[Grand Old Partisan]

Every Confederate soldier was a Democrat, and every rebel collaborator in the North was a Democrat. In the South, at least 40% of the people remained loyal to the U.S. Government -- the blacks (don't they count?) plus people in Appalachia and the Ozarks, whom the Confederates called "billy yanks in the hills" or "hill billies". How can people today condemn people in this country waging war (jihad) against the government today while praising those who in the 1860s killed 400,000 U.S. troops? For history from the Republican point of view, read "Back to Basics for the Republican Party" at www.republicanbasics.com

[Beernoser]

No every Confederate soldier was not a Democrat. Many, many were former Whigs who voted for the Constitutional Union candidate, John Bell in 1860. Bell won the important states of Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky in the election.

One of the less reported facts of the Civil War was how huge numbers of southerners who voted against secession, dutifully volunteered for the Confederate Army or government once the state left the Union. Examples of this are everywhere, but some of the most famous examples were Robert Lee, Jubal Early and Alexander Stevens.

[Commander8]

The Democrat and Republican Parties were a lot different in 1862. For example, the Republicans in those days supported protective tarriffs, central banking and a graduated income tax. Democrats were for States' Rights, local autonomy and a Gold Standard. Parties change ideologies like I change socks.