Ideal American Reconstruction

[cloistered scholar]

Was done temporarily and wrongly in my view.

They were traitors.

 

[jenalysis]

My idea: any one who served in the Confederate military or government is banned from voting in the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas. This ban would be for life. Tennessee is left out do to having a pro union population, Texas is left out do to the need for men to combat the Comanche.

All of these disenfranchised southerners would be offered land out west. Seized land in the "dishonorable states" would be distributed to the new freemen. The deep south would have a radically different electorate going forward.

NC also had a pro union population.

I do think the confederate officers should have been stripped of citizenship, same as every elected politician who voted for secession. Imprisonment or exile+confiscation of land should be given to more senior folks.

Destruction of the planter class as a political force is a necessity to make reconstruction work.

I think a black-majority state, be it in the South or out west, is a necessity as well, and it has to be a heavy black majority to make sure they can preserve their rights there at least.

 

[cloistered scholar]

NC also had a pro union population.

I do think the confederate officers should have been stripped of citizenship, same as every elected politician who voted for secession. Imprisonment or exile+confiscation of land should be given to more senior folks.

Destruction of the planter class as a political force is a necessity to make reconstruction work.

I think a black-majority state, be it in the South or out west, is a necessity as well, and it has to be a heavy black majority to make sure they can preserve their rights there at least.

At least under my plan they have the ability to start over somewhere else. It also hopefully gets the most racist southerners to not live alongside the newly free slaves.

And if living on the same farm your father settled is so important to you, you can't vote. But your children could when they are of age.

 

[Father Maryland]

At least under my plan they have the ability to start over somewhere else. It also hopefully gets the most racist southerners to not live alongside the newly free slaves.

And if living on the same farm your father settled is so important to you, you can't vote. But your children could when they are of age.

The problem is that completely disenfranchising such a large portion of the Southern population (at least for the "Ban all voting forever by anyone who served in any function in either the CSA military or government") Is more or less guaranteed to cause a perma insurgency. The vast majority of the White southern male populace between say 15 to 65 served in the Confederate Army. If they don't have any say in government forever they're most likely going to fight in a insurgency that will make the OTL post war violence look like childs play. You can disenfranchise the higher officers and higher government officials but for all the minor bureaucrats, enlisted men, NCOs, and lower ranking officers doing so would be a terrible idea.

Any situation that involves at least ensuring some civil rights for freedmen is guaranteed to inevitably involve violence and require a heavy post war long term US Army deployment. But you should at least try to minimize the violence. In the long term the Southern White populace does need to have some say in government eventually.

It's ultimately the reason democracy in some form is a good idea. If people don't feel like they have any say they're more likely resort to violence.

All in all it's a balancing act. Even in the realistic "Ideal Reconstruction" you can't even possibly hint you're trying to "eliminate white supremacy"most Whites throughout the US believed firmly in that idea. Even among the "radical republicans" they tended to believe so and would be considered paternalistic and super racist today.. So you need to try and provide some protection for Freedmen in the long term but the vast vast majority of the white US populace does believe in some version of "white supremacy".

Ultimately I suppose the best you can really hope for is something like "Separate but equal" that's actually somewhat equal. Basically "Black America" and "White America " more or less live and exist separately in some form. Black American's might have the vote and might actually own some farmland (In the confiscation/"southern Homestead act" scenario) but things like open interracial marriage are utterly Verboten.

And while creating some "unity" among poor Southern Whites and poor southern blacks is necessary you need to ultimately

A) Include many southern whites as recipients in the "Southern Homestead Act" and overall try to repair the damage of the war and improve things like infrastructure to overall increase living standard.
B) You need enough political "juice" in the "Union" states to support more "radical" policies.

 

[cloistered scholar]

The problem is that completely disenfranchising such a large portion of the Southern population (at least for the "Ban all voting forever by anyone who served in any function in either the CSA military or government") Is more or less guaranteed to cause a perma insurgency. The vast majority of the White southern male populace between say 15 to 65 served in the Confederate Army. If they don't have any say in government forever they're most likely going to fight in a insurgency that will make the OTL post war violence look like childs play. You can disenfranchise the higher officers and higher government officials but for all the minor bureaucrats, enlisted men, NCOs, and lower ranking officers doing so would be a terrible idea.

Any situation that involves at least ensuring some civil rights for freedmen is guaranteed to inevitably involve violence and require a heavy post war long term US Army deployment. But you should at least try to minimize the violence. In the long term the Southern White populace does need to have some say in government eventually.

It's ultimately the reason democracy in some form is a good idea. If people don't feel like they have any say they're more likely resort to violence.

All in all it's a balancing act. Even in the realistic "Ideal Reconstruction" you can't even possibly hint you're trying to "eliminate white supremacy"most Whites throughout the US believed firmly in that idea. Even among the "radical republicans" they tended to believe so and would be considered paternalistic and super racist today.. So you need to try and provide some protection for Freedmen in the long term but the vast vast majority of the white US populace does believe in some version of "white supremacy".

Ultimately I suppose the best you can really hope for is something like "Separate but equal" that's actually somewhat equal. Basically "Black America" and "White America " more or less live and exist separately in some form. Black American's might have the vote and might actually own some farmland (In the confiscation/"southern Homestead act" scenario) but things like open interracial marriage are utterly Verboten.

And while creating some "unity" among poor Southern Whites and poor southern blacks is necessary you need to ultimately

A) Include many southern whites as recipients in the "Southern Homestead Act" and overall try to repair the damage of the war and improve things like infrastructure to overall increase living standard.
B) You need enough political "juice" in the "Union" states to support more "radical" policies.

Oh I support a homestead act for white southerners, I'd just prefer it not be in the south. I also imagine that for some southerners, the amount of land they could get in the plains or southwest would dwarf the land they left behind. That could make it an easier pill to swallow.

What if my primary idea was applied to just one state, South Carolina. What I want to do is create a situation were at least one state was controlled by African Americans. Two black senators would be something powerful, as they would in essence be representing people of color across the nation.