Why weren't Confederate leaders punished after the Civil War (Short Animated Documentary)
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Date: 2024-10-18
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Comments and reviews: 20
trition1234
wonderful video explaining this topic, but the yankee comments have gotten a bit rowdy. Don't worry for the true knowers of the civil war; you don't have to comment or speak; just know someone is with you! I was once a union supporter just doing what my school taught me until I got out of high school and looked up history myself. Don't let those yankees tell you what to do; just let them go back into their holes and cope that we are more patriotic than them! What next Free them, and make them politically and socially our equals My own feelings will not admit of this, and if mine would, we well know that those of the great mass of white people will not. -Lincoln 8/21/1858 A LOT of us presidents and generals had slaves, but they won't blink an eye at that! It's better to be one man living the truth than a million living a lie! whenever the banner is streaming. base tyranny she quails at your feet! Sic semper tyrannis!
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wonderful video explaining this topic, but the yankee comments have gotten a bit rowdy. Don't worry for the true knowers of the civil war; you don't have to comment or speak; just know someone is with you! I was once a union supporter just doing what my school taught me until I got out of high school and looked up history myself. Don't let those yankees tell you what to do; just let them go back into their holes and cope that we are more patriotic than them! What next Free them, and make them politically and socially our equals My own feelings will not admit of this, and if mine would, we well know that those of the great mass of white people will not. -Lincoln 8/21/1858 A LOT of us presidents and generals had slaves, but they won't blink an eye at that! It's better to be one man living the truth than a million living a lie! whenever the banner is streaming. base tyranny she quails at your feet! Sic semper tyrannis!
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ericfarmer3360
Something important regarding prosecuting Confederate leaders such as Jefferson Davis wasn't just that Davis was likely to be acquitted by any Southern jury (either in his actual home state of Mississippi or in Confederate capital of Virginia, but also that it would have been dangerous to the Union to lose the case. Davis wanted the trial to go on specifically because he planned to use the legality of secession as his primary legal defense, and while the issue had been settled through force of arms it had not been challenged through a Federal court system. In other words, had Davis been tried and acquitted while presenting secession as legal as his defense, the acquittal would go a long way towards being seen as an admission of legal secession. The Union could (theoretically) lose everything it gained through war in court.
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Something important regarding prosecuting Confederate leaders such as Jefferson Davis wasn't just that Davis was likely to be acquitted by any Southern jury (either in his actual home state of Mississippi or in Confederate capital of Virginia, but also that it would have been dangerous to the Union to lose the case. Davis wanted the trial to go on specifically because he planned to use the legality of secession as his primary legal defense, and while the issue had been settled through force of arms it had not been challenged through a Federal court system. In other words, had Davis been tried and acquitted while presenting secession as legal as his defense, the acquittal would go a long way towards being seen as an admission of legal secession. The Union could (theoretically) lose everything it gained through war in court.
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p. d. stanhope7088
Johnson was originally from Kentucky and was a pro-Union Democrat who despised the landed gentry of the American South and was sympathetic toward non slave owning whites in the region. The U. S. Civil War ended the power behind the landed gentry and had to deal with Reconstruction with the Radical Republicans in both the House, Senate and key members of Lincoln's Cabinet. Mainly, U. S. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton who he eventually fired and caused the House to impeach Johnson and with one vote not to convict in the Senate. The SCOTUS in the 1920's legally validated Johnson's decision to fire Stanton without conferring with Capitol Hill. He is still ranked as one of the worst POTUS in history, because he wouldn't compromise with Congress.
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Johnson was originally from Kentucky and was a pro-Union Democrat who despised the landed gentry of the American South and was sympathetic toward non slave owning whites in the region. The U. S. Civil War ended the power behind the landed gentry and had to deal with Reconstruction with the Radical Republicans in both the House, Senate and key members of Lincoln's Cabinet. Mainly, U. S. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton who he eventually fired and caused the House to impeach Johnson and with one vote not to convict in the Senate. The SCOTUS in the 1920's legally validated Johnson's decision to fire Stanton without conferring with Capitol Hill. He is still ranked as one of the worst POTUS in history, because he wouldn't compromise with Congress.
