Posted on 04/09/2010 12:34:10 AM PDT by Palter
I remember when there was no WH fence and Harry Truman, unescorted I think, would take a brisk walk down Pennsylvania Avenue every morning.
Did the Constitution, written scarcely 70 years prior to the war, give the states the right to secede if they decided the federal government no longer served their needs? Did Lincoln ignore that in order to “preserve the Union”?
Would you settle for a John Booth?
I’m not going to argue with you Lincoln haters. I’ve done that in the past and I’m not doing again. Good day.
That was going to be my only question. To me, it is all that is needed to settle the argument. All after that is just arguing the details.
I am not a Lincoln hater and to call me one while avoiding the question is a typical liberal tactic.
James Madison wrote, "An inference from the doctrine that a single state has a right to secede at will from the rest, is that the rest would have an equal right to secede from it; in other words, to turn it, against its will, out of its union with them." Is he right?
Should I care? If those are die-hard confederates they should be reminded that Lincoln (flawed human being that he was) would have been magnanimaous toward the South, which, of course, is what he advocated and planned. As for what is more likely, his seizing of extraordinary powers for which he is often faulted, his motives were not self-aggrandizement but preservation the union (all of it).
Would you settle for a John Booth?
Yes, so long as it's not John Wilkes Booth.
1. "I am satisfied...that the problem of this war consists in the awful fact that the present class of men who rule the South must be killed outright rather than in the conquest of territory, so that hard, bull-dog fighting, and a great deal of it, yet remains to be done....Therefore, I shall expect you on any and all occasions to make bloody results."
2. In December 1864, Sherman wrote, "I estimate the damage done to the State of Georgia . . . at $100,000,000; at least $20,000,000 of which has inured to our advantage, and the remainder is simple waste and destruction." Sherman also noted that 75% of the destruction was wasteful and resulted in no significant military advantage.
3. In the fall of 1868 General Sheridan wrote to Sherman: "In taking the offensive I have to select that season when I can catch the fiends; and if a village is attacked and women and children killed, the responsibility is not with the soldiers, but with the people whose crimes necessitated the attack."
4. Sherman heartily approved of Sheridan and wrote back the following encouraging words: "Go ahead in your own way and I will back you with my whole authority...I will say nothing and do nothing to restrain our troops from doing what they deem proper on the spot, and will allow no mere vague general charges of cruelty and inhumanity to tie their hands, but will use all the powers confided to me to the end that these Indians, the enemies of our race and of our civilization, shall not again be able to begin and carry out their barbarous warfare on any kind of pretext they may choose to allege."
Oh, now I get it!
I was just checking out your home page and see that you have a link to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Guess what? I’m a member of the Sons of Union Veterans. Ha!
I think many people have a problem with Lincoln because he opened the flood gates on federal powers. Since his actions the fed has always been able to bully the states and people.
That’s fantastic caver - good way to honor your ancestors and enjoy fellowship.
Got one here! Lincoln began the systematic power grab of the federal government that continues today. He gave in to the Northern industrialists and passed the Morill Tariff, which effectively bankrupted many Southerners, not to mention his aggression towards the South. Thanks to Virginia Governor Bob McDonell for reinstating Confederate history month in that state...
CNY-proud great grandson of 2LT W.E. Smith, 2nd Tennessee Infantry CSA wounded at Shiloh...
How so?
He gave in to the Northern industrialists and passed the Morill Tariff, which effectively bankrupted many Southerners, not to mention his aggression towards the South.
The Morill Tariff was passes in February 1861, before Lincoln was inaugurated and after seven of the Southern states had launched their rebellion. If it was responsible for effectively bankrupting many Southerners then that was a neat trick.
How so?
He used the power of the gun which is all that government has ro rule us.
But better in the hands of a Lincoln than an 0-bummer.
Since the confederate government resorted to armed conflict first then shouldn't the blame lie with them?
The Constitution doesn’t say either way.
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