Apparently, I spoke too soon. Pennsylvanians do have their Civil War (that’s what they call The Recent Unpleasantness up here) battle scars, and they do have a capacity for clinging to the fact. Like us, they don’t just fix up the
damage and move on. This makes me feel closer to them.
Indeed, there was no artillery damage to their statehouse in Harrisburg, but I conducted a closer BDA examination in Carlisle, and found evidence that Confederate artillery was somewhat effective in
leaving them something to remember us by when our boys were making that swing through the Gettysburg area.
The damage to the pillars and wall of the old Cumberland County courthouse is not only preserved, but marked with the date. Sure, they did it in a haphazard, tacky way — without bronze stars. But it shows that they do have a certain Southern
incapacity for letting bygones be bygones. I just knew these were my kind of people.
Now, if they could only figure out how to do grits, so I wouldn’t have to make them myself in the hotel room. (Which I am eating as I type — true, real-time blogging.)
Related Posts
The Confederacy is always a fallback topic for editors of The State to stir the pot.
If nothing is happening in SC, create a story by comparing our capitol to some other state.
Just enjoy Gettygsburg without trying to use it for modern political purposes.
Lee, go outside and play. We’ll call you when lunch is ready.
I was first struck by the differences between the Mid Atl and NE and SC when I went to Baltimore for the first time. They have historical markers every other block and the history is major.
In Columbia we have some bronze stars and a broken cane and something about Irish immigrants working on the canal. There are numerous small towns that identify themselves with a battle. Then there’s Charleston, which can compete with the big boys historically.
My wife is from Connecticut. We discuss the differences all the time. She simply can’t fathom that people buy cars with colors to match their football team. The most amusing is the name given to the Civil War. Up North, the reference is often “War Between the States.” In the South, “The War of Northern Agression.” I use the latter to tweak her.
I also remind her our baby that’s due in September will be a Southerner – born and bred. Yeeehaawww!
Modern political purposes? In what sense?
I don’t know; maybe I’m not quick enough on the pickup today. Those were (gasp!) INSTANT grits I had this morning, and I’m just now sipping my first coffee of the day — in a shop on the courthouse square in Carlisle.
There’s a big murder trial going on in the courthouse just a few yards away. I’m looking at an ABC News truck in the alley between me and the courthouse. When I ordered my coffee, the counterman saw my laptop case and asked me who I was with. I told him, but I don’t think it was the answer he was looking for. I only realized what he meant after I walked away.
By the way, I’m trying to set up an interview over at the Army War College this afternoon. I’d like to talk about the role it plays in applying battlefield lessons from Iraq, etc. Short notice, but they’re going to see what they can do. (I was going to call about this last week, but was just too busy.) I’ll let you know how that goes.
Sir,
I was born and raised in Pennsylvania, but am a Confederate through and through. While the politicians in Harrisburg often are too busy giving themselves middle of the night pay raises to pay any attention to our history, the same is not true of all the citizenry, especially outside the major cities.
If you would really like to know about our Keystone Confederate Heritage, you can find out more at http://scv.duminiak.com/Keystone_Division/pagray/PA_Confederate_Heritage.pdf
Respectfully,
Mike Duminiak
Past Division Commander
Pennsylvania Division
Sons of Confederate Veterans
“The time for compromise has now passed, and the South is determined to maintain her position, and make all who oppose her smell Southern powder and feel Southern steel.”
– Jefferson Davis used these words in his inaugural speech on February 16, 1861
“The whole army is burning with an insatiable desire to wreak violence upon South Carolina. I almost tremble for her fate.”
– William T. Sherman made this observation as he prepared to march his army into South Carolina following his March to the Sea.
I’ve been reading about the Civil War for decades, and have visited dozens of battlefields, and I still can’t get enough.
Good luck at the War College. I’m sure they’ve learned a lot about urban warfare, readiness of reservists, and tracking insurgents. But there was a great piece in The New Yorker last year about how most lessons learned are coming from the platoon leaders, not the think tanks or generals.
The biggest need for “lessons learned” in Iraq is in the political realm. The lessons are there, but the Bush administration doesn’t seem to be learning.
