Confederate Memorial Day (Virginia)

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

We all know that today is a day to remember US troops that have fallen in battle.
In the state of Virginia today is also a day to remember our brave soldiers of the Confederacy.

The marching armies of the past
Along our Southern plains,
Are sleeping now in quiet rest
Beneath the Southern rains.

The bugle call is now in vain
To rouse them from their bed;
To arms they'll never march again--
They are sleeping with the dead.

No more will Shiloh's plains be stained
With blood our heroes shed,
Nor Chancellorsville resound again
To our noble warriors' tread.

For them no more shall reveille
Sound at the break of dawn,
But may their sleep peaceful be
Till God's great judgment morn.

We bow our heads in solemn prayer
For those who wore the gray,
And clasp again their unseen hands
On our Memorial Day.

-Author Unknown

[chesley]

Yep. We wanted out own country, and felt, as we had freely entered into a compact, we could freely leave. Lots of Yankees felt the same way, which is why Lincoln had to resort to draconian measures IN THE NORTH.

We had a disagreement, we lost. But we opened fire on people in our country, that we wanted gone. Nothing to apologize for there

[jmacusa]

The slave-owning thing. What about that? And are you a Confederate or an American?

[chesley]

Who are you to ask?

I don't support slavery, but I would have supported secession at that time.

However, the War of Northern Aggression settled that question unfavorably, and unconstitutionaly. But settled it definitively. The Confederates are all dead. So are you an American?

[jmacusa]

Who am I to ask? Ha! I’ll ask anything I want to. Am I an American? Damn right I am. Not a “Northerner’’ or a “Yankee’’. I’m an American. War of Northern Aggression? Another load of bs. Listen chump, your ancestors wanted to establish a slave-holding empire on this continent, they started a war they had no hope of winning in the process destroyed the South and caused needless destruction and loss of life.

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

That’s not the point. And whether you personally know of any doesn’t matter.

[chesley]

You can ask, but I’m through answering, Yankee.

[jmacusa]

The point is chump your ancestors wanted to establish a slave-holding empire on this continent and launched a war of aggression they couldn’t hope to win and in the process destroyed the South and caused needless misery and loss of life.

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

“Invading’’?

Yes. Invading. The North invaded the South. They pillaged and plundered, burned, raped and killed.

Seems to me you guys opened fire first

Yes. Lincoln said he would take his men from Fort Sumter. Instead they sat there for a long time. The city or Charleston even provided the folks at the fort with food while they waited for federal ships to come take them away. Instead, Lincoln went back on his word and instead sent more men and arms to reinforce the fort. Only then did the south fire on the ships and the fort. Yeah. The South started it all. Sure.

the South lost...and that’s a good thing.

No it isn't. But I suppose if the colonists had lost the war with Britain that would have been a good thing too. After all, big government is what is important. We can't let people go off and create their own new government of the people, by the people, and for the people. No. We must save big government. Never mind the principles in the declaration of independence that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed (if the governed don't consent, the government has no just power over them). And the principle that whenever any government proves destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and institute new government. We can't bother with all those old fashioned principles. Big government, whether governing with the consent of the people or not, must be preserved!

[jmacusa]

‘’Yankee’’? Okay ‘’Reb’’ Geez, one hundred and fifty years later and we’re still talking this sh!t . Hey Reb, while I got you here, have you ever heard of an organization called “The Civil War Trust’’?( www.civilwar.org) It’s a group of Americans, from ALL parts of the country who are working to save Civil War battlefield sites from disappearing to the developers bulldozer. And they ARE disappearing, fast! I don’t know about you but it would be a sad state of affairs if we someday had to watch the Battle of Gettysburg or The Wilderness being re-enacted in the parking lot of a Walmart. Donate what you can when you can. I do. And I’m a God damned Yankee. What’s your excuse? Get off your lazy ass and donate something and then you can go back to cursing out my Yankee ass.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

C’mon people!

It wasn’t the North vs the South, that’s just propaganda.

