Linda Dunn
If Jefferson Davis, who led the Confederacy in a multi-year war against the United States, could not be convicted for that little act of insurrection that is commonly known as the “Civil War,” how can we believe that former (and perhaps future) President Trump could possibly be convicted for insurrection?
And why are states jumping the gun and removing him from the primary ballot due to ineligibility when there has not even been a trial for this charge, let alone a guilty verdict?
Yes, many of us watched the events unfold in real time and others have been convicted for their activities on that day. But in this country, one is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Trump’s been charged with 91 crimes, which far too few of us are taking seriously and which his fan base considers “politically motivated,” but the reality is this:
We had a war within our county long ago and even passed a 14th Amendment later to keep those who fought against the United States from holding office.
But almost none of those in leadership roles were ever prosecuted or even prevented from holding office again.
The 14th Amendment is essentially a toothless dog that barks fiercely but has never actually bitten anyone important.
The Amendment that everyone is talking about applying to Trump involves Section 3:
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
Between 1868 and 1872, many ex-Confederates received that two-thirds vote from Congress and the General Amnesty Act of 1872 removed the office-holding restriction from most remaining Confederates.
Thus, the majority of those who quite literally went to war war against the United States faced either few or no consequences for their actions.
Jefferson Davis was imprisoned for two years after the war but when his case finally went to trial, federal prosecutors entered a “nolle prosequi,” or statement of decision not to prosecute.
Some officers in the Confederate Army were charged with treason but not many were arrested, partially due to concerns they would die as “martyrs” and make Reconstruction more difficult.
Let us not forget that Davis, at that time, was suspected by many of being involved in the plot — or at least aware of the plot — to kill President Lincoln, Vice President Johnson and William Seward and leave our country “leaderless.”
Only Lincoln was killed. Lewis Powell, a member of the Confederate Secret Service, attempted to kill Seward but succeeded only in injuring him. George Atzerodt, who was supposed to kill Vice President Johnson, got drunk and roamed the streets that night instead of killing Johnson; but he was still tried, convicted for conspiracy, and executed.
Much like the January 6th insurrection, it was the people on the ground — those who had obvious hands-on involvement — who were charged with a crime.
Those involved in planning and funding their activity disappeared into the shadows of history to be forgotten just like we Americans forget other “uncomfortable” pieces of history.
Many of us never even learned that while Canada was a “neutral country” during the war, Montreal was sort of a Casablanca: a hub for wartime plotters, spies and Confederate soldiers on the run. Jefferson Davis, acting for the Confederacy, had set up a Secret Service operation in Canada with about $1 million in funding.
Months before the assassination of Lincoln, Booth allegedly made a 10-day visit to Montreal, met with Confederate agents, obtained funds from a bank sympathetic to the Southern cause, and sought information for an escape network to use post-assassination.
Some of us who like to consider conspiracy theories occasionally wonder if President Johnson — who assumed office after Lincoln’s assassination and was a southerner often at odds with the policies of his party — wasn’t complicit.
President Johnson mass pardoned all former Confederates and implemented his own plans for Reconstruction, which allowed former Confederate leaders to hold government offices.
These former Confederates passed “Black Codes” that left many former slaves in the South seeing no real change in status as they were still forced to work for little or no pay, sometimes for their former slaveowners.
But we don’t talk about this part of our history. We label it “Critical Race Theory” and forbid its teaching, especially in places like Florida.
Even now, after watching events unfold in real time and being exposed to a firehose-like stream of information, most of us don’t acknowledge that the January 6 rally organizers, “Women for America First,” coordinated with the White House and knew the President would call for a March to the Capitol.
There are multiple electronic records of this, including a January 4th message from the organizers reading, “…It can also not get out about the march because I will be in trouble with the National Park Service and all the agencies, but POTUS is going to just call for it ‘unexpectedly’…”
But none of this matters because Trump is poised to put an end to this investigation as soon as he regains the Presidency (assuming November’s voting reflects the current polls). While he cannot directly stop the state investigations and trials, he can be pardoned by the Governors of those states bringing charges against him and/or use the powers of the Presidency to squash the efforts in states with less cooperative Governors.
But even if Trump loses, I predict he will never be prosecuted for his role in the insurrection. The Democrats will fear that doing so will make a martyr out of him and thus he, like Jefferson Davis, will never face consequences for his actions.
A lifelong resident of Hancock County, Linda Dunn is an author and retired Department of Defense employee.
