What we learn about the aftermath of the American Civil War in history class is usually the Reconstruction era. What happened to the individuals who drove the war? Lincoln was assassinated, his successor Andrew Johnson was impeached (but not convicted), and U.S. Grant became president. What about the leaders of the Confederacy? Considering the lack of history class mentions, you’d think they faded into obscurity, but that was not the case- at least immediately after the war.
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Alexander Stephens, the vice president of the Confederacy, was arrested and held in prison at George’s Island in Boston until October, 1865. He was released from indemnity by Andrew Johnson, a pro-slavery, anti-Black President. He was elected to the Senate, which refused to allow him to sit; was elected to Congress; and became the governor of Georgia. Stephens was a rabid anti-Black racist who wrote the “Cornerstone Speech” stating the the Civil War was all about slavery and that Blacks would never be the equals of Whites.
Read about the post-Civil War lives of Confederate president Jefferson Davis and the generals who led the Confederate army at Mental Floss.
Source: neatorama