kosciusko51:
"I thought this was interesting and wanted to see what other FReepers had to say about it." Thanks for the thread.
Sorry the source is WaPo, reduces its credibility hugely.
But I still think the points about Southern myths are pretty valid:
- The South seceded over states' rights.
"Confederate states did claim the right to secede, but no state claimed to be seceding for that right"
- Secession was about tariffs and taxes.
"Tariffs were not an issue in 1860, and Southern states said nothing about them.
Why would they? Southerners had written the tariff of 1857, under which the nation was functioning.
Its rates were lower than at any point since 1816."
- Most white Southerners didn't own slaves, so they wouldn't secede for slavery.
"Less than half of white Mississippi households owned one or more slaves, for example, and that proportion was smaller still in whiter states such as Virginia and Tennessee.
It is also true that, in areas with few slaves, most white Southerners did not support secession. "
- Abraham Lincoln went to war to end slavery.
"Since the Civil War did end slavery, many Americans think abolition was the Union's goal.
But the North initially went to war to hold the nation together.
Abolition came later."
- The South couldn't have made it long as a slave society.
"Slavery was hardly on its last legs in 1860.
That year, the South produced almost 75 percent of all U.S. exports.
Slaves were worth more than all the manufacturing companies and railroads in the nation.
No elite class in history has ever given up such an immense interest voluntarily.
Moreover, Confederates eyed territorial expansion into Mexico and Cuba.
Short of war, who would have stopped them - or forced them to abandon slavery?"
Yes, some of the author's statements (not included here) are you typical liberal nonsense, but the myths themselves, in one form or another, I think we've seen here on Free Republic many times.
Sure hope I don't get in trouble for posting this! ;-)
BroJoeK, great summary of the article without the liberal talking points.
You will probably get in trouble.