On the record
The Northern States were thus compelled to consider whether they would unconditionally surrender to the Rebel element of the South or devise some other plan of reconstruction.
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gutenberg.orgJames Blaine: “The Northern States were thus compelled to consider whether they would unconditionally surrender to the Rebel element of…”
Editor's note · Context
Blaine discusses the dilemma faced by Northern States regarding their response to Southern rebellion during Reconstruction.
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All these provisions are made to protect the States, not to authorize an attack by one part of the country upon another; to preserve the peace, and not to plunge them into civil war.
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