re: #331 HappyWarrior

I really do think we messed up big time by getting the CSA leaders off scot free by and large. Point of reference. The VP of the CSA, Alexander Stevens became a Congressman after the war and later became governor or Georgia. I don’t know what the correct punishment for CSA leaders should have been but it was a big mistake to allow them to re-enter public life after the war.

I also think the CSA leadership got off too easily. However, it isn’t easy to suggest something clearly better, even with hindsight.

The basic problem was that the intransigence of Confederate leaders was not diminished enough by the loss of the war, and they were in a position to simply outwait the military occupation. Something like Hayes-Tilden was most likely inevitable.