In Ottawa, after several months of negotiations, in September 1865, the multi-party talks finally had preliminary results.
With the intervention of the Fao and Spain, the federal government recognized the independence of the Southern Confederacy and the Indians, and the United States was officially divided.
In the disputed states of Maryland and West Virginia, the areas that supported the northern government joined the Union, and the areas that supported the southern government joined the Confederacy.
It was not surprising to find that the territories of the two governments were intertwined. This time, the people were free to choose which government to join, and in the end, the towns were the units.
There was no doubt that this was the work of the British. They were professionals. Now that the conflict between the north and the south was buried, it was conceivable that the Americas would be very lively in the future.
The Southern Confederacy government included: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, and parts of Maryland and West Virginia.
The Arizona and New Mexico regions were also included in the Southern government. (Roughly modern Arizona and New Mexico)
The Indian Chiefdom was a bit pitiful, sandwiched in the middle of the Northern and Southern governments, and its territory was only a poor Indian settlement. (Roughly modern Oklahoma)
After the division of the United States, the overall national strength was still dominated by the northern government, with a population of 17.645 million, inherited nearly two-thirds of the industry and 63.2% of the territory.
The Southern Confederacy government followed, with a population of 11.844 million, inherited nearly one-third of the industry, and 34.1% of the territory.
The Indian Chiefdom could be ignored, the population was not more than 1 million, the territory was less than 200,000 square kilometers, and the industry was almost zero.
(Note: The United States in 1865 did not include Alaska and Hawaii, and most of the overseas islands in later years were not included.)
Of course, this was only a preliminary agreement, and the specific details would continue to be debated. Especially the issue of national boundaries, which still needed time to be determined.
However, this did not affect the signing of the treaty. Under the supervision of the Fao and Spain, on September 12, 1865, the Lincoln government reluctantly signed the armistice treaty.
The signing of the treaty also meant the end of the Lincoln government's time in power. Without anyone urging, Lincoln submitted his resignation to Congress the next day.
This was very smooth, without any twists and turns. The biggest black pot was taken, and naturally, someone came to take over. Once the election was over, the Lincoln government could leave.
After the Civil War, the federal government returned to Washington. In any case, this was still the capital of the Federation.
Even if they were beaten into ruins, they had to return. This was political correctness, a symbol of the legitimacy of the federal government.
Stepping into the White House again, Lincoln seemed to have aged twenty years. Broken walls were everywhere, and the former political center had been reduced to ruins.
The former political center was destroyed.
A sigh expressed the helplessness of life.
The Civil War was not Lincoln's responsibility. Ever since the capitalists in the North became dominant in the government, the countdown to war had begun.
It was just that he was unlucky and happened to be at this critical moment, thus becoming the scapegoat.
In history, the northern government won the war, and Lincoln was assassinated right after the war ended. He won the sympathy of the people and became the greatest president of the United States.
The blame naturally fell on the former president. Now that the situation had changed, of course, the previous president could not escape, but as the current president, he was even more guilty.
Political opponents would not let go of this opportunity. It was normal for them to step on the losers to rise to power.
Some people who did not like the Lincoln government were preparing to sue them for violating the constitution, starting a civil war, and causing millions of deaths.
The civil war this time was too brutal. The northern government lost 572,000 soldiers who died in battle or died of serious injuries, 267,000 soldiers who were disabled due to injuries, 23,000 soldiers who died of diseases, and 12,000 people who died of various accidents, such as assassinations, drowning, and being executed for violating military discipline …
This was only the military's losses, not including civilian casualties. Although it wasn't to the point where every family had to wear mourning clothes and cry, it wasn't far from that.
It may not seem like the losses suffered by the Russians in the Near East War, but the Tsarist government had nominally won and occupied Constantinople and Bulgaria.
It didn't seem to be the same as Russia's loss in the Near East War. The Tsarist government won in name and occupied Constantinople and Bulgaria.
On the other hand, the Federal Government had failed strategically. They failed strategically.
"What's wrong?"
At some point, Secretary of State Safar appeared behind Lincoln.
Lincoln shook his head and said, "No, when I first came here, I knew it was a mess. I just thought I could fix it and reunite the country.
However, I overestimated myself and underestimated the enemy. Now I have to leave. Maybe I'll be the first president to go to prison. "
Safar comforted him, "Before this, there might be such a possibility. However, from the moment you submitted your resignation, this possibility no longer exists.
The worst outcome would be nothing more than the next president signing a special pardon. The Republicans won't let us go. That's the rule of the game. "
The US president had the right to grant amnesty. Except for impeachment, the president could grant amnesty to anyone without the permission of any organization, including the former president.
According to the rules of the political game, the president could resign in advance in exchange for amnesty from the next president.
"Amnesty" meant that all the previous crimes would be written off. If he resigned in advance, impeachment would be impossible.
Before signing the armistice treaty, Lincoln needed to take the blame, so Congress wouldn't impeach him. As soon as the armistice treaty was signed, he resigned. The Republican-dominated Congress had approved it, so impeachment didn't exist.
Because of the southern region's independence, the Democratic Party was greatly weakened and couldn't compete with the Republicans in a short period of time.
The next president would most likely come from the Republicans. No party wanted their president to be convicted and imprisoned to "make history," so the Republicans would naturally do their best to protect Lincoln.
Even if the Democratic Party won the election, they would still pardon them out of political considerations.
This was the rule of the US political game. Even in the 21st century, no US president was imprisoned for a crime.
Under normal circumstances, there wouldn't even be an indictment. President Harding, the "Poker Cabinet," President Grant, "Watergate," President Nixon, and so on, all landed safely in the end.
Now there were people clamoring to sue, but it was actually just because of the election publicity needs. The radicals were just used, and the politicians wouldn't break the rules of the game.
Even if Lincoln resigned, it didn't mean that the Lincoln government could leave. They still had to wait until the handover of power.
This was also the end of his term. Otherwise, the president would resign and the vice president would be replaced. With his own people on the stage, the amnesty would have been out long ago.
…
Franz wasn't interested in the internal power struggle in the US. He was still immersed in the joy of the US division and couldn't extricate himself.
If it was divided once, there might be a second time. From the moment the federal government recognized the South's independence, it meant that Lincoln's patch was useless.
This was the fault of the Declaration of Independence. Back then, the states were free to join, and there was no prohibition on leaving. There was no legal problem with the South's independence.
Although Lincoln issued a law to prohibit the division of the Union. But this was hindsight, and it wasn't recognized by the state governments at all. This law was tantamount to nothing.
After a civil war, if some federal states wanted independence again, would the federal government still be able to organize military force to suppress it?
In this civil war, if the southern government didn't act first, it was unknown whether the federal government could organize an army.
In this era, the US states had too much power, and they all had the ability to ignore the federal government. For example, prohibiting the federal army from entering the state.
Without the cooperation of the states, it was difficult for the Washington government to even mobilize the domestic army, let alone organize an army.
Now because of the civil war, the federal government's prestige was greatly reduced, and its binding force on the states was further reduced. This meant that for a long time to come, the US would no longer be a threat.
If the federal government was a loose alliance, then the federal government was a step further. Each state had more power than the subordinate states of the new Holy Roman Empire.
The federal government could be understood like this: each state was a small independent kingdom, and everyone came together to form a union, which was the current federal government.