It was the Republicans vs the Democrats. The RATs haven’t changed much.

Now it looks like the political parties have switched territories...like halftime. I’d make a much better Southern “redneck” than a Northeast liberal.

[jmacusa]

Um, so how’s life going for you in 1861 Reb? Grow up stupid. This is 2011 and you’re living in the greatest country in the world, despite Obama.

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

sought to force the Peculiar Institution onto a nation

Hey, if you want to talk about slavery, let's talk about the slave trade. You want to talk about forcing? Well, originally, the slave trade was going to be banned in the constitution of the US. Well, it was given at lest an extra 20 years instead. Why? Because the northern slave traders complained so bad about it ruined the business and economy up north. The Northern economy was founded and made rich by the slave trade. Massachusetts was the first state to allow slavery. The confederate constitution prohibited the slave trade. The US flag flew over hundreds of slave ships. The confederate flag never flew over any.

Also, of all the slaves that the yankee slave traders sold, only 4-6% ended up in the south. Most ended up in the Caribbean or south America. And most died there.

Public opinion against slavery was sweeping the nation

Indeed. And in the 1830s and before the Nat Turner rebellion there were more abolition societies in the South than in the North.

Also, the free soilers wanted no slavery in the territories because they wanted no blacks. They wanted the territory for white labor and white labor only. Numerous exclusion laws were also passed to forbid free black from coming into northern states. New Jersey passed one of the first of these laws. Massachusetts passed a law that allowed the flogging of blacks who came into the state and stayed more than two months. Illinois passed by overwhelming popular vote an amendment to the state constitution declaring that "No negro or mulatto shall immigrate or settle in this state." And Oregon's 1857 constitution provided that "No free negro or mulatto, no residing in this state [at the time of adoption of the state constitution] ...shall come, reside, or be within this state."

John Sherman, William Tecumseh Sherman's brother, said that "We do not like negroes. We do not hide our dislike. As my friend from Indiana said yesterday: 'The whole people of the Northwestern States are opposed to having many negroes among them and that principles or prejudice has been engraved in the legislation for nearly all the Northwestern states.'"

In contrast, in the South Alexis de Toqueville noted that "The prejudice of the race appears to be stronger in the States that have abolished slaves than in the States where slavery still exists. White carpenters, white bricklayers and white painters will not work side by side with blacks in the North but do it in almost every Southern State."

Also note that only 6% of the Southern white population even owned slaves. And half of these owned 5 or less (and often worked side by side with them on their farms) Notable generals such as Lee, J. Johnston, A. P Hill, and J. E. B. Stuart didn't even own slaves. And yet the was was "all about slavery". Yeah right.

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

Indeed. Northerners were not against secession until the South wanted to do it. The Northern states had held a secession conference when they got upset about the war of 1812.

[chesley]

It seems to me that if they think we should let it go, maybe they shoud show us the way and do it first by staying off our threads.

but it doesn’t bother me one way, or the other. I’m proud of my heritage and apologize for it to nobody

[SharpRightTurn]

Amen.

Bump.

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

The slave-owning thing. What about that?

The yankee slave trading thing. What about that?

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

War of Northern Aggression? Another load of bs.

Yeah, all that pilaging, burning, raping, and killing wasn't agression at all was it? ;-)

your ancestors wanted to establish a slave-holding empire on this continent,

ROFLOLOLOL! I expect that's why the Confederate constitution banned the slave trade.

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

your ancestors wanted to establish a slave-holding empire

What do you know about my ancestors? Let me tell you about them. My great x5 grandpa lived in VA and had sevens sons and a plantation with slaves. He didn't believe in slavery so he freed all his slaves. When the war came, the five older sons went off to defend Virginia against the invaders. They were all killed. The two younger sons were sent to live with a relative in another state away from the fighting. When the war was over and they returned home, they found their parents dead and their home burned down.

[jmacusa]

Didn’t take a war to end it in the north.

[jmacusa]

Hadn’t noticed the North a rapin’ ‘n’ a pilagin’ pre-1861.