Posted on 10/14/2007 7:14:10 AM PDT by proudofthesouth
I'm curious as to what FReepers have to say on this topic. Did our (America) go downhill with the start of Abraham Lincoln being elected and the South loosing the Civil War?
Don’t forget about the illegals. Our elections are becoming more and more polluted—making it harder to summon our national will. I have even heard some liberals advocate that foreign nationals (world-wide) be allowed to vote in our elections because of the high level in influence America exercises over the rest of the world.
Slavery was wrong - it is too bad we had to fight about it way back when, but we did, slavery in our country is rightly over, and it's very silly to ask stupid questions like this.
If you're looking to blame something for the current state of affairs...well, I blame CNN. And maybe McDonalds.
I love living in the south, I enjoy my southern friends, I ain't leaving, and I wish all y'all would get over the 'yankee' thang.
Since you asked a silly question:
30 things you will never hear a southern boy say...
30. Oh I just couldn't, she's only sixteen.
29. I'll take Shakespeare for 1000, Alex.
28. Duct tape won't fix that.
27. Come to think of it, I'll have a Heineken.
26. We don't keep firearms in this house.
25. You can't feed that to the dog.
24. No kids in the back of the pickup, it's just not safe.
23. Wrestling's fake.
22. We're vegetarians.
21. Do you think my gut is too big?
20. I'll have grapefruit and grapes instead of biscuits and gravy.
19. Honey, we don't need another dog.
18. Who gives a dang who won the Civil War?
17. Give me the small bag of pork rinds.
16. Too many deer heads detract from the decor.
15. I just couldn't find a thing at Wal-Mart today.
14. Trim the fat off that steak.
13. Cappuccino tastes better than espresso.
12. The tires on that truck are too big.
11. I've got it all on the C: drive.
10. Unsweetened tea tastes better.
9. My fiancee, Bobbie Jo, is registered at Tiffany's.
8. I've got two cases of Zima for the Super Bowl.
7. Checkmate.
6. She's too young to be wearing a bikini.
5. Hey, here's an episode of "Hee Haw" that we haven't seen.
4. I don't have a favorite college team.
3. You All.
2. Those shorts ought to be a little longer, Betty Mae.
AND NUMBER ONE....
1. Nope, no more for me. I'm driving.
Our downfall really accelerated when writers, for unknown reasons, invented the word “loosing,” ignoring the proper word “losing.” “Loozing” I could understand, but not “loosing.”
To get a rock to roll all the way to the bottom of the mountain takes several pushes along the way.
Okay, I can take a joke. I’ll admit those are funny! :-)
(6) Use the power of the Supreme Court to declare prohibition or restrictions on slavery by states unconstitutional. Chief Justice Taney was working on just such a decision when the war broke out. (Surprising, since a case with such a decision as a possibility wasn’t before the Court at the time.)
Of course, any attempt to enforce such a decision would have led to civil war anyway.
Slavery had to go away, and its grave moral affliction easily trumped any other merit of the case. By staking states rights to slavery, the South greatly wounded states rights. It would be like staking parental rights to incest.
________________
Bingo.
Q: How can you tell when a southern girl is ready for sex?
A: When she puts her drink down and yells 'I am soooo drunk'!
Q: Wny don't southern gals participate in orgies?
A: Because they'd have to write too many thank you notes.
preserved The Union, destroyed The Republic, and layed the foundation for Empire, eh?
Your headline is an internally answered question.
Since had Lincoln not prevailed, the states that claimed to make up the Confederacy would have become dis-united from the United States, ergo, the states would no longer have been united, ergo there would have been no United States.
Had the Confederacy succeeded, Rhode Island would have certainly succeeded over the Bicycle Riders issue within a few years, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and possibly New York would have succeeded soon after that on the issue of Interdigitation.
It would then be all over.
The Tariff of Abominations was passed in 1828 and revoked in 1833. This was the high point of conflict between sections over tariffs, which diminished steadily thereafter.
To claim that the North invaded the South in 1861 to enforce a tariff that had been removed almost 30 years previously shows a remarkable lack of historical knowledge.
That didn't happen for another 50 years. Perhaps you would like to count women as property or 3/5ths of a person. Do you like the idea of slavery as well?
I did, hence my comment about the roots of the slave trade because of your tagline.
And, I must somewhat respectfully disagree that the South damaged the Republic. By original concept, the states had the right to reject the mandates of the federal government, up to and including the right to "quit the club."
Or, was the Republic like the Mafia: Once you join, you're in for life.
I'm not defending the practice of slavery. That odious practice was bound to fail at some point or another. I just found (and find) it ironic that our current mortal enemy sewed the seeds of our destruction over 200 years ago.
The War between the States had been building since the early 1800’s. John C. Calhoun foretold the Civil War and the reasons for it.
There is no question that the more powerful northern states were in control of the federal government, and were passing laws to their benefit and the souths detriment. Slavery (or rather the constitutional right to own slaves) was the flash point.
An end to slavery meant the destruction of the South’s agrarian economy. (Exactly what happened in the Reconstruction). Nullification and disunion by the States was blocked time and again. After the Supreme Court ruled in the south’s favor in the Drew Scott case, and northern states ignored it, war was inevitable.
Was it Lincoln’s fault?....no. It was the North’s responsibility as a whole. The war changed forever the right of states to rule themselves, giving us our runaway federal government, and the loss of many liberties.
My own opinion that slavery in the South would have disappeared with the advent of the cotton gin and other technological advances. The South would have followed Britain’s lead when it was possible. Freeing the slaves was not the reason for the Civil War, it was a power play pure and simple, and the South lost.
I can understand women reacting negatively to an argument that they shouldn’t vote, but there are good arguments along those lines. And they aren’t based on any disregard for women. After all, chivalry existed during the many centuries when women lacked the vote.
It’s a little off topic but does tail into the expansion of the Federal Government into our lives. Your tagline: “I give you health care and I say ‘no smoking”
I tell my kids, “as long as I’m paying your bills, you’re living the way I tell you.”
It’s the same. If we give the Government the responsibility of paying for our healthcare, it would be irresponsible of the Government not to enforce healthy lifestyles. No smoking, no fatty foods, no drinking, forced preventative medical care, forced 1 hour per day rigerous exercise, kill the old and sickly.
Man...I hope the top of your post was in the same humorous vein as your 30 things list, or I don't know where to begin!
in the Dred Scott case
More coffee needed
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