if the US government had just dropped the idea?

Jefferson Davis wouldn't be remembered as a martyr, so his image on Stone Mountain would be smaller than Lee's - or even absent altogether. Jeb Stuart might be the third figure on the memorial.
 
Jefferson Davis wouldn't be remembered as a martyr, so his image on Stone Mountain would be smaller than Lee's - or even absent altogether. Jeb Stuart might be the third figure on the memorial.

Would there even BE a memorial? I mean why celebrate men who led your region into a ruinous war, lost miserably, and then instead of becoming martyrs went right back to their comfortable, plantation-style lives that they had before the war?

Where's the reason to memorialize them?
 
Would there even BE a memorial? I mean why celebrate men who led your region into a ruinous war, lost miserably, and then instead of becoming martyrs went right back to their comfortable, plantation-style lives that they had before the war?

Where's the reason to memorialize them?


Lee, Jackson and Stuart did not lead the South into war They were all Virginians and joined the Confederacy only after the war had started.

I agree that Davis might not be memorialised.
 
The problem is that treason trials went too far. Prison terms and permanent loss of status (no voting, limited rights, restrictions on travel and speech) for those in senior positions would have been fair. Going as far down as they did was inappropriate, any prosecutions on a more junior level should have been under the rubric of war crimes, such as executing black POWs, killing civilians deliberately and so forth.
Additionally, having all former Confederates sign an oath of allegiance would have been helpful - those who kept fighting, joined the KKK, or abused blacks in contravention to established law would be opening themselves up to long rpison terms, confiscation of assets, or even loss of citizenship. Loss of voting rights for officers, for a period based on their rank (say 5 years for junior officers, 10 for mid grade, and 20 for colonel and above) would have allowed blacks and poor whites to build a political structure that would prevent the prewar planters from reestablishing political control.

As far as the Europeans go, what hypocrites. In the 1860s get convicted of treason in the UK, France, or Germany or attempt to lead an armed rebellion and you would not just get a slap on the wrist. Not that they were wrong in that the USA went too far, but to take the moral high ground...really!
 
One wonders if the US government could have exiled the erstwhile Confederate leaders, with the stipulation that they risked summary execution if caught within US territory. Not sure who would have taken them, however: perhaps Brazil? I rather doubt the British would have allowed them anywhere in the Empire (possible exception: Australia) save as transient visitors.
 
You guys still debating those Civil war trials? Man it's no wonder Americans are viewed as trouble makers. You quibble over the littelest things, make mountain out of mole hills, and seem to be divided over the simplest things like wether to have pancakes or waffles for breakfast.

Although I do have to thank you guys for that. I'm a proud member of the Deseret military. who knows what I would be doing had you guys been thinking straight. Probably pumping gas for customers at a QT or something.

As for World War 1; be grateful that Germany stopped after Paris. I'm sure they could have easily annexed most of the modern world had they wanted to.
 
One wonders if the US government could have exiled the erstwhile Confederate leaders, with the stipulation that they risked summary execution if caught within US territory. Not sure who would have taken them, however: perhaps Brazil? I rather doubt the British would have allowed them anywhere in the Empire (possible exception: Australia) save as transient visitors.

Why wouldn't Britain accept them? We accepted exiles from here, there and everywhere. For Pete's sake, Karl Marx wrote most of his book while living in London, and his mortal remains lie here to this day. And I'm sure the British government didn't share his politics.

Anyway, the Confederates wouldn't need to stay for long. By 1872 Congress was lifting the political disabilities imposed by the 14th Amendment, so will certainly no longer be executing anyone; so it will be perfectly safe for the ex-Rebs to come home.
 
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