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ninjaman717
So, the reason why the push for the rights of freedmen were abandoned until the Civil Rights Movement was that President Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's vice-president, was a Northern Democrat, not because of fears of reigniting the Civil War. Radical Republicans pushed heavily for the freedmen to obtain rights, but Johnson would conflict with the Republican-dominated Congress. Andrew Johnson actually opposed the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship and equal protection under the law to all people born or naturalized in the United States, and urged Southern leaders to not ratify the amendment, thankfully to no avail.
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So, the reason why the push for the rights of freedmen were abandoned until the Civil Rights Movement was that President Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's vice-president, was a Northern Democrat, not because of fears of reigniting the Civil War. Radical Republicans pushed heavily for the freedmen to obtain rights, but Johnson would conflict with the Republican-dominated Congress. Andrew Johnson actually opposed the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship and equal protection under the law to all people born or naturalized in the United States, and urged Southern leaders to not ratify the amendment, thankfully to no avail.
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grugnotice7746
It wasn't treason, the treason came from the side that won. They insisted on violating laws that they felt were immoral and then murdered their brothers to ensure that those laws were violated without following procedures to change that law.
It does not matter that the laws were evil or injust. Those were the laws of the land and were the premise of the several states joining together into a Union. The North not only asserted that the Federal government was above the law, but that they could arbitrarily violate it and kill anyone who opposed them. That is the source of our current distress.
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It wasn't treason, the treason came from the side that won. They insisted on violating laws that they felt were immoral and then murdered their brothers to ensure that those laws were violated without following procedures to change that law.
It does not matter that the laws were evil or injust. Those were the laws of the land and were the premise of the several states joining together into a Union. The North not only asserted that the Federal government was above the law, but that they could arbitrarily violate it and kill anyone who opposed them. That is the source of our current distress.
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omgpix
It's easy to sit back and judge reconstruction a failure or being too lenient almost 160 years later after the deadliest war in American history. Unfortunately they didn't have the benefit of time to heal 0and hindsight. It's easy to forget that America could've just as easily became a failed state instead of the economic and military superpower it went on to become. While a failure from a civil rights perspective, it's actually quite remarkable that the South went on from becoming a land of rebs and traitors to a hotbed of borderline zealous patriotism. Many nations never come back from such wounds.
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It's easy to sit back and judge reconstruction a failure or being too lenient almost 160 years later after the deadliest war in American history. Unfortunately they didn't have the benefit of time to heal 0and hindsight. It's easy to forget that America could've just as easily became a failed state instead of the economic and military superpower it went on to become. While a failure from a civil rights perspective, it's actually quite remarkable that the South went on from becoming a land of rebs and traitors to a hotbed of borderline zealous patriotism. Many nations never come back from such wounds.
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marth8000
Seccession is always legal because it's not a matter for the judiciary to arbritrate over. if a large enough community suddenly decides to split from the governing body what are you going to do arrest them the only option you have is to send in the Army, not the Police.
And then whether it's legal or not will entirely come down to who wins the war. In your world of logic the United Kingdom of Great Britain could declare George Washington a criminal and demand he face a court of justice for treason. heck we could still declare the entire USA to be in open rebellion as a criminal state.
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Seccession is always legal because it's not a matter for the judiciary to arbritrate over. if a large enough community suddenly decides to split from the governing body what are you going to do arrest them the only option you have is to send in the Army, not the Police.
And then whether it's legal or not will entirely come down to who wins the war. In your world of logic the United Kingdom of Great Britain could declare George Washington a criminal and demand he face a court of justice for treason. heck we could still declare the entire USA to be in open rebellion as a criminal state.
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exercisethemind
The Civil War was about the capital of slave-owners (slaves) and the fact that they wanted slavery to keep expanding into new territories so that the value of their investments (slaves) would continue to increase. The US government took away those people's investments (slaves) and burned some of their mansions. The US Army killed many hundreds of thousands of traitors that took up arms against the Federal Government. Many Southerners were so pissed about these facts, they left and moved to other countries. The ones that stayed were still losers.
