Smurfs



Our primary goal of reconstruction is reunification. We looked for a practical, reasonable approach to a difficult scenario through elimination of illogical objectives. As America has witnessed in the American Revolutionary War, military occupation of another’s land is futile: a prodigious amount of money, time, and lives could be spent to no avail. We included the necessary Amendments, but we have decided that further pursuit of civil rights is best left to another generation; without reunification of the nation, civil rights would be inconceivable.

Ex-Confederate generals will face charges for treason in a civilian court in the South. Those found guilty will face heavy fines. We decided against jail time because we believe a fine would be enough to keep them thinking for a while. Jail is a breeding place for animosity and uprising among these generals. They should be punished, but not too harshly; if they were mistreated too severely, the South can become hostile. On the other hand, lower ranking soldiers will be fined a small amount so that they would know that they were wrong to drink up the South’s propaganda. All ex-Confederate soldiers must take an oath swearing allegiance to America as a united nation and if they are found recanting their oath, they will be harshly punished with the same heavy fine levied on the generals. Parents are encouraged to extol the virtues of a united nation, but this would not nor could not be regulated.

Freedmen shall have the right to vote and be equal to whites. If they wish to leave the South to another place in the nation, their transportation shall be provided free of charge. If they wish to travel overseas to Africa, Southern ships shall take them at a reduced price. African Americans shall be allowed to attend school with white children (again, this rule would not nor could not be regulated) and get a good education. The Freedman’s Bureau will be established to ensure that the rights of the freedman are at least partially respected and that they are treated relatively fairly. To reiterate, our main goal is reunification, not the civil rights of African Americans, which we will leave for another generation to take care of. The freedmen’s emancipation was, in the latter parts of the Civil War, the purpose of the North’s fight against the South, and it would be in the country’s best interests (regarding the cost of human lives) to finish what we started.

All citizens shall be allowed to vote regardless of color, race, or former association. This basic democratic ideal shall remain unchanged because all people are equal even if they have engaged in a disparaging act. However, ex-Confederate officers are not allowed to hold any political office of any kind, which stretches to the police force. This is another punishment for participating in the state’s succession. If these officers were elected into any position of power, then the Civil War would have been fought in vain. The society would still be based on white superiority over the African Americans. To avoid corruption, completion of a higher education is required to run for an office. With the South in such shambles, we need people of intellect to run the government and to fix the problems.

Before the states can rejoin the Union, they must ratify the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. This ensures that slavery is forever abolished from America. Taking this action will also give African Americans the freedom and rights they deserve and the chance to excel in the land of the free. This will curb some of the potential racism that the North’s impending retreat could cause. Every state would be required to uphold all federal and judicial decisions. This means that no state can exempt themselves from a Supreme Court ruling, nor could they disobey a law created by an opposing party or state. As we will introduce later, we put in Union “soldiers” for this very reason – to ensure that a state upholds federal laws and decisions, and hopefully reduce animosity between different races.

Nothing could be done to immediately restore the economy of the South, and the economy of the North is poor from the costs of the war. Therefore, the only solution is to order Union soldiers to build and rebuild railroads within the South, preferably to a state similar to the North’s venous tracks. This would encourage trade and transportation between the states, and hopefully could give them the spark to rebuild the way they want to. We want to give them some part in the rebuilding so that they would not have to live in a “Yankee-created shantytown”. The South should be discouraged from growing cotton and tobacco; instead, it should grow a plant that would give them a significant head start above other “slower” economies: marijuana.

High-ranking Union officers shall be sent down to the South to act as local law enforcement, not as office-holders, until the black white community can integrate themselves together in a peaceful manner. As suggested above, they will also be rebuilding railroads that Sherman’s division destroyed, and then creating new ones that would hasten the South’s recovery. We believe the South was wrong because they attacked, but the Union was also wrong to burn down everything they saw. The Union should only help rebuild railroad tracks, and hopefully entrepreneurs could take advantage of more and better tracks.

We thought about countless other scenarios, and this was the one that sounded the best to us because it was logical and doable. Reunification is more important than punishment and even civil rights, because that is the only thing that can keep the South standing strong.




 * RESPONSE(S) TO TEAM PLAN: Your primary goal of reunification is definitely a good one. And while you have many good ways to back this up, there are a few that I am not so sure about. However, over all, I think that your general argument is a good one. **

I think that it is definitely important to demand an oath of allegiance to America from the ex-Confederates, and I think I can understand punishing them if they recant said oath. I also agree that fining those found guilty for treason is fair, as long as the civilian court is consisted of a completely unbiased party, which could definitely be difficult to find in this time after the war. However, I don’t think that fining the lower ranked soldiers is fair, even if it is a lower fine then the one given to the generals. While these lower ranked soldiers were involved in the fight, they were not the ones initiating the battle, and therefore they do not deserve to be punished. I also agree that no ex-Confederate officer will be allowed to hold office, but I think that this is not because they do not have the brainpower. Rather, I think it is because having them in charge would only result in them trying to rally their armies for another fight.

The African-Americans definitely deserve their freedom, but I agree with your argument that the official fight for all of their civil rights should be given to another generation, after the entire union has been reunified. However, as you mentioned, it is crucial that we provide an education for them so that when we are able to fight for their civil rights, they will be able to fight for themselves.

I think that you are right that the Union soldiers should be brought to the South to help repair much of the damage done to the South during the war. However, I don’t think that the soldiers should be able to use force or punish the Southerners while they are helping. I think that with too much brute punishment, we will just cause the South to rebel once again. While I think agriculture is an important part of the Southern way of life during this time period, it will not survive without slaves, which is why it is important to build factories and railroads. But I don’t think that changing the main crop to marijuana would help anything at all.

While there are some issues that do not quite make sense with your argument, and some that don’t seem like they would aide in the reunification process, your overall plan is a good one that seems as though it would be pretty effective.

- Christie Huff