redlightning
Banned
What if Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by any number of plots against him before he was able to reach Washington D.C. for his swearing in in March 1861?
A lot depends on who kills Lincoln and why.
Would Hannibal Hamlin want to fight a war to preserve the union?
Hannibal Hamlin (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was the 15th Vice President of the United States (1861–65), serving under PresidentAbraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. He was the first Vice President from the Republican Party.
Prior to his election in 1860, Hamlin served in the United States Senate, the House of Representatives, and, briefly, as the 26th Governor of Maine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Hamlin
Well, I think that the most likely context for an assassination would be by a southerner or a sympathizer in the name of preserving slavery.
Assuming that Hamlin's succession of Lincoln isn't held up, then Hamlin would likely be tougher on the South than Lincoln was, and more willing to liberate and arm African-Americans during the war. I think that he'd likely be close enough to Lincoln in policy terms, even if he was not as good an orator, that the war would progress in a similar manner. Assuming that he avoids Lincoln's fate, I'd expect Reconstruction to follow more Radical Republican ideas.