Clara said, in part, about one of our most honorable presidents: "The man should have been tried for war crimes and handed over to a firing squad. Which, come to think of it, is kinda sorta but not exactly what happened. " Well, Clara, had he been tried (by whom, I wonder), suppose he had been acquitted, as is most likely considering that the south started the whole mess, he didn't. And, he faced no firing squad, just the pistol of a vengeful man acting alone, and, to be brutely honest, the man did not even have the guts to face him, he shot in the back, the mark of a true coward. The murderer committed a criminal act - it was neither just nor justified. Lincoln was mourned. The loss to the nation was great indeed. Historians can study the documents Lincoln left showing his intent to bring the south back into the union without retributions. Instead, his brutal and senseless murder hardened the hearts of those who had to carry on without Abe's leadership. The result is the retribution known as "reconstruction" and the fact that slaves were never compensated for their labors and sacrifices. Anne Anne Pemberton [log in to unmask] http://www.erols.com/stevepem http://www.erols.com/apembert http://www.educationalsynthesis.org To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html