[central_va]

In other words, you'd have been a traitor, not just to your country but to your state.

I may have been a traitor in your eyes, but I would have been fighting for what I believe in, (little r) republican values. Look where we are now. I am not a Yankee (thank you God) so this is moot anyway. I give up trying to understand the motives of the Federalist/Statist Yankee of the 19th century. It is just impossible for me to fathom.

[Non-Sequitur]

I am not a Yankee (thank you God)...

I think that I can speak for the entire North when I say that we thank God you're not a Yankee, too.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

I may have been a traitor in your eyes, but I would have been fighting for what I believe in

Something that many traitors can say. John Walker Lindh was fighting for something he believed in. The Rosenberg's were spying for a cause they believed in.

I give up trying to understand the motives of the Federalist/Statist Yankee of the 19th century.

Loyalty. Patriotism. Duty. Country.

It is just impossible for me to fathom.

Apparently.