Mark G. – as you are a student of history, tell all of us how many Americans died in our own civil war and how many Americans have died fighting the War On Terror?
I’m not sure what your point is Dave, but here you go.
I’ve read estimates that between 620,000 and 700,000 lost their lives during the Civil War.
In Iraq, here are the latest numbers on Americans and others who have died, so far.
205,564 IRAQI CIVILIANS KILLED
and 370,015 SERIOUSLY INJURED
2,545 U.S. TROOPS KILLED
and 38,091 SERIOUSLY INJURED
224 OTHER COALITION TROOPS KILLED
and 672 SERIOUSLY INJURED
130 U.S. CIVILIANS KILLED
and 234 SERIOUSLY INJURED
202 OTHER COALITION CIVILIANS KILLED
and 364 SERIOUSLY INJURED
An additional 40,000 Iraqi troops were killed during the invasion. that means about 280,000 people have died so far.
In Afghanistan, here’s what I’ve read:
8,587 AFGHAN TROOPS KILLED
and 25,761 SERIOUSLY INJURED
3,485 AFGHAN CIVILIANS KILLED
and 6,273 SERIOUSLY INJURED
292 U.S. TROOPS KILLED
and 896 SERIOUSLY INJURED
143 OTHER COALITION TROOPS KILLED
and 429 SERIOUSLY INJURED
It will be interesting to see what Brad reports from the War College. What are the lessons learned from these numbers?
THE 10 CAUSES OF THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES
Historians have long debated the causes of the war and the Southern perspective differs greatly from the Northern perspective. Based upon the study of original documents of the
War Between The States (Civil War) era and facts and information published by Confederate Veterans, Confederate Chaplains, Southern writers and Southern Historians before, during, and after the war, I present the facts, opinions, and conclusions stated in the following article.
I respectfully disagree with those who claim that the War Between the States was fought over slavery or that the abolition of slavery in the Revolutionary Era or early Federal period would have prevented war. It is my opinion that war was inevitable between the North and South due to complex political and personal differences. The famous Englishman Winston Churchill stated that the war between the North and South was one of the most unpreventable wars in history. The Cause that the Confederate States of America fought for (1861-1865) was Southern Independence from the United States of America. Many parallels exist between the War for American Independence ( 1775-1783 ) and the War for Southern Independence.
There were 10 political causes of the war —one of which was slavery– which was a scapegoat for all the differences that existed between the North and South. The Northern industrialists had wanted a war since about 1830 to get the South’s resources ( land-cotton-coal-timber-minerals ) for pennies on the dollar. All wars are economic and are always between centralists and decentralists.The North would have found an excuse to invade the South even if slavery had never existed.
A war almost occurred during 1828-1832 over the tariff when South Carolina passed nullification laws. The U.S. congress had increased the tariff rate on imported products to 40% ( known as the tariff of abominations in Southern States ). This crisis had nothing to do with slavery. If slavery had never existed –period–or had been eliminated at the time the Declaration of Independence was written in 1776 or anytime prior to 1860 it is my opinion that there would still have been a war sooner or later.
On a human level there were 4 causes of the war–New England Greed–New England Fanatics–New England Zealots–and New England Hypocrites. During “So Called Reconstruction” ( 1865-1877 ) the New England Industrialists got what they had really wanted for 40 years–THE SOUTH’S RESOURCES FOR PENNIES ON THE DOLLAR. It was a political coalition between the New England economic interests and the New England fanatics and zealots that caused Southern secession to be necessary for economic survival and safety of the population.
