This is going to be fun!!!
OK, so the states had the right to seceed. No one is disputing that and , yes, it remains arguable whether or not Lincoln did the right thing. From a historical viewpoint, Yes, he did. America was a smaller and weaker nation then and had the states remained disunited, there would have been far more danger from France and Great Britain. Danger that the Southern states, especially, could not have fought off.
When Texas won its freedom from Mexico, it decided in a very short amount of time to throw in with the US. Houston was a visionary, but he was also pragmatic. He KNEW Mexico would be back at them with troubles from France and Spain, as well.
In Federalist #5, Publius quotes a 1706 letter from Queen Anne to the Scot Parliament: “An entire and perfect union will be the solid foundation of lasting peace: It will secure your religion, liberty and property; remove the animosities amongst yourselves, and the jealousies and differences betwixt our two kingdoms. It must increase your strength, riches and trade; and by this union the whole island, being joined in affection and free from all apprehensions of different interest, will be enabled to resist all its enemies...”.
He goes on to write: “Nothing will more secure us from (dangers from abroad) than union, strength, and good government.” (The Federalist Papers in Modern Language, ed. Mary E. Webster, Merril Press, 1999)
My guess is that Lincoln was familiar with these writings and knew the dangers of two weaker confederacies as opposed to one that was stronger and has only gotten more so, since. It is academic fun to debate this issue, but at some point, we HAVE to realize that the dangers we face now and have faced in the recent past have been far graver than the 18th century European countries. At least with THEM, our cultures were pretty much the same.
We are ALL Americans, and as one unit, we ARE the best, the brightest and the strongest. Had Lincoln allowed secession, The North would probably be part of Canada, the South to France, and Florida and the Southwest a part of Spain.
It’s true that secession was not and is not a treasonous act. In fact, there are provisions for secession.
However, we have a task, we have a burden NOW, TODAY. We cannot live in the distant past. The enemy today, now, is the Radical Islamic Terrorist. It is not the NORTHERN or the SOUTHERM United States or SLAVERY. For better or worse, all those things are over, past history, that, hopefully, we have learned from.
Who knows? Perhaps a hundred years from now, tyrants will have solidified their grip on the seats of government in this country to such an extent that only secession and rebellion will suffice; but, God knows, I hope not. I hope the Clinton machine or some other machine doesn’t get another crack at total ruination.
As for now, for today, we must take up the task, take up the burden on our shoulders just as The Greatest Generation, a blending of Northern and Southern citizens of the United States, did during World War II.
I am already tired from shouldering a part of the burden left from the years of living with a father struggling with battle fatigue from that war. I am tired from the grinding years of the Vietnam War, another war politicized by the same people in government who were then only scruffy, hippie marchers in streeets. Some of my great great grandfathers fought on the Confederate side in the Civil War, considering themselves defending their homes as they didn’t have slaves. However, all that said, please excuse me if I have no more strength left to fight dead battles. I must steel myself for the real task and the real burden ahead of me.
FOX NEWS ALERT:
The United States won the Civil War.
THIS HAS BEEN A FOX NEWS ALERT!
XD
Uh-oh, this article is going to give “non sequitur” the fantods.