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To: Ohioan
I don't insult anyone. You insult your own nation by pretending slavery was not a completely abusive, oppressive institution. To claim ANYTHING less is simply nonsense, and all the platitudes in the world about slaves who "loved ol' massa'" are just idiotic. Fogel and Engerman (and every other economic historian who has EVER looked at slavery) has found rates of family breakup to be huge; whippings totally common; work hours far beyond that which free whites (even sodbusters) would put up with; and so on. The economic evidence is overwhelming on the oppressive nature of slavery.

One of the reasons there were no slave revolts during the war was that the Confeds kept an unusual number of white males on the plantations through exemptions, including the famed "home guards" of "Cold Mountain" fame.

But keep posting about how great slavery was. By doing so you will continue to insult Americans in both regions who had common sense enough to know what a tyrannical institution it was, and how the South was obsessed with preserving it.

Liberation, indeed.

153 posted on 03/02/2005 9:46:27 AM PST by LS (CNN is the Amtrak of news)
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To: LS
You will not find any post of mine about "how great slavery was." You are the one obsessed with that particular system, not I. It had some good points, one must admit; but the underlying premise was certainly wrong, and ill advised--but so too are the demeaning underlying premises of the American Welfare State, and the Bush foreign policy. Was slavery even worse? I am not that judgmental of a system that is clearly sanctioned in the Bible, and which has existed in many forms, throughout the historic period, in every region of the earth.

My points, in repeatedly challenging the South haters, is that their obsession insults the American tradition and divides traditional Americans, at a time when we are losing more and more of our common heritage. I attack you, because you sabotage what I believe in; you slander the freely entered into Union of proud States, where it was understood that we would not interfere with each others' unique customs. For you, that frustrates your need--compulsion, apparently--to slander the South. But it also means that I, who identify with the Jeffersonians, must accept and respect the right of the people in New England to pursue their more strait laced value systems; the right of Massachusetts, to this day, to impose absurd policies on its people, etc., etc..

You know, respect begets respect, and contempt invites contempt. Your lack of respect for the Old South invites the disrespect for other things that you value. It is a short dead end street, which rapidly ends meaningful and mutually beneficial discussion. It is pathetic.

155 posted on 03/02/2005 9:58:03 AM PST by Ohioan
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To: LS

The majority of these modern day confederates are nothing more then masked promoters of segregation but they even understand admitting the obvious would not be kosher, except when among fellow anti-Americans.


158 posted on 03/02/2005 10:53:25 AM PST by M. Espinola (Freedom is never free)
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