You would agree that even one state staying reconstructed would count as an improvement?
You would agree that even one state staying reconstructed would count as an improvement?
I'd still rather have the fade than the big announced withdraw.It wasn't really abrupt; by 1876 white Democrats had already gained control in eight of the eleven Confederate States. Black voting was already being suppressed via violence and poll taxes, and Federal troops were stationed in only three Southern states (not coincidentally, the only Southern states Hayes won in 1876). . . .
Just the energy of Sherman in the early days! That's the basic economic re-building that I want.How? By having a fairy godmother wave a magic wand?
Just the energy of Sherman in the early days! That's the basic economic re-building that I want.
And we skillfully cover both black and white farmers. For example, for weather disasters, you get 100% reimbursement for the first 50 acres and 50% for the next 50. Yes, rich farmers with a lot of acreage can still get this money, but you see how the program is geared to the smaller farmer.
It would if it were feasible - but how?
If its neighbours are "redeemed" then the KKK et al have safe havens into which they can retreat whenever they need to, only to come back at their leisure. Given steadily growing Northern indifference there could only be one outcome.
Let's be honest, once the Feds put in a concerted effort to defeat the KKK they went down fairly quickly, and wouldn't resurface until the 1910s and 1920s. The KKK weren't the problem you're making them out to be.
Honestly, I think the best way to make Reconstruction succeed is to make redistribution of land less about the Freedmen and more about a generalized redistribution to both Freedmen and poor southern whites. You could also give Freedmen/poor Southern whites the option of cheap/free land in the West. This would win over what would become the foot soldiers of the Southern Elite to de-reconstruct the South. This would make Republicans out of many poor Southern whites.
Now, would this solution work perfectly? No. No solution would ever work perfectly, but it would create a perception among the Southern poor and unite the poor Southern Whites with the cause of the Freedmen.
Use Class Warfare, not race warfare. The poor, black and white, outnumber the Elite immensely.
The GOP was the majority in the late 19th century. Getting 4 extra senators and a few more reps from keeping South Carolina and/or Missisipi reconstructed would have been something they'd want to keep in place if it showed signs of being sustainable.It would if it were feasible - but how?
If its neighbours are "redeemed" then the KKK et al have safe havens into which they can retreat whenever they need to, only to come back at their leisure. Given steadily growing Northern indifference there could only be one outcome.
The GOP was the majority in the late 19th century. Getting 4 extra senators and a few more reps from keeping South Carolina and/or Missisipi reconstructed would have been something they'd want to keep in place if it showed signs of being sustainable.
longOk, so you originally start off with say 3 states staying reconstructed and the groups you mention whittle it down to first two, and by say 1910 one. By 1910 the GOP would have gotten too used to the one to be willing to look aside. That and the locals in SC/MS would have had more time to lawyer up, get armed while the remaining whites who want 'redemption' can move and go be a bigot elsewhere. Easy to see the logic working.
I wish we would have rolled with this early momentum.https://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/carr/seaoutline.htm
' . . . Sherman meet with Edwin Stanton, Lincoln's Secretary of War, and a delegation of twenty black leaders on January 12, 1865 to address the problems of the Freedmen. After hearing that what the Freedmen desired most was their own land, he issued Special Field Order #15. This order declared that the Sea Islands on the coast of South Carolina and Georgia would be reserved for Freedman. Under this order each family would be eligible for 40 acres of land for their own cultivation. . . '
Maybe Sherman made this switch when he picked up which way the political winds were blowing ?https://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/carr/seaoutline.htm
' . . . Sherman would later claim that his order was a temporary measure and was not meant to give the Freedmen permanent possession of the land. . . '
I welcome a practical individual making decisions for straightforward reasons.. . . Sherman was not a political animal and he lived in the present. The 40 acres arrangement was the quickest way of getting all those black camp followers off his hands, so he did it. Iirc he'd also received fresh mules for his army, and so left the old ones behind at the same time.
Note that only a couple of months later he signs a peace agreement with Joseph E Johnston which doesn't even mention emancipation, and includes terms which went way beyond his authority. This was Sherman's way. If he had a problem to solve, he did so in the quickest way possible, and left others to worry about the fiddling details. . .
And this is a big positive.https://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/carr/seaoutline.htm
' . . . In addition, the man in charge of the Sea Islands as inspector of Settlements and Plantations, General Rufus Saxton, was a supporter of the Freedmen and he worked to make the program successful. . . '
I welcome a practical individual making decisions for straightforward reasons.