1. TARIFF–Prior to the war about 75% of the money to operate the Federal Government was derived from the Southern States via an unfair sectional tariff on imported goods and 50% of the total 75% was from just 4 Southern states–Virginia-North Carolina–South Carolina and Georgia. Only 10%–20% of this tax money was being returned to the South. The Southern states were being treated as an agricultural colony of the North and bled dry. John Randolph of Virginia’s remarks in opposition to the tariff of 1820 demonstrates that fact. The North claimed that they fought the war to preserve the Union but the New England Industrialists who were in control of the North were actually supporting preservation of the Union to maintain and increase revenue from the tariff. The industrialists wanted the South to pay for the industrialization of America at no expense to themselves. Revenue bills introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives prior to the War Between the States were biased, unfair and inflammatory to the South. Abraham Lincoln had promised the Northern industrialists that he would increase the tariff rate if he was elected president of the United States. Lincoln increased the rate to a level that exceeded even the “Tariff of Abominations” 40% rate that had so infuriated the South during the 1828-1832 era ( between 50 and 51% on iron goods). The election of a president that was Anti-Southern on all issues and politically associated with the New England industrialists, fanatics, and zealots brought about the Southern secession movement.
2. CENTRALIZATION VERSUS STATES RIGHTS—The United States of America was founded as a Constitutional Federal Republic in 1789 composed of a Limited Federal Government and Sovereign States. The North wanted to and did alter the form of Government this nation was founded upon. The Confederate States of America fought to preserve Constitutional Limited Federal Government as established by America’s founding fathers who were primarily Southern Gentlemen from Virginia. Thus Confederate soldiers were fighting for rights that had been paid for in blood by their forefathers upon the battlefields of the American Revolution. Abraham Lincoln had a blatant disregard for The Constitution of the United States of America. His War of aggression Against the South changed America from a Constitutional Federal Republic to a Democracy ( with Socialist leanings ) and broke the original Constitution. The infamous Socialist Karl Marx sent Lincoln a letter of congratulations after his reelection in 1864. A considerable number of European Socialists came to America and fought for the Union (North).
3. CHRISTIANITY VERSUS SECULAR HUMANISM–The South believed in basic Christianity as presented in the Holy Bible.The North had many Secular Humanists ( atheists, transcendentalists and non-Christians ). Southerners were afraid of what kind of country America might become if the North had its way. Secular Humanism is the belief that there is no God and that man,science and government can solve all problems. This philosophy advocates human rather than religious values. Reference : Frank Conner’s book “The South Under Siege 1830-2000.”
4. CULTURAL DIFFERENCES–Southerners and Northerners were of different Genetic Lineages. Southerners were primarily of Western English (original Britons),Scottish,and Irish linage (Celtic) whereas Northerners tended to be of Anglo-Saxon and Danish (Viking) extraction. The two cultures had been at war and at odds for over 1000 years before they arrived in America. Our ancient ancestors in Western England under King Arthur humbled the Saxon princes at the battle of Baden Hill ( circa 497 AD –516 AD ). The cultural differences that contributed to the War Between the States (1861-1865 ) had existed for 1500 years or more.
5. CONTROL OF WESTERN TERRITORIES–The North wanted to control Western States and Territories such as Kansas and Nebraska. New England formed Immigrant Aid Societies and sent settlers to these areas that were politically attached to the North. They passed laws against slavery that Southerners considered punitive. These political actions told Southerners they were not welcome in the new states and territories. It was all about control–slavery was a scapegoat.
6. NORTHERN INDUSTRIALISTS WANTED THE SOUTH’S RESOURCES. The Northern Industrialists wanted a war to use as an excuse to get the South’s resources for pennies on the dollar. They began a campaign about 1830 that would influence the common people of the North and create enmity that would allow them to go to war against the South. These Northern Industrialists brought up a morality claim against the South alleging the evils of slavery. The Northern Hypocrites conveniently neglected to publicize the fact that 5 New England States ( Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and New York ) were primarily responsible for the importation of most of the slaves from Africa to America. These states had both private and state owned fleets of ships.
7. SLANDER OF THE SOUTH BY NORTHERN NEWSPAPERS. This political cause ties in to the above listed efforts by New England Industrialists. Beginning about 1830 the Northern Newspapers began to slander the South. The Industrialists used this tool to indoctrinate the common people of the North. They used slavery as a scapegoat and brought the morality claim up to a feverish pitch. Southerners became tired of reading in the Northern Newspapers about what bad and evil people they were just because their neighbor down the road had a few slaves. This propaganda campaign created hostility between the ordinary citizens of the two regions and created the animosity necessary for war. The Northern Industrialists worked poor whites in the factories of the North under terrible conditions for 18 hours a day ( including children ). When the workers became old and infirm they were fired. It is a historical fact that during this era there were thousands of old people living homeless on the streets in the cities of the North. In the South a slave was cared for from birth to death. Also the diet and living conditions of Southern slaves was superior to that of most white Northern factory workers. Southerners deeply resented this New England hypocrisy and slander.
