re: Obscure/Interesting/Quirky "American" Facts 1865-1880

Rutherford B Hayes would often threaten to "donkey punch" congressmen who displeased him.

Bill Compton was a southern plantation owner, who happened to be the only person in the USA at the time who looked at race with complete unbias. He later became a vampire. He now resides in a small town outside Monroe, Louisiana with his young girlfriend Sookie.

His best friend is Eric Northman, whom he met in the early '90's. But Mr. Northman, unlike Mr. Compton, is a badass mother fricker who is over 2,000 years old and hopefully will kill every other person in that town, except for his almost equally awesome ladyfriend Pam.

In 1875, the age of sexual consent in the United States ranged from 10-12 years old, depending on each state's law.

It is speculated that Abraham Lincoln suffered from Marfan's syndrome.

Lincoln was an advocate of sending freed slaves back to Africa.

Andrew Johnson became vice president just 1 month and 11 days before Lincoln's assassination. Had Lincoln been assassinated 1 month and 12 days earlier, the 17th president would have been Hannibal Hamlin.

Lincoln had seen John Wilkes Boothe perform at Ford's Theater several times. He admired his performances so much that he even invited Boothe to the White House. Boothe refused every invitation.

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And Doctor Emmett Brown invented the first ice machine and time machine from a locomotive.

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1885 Brah!

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Lincoln had seen John Wilkes Boothe perform at Ford's Theater several times. He admired his performances so much that he even invited Boothe to the White House

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Lincoln had shitty taste

Edwin was the talented Booth

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So you agree it was about states rights?

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Yes, states rights to own slaves

Eta: that is the states rights to allow people to own slaves

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One of the largest if not the largest slave owners in LA was a black women.

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Not strictly accurate.

There were at least 4 white slaveholders in Louisiana, in the 1860 census, who held 650 or more slaves.

The largest slaveholdings of Louisiana free people of color were in the 100 to 150 range, although there were several (one of the wealthiest men in Louisiana was a suger planter in Iberville Parish, Antoine Dubuclet, a free person of color, who owned approximately 100 slaves, although several were family members.)

Dubuclet was only one of two blacks to serve as State Treasurer during Reconstruction.

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And don't come in with "state rights", because the major states rights issue was slavery

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Well - ultimately the average southerner (and even above average, Robert E. Lee, for example) did not fight to preserve the institution of slavery - perhaps it was a (not the) catalyst from the southern perspective - keeping in mind that the average southerner, although benefitting from the institution indirectly, did not have direct benefits from or contact with slavery (and perhaps that's why it persisted as a practice for so long) on a daily or weekly basis.

In any event, the catalyst from the North's perspective was a significant plurality of abolitionists - of course there were many who wanted to preserve the Union, even if slavery were to be tolerated for another generation or so (including, perhaps, Abraham Lincoln).

The price of the failure to come to a compromise, nuanced and gentle resolution to the problem was hundreds of thousands of lives and the loss of, essentially, a generation of young men.

But it was far more complicated than "slavery" or "states rights" - it defies simple explanation.

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Well - ultimately the average southerner (and even above average, Robert E. Lee, for example) did not fight to preserve the institution of slavery - perhaps it was a (not the) catalyst from the southern perspective - keeping in mind that the average southerner, although benefitting from the institution indirectly, did not have direct benefits from or contact with slavery (and perhaps that's why it persisted as a practice for so long) on a daily or weekly basis.

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And the average German infantry wasn't fighting for a pure German race and world domination, the average soldier under Caesar wasn't fighting for his political gain, the average soldier in the Persian army wasn't fighting for Persian glory over Greece, and the average man under Alexander wasn't fighting for Macedonian domination and eternal glory for Alexander.

Soldiers fight because they're told to fight, and because they're paid to fight (in some cases). Just because not everyone is doing it for a reason doesn't mean it wasn't a part of it.

I'm not claiming slavery was 100% the cause of the war, but it was certainly a driving factor