Posted on 08/26/2004 7:53:13 PM PDT by RebelBanker
The greatest battle ever fought on the North American continent and the historical aftermath of this titanic contest have been lost forever in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. On the same grounds where Robert E. Lee, John Buford and John Reynolds fought for principles they held dear to them, Gettysburg College has decided that political correctness is more important than it’s historical identity.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans hereby alert all of our members and friends to attend the rally to be held on September 2 and September 3 at Gettysburg College to protest the College sponsored art exhibit featuring the hateful anti-Southern artwork of John Sims.
It has become apparent that neither Gettysburg College nor Gettysburg appreciates the value of Southern tourism. The valor exhibited by Confederate soldiers in this decisive battle is no longer important to officials of Gettysburg or Gettysburg College. The Confederate Battle flag is an honored flag flown on the battlefield by our Confederate soldiers. By promoting what the college calls “art” in which any intelligent person can see is nothing but thinly disguised hatred, the Sons of Confederate Veterans have decided that an economic boycott of the Gettysburg area will commence on September 3. And millions of American citizens with a love of the South and their Confederate heritage have been deeply offended.
Commander-in-Chief Denne Sweeney hereby calls on all members, families, and friends to avoid Gettysburg and not to spend any money in the Gettysburg area. All people concerned with the anti-Southern bigotry of this area should alert friends, media, and anyone concerned with the growing problem in Gettysburg so that this boycott will become nationwide and not just regional.
After September 3, Gettysburg is to be avoided whenever vacation plans are being made. Please pass this on to all media, lists and Internet services for widespread distribution.
Brag Bowling
National Press Officer
Sons of Confederate Veterans
804.359.0382
Why would we possibly envy southern pricks?
Why can't a southern artist just respond with life size replica showing some of Sherman's Bummers being caught and hung by Confederate calvary?
Fair and balanced, i'd say.
And study who the lynching victims were during the New York draft riots of 1863.
*** Black babies in orphanages.
Kinda sorta makes sense that the people who refuse to fight for the union might have some, um, sympathies for the South. Hardly highlights the superior morality of the Southern position.
Well actually it was racists who thought that Lincoln was sending them to war for black folk but that's not what the war was about. As newly arrived immigrants I don't think they knew enough to decide one way or the other.
The battle of Gettysburg took place in what was already a city. The battlefield itself has been kept free of encroaching commercialism, but even doing THAT requires a substantial amount of development: The crowds are so large that just allowing random meandering would devestate the site. But there are no McDonalds or anything of the like on the battlefields.
That said, being that the battle took place in a city, there is naturally going to be commerce in that city, and since the crowds are so large, a fair amount of that commerce is going to cater to the crowds. But I suppose all you Southern "real Americans" *snicker* would rather that all be done socialistically.
The nation is at this time in a state of Revolution, North, South, East, and West," wrote the Washington Times during the often violent protests that occurred after Abraham Lincoln issued the March 3, 1863, Enrollment Act of Conscription. Although demonstrations took place in many Northern cities, the riots that broke out in New York City were both the most violent and the most publicized.
With a large and powerful Democratic party operating in the city, a dramatic show of dissent had been long in the making. The state's popular governor, Democrat Horatio Seymour, openly despised Lincoln and his policies. In addition, the Enrollment Act shocked a population already tired of the two-year-old war.
By the time the names of the first draftees were drawn in New York City on July 11, reports about the carnage of Gettysburg had been published in city papers. Lincoln's call for 300,000 more young men to fight a seemingly endless war frightened even those who supported the Union cause. Moreover, the Enrollment Act contained several exemptions, including the payment of a "commutation fee" that allowed wealthier and more influential citizens to buy their way out of service.
Perhaps no group was more resentful of these inequities than the Irish immigrants populating the slums of northeastern cities. Poor and more than a little prejudiced against blacks-with whom they were both unfamiliar and forced to compete for the lowest-paying jobs-the Irish in New York objected to fighting on their behalf.
On Sunday, June 12, the names of the draftees drawn the day before by the Provost Marshall were published in newspapers. Within hours, groups of irate citizens, many of them Irish immigrants, banded together across the city. Eventually numbering some 50,000 people, the mob terrorized neighborhoods on the East Side of New York for three days looting scores of stores. Blacks were the targets of most attacks on citizens; several lynchings and beatings occurred. In addition, a black church and orphanage were burned to the ground.
All in all, the mob caused more than $1.5 million of damage. The number killed or wounded during the riot is unknown, but estimates range from two dozen to nearly 100. Eventually, Lincoln deployed combat troops from the Federal Army of the Potomac to restore order; they remained encamped around the city for several weeks. In the end, the draft raised only about 150,000 troops throughout the North, about three-quarters of them substitutes, amounting to just one-fifth of the total Union force.
Source: The Civil War Society's "Encyclopedia of the Civil War"
Or they can detail how Sherman burned down property slavemasters left for their slaves.
Suck on a paper bag and calm down.
But this stunt is revolting. As much as Gettysburg is in the North, its a battlefield where American dead fell -- brave men and boys on both sides. It's supposed to be a place of solemnity where we can remember our heritage. The sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, etc. of many of the southernors who fought in that battle -- and for the South elsewhere -- fought under the American flag in subsequent wars. We ought not to spit in the faces of those men. Let's face it -- you tended to fight on the side of the state where you were born. I'm not sure you're average Pennsylvanian private was any different than your average private from Alabama.
That being said, this appears to be a stunt permitted by Gettysburg College, not the town or park personnel. My guess is that a lot of the locals won't like this either, but neither they nor the town itself have the ability to stop this. Kooky college administrators in any town can do stupid things. I think protesting against the College is a great idea, but I don't think its fair to tar the town and park with the actions of the college.
Check out this article: Lynching redefined in South Carolina: "Today in South Carolina, blacks are most often the ones charged with lynching..."
Let's not play the race card, please.
That Macdonalds right on the G'burg battlefield is a sure sign it's Yankee country.
Me too! I always get my fireworks in Hardeeville. Met some of the finest S.C. linemen down here restoring power the other day. Fine folks, they are!
heh come to think of it *LOL*
They had black bike week in South Carolina so that boycott must be real effective! LOL
The battlefield isn't really that overrun with commercialism. The only problem is the town, which existed at the time of the battle. You really can't expect the town to have ceased its existence or be frozen in time for 140 years. The main parts of the battlefield from the second and third days are pretty untouched, and even the first day areas aren't bad until you get in the town itself.
I expect commercialism. It's the American way. People have to eat somewhere *lol*
While they can be fun, the Northern entrances to the Great Smokey Mnts are pretty bad. They trump G'burg for novelty shops, wedding chapels, ice cream parlors, go-cart racing, and the like.
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