Posted on 06/05/2002 8:53:55 AM PDT by TexConfederate1861
"I here declare my unmitigated hatred to Yankee rule -- to all political, social and business connection with the Yankees and to the Yankee race. Would