Part 6 - Construction and Reconstruction
Part 6 - Construction and Reconstruction
With the successfull rebellion in Canada and the unsuccessful one in the United States both being over in 1865, there was a general feeling of edginess and unease, with no one knowing what was next. That was also true in Mexico, where not everyone was happy with the situation they had. In 1862, Emperor Napoleon III of France had intervened in the southern nation of North America and in his wake, Maximillian of Austria had been installed as ruler of the nation. Not everyone was happy with the situation, though not much was done and it only resulted in minor altercations that were chalked up as nothing more than the usual unhappiness amongst the peasantry. Most knew, or if not, hoped that Maximillian's rule would not be permanent, so other than small incidents, the people of Mexico bided their time and joined in with the rest of North America in waiting to see what would happen next.
In Canada, they began the slow process of rebuilding some of their cities and taking their first steps as an independent nation. Laws were created and ordinances put into place; and sometimes laws and ordinances were removed or altered to make them more reasonable. While the Canadian government did make a few mistakes, the Canadian people were accepting of it as it proved that those who ran the government were people just like them and not an infallible king or queen. One of the one gems of Canadian policy in their first year though, was to start talks with Russia over land they held in North America and were looking to sell in an attempt to better consilidate their nation. The government drew some criticism when it was found out that the money they offered was primarily money that other countries had given them to help them get on their feet, but the Canadian government felt that their destiny as a nation was their's to decide and they knew they needed to grow in the future. To help with that, the government invested in the nation's industry, offering to help fund companies to get back on their feet so long as they opened up their hiring processes. Not coincidentally in 1866, Canada opened up its borders dramatically, offering jobs and full citizenship to new immigrants and began work on a railroad system that was aimed to go all the way from Newfoundland to Alaska. Later in 1867, the sale of Alaska to Canada was completed for a sum of $6.7 million dollars. Almost immediately, fishing and canning companies began to pour into the state, and with not many Canadians willing to uproot from their towns to move to Alaska, many of the newly arrived immigrants began to head to Alaska, its population growing exponentially every year. Thus began a boom period for Canada that lasted for a well over decade before beginning to die out in the early 1880's.
On the other hand, while Canada was experiencing a period of huge growth spurred by a jump in industry and population (a large number of which were former slaves who did not trust those in the South, in fact 1878 saw the first black provisional mayor, in a small fishing town made up of primarily blacks in Alaska), the United States was going through a slow and arduous process of rebuilding itself after a devastating war. Tensions were still high in the South, because while the Union had convincingly won, they could not change the hearts and minds of the people of the South. President Lincoln, now a hero to many, did his best to try and close the rift between the states, but to many in the South he was still seen as the enemy. To make matters worse, the Radical Republicans pushed for a hard line against the South, wanting to place it under strict military rule and putting into place Civil Rights legislation for negroes aimed not at their betterment, but at the detriment of the South. While Lincoln did go along with the Civil Rights Act of 1866, he was very opposed to the Reconstruction plans the Radicals had for the South and believed that every citizen should be treated with respect, no matter what color their skin or which state they had resided in during the Civil War.
Under harsh criticism from seemingly all fronts, President Lincoln relied heavily on his wife, Mary, and family friend Francine Morgan for support. Sadly, Mary fell ill in 1866 with pneumonia and though she put up a strong front for her husband, she quickly deteriorated and died only a few months later in August. President Lincoln went into a period of intense grieving, secluding himself in the White House. The only person who saw him regularly during that period was Francine Morgan, who was equally devastated by the death of Mary and together they slowly helped each other deal with the loss of Mary. His only appearance he made in the public was in early October in front of a crowd in New York City for a Civil War veterans fundraiser. The event would prove to be disastrous, as a plan had been enacted by die-hard Southern loyalists led by former actor John Wilkes Booth to assassinate both the President and the Vice President who were at the event. While giving the Vice President was giving a speech in front of the crowd, Booth and others who had posed as waiters suddenly charged the stage where both Johnson and Lincoln were standing. Booth and another managed to shoot Vice President Johnson, fatally wounding him, while two others shot at President Lincoln, one missing entirely and the other grazing his left hip. Before the attackers could be apprehended, they were mobbed by the assembled veterans and beaten to death. Both the President and Vice President were rushed to a hospital, though the Vice President was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Many believed (and indeed, some politicians perversly hoped) that the attack would be the final nail in the President's coffin as his life had seemling been slowly draining out of him after his wife's death. The effect of the attack was quite the opposite, as the President was the very next day holding meetings with lawmakers and senators in the hospital while he recoved from his wounds. Though he had regained much of his vigor for life thanks to the attack and Francine's constant presence, he would for the rest of his life walk at a slow shamble with the aid of a cane. After Vice President Johnson's funeral, President Lincoln quickly named Ulysses S. Grant as his new Vice President, a move which shocked many of his supporters as Grant was seen as one of the Radical Republicans. What they did not know was that the President was not thinking about 1866. Instead, he was thinking of the future and he knew that Grant was politically a blank slate, as he was more accustomed to the battlefields of the War than the battlefields of politics.
Things appeared to be looking up for the President, as he continued to force the Radical Republicans to compromise on their hard line with the South. Soon, things began to return to normal in the South; or rather, as normal as they were going to be for awhile. There was still a lot of tension between blacks and whites, which caused a lot of emigrations to Canada. People in the South were even allowed to vote and elect officials, though those elected officials faced the possibility of being overturned or altogether removed if the federal government did not approve of them. Things would not be to the South's liking for quite a long time, but that was not altogether unexpected.
In mid-1867, President Lincoln again drew more criticism, but this time it was because of his personal life. On May 26, he and Francine announced that they were going to get married, and on September 17, 1867, Francine Morgan became Francine Lincoln. As if that had not been shocking enough, at the wedding reception President Lincoln announced that he was going to run for re-election a second time in 1868. The election was fierce, with both the major candidates from different sides of the Republican Party. During the election, Lincoln was charged with being a Liberal by his opponent, Peter Jacobs, to which President Lincoln replied "If loving my country and its people makes me a Liberal, then I pray someone who doesn't want to be called a Liberal never becomes President." In a historical irony, if it was not for Jacobs' very harsh and extreme views on what to do with the South, the President never would have been able to overcome having Ulysses S. Grant as his Vice President and won the South, thereby winning the election. Unfortunately for President Lincoln, just a year into his third term he was struck by a heart attack that he barely survived and left him too weak to handle the rigors of being President. On February 26th, 1870, President Lincoln resigned from the Presidency for health reasons. While the former President went to recooperate with his wife, the nation was left in the hands of Ulysses S. Grant, a man who President Lincoln had purposefully spent a lot of time trying to teach how to be a good politician.
A portrait of then Vice President Ulysses S. Grant
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