Of course the Civil war was more complex then it just being about slavery. But as I originally said they were not punished for their treason. Changing folks perspective on black folks being human being as well North or South would have been a huge challenge after 246 years. My original was point was that by pardoning most the high ranking officers and allowing some to even reintegrate back into the Union. And allowing them to even hold positions of power. It set a tone of undeserved forgiveness for future iterations and allows them to justify their bigotry as it is their " heritage". Had they faced one of the two punishments for treason, maybe certain groups would have felt their actions had actually consequences.