The relevance of a doctrine's being

[Mark Graber]

How much would malice toward the leaders of the Confederacy matter.  The
Republican theory was that secession was sponsored by a few hotheads,
and that lots of southern whites were really nascent Republicans.  If
this was right, then maybe stringing up a few leaders would have worked.
 But isn't it the case that a) you didn;t need to string up a few
leaders to prevent a secession reprise, since that was settled at
appomattox (spelling approximate), and b) you would need more like a
KILLING FIELDS scenario to promote racial equality in the south, given
how deeply entrenched and popular white supremacy was in that region. 
Alternatively, and more seriously than stringing up a few people, the
better strategy might have been to disarm all Confederates, arm all
former slaves and put them completely in control for a generation or so.
 But hang the 50 people of your choice, and I don't think history is
much different.

Mark A. Graber