The+Shermanites

George, Ahdam, Anthony, and Sean

**What is the primary goal of reconstruction? Reunification, punishment, civil rights, other? (Thesis)**

Our primary goal of reconstruction is the not-so-severe punishment of the Ex-Confederates, the SLOW integration and execution of black civil rights, and then further funding of technology, to hopefully earlier discover the internal combustion engine, and later the creation of tractors so the South will stop complaining. What should be done to the ex-Confederates? Though the extreme (but wanted) punishment of the Southern ex-Confederates would be nice, it is only logical that, for the future of the UNITED States, we would need to accept the South into our hands like a mother to a lost son. But don’t let it be said that the South will be let off easy for the atrocities they committed. Those in higher command of the Confederacy and the Confederate Army will be placed in prison for crimes of treason and many other unlawful acts. As for all the slave holders, 60% of farm land will be seized for the new Freedmen who would like to stay in the South and begin life as a profitable planter. The allowance into congress of southerners will only start when the states of the aged South ratify the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, over time of course

What should be done for the freedmen? Who should be able to vote and hold office in the new Southern state governments? To answer this question we must first look at the problems of southern reconstruction that already happened. Nearly immediately after the end of the American Civil War, the recently freed African-American slaves were granted surprising rights under the 13th amendment, soon to be given further rights under the 14th and 15th amendment. The south's reaction to this is quite understandable. For centuries southern slave owners and northern whites both believed in racial superiority over the enslaved blacks. After decades of this idea, a war over the topic, the freeing of the enslaved Africans, and the fast near total equalization of blacks to whites astonished, confused, and enraged the citizens of the south. It is easy to understand why the decisions to grant so many rights to blacks were taken badly by the Southerners. I believe that the freed slaves deserved new rights because of their new role in society, however I think the intensity of the new rights was a bit over the top for the broken south to comprehend. This is why as a group we believe that the civil rights granted to blacks should not have been granted at the level which they were; those rights should have been earned by them during the following decades when tensions had cooled down. During the time of reconstruction, the southern whites (that may or may not of been ex-Confederates) should have been given control of southern offices and retained their right to vote. During this sad post-war era, the south would have responded better to the leaders that led them through the war rather than the “carpetbaggers” of the north. The southern whites responded irrationally when blacks were allowed to take office, a notion that could have been avoided and we plan to void in our form of Reconstruction.

What requirements must be met before states regain full rights and representation? How should the Southern economy be restored? Why did the south have slaves? Because they were a cheap source of once paid labor that were relatively self sufficient and were good workers. Southern economy adopted the ideals of slavery and after years of use became dependent on the labor of African-Americans. Because of this dependency and the lack of advancement in the South's technology department, the north began to show economic superiority over the south. When the abolitionist era came about, and it was debated if slavery should be abolished in the states, the south's way of life was threatened. What both sides failed to see was that the south was technologically deficient and the best way to restore the economy now during Reconstruction is for the north to help the South integrate into the modern world of technology, inventions and trade. With help from their experienced northern counterparts, the south could have adapted to the advancing world of technology and eventually would have caught up in stride with their northern siblings. That is the solution, help the south become economically similar to the North in most ways and then the south can find their own techniques and add their own flavor to the new market they work in. What role should Union troops play in policing, governing, or rebuilding the South? Since we believe that the Ex-confederates and therefore most of the South should be loosely punished, Union troops should NOT play a role in policing or governing the South. However, since the Union troops were the ones to wreak havoc on the South, who better to rebuild it? The Northern soldiers were the ablest of men from the North and should help repair the damage they dealt. If the soldiers were able to cooperate with the South to rebuild the destruction caused, the South would see the message of regret and the message of good intent to make amends portrayed by the North. With this, the South will appreciate that we did not abuse our power over them as they recuperated. This good intent will lower the chances of the South creating rebel factions (like the KKK) and disallow the North the need to implement regular troop policing in the South.

**Re-state the primary goal of reconstruction. (Thesis re-stated)** Our primary goal of reconstruction is the loose punishment of the Ex-Confederates, the lethargic integration of black civil rights, and further the funding of technology to help the discovering of the internal combustion engine to aid the South in reaping the seeds they planted on their rich and fertile land. First of all your thesis makes no sense, you say “and then further funding of technology, to hopefully earlier discover the internal combustion engine, and later the creation of tractors so the South will stop complaining.”. The discovery of the first gasoline engine did not even start until the late 1880’s and it was not even introduced into effective farming equipment until around like 1915. The objective of this project is to place your self in the period of reconstructing and to create your plan from there. You are supposed to use events that happened in the past to help you create a more effective plan and not use things in the future to do so. Cars and tractors were not even remotely imaginable back in this time period, it is like saying if the united states had an atomic bomb in WWI and jet planes they could have ended the war earlier.

What should be done tot eh ex- Confederates? I agree that the ex confederates should be let off easy but your definition of easy is not clear. Taking away 60% of the farmland and imprisoning ex-Confederate officials would cause an outrage in the south. I don’t think that you understand that in this time period the North was just as racist as the South. I agree that freed men should be given land but not 60% of the great farm land of the South. In reality the land that was actually taken from farmers was in fertal land like swamps and rocky pastures. Taking away that land would make blacks a higher class than the whites and both the North and south would oppose that. Finally you say “The allowance into congress of southerners will only start when the states of the aged South ratify the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments” but you fail to mention what they stand for, in this plan you need to be clear the people do not understand what the amendments specifically mean.

What should be done for the freedmen? Who should be able to vote and hold office in the new Southern state governments?. I like this response but there are a few things you need to understand and correct. Firstly do not use I and we, state the facts you are presenting this to congress as a plan to rejoin the north and the south. Secondly Remember the North was just as racist as the South, they just believed that slavery was morally wrong!! Because of that they still looked down on black and believed that whites were a higher class in society. The passing of the civil rights amendments was no easy task.

What requirements must be met before states regain full rights and representation? Where is your comment for this?

How should the Southern economy be restored? Where is the rebuilding of the southern infrastructure? How is the south supposed to communicate with the north if there is no way to get around in the south, without roads and railroads farming and transportation of crops is useless. I agree with you idea of introducing more factories in the south so that the south would be less dependent on the north however I do not agree with the technology side concerning gas combustion engines (ass seen in my response to your thesis). And finally this still does not agree with your thesis. What role should Union troops play in policing, governing, or rebuilding the South?

I like this idea I have never thought about it like that before. But will the northern soldiers be payed and who pay for the damages the Federal gov or the South?