But is incorrect to deny that this issue was the root cause of the conflict. And more incorrect to conclude that the outcome was merely to make illegal the consideration of persons as chattel. The Federal form of the government and the striking change away from the constitutional reservation of rights by the states was the result. This was Adams and Hamilton versus Jefferson played out by their grandchildren, and probably those Jacksonian as well. Sam Houston strongly opposed secession.
This country was taken over (effectively) by an armed coup by the Lincoln Republicans and abolitionists and northeastern industrialists, and the southern states decided to leave, and the north invaded.
We hold these issues very strongly and very deeply. Most northern folks do not understand. We were a conquered and oppressed and humiliated people during reconstruction. A carpetbagger is worse than any racial epithet. It is the worst form of scoundrel. The first republican gubernatorial administration of Texas to be unseated in the election years after the war had to be forced out at gunpoint. They had control, illegal possession, and they did not want to leave.
Now do not think that anyone can call my ancestors treasonous and come away without my vehement response. The Supreme Court advised against the prosecution of Jefferson Davis for treason, because they knew the case would be lost, and the proof would have upset the entire legality of the war. This is history.
The north had the draft riots, and I do not believe the south had the draft. By the way, I will argue for my ancestors until the day my own great great grandchildren die.
However, the majority of soldiers on both sides volunteered and served honorably.
And I agree, fighting to defend your country from invasion is in no way treason.
As an American first, I am glad the war was fought and won in the interest of national unity.
Otherwise we would be ‘balkanized’ like Europe. With perhaps 3 languages (English, French and Spanish). Not the great and powerful USA we are now.
Well said...
Lee's opposition to slavery was tepid at best and as late as January 1865 he was saying that slavery was the best place for blacks in the South.
The problem with the Longstreet quote, that the South should have freed the slaves and then seceded, is that he never said it. It's a quote from Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels" and Tom Berringer said it in "Gettysburg".
This country was taken over (effectively) by an armed coup by the Lincoln Republicans and abolitionists and northeastern industrialists, and the southern states decided to leave, and the north invaded.
How can you compare a Constitutional election for president with an 'armed coup' and keep a straight face?
We were a conquered and oppressed and humiliated people during reconstruction.
Because you started a war and lost. I'm sorry if the outcome isn't to your liking but those are the risks you run when you choose war to achieve your aims. And if you are an oppressed and humiliated people then you certainly are a whiny lot because I would defy you to name a single country where the people who launched and lost a bloody rebellion were incorporated back into the body politic and positions of governmental power faster than the Southerners were.
Now do not think that anyone can call my ancestors treasonous and come away without my vehement response. The Supreme Court advised against the prosecution of Jefferson Davis for treason, because they knew the case would be lost, and the proof would have upset the entire legality of the war. This is history.
That is myth. The only member of the Supreme Court involved was Salmon Chase, and the only reason why Davis wasn't tried and convicted for treason is that with the ratification of the 14th Amendment Chase saw a trial and punishment as a violation of Davis's 5th Amendment protections against double jeopardy.
The north had the draft riots, and I do not believe the south had the draft.
You would be wrong. The South instituted conscription in April of 1862, the same time that they forcibly extended the enlistments of the confederate soldiers for the duration of the war. By the end of the rebellion somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters of confederate soldiers were draftees.
By the way, I will argue for my ancestors until the day my own great great grandchildren die. And no doubt they will cling to the same cause lost myths that you do.
The irony is Longstreet was vilified for his stance after the war, as worse than a ‘carpetbagger’ because he joined the Republican Party and worked for Grant’s administration.
That and Jubal Early’s insane ‘Lost Cause’ stuff, designed to blame Longstreet for losing the war, and deifying Robert E Lee.