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The Civil War was about the capital of slave-owners (slaves) and the fact that they wanted slavery to keep expanding into new territories so that the value of their investments (slaves) would continue to increase. The US government took away those people's investments (slaves) and burned some of their mansions. The US Army killed many hundreds of thousands of traitors that took up arms against the Federal Government. Many Southerners were so pissed about these facts, they left and moved to other countries. The ones that stayed were still losers.
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tbnrwolff3354
Every state is a nation as stated in the Treaty of Paris therefore we're not the ones who committed trees and in fact it was the union who did so and not only that they committed Mass rape and murder through Georgia so you know and then they proceeded to try to destroy southern culture with that reconstruction bulshit which didn't work cuz they wanted to make southern people more Northern which like I said it didn't work I don't agree with slavery but I disagree with rape mass murder attempted genocide alarm more than I disagree with slavery
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Every state is a nation as stated in the Treaty of Paris therefore we're not the ones who committed trees and in fact it was the union who did so and not only that they committed Mass rape and murder through Georgia so you know and then they proceeded to try to destroy southern culture with that reconstruction bulshit which didn't work cuz they wanted to make southern people more Northern which like I said it didn't work I don't agree with slavery but I disagree with rape mass murder attempted genocide alarm more than I disagree with slavery
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history_matters
Lincoln may not have had the best handling during office but he wanted to Unite the nation once again and he didn’t see that they should hang the men they were all men too and they fought for what they believed Lincoln played the song Dixie after he heard of Lees surrender as a a song of solidarity to think just how many young men died in a war pitting brother against brother, and also the leader may not have been executed but a reported 4000 returning confederates were lynched trying to go home
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Lincoln may not have had the best handling during office but he wanted to Unite the nation once again and he didn’t see that they should hang the men they were all men too and they fought for what they believed Lincoln played the song Dixie after he heard of Lees surrender as a a song of solidarity to think just how many young men died in a war pitting brother against brother, and also the leader may not have been executed but a reported 4000 returning confederates were lynched trying to go home
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history_matters
They got away with wrong doing but they would have to face the just judge of all the earth. More's Utopia is flawed but it has one thing I appreciate. No lawyers were permitted since they make their living by complicating simple laws. As for Lee the bastard had his property turned into a grave for brave Americans Southern and Northern. That says something about his guilt. He must have known that the south would not have rebelled were he not their commander. Truly he was a devil.
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They got away with wrong doing but they would have to face the just judge of all the earth. More's Utopia is flawed but it has one thing I appreciate. No lawyers were permitted since they make their living by complicating simple laws. As for Lee the bastard had his property turned into a grave for brave Americans Southern and Northern. That says something about his guilt. He must have known that the south would not have rebelled were he not their commander. Truly he was a devil.
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Guitcad1
I love your videos SO MUCH!
You do such an amazing job of creating characters so individually detailed that I can immediately recognize them, despite all of them being virtually the exact same size and shape. The fact that I immediately recognized the likes of Joseph Johnston and Edwin Stanton is just amazing! (Although there was a point where both Grant and Sherman where shown together and I wasn't quite sure which was which. i had to go back and watch it again)
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I love your videos SO MUCH!
You do such an amazing job of creating characters so individually detailed that I can immediately recognize them, despite all of them being virtually the exact same size and shape. The fact that I immediately recognized the likes of Joseph Johnston and Edwin Stanton is just amazing! (Although there was a point where both Grant and Sherman where shown together and I wasn't quite sure which was which. i had to go back and watch it again)
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robertdickson9319
IMO, the leniency shown by the US govt towards the South after the war, & the resulting Lost Cause myth that was allowed to spring up because of said leniency, created a wound in the US that has never healed. In much the same way that Germany post WW1 did not hold their leaders to account, which led to the stab in the back myth and then future issues, reconciliation was the easy way out for the North. It has held the country back for decades.
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IMO, the leniency shown by the US govt towards the South after the war, & the resulting Lost Cause myth that was allowed to spring up because of said leniency, created a wound in the US that has never healed. In much the same way that Germany post WW1 did not hold their leaders to account, which led to the stab in the back myth and then future issues, reconciliation was the easy way out for the North. It has held the country back for decades.
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history_matters
After the war the agreement was that the south would admit secession was not a thing and the North would say that southerns fought for what they thought was a good cause. That the rights of millions of freedmen was implicitly not secure was an unspoken part of the bargain. But not at first.