8. NEW ENGLANDERS ATTEMPTED TO INSTIGATE MASSIVE SLAVE REBELLIONS IN THE SOUTH. Abolitionists were a small but vocal and militant group in New England who demanded instant abolition of slavery in the South. These fanatics and zealots were calling for massive slave uprisings that would result in the murder of Southern men, women and children. Southerners were aware that such an uprising had occurred in Santa Domingo in the 1790 era and that the French (white) population had been massacred. The abolitionists published a terrorist manifesto and tried to smuggle 100,000 copies into the South showing slaves how to murder their masters at night. Then when John Brown raided Harpers Ferry,Virginia in 1859 the political situation became inflammatory. Prior to this event there had been five times as many abolition societies in the South as in the North. Lincoln and most of the Republican Party ( 64 members of congress ) had adopted a political platform in support of terrorist acts against the South. Some (allegedly including Lincoln) had contributed monetarily as supporters of John Browns terrorist activities.. Again slavery was used as a scapegoat for all differences that existed between the North and South.
9. SLAVERY. Indirectly slavery was a cause of the war. Most Southerners did not own slaves and would not have fought for the protection of slavery. However they believed that the North had no Constitutional right to free slaves held by citizens of Sovereign Southern States. Prior to the war there were five times as many abolition societies in the South as in the North. Virtually all educated Southerners were in favor of gradual emancipation of slaves. Gradual emancipation would have allowed the economy and labor system of the South to gradually adjust to a free paid labor system without economic collapse. Furthermore, since the New England States were responsible for the development of slavery in America, Southerners saw the morality claims by the North as blatant hypocrisy. The first state to legalize slavery had been Massachusetts in 1641 and this law was directed primarily at Indians. In colonial times the economic infrastructure of the port cities of the North was dependent upon the slave trade. The first slave ship in America, “THE DESIRE”, was fitted out in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Further proof that Southerners were not fighting to preserve slavery is found in the diary of an officer in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. He stated that “he had never met a man in the Army of Northern Virginia that claimed he was fighting to preserve slavery”. If the war had been over slavery, the composition of the politicians, officers, enlisted men, and even African Americans would have been different. Confederate General Robert E. Lee had freed his slaves (Custis estate) prior to 1863 whereas Union General Grant’s wife Julia did not free her slaves until after the war when forced to do so by the 13th amendment to the constitution and court action. Grant even stated that if the abolitionists claimed he was fighting to free slaves that he would offer his services to the South. Mildred Lewis Rutherford ( 1852-1928 ) was for many years the historian for the United Daughters Of The Confederacy (UDC). In her book Truths Of History she stated that there were more slaveholders in the Union Army ( 315,000 ) than the Confederate Army ( 200,000 ). Statistics also show that about 300,000 blacks supported the Confederacy versus about 200,000 for the Union. Clearly the war would have been fought along different lines if it had been fought over slavery. The famous English author Charles Dickens stated “ the Northern onslaught upon Southern slavery is a specious piece of humbug designed to mask their desire for the economic control of the Southern states.”
10, NORTHERN AGGRESSION AGAINST SOUTHERN STATES, Proof that Abraham Lincoln wanted war may be found in the manner he handled the Fort Sumter incident. Original correspondence between Lincoln and Naval Captain G.V.Fox shows proof that Lincoln acted with deceit and willfully provoked South Carolina into firing on the fort ( A TARIFF COLLECTION FACILITY ). It was politically important that the South be provoked into firing the first shot so that Lincoln could claim the Confederacy started the war. Additional proof that Lincoln wanted war is the fact that Lincoln refused to meet with a Confederate peace delegation. They remained in Washington for 30 days and returned to Richmond only after it became apparent that Lincoln wanted war and refused to meet and discuss a peace agreement. After setting up the Fort Sumter incident for the purpose of starting a war, Lincoln called for 75,000 troops to put down what he called a rebellion. He intended to march Union troops across Virginia and North Carolina to attack South Carolina. Virginia and North Carolina were not going to allow such an unconstitutional and criminal act of aggression against a sovereign sister Southern State. Lincoln’s act of aggression caused the secession of the upper Southern States.
