Federalism: Yesterday and Today

A Publius Essay | 20 October 2014 | Publius

[Publius]

(in my best John Wayne impersonation)

Yeah, Pilgrim, and those worms have teeth!

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Frankly I think they deserved what came to them. Reconstruction as the extreme radicals of the Republican party was draconian, but it never came to fruition. In fact the South reverted back to intense racism and segregation by the end of the 1800s. I mean consider this - people in the South thought it was OK to tell blacks to get to the back of the bus and get their own washrooms right until the mid-1960s! That is only ONE generation ago. How the Southern Church could have defended that is outright Orwellian and definitely not Christian.

Sowell: Irresponsible 'Education' (slavery)

William Wilberforce

Black Rednecks and White Liberals - Thomas Sowell

Epistle to Philemon

Slavery and the Civil War.

Slavery was an integral part of the Roman Empire at the founding of Christianity. The Book of Philemon (which is only a single chapter) treats the issue of slavery without taking a stand against the institution (Philemon being a slaveholder, and the letter calls for forgiveness of an infraction by a particular slave, whom St. Paul converted and who served Paul until Paul told him to return to his master. The point is, slavery was an established institution in all times and places up to the point when Christianity in general, Protestants especially, and British Protestants in particular adopted a stance rejecting slavery as an institution. British influence worldwide was such that slavery was pretty much abolished “worldwide” (still exists in Africa, IMHO) - but only after the Wilberforce-inspired British revulsion against the institution.

The American South was peculiarly situated to be the last ones to “get the word.” Southerners grew up within the system, were perfectly accustomed to blacks seeming unintelligent (you would seem unintelligent too, if you were raised under the conditions blacks were raised under), and their economy was founded on the premise of black slavery.

[RedMDer]

Thanks for the heads up, Jim.
Great job, Publius!

[Ditter]

read later

[jazusamo]

Thanks, bkmk.

[smokingfrog]

Bookmarked.

Interesting reading.

[Lee'sGhost]

I guess they did it the same way the northern churches did when they still supported slavery.

[tillacum]

Thanks Publius, my bedtime reading tonight.

[tillacum]

Thank Jim Rob for pointing this to me. Tonight’s read for sleep digestion. Thank you.

[Publius]

I hope it doesn't give you nightmares.

(HEH-HEH-HEH)

[zeugma]

Great stuff Publius. About the only problem with it IMO, was that it wasn't long enough. Yeah, that's right. I'm not kidding. More details about how Both Roosevelts ushered in Progressivism would have been useful and give more weight to the conclusion. Just my opinion from over here in the peanut gallery, but overall, a great effort.

When discussing the adoption of the Constitution, I like to point out that much of the discussion surrounded the desirability of having the first 10 amendments tacked onto it. In broad terms the Federalists claimed it was unnecessary, and that any right spelled out in it would come to be seen as the only rights we retained, while the Anti-Federalists claimed that without it, the government would go on to completely ignore our rights completely.

Clearly both sides were right. We've seen the damage taken even by enumerated rights, and need look no further afield than Britain to see what you get sans First/Second/Fourth/Fifth amendments.

Granted, the Constitution is a masterpiece as written for the most part, but I wish they'd spent a little more time on disambiguation they did.

Granted, we're looking at it all with the clarity of hindsight, but really, would the 2nd amendment not have been both more concise and more clear had they just stopped without the subordinate clause?

[BenLurkin]

Excellent essay, but your jarring misuse of the word “theology” undermines its message.

“Ideology” is the word you were looking for.

[BenLurkin]

bttt

[Publius]

I'm hoping that Forrest McDonald will come out with a second volume of States' Rights and the Union going from 1876 to today. That would permit me to add a long second section to the essay.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[loveliberty2]

Excellent!! Thank you.

[glock rocks]

Excellent piece, Publius.
This is classic FR.

Thanks for the ping, Jim.

[bd476]

Thanks for the Ping, Jim.
Publius, thank you for sharing your timely essay!

[Sam Gamgee]

I appreciate you providing some more information. Well worth considering to learn more about the period and men in it.

[Sam Gamgee]

Appreciated, I will take a look.