Unit 10 paraphrase Flashcards
I strip away the inevitability of events, so that rather than seeing the Civil War with the comfort of 136 years or 140 years of hindsight, you see the events as they take place; you see the decisions as they saw them; you see the turning points as they saw them; and you see how events could have just as easily gone one way or gone another way. It’s that kind of richness of history that I wanted to bring alive.
I remove the certainty of events, so that rather than take the end of Civil war for granted, you can understand this part of history from a whole new perspective and realize how the situation at that time could have easily gone into the wrong direction.
What was looming large in his mind was the specter of the French Revolution because it loomed large in the minds of all Americans.
What Lincoln worried deeply was that after the war, bloodshed would continue the way this had happened in the French Revolution, and all Americans were haunted by such prospects.
It was prescient, and it was visionary and it was one of Lincoln’s finest acts and finest moments.
Lincoln’s decision for a peaceful settlement was far-sighted, because it prevent the United States from being engulfed by violence. Thus, it’s safe to say that it’s one of his finest acts and finest moments.
Whether or not he would decide to deal with the Northerners with honor and dignity and to become good citizens again, or with rage and continued civil war and civil violence, he would be the determinant of that.
It was up to Lee to decide what to do next. He could either choose to surrender to the North with honor and dignity, or choose to go on fighting angrily.
So though they didn’t know each other, the bonds that were forged and the closeness they had almost defied the fact that they were the greatest nemeses one could imagine.
Although they were strangers to each other, but they quickly forged close bonds, which made it seemed almost impossible that they were arch-enemies of all time.
Had he been assassinated that night, there would have been a complete decapitation of the Union government.
If he also had been murdered that night with President Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward, the Union government would have been left without leaders.
In fact the picture was far murkier and far more complex in April 1865. Because, as it turned out, when I went to check this question, the founders did not intend for the vice president to become president.
Following Lincoln’s death, situation at that time were more volatile than we would expect. The founding fathers of the United States merely intended a vice president to fill in for the president in the event of assassination, but Lincoln’s successor was generally considered unfit to lead the government. So chaos and anarchy could happen anytime under his incompetent leadership.
In doing so, he thought he was carrying out Lincoln’s vision. But he was sharply rebuked by the Union Cabinet, particularly after the death of Lincoln.
By giving the Confederates generous terms to surrender, Sherman thought he was executing Lincoln’s idea for a peaceful settlement, but his move was heavily criticized by the Union Cabinet. The criticism got worse after Lincoln’s unfortunate demise.