On April 17th 1861, Governor Letcher of Virginia sent this message to Washington DC: “ I have only to say that the militia of Virginia will not be furnished to the powers of Washington for any such use or purpose as they have in view. Your object is to subjugate the Southern states and the requisition made upon me for such a object-an object in my judgement not within the purview of the constitution or the act of 1795, will not be complied with. You have chosen to inaugurate civil war; having done so we will meet you in a spirit as determined as the administration has exhibited toward the South.”
The WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 1861-1865 occurred due to many complex causes and factors as enumerated above. Those who make claims that “the war was over slavery” or that if slavery had been abolished in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed or in 1789 when The Constitution of the United States of America was signed, that war would not have occurred between North and South are being very simplistic in their views and opinions.
The Union victory in 1865 destroyed the right of secession in America,which had been so cherished by America’s founding fathers as the principle of their revolution. British historian and political philosopher Lord Acton, one of the most intellectual figures in Victorian England, understood the deeper meaning of Southern defeat. In a letter to former Confederate General Robert E. Lee dated November 4,1866, Lord Acton wrote ” I saw in States Rights the only available check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will, and secession filled me with hope, not as the destruction but as the redemption of Democracy. I deemed you were fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization and I mourn for that which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo (defeat of Napoleon). As Illinois Governor Richard Yates stated in a message to his state assembly on January 2,1865, the war had ” tended, more than any other event in the history of the country, to militate against the Jeffersonian Ideal ( Thomas Jefferson ) that the best government is that which governs least.
Years after the war former Confederate president Jefferson Davis stated ” I Am saddened to Hear Southerners Apologize For Fighting To Preserve Our Inheritance”. Some years later former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt stated ” Those Who Will Not Fight For The Graves Of Their Ancestors Are Beyond Redemption”.
James W. King
Commander Camp 141
Lt. Col. Thomas M. Nelson
Sons of Confederate Veterans
PO Box 70577 Albany, Georgia 31708
229-436-0397
jkingantiquearms@bellsouth.net
The “Honest Abe” Abraham Lincoln myth needs to be dispelled.
Lincoln used war to destroy the U.S. Constitution in order to establish a
powerful central government. Lincoln illegally suspended the writ of habeas
corpus; launched a military invasion without consent of Congress; blockaded
Southern ports without declaring war; imprisoned without warrant or trial
some 13,000 Northern citizens who opposed his policies; arrested dozens of
newspaper editors and owners and, in some cases, had federal soldiers
destroy their printing presses; censored all telegraph communication;
nationalized the railroads; created three new states (Kansas, Nevada, and
West Virginia) without the formal consent of the citizens of those states,
an act that Lincoln’s own attorney general thought was unconstitutional;
ordered Federal troops to interfere with Northern elections; deported a
member of Congress from Ohio after he criticized Lincoln’s unconstitutional
behavior; confiscated private property; confiscated firearms in violation of
the Second Amendment; and eviscerated the Ninth and Tenth Amendments.
A New Orleans man was executed for merely taking down a U.S. flag; ministers were imprisoned for failing to say a prayer for Abraham Lincoln, and Fort Lafayette in New York harbor became known as “The American Bastille” since it held so many thousands of Northern political prisoners. All of this was catalogued decades ago in such books as James G. Randall’s Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln and Dean Sprague’s Freedom Under Lincoln.
“This amazing disregard for the Constitution,” wrote historian Clinton
Rossiter,” was “considered by nobody as legal.” “One man was the government of the United States,” says Rossiter. Lincoln was an absolute dictator. Lincoln used his dictatorial powers to suppress all Northern
opposition to his illegal and unconstitutional acts. This is not even
controversial, and is painstakingly catalogued in the above-mentioned books
as well as in The Real Lincoln (a new book by Thomas J. DiLorenzo).
