Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles
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Or should it be banished from the face of the earth because some chose to see only one side of the issue, and focus on the racial overtone argument?
Chas
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I really hesitate to do this, but I just can't stop myself. I was born in Ohio but have lived in the South for most of my life. My mothers side of the family came from Virginia and I have ancestors who fought on BOTH sides of the war. So, now that that's out of the way...............
Charles, and I'm sure Twodogs and hillbilly will chime in,
In the argument over whether it was "slavery" or "states rights" that the Civil War was fought over;
1). You're right. The original argument for going to war was "States Rights".
But, which "Right" was it the South was claiming? Could it have been
the
claimed right to secession*?
2). And why would the Confederates wish to secede from the Union?
What was the big issue of the times? Could it have been the growing
outcry from "Abolishionists" mostly, (but not entirely), in the Northern
states for a federal ban on.................Slavery? Yeah, pretty much.
* Read Article 1, section 10 of the U.S. Constitution; "No state shall
enter into any .......confederation, for the printing of money,
establishment of tariff.... without the consent of the congress.....
engage in acts of war............." Well, you can read.
And Article 1 was not a later amendment. It was written by
the founders themselves. Many of them Southerners.
Sorry, but as I see it, the issue traced all the way back to it's roots, leads to.........slavery, and an action forbidden by the Constitution....Secession without the consent of Congress.
Then I hear, "Well, Lincoln wasn't really opposed to slavery.". This is a falsehood as well. Lincoln was involved in the Abolishion Movement long before his Presidency. Some quote him as having said, "I cannot win this war without freeing slaves,", but that's only half of the quote, The other half is, "nor can I free any slaves without victory in this war." A mutual imperitive, both HAD to happen, is what he was saying, because he was being asked to make a compromise with the South in order to bring an earlier end to the war. A compromise he refused to make.
Oh, I agree with y'all that there is a whitewashing being attempted in regards to the Civil War. I just don't agree with you on WHO'S doing the whitewashing.
Sorry my friends, but that's how I see it.
Dave