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First of all, I can’t claim the honour of having been born in the South, so I’m not a “Confederate” in the literal sense. However, research that I’ve done for a book currently in progress has led me to realize that The South Was Right in its position on states’ rights. See The Constitutional Right of Secession for more.

Before you jump on the “it was all about slavery” bandwagon, slavery was “a” factor. It wasn’t “the” factor – slavery was on its way out anyway, and given 5 years or so, would likely have been entirely dead on its own. In addition to states' rights, another main factor was money – oppressive tariffs that were assessed against the South to pay the lion’s share of running the federal government (sound familiar?). For an excellent explanation of this issue, see Mike Scruggs’ article, Understanding the Causes of the Uncivil War – A Brief Explanation of the Impact of the Morrill Tariff.

As to “who fired first”, and why, I would recommend America’s Caesar. I was a product of public schools and was taught the revisionist history line as promulgated by the victors as well, and these books, among others, corrected the errors I had been taught.

Finally, as to General Lee, I don’t understand your problem with him. He was a Southern gentleman, a descendant of a Revolutionary War hero, related to George Washington by marriage, and an officer in the U.S. Army before resigning his commission when Virginia seceded. He agonized and prayed over that decision, and in the end, his conscience dictated that he serve his home state instead of the federal government. If you claim that he is responsible for thousands of deaths, then you have to equally claim the same of Sherman, Grant or McClellan.

I have no desire to re-fight the War Between the States -- what's done is done and you are certainly entitled to your opinion. However, I would be gratified if you would research the facts, with an open mind, beyond that what was forced down our throats in public school.