The Revelations of Manhunt (S,IAS)

 

The series, Manhunt, is an excellent telling of what happened to the perpetrators of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.  Previously, I had the opinion that Jefferson Davis was a penitent fugitive but now I see the possibility of a totally different scenario.  One that makes him, and others, defiant and plotting the continuation of the conflict.  He was one of many who did not admit defeat at Appomattox.

“The South” was an incredibly large agricultural complex, which was made even more profitable by using slave labor.  Slaves, as a source of low-cost labor, were embedded into the cost structure of that industry and they were also dominated by whites.  The prevailing attitude was to make sure that slaves remain subjugated and powerless.  

The excesses of profits from agriculture and social dominance over the slaves were deeply embedded in the psychology of those in power.  It would take incredible force to take this structure down, and it did.  The Civil War lasted four years and cost both sides a great deal in terms of casualties, not to mention the cost of war in terms of munitions and supplies.

Ending the war and subsequently abolishing the social structure of the South should have been the path of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of happiness for all.  But the entire enterprise was wasted and diminished by the influence the politicos of the south had over Andrew Johnson.  His refusal to reconstruct the South under the spirit of liberty put the former slaves right back where they were without the formality of slavery.  They were free but violently kept subordinated.

Andrew Johnson’s life experiences made it important for him to maintain his feelings of superiority over the next lower class of society.  In fact, he was only one rung from the bottom of the class ladder.  Because of this, he was influenced by the “aristocracy” of the South and acceded to their plot to continue to subjugate the negro even after slavery was abolished by amendment to the Constitution of the United States.  And it remained that way for another 100 years, until the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s, which tells us that there were many whites in the South that felt as did Andrew Johnson.  It’s just that his being in office put the official stamp on it all.

We are now more than halfway through the second hundred years and there are still latent fear and hatred of blacks.  Yet those who are going through, living in this era of more equality, are much better off than previous generations.  Slowly we are becoming color-blind.