Every single slaveowner should have had all their property seized and redistributed to former slaves as a first step in reparations.

God, imagine if Lincoln had picked anyone other than Andrew fucking Johnson to be his VP.

June 26, 2025 - 19:30 UTC

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If those Confederate leaders had been hanged then Lincoln would not have been assassinated, trust and believe this.
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keep in mind, this is the compromise position! a lot of people would've wanted their executions but sweeties like us are only demanding the fruits of their stolen labor returned. then they get to live and go get a real job! everyone wins!
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(some might say it's too late to be talking this tough but imo this includes modern carceral slavers)
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Wasn’t that basically Thaddeus Stevens’ plan?
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There were actually dozens of former slaves who received land titles to their 40 acres, and even began working the land and building communities there, before the feds took the land back and gave it back to the former slave owners.
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He only did so begrudgingly. It was forced on him.
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Ok then imagine Johnson drank himself to death before he could take office
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Andrew Johnson favored prosecuting top confederated states officials, but was opposed, notably by Grant, who cited Appomattox surrender terms to keep Lee from trial, and Salmon P. Chase, who opposed trials in military occupied areas. I believe Lincoln would have done better, but don't blame Johnson.
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I blame Booth and his conspirators.
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I think they were all terrified of the violence from the racists
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The problem is, this in fact started to happen. Former slaves were given land to farm. Former slaves became enthusiastically involved in local governments. But then the southern states said enough is enough. Lynchings. The KKK. Jim Crow. All that was hard won, was lost. Sounds familiar.
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Yeah, this just brings us back to the original point that Reconstruction should have been far more comprehensive and punitive than it was.
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Lincoln was not interested in anything beyond the preservation of the union.
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IIRC Presidents had Vice Presidents from different parties back in the day.
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That had changed by this point. The practice of presidential candidates picking their running mates was pretty well-established.

Johnson was one of the few southern Democrats who remained loyal to the Union, and Lincoln picked him as gesture towards national unity.
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