What if Lincoln Was Never Assassinated?

the Civil War tore apart the United States and it needed to be put back together practically reborn once the smoke cleared Abraham Lincoln saw the nation through the entire conflict and had a vision for post-war America in his victory speech he focused on moving past the war and attempting to reconcile in a reasonable manner his Vice President Andrew Johnson a man from Tennessee was already a symbol of the supposed new unification of the country but Lincoln never got to fulfill his plan as he was struck down by John Wilkes Booth just days after so this Spurs the question what if Lincoln was never assassinated what if he had survived and his plans of reuniting the nation had been implemented what would reconstruction have looked like what would the history of race relations and regional relations be like in the u.s. today that's what this video is about but first some history and you want to skip to the scenario click here we all know the history of the Civil War sows the seeds war begins South loses a few days after the war Lincoln would be shot in the back of the head by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth the presidency reconstruction effort and the fate of the South were now in the hands of Andrew Johnson before the war Johnson was a Democrat who actively fought against abolition and believed all men are created equal did not apply to blacks when the election of Lincoln spurred the entire south to threaten secession Johnson argued fervently to stay in the Union to combat Lincoln in Congress however the southern states didn't listen and voted to secede Johnson fled north where he became influential in four years later Republican Vice President Lincoln chose him as VP because he seemed like a symbol for reuniting North and South he was never meant to take power when Lincoln died the skilled politician was replaced by an egotistical and stubborn Johnson Johnson saw himself as a representative of poor southern whites and so in his mind his new presidency was help out the poor southern whites reconstruction was not a matter of civil rights for newly freed blacks it was a matter of bringing relations between north and south back to normal this was the mindset for many this put him in conflict with the Radical Republicans Radical Republicans aimed for more civil rights and economic opportunities for former slaves called freedmen radical at the time when majority of blacks were not even American citizens just assets to the economy with millions of freed blacks now out of bondage the issue was what to do with all of them radicals called for land distribution the freedmen so blacks could provide their own economic support and many blacks took up the opportunity to seek their own independence schools were founded former slaves who taught themselves to read created schools to spread literacy among the illiterate population to the south this was seen as a destruction of their lifestyle the economy of the south was based on agriculture and cotton it needed cheap labor to survive when freedmen were finally available to seek their own fortune whites both poor and rich saw this as a threat to their society poor whites now had competition and rich whites lost cotton pickers Johnson vetoed the crucial civil rights bill granting basic rights for blacks Johnson veto was overridden by Congress splitting him with the Republican Party Johnson saw black rights as simply getting in the way he like many whites wish for blacks to remain on the plantations to continue supporting the southern economy and not to disrupt the political system any issues of equality was a state matter to him his stubborn nature in conflict with the Republicans made him a rogue president one that became supported by his old party the Democrats in 1866 the Civil Rights Act passed through and became law throughout the United States in occupied districts the new freedom for blacks led to massive tension between the two races riots occurred throughout the south two of which resulted in countless innocent black civilians murdered and raped the violence convinced Congress to use greater force in dealing with civil rights and some of Johnson's plans were put aside in radical reconstruction took shape 20,000 US troops were deployed inside the south the goal was to enforce federal order and protect minorities from mobs and violence 1868 Johnson was not chosen to represent either party and so ulysses s grant won the presidency with predominant Radical Republican support during Reconstruction the south erupted into brutal violence due to the new political freedoms for blacks Democrats assigned themselves as the party of the white man in personal liberty away from the authority of Washington with political freedom blacks began voting in their own representatives numerous black politicians held office in the south this made many Democrats furious who created conservative coalition's in our militias to kill blacks and northerners the white League was born throughout reconstruction assassinations terrorist attacks and riots were used to suppress Republican and black voting eventually after a political scandal in the public losing interest in the South Affairs the new president ruff Authority Hayes brought federal troops out of the south reconstruction had ended so going back to our original question what if Lincoln had survived being assassinated what would Lincoln have done differently that Johnson wouldn't have so on this alternate scenario there is never a plot to assassinate the president Lincoln never has an attempt on his life and so he remains president up until 1869 because of this the first few years of reconstruction would be entirely in Lincoln's hands for most of the video I described Johnson's actions how he was loosed and Punishment against the former Confederates this was not actually Johnson's original plan it was Lincoln's Lincoln was a moderate Republican the party was split in the two main camps radicals wanted more equality among the races and to completely transform southern society the moderates led by Lincoln himself went in peace with the South more than anything Lincoln proclaimed he wished to give free black men to vote but not all black men instead Lincoln wanted to give educated or combat veteran blacks the vote in his last speech Lincoln mentioned the newly formed Louisiana government as a good model for the rest of the former Confederacy he wanted to move past the war as quickly as possible and so his plan was that only 10% of the state electorate had to pledge loyalty to the United States to become admitted back into the Union while he wished for Louisiana to enfranchise blacks it was not mandatory Lincoln's simply wanted the former Confederates to accept the 13th amendment Lincoln this alternate timeline would have been at odds with the increasingly Radical Republican Party in our timeline he vetoed their plan for reconstruction so in his alternate timeline I can assume he'd butt heads with them over his second term and this alternate timeline Lincoln would be more sympathetic to black civil rights than Johnson was however he wasn't as sympathetic as chuckles work who wanted to use federal power and did so under grant to enforce it and the long-term racial relations would have remained the same even if winkin survived and encouraged black voting rights and land property the Jim Crow laws still would have came back under Radical Republican grants federal enforcement blacks in the South had voting rights and land opportunity allowing for black senators and governors to take power all the way in the 1870s however once the troops left the tyranny of the majority took over once again and black rights were restricted throughout the south until a civil rights movement of the 1960's even if Lincoln survived and by some chance did use federal power to enforce black rights groups like the white League and KKK would have used terrorism to stop black equality had Lincoln survived it could have taken longer for the south to fall back into the Union as secession was because of Lincoln's rise to the presidency it might leave some bitter tension if Lincoln was still president for four years to an entire region that hated him in this alternate timeline Lincoln would be remembered for his first term as the president who saw the Union through the Civil War passed the Thirteenth Amendment and led the reunification effort he would have pardoned and gone easy on the former Confederates and led to a path to bring the north and south past the war he would have been more sympathetic with black rights than Johnson but wouldn't be a radical in any sense in the long term not much would have differed between this alternate timeline and our own much of the history I described in this video still would have occurred do you think it would have gone differently say in the comments this video was suggested by patreon supporter Austin thanks for your contribution and great idea Austin as for the rest like on Facebook subscribe if you have not done so this is Cody from the alternate history hub you

Channel: AlternateHistoryHub

Views: 1,373,129

Keywords: What if Lincoln Never Died, What if Lincoln Was Never Shot, Lincoln alternate history, alternate history, Civil War, AlternateHistoryHub, Lincoln Assasination, What if Lincoln Was Never Killed?, alternate Civil War, alternatehistorypt, Assassination Of Abraham Lincoln (Event), Abraham Lincoln (US President), What if Abe Lincoln Was Never Shot, Abe Lincoln shooting, Confederate

Id: hUHKoCaC-rw

Length: 10min 23sec (623 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 25 2015