It took decades to go from reconstruction to Jim Crow but by 1910, no one wanted to admit that kindly grandpa on the porch had fought for slavery
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After the war the agreement was that the south would admit secession was not a thing and the North would say that southerns fought for what they thought was a good cause. That the rights of millions of freedmen was implicitly not secure was an unspoken part of the bargain. But not at first.
It took decades to go from reconstruction to Jim Crow but by 1910, no one wanted to admit that kindly grandpa on the porch had fought for slavery
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briangasser973
The video clip skipped over the tenure of the Radical Republicans during reconstruction and occupation of the South. While conferdate soldiers were not hung, their was period (1865-1876) where the North took an active role in empowering southern blacks and passing the 13th, 14th and 15th ammendments codifying basic civil rights. This wasn't a period similar to pre-civil war of trying to find compromise with the South.
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The video clip skipped over the tenure of the Radical Republicans during reconstruction and occupation of the South. While conferdate soldiers were not hung, their was period (1865-1876) where the North took an active role in empowering southern blacks and passing the 13th, 14th and 15th ammendments codifying basic civil rights. This wasn't a period similar to pre-civil war of trying to find compromise with the South.
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dangalfthedruid
We have a grand tradition in this nation of not punishing traitors. We didn’t punish the confederates, we didn’t punish Nixon, we didn’t punish Trump. It always comes down to those in charge looking at the traitor, understanding that they themselves are a coward, and thinking there but for the grace of God go I, you’re free to go. or, in the case of the current Supreme Court, just being in on it.
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We have a grand tradition in this nation of not punishing traitors. We didn’t punish the confederates, we didn’t punish Nixon, we didn’t punish Trump. It always comes down to those in charge looking at the traitor, understanding that they themselves are a coward, and thinking there but for the grace of God go I, you’re free to go. or, in the case of the current Supreme Court, just being in on it.
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richardthomas5362
One thing about Gen Lee. When his army was cornered by Grant some of his officers and men offered to break out of the Union encirclement and carry on the war as a guerilla war for as long as it would take. Lee talked them out of it, anticipating the cruelty and loss of life from that. Because of Lee we didn't have an insurgency costing 10s or 100s of thousands of more lives.
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One thing about Gen Lee. When his army was cornered by Grant some of his officers and men offered to break out of the Union encirclement and carry on the war as a guerilla war for as long as it would take. Lee talked them out of it, anticipating the cruelty and loss of life from that. Because of Lee we didn't have an insurgency costing 10s or 100s of thousands of more lives.
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AngryDuck79
I feel like the very nature of the question is flawed. The succession of the south wasn't treason, and the Confederacy didn't start the war. The idea that you could just arbitrarily declare war on someone and then after you kill all their families you could go on to charge them criminally for not bending the knee to your tyranny is ridiculous on its face.
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I feel like the very nature of the question is flawed. The succession of the south wasn't treason, and the Confederacy didn't start the war. The idea that you could just arbitrarily declare war on someone and then after you kill all their families you could go on to charge them criminally for not bending the knee to your tyranny is ridiculous on its face.
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juanlaforge9523
Noticing a disturbing trend in the comments, where some people are using the Confederacy as a proxy for their modern-day political opponents. Their intense desire to punish and demean the Confederates seems to be fueled more by present political biases and issues, rather than any nuanced understanding of the historical context of the civil war.
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Noticing a disturbing trend in the comments, where some people are using the Confederacy as a proxy for their modern-day political opponents. Their intense desire to punish and demean the Confederates seems to be fueled more by present political biases and issues, rather than any nuanced understanding of the historical context of the civil war.
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danz1182
For the non-Americans, Lincoln and Johnson (who was from Tennessee) would have rightly feared the potential for a low level war in Appalachia (the mountain regions in the south) and the marshlands in Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida, and the vast empty spaces in Texas. Getting the southern whites back on side was very important to national survival.
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For the non-Americans, Lincoln and Johnson (who was from Tennessee) would have rightly feared the potential for a low level war in Appalachia (the mountain regions in the south) and the marshlands in Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida, and the vast empty spaces in Texas. Getting the southern whites back on side was very important to national survival.
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