Were Republicans Conditional Unionists? Discuss

jgoodguy · Sep 17, 2018

OpnCoronet said:
As noted by Copperhead, almost, but, not really. Reunion was always the goal of the Union and his administration, but, a plank had been added to it, in 1863; Emancipation. Lincoln(and the Union, having made the promise of Freedom, the Union was honor bound to follow through on the promise.

The war had become, a remorseless revolutionary struggle, from which, neither side would accept nothing less than total victory.

Though the search for victory by means, less than total victory would continue(even by Lincoln) all through the war, the time for compromise had passed.

North over South Susan-Mary Grant P5

"Rather than promulgating a truly national ideology, The Republicans revealed themselves to be conditional nationalists; in other words, they were committed to the Union on northern terms alone."

It appears that the Southern Unions were conditional unionists based on the protection of slavery and the Nothern Unionists were conditional unionists based on the elimination of slavery and making the South like the North.

John Hartwell · Sep 17, 2018