Children in Georgia schools are taught that “Abraham Lincoln was kind
And generous.” This is an outright lie written by northern historians.
If the Confederate States of America had won The War Between the States
(Civil War) 1861-1865, Abraham Lincoln, Sherman, and Sheridan would
have been tried for war crimes.
General Philip Sheridan destroyed the Shenandoah Valley of
Virginia, burning hundreds of houses to the ground and killing or stealing
all livestock and destroying crops long after the Confederate Army had left
the valley, just as winter was approaching.
General William T. Sherman burned Atlanta, Georgia and approximately
60 counties east to Savannah. Sherman’s New York regiments were filled
with big city criminals and foreigners fresh from the jails of Europe. Lincoln
recruited the worst of the worst to serve as pillagers and plunderers in Sherman’s
army. They committed horrible atrocities against the civilian population of Georgia
including women and children. They kidnapped approximately 600 women and
children from a Roswell, Georgia mill and shipped them north where they were
forced to work as slave labor in northern factories.
Lincoln used the war to “remove the constraints that Southern senators and
congressmen, standing in the Jeffersonian tradition, placed in the way of
centralized federal power, high tariffs, and subsidies to Northern
industries.” Indeed, Lincoln’s 28-year political career prior to becoming
president was devoted almost exclusively to this end. Even Lincoln idolater
Mark Neely, Jr., in The Fate of Liberty, noted that as early as the 1840s,
Lincoln exhibited a “gruff and belittling impatience” with constitutional
arguments against his cherished Whig economic agenda of protectionist
tariffs, corporate welfare for the railroad and road building industries,
and a federal government monopolization of the money supply. Once he was in
power, Lincoln appointed himself “constitutional dictator” and immediately
pushed through this mercantilist economic agenda – an agenda that had been
vetoed by president after president beginning with Jefferson.
Far from saving the Union, Lincoln utterly destroyed the
Union achieved by the Founding Fathers and the U.S. Constitution. The
original Union was a voluntary association of states. By holding it together
at gunpoint Lincoln may have “saved” the Union in a geographic sense, but he
destroyed it in a philosophical sense.
The South and the Southern Confederacy have been harshly discriminated against and historical facts and figures have intentionally been suppressed. Dishonest Northern historians have unfairly caused Southern and Confederate history and its heroes, memorials, and flags to be regulated to a role of less importance than deserved and to be viewed in a negative perspective by the American public.
The words of Confederate General Patrick R. Cleburne who was killed at the battle of Franklin Tennessee on November 30, 1864 are becoming true. “Every man should endeavor to understand the meaning of subjugation before it is to late. It means the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the war; will be impressed by the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, and our maimed veterans as fit objects for derision…” Political correctness and Socialist – Marxist Revisionism are attacking everything Southern and Confederate on national, state, and local levels all across America.
In 1956 the Georgia Legislature adopted the Confederate Battle Flag in conjunction with the Georgia seal as the official Georgia Flag. The flag represents honor, faith, courage, dignity, integrity, chivalry, Christian values, respect for womanhood, strong family ties, patriotism, self- reliance, limited federal government, states rights and belief in the free enterprise system. It symbolizes the noble spirit of the Southern people, the rich heritage, the traditions of the South and the dynamic and vigorous southern culture. Thus the Confederate flag represents the same virtues and values as the original American Flag, U.S Constitution, and Bill of Rights which were developed and adopted by Americas Founding Fathers who were primarily Southerners from Virginia.
The 1956 Georgia Flag composed of the Georgia Seal and the Confederate battle flag is necessary to maintain Southern regional identity and to preserve the values, principles, and virtues esteemed by a majority of Georgians. No other symbol so proudly says “Dixie” as the St. Andrews Cross waving in the breeze.
To say that the Confederate flag represents slavery is comparable to saying the American flag represents the genocide of the American Indians. Both flags should be respected for positive reasons.
Dear Mrs.xxxxxxx,
I Just Finished Reading Your Article “Senators Past Is Not Forgotten” In Which You Are Highly Critical Of Sen.Trent Lott. You Quoted Southern Writer William Faulkner “The Past Is Never Dead. It Is Not Even Past.” Does This Apply To Massachusetts And The Rest Of New England Or Only To Southerners?
Massachusetts Was The 1st Colony To Legalize Slavery By Statute In 1641. Four New England States, Along With New York ,Were Responsible For The Vast Majority Of The Slave Trade From The Mid 1600’s Until It Ended On April 21,1861.
On That Date The U.S. Sloop Of War “Saratoga” Captured The Slave Ship “Nightingale” With 900 Slaves Aboard. This Slave Ship Was Owned,Manned And Equipped By The City Of Boston,Massachusetts. The Captain Of The Ship Saratoga Was John Julius Guthrie,A U.S.Naval Officer,Who Soon Resigned And Joined The Confederate Service. This Is A Matter Of Record On File At The Navy Department In Washington. The Last Capture Of A Slaver Was By A Southern Officer And The “Good” People Of Massachusetts Were Engaged In Slave Trading Even At The Beginning Of “The War Between The States” (CIVIL WAR).
The 1st Slave Ship In America “The Desire” Was Fitted Out In Marblehead,Massachusetts. Dubois, A Famous Black Historian Wrote “The American Slave Trade Came To Be Carried On Principally By United States Capital, In United States Ships Officered By United States Citizens And Under The United States Flag.”
Mr. Cecil Chesterman, A Distinguished English Historian, In His “History Of The United States” Says On This Point, “The North Had Been The Original Slave Traders. The African Slave Trade Had Been Their Particular Industry. Boston Itself Had Risen To Prosperity On The Profits Of The Abominable Traffic.” Mr. Chesterman Asks “What Could Exceed The Hypocrisy Of New England Men Who Reproach The South With Grave Personal Sin In Owning Property Which They Themselves Sold Southerners And The Price Of Which Is Still In Their Pockets”.
Thomas Jefferson Introduced Into The Declaration Of Independence In 1776 A Protest Against The Slave Trade Which He Withdrew At The Request Of New England. Every Prominent Man In Virginia At This Period Was In Favor Of Gradual Emancipation And There Were More Than Five Times As Many Members Of Abolition Societies In The South Than In The North.
The “Hartford Courant” Newspaper In July 1916 Said “Northern Rum Had Much To Do With The Extension Of Slavery In The South. Many People In Connecticut And Massachusetts Made Snug Fortunes For Themselves By Sending Rum To Africa To Be Exchanged For Slaves And Then Selling The Slaves To Southern Planters.” The”Continental Monthly” Of New York Stated In January 1862 That Boston, New York, and Portland Were The Principal Ports Of Slave Dealers And The Trade Added Much Wealth To The Region.
Furthermore New England Was Responsible For The”Alien And Sedition Acts” Which Would Today Be Considered Extremely Racist. In 1741 Your Sister Northern State Of New York Burned Hundreds Of Black Slaves At The Stake Because They Feared A Slave Rebellion. Later In 1863 During The Draft Riots New York City Residents Hung A Free Black From Every Light Pole In The City And Burned The Black Childrens Orphanage Because They Did Not Want Blacks To Get Their Jobs While They Were In The Union Army.
The People Of New England have Always Been Hypocrites.You Are Carrying On The Tradition Either Knowingly Or Through Ignorance. How I Would Love To Debate You And Other Liberals Who Berate The South Face To Face On National TV And Expose You To The World.
James W. King
Albany Georgia
All that Lincoln bashing sounds so personal and uninformed, like the kind of gossip you might hear on the street corner.
“Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”
–Abraham Lincoln in a speech to One Hundred Fortieth Indiana Regiment, March 17, 1865.
“Without slavery, the rebellion could never have existed. Without slavery, it could not continue.”
— Lincoln to Congress, December 1862
“Military glory–that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood–that serpent’s eye, that charms to destroy….”
–Abraham Lincoln
mark – thanks for posting the war fatalities. There are many interesting insights in there, the most obvious being over 500,000 American soldiers died in our civil war, yet the leftists in today’s world want war with zero deaths. No one wants the 2500 dead we have suffered in Iraq, but that is a very small total in comparison to nearly every other conflict. The other telling fact is civilian deaths. At Gettysburg, one single civilian was killed when a bullet passed through her home while a lady was in her home. Accident. Now look at the war we fight today. Civilians, to the enemy are nothing but props to get onto the news bites. Schoolchildren, women, infants, no matter, routinely slaughtered by terrorists. A different kind of war for sure. But the left in America wants to “be nice” while we wage war. And God forbid, whatever we do, let’s not listen to their phone calls or track their bank dealings. Above all, that is the impeachable crime. Anyway, thanks for the post.
The War College thing didn’t work out, because the best people to talk to were, like me, on vacation. I’ll be back this way briefly in a few weeks; we’ll see if I can set something up then.
A wise Benjamin Franklin once said, “They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.” When have you ever known the federal government to give you back some freedoms they ‘temporarily’ suppressed, like access you your bank records?
And with all the data breaches in the gov’t and elsewhere, who long before your data is on the Internet, freely available or at least being sold to someone with ill-intent? And if your privacy is no big secret and you do not care who watches you, post a daily blog to the Internet of all your activities during the day, with phone logs and transcribed phone conversations, and all of your money transactions with credit information, etc.
Somebody please stop James before he spams again.
What’s scary isn’t the occasional oddball like Mr. King, but the fact that no one seems to be interested in trying to refute his grab-bag of facts and pseudo-facts. Or maybe it’s just that folks are smart enough to recognize there aren’t enough hours in the day.
Or maybe it’s just that folks are smart enough to recognize there aren’t enough hours in the day.
Bingo.
Dave, you ignore the elephant in the room: the U.S. Civil War was OUR war, a war between Americans. Americans fought it to settle American issues.
There is precisely NO parallel to the American invasion of Iraq.
Yes, we don’t think that Americans should be killing non-combatant civilians. Yes, we don’t believe in torturing anyone. And, yes, we think that the President isn’t above the law or U.S. Constitution.
You, OTOH, think all that is perfectly fine. You and the entire Bush Administration are a disgrace to America.
RTH – Think what you want, but people who think like me are in control of this nation. Thankfully that is. I say that humbly as we have a huge responsibility to keep America America, and protect ALL citizens, even you. You are too weakminded to protect yourself so please just stay out of the way. That is the service you can provide while you root for Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan, Kerry, and the other goofballs who think like you.
Dave, you like numbers. Look at the popular vote in the last two presidential elections. The more you and the Bushies push your regressive agenda and over-reach for power then the more likely a few percentage points will move to my side and you “won’t be in charge” anymore.
Keep it up.
You seem to think that “keeping America America” means shredding the U.S. Constitution; eliminating the checks and balances between branches of the government; giving the President dictatorial powers; invading foreign countries who don’t pose a threat to the U.S.; and, transferring national assets from the people to the corporate interests.
Did your gubmint school education really fail you so miserably or did you just choose to forget the basic principles that this country was founded on? If Bush declared martial law tomorrow; disbanded the other branches; and, appointed himself “President-for-Life,” then you’d be on here explaining that it was all the fault of “Fifth Columnists” like me and the NYT.
You’re deluded and terrified by the rightwing propaganda machine which constantly whips up mindless hysteria. Funny thing about Republicans, though. We don’t see chapters of Young Republicans signing up for military service– putting their butts on the line for their beliefs. We don’t even see elected Republicans willing to pay for the unnecessary invasion of Iraq by rolling back tax cuts or changing spending priorties.
You’re so predictable in mindlessly parroting the Republican talking points even when they’re illogical or inapplicable.
If you want to see a weak mind, look in the mirror.
RTH – Taxes paid by the “wealthy” are 40% higher now than they were under Clinton’s highest tax collection, thus even the deficit is now going down. The tax cuts have spurred record federal tax revenues. I think it’s time to cut them further. Once again, it’s proven that tax cuts work, but liberals don’t want to recognize facts, even when published by OMB and other objective sources. Is Joe Lieberman an example of how “more people are moving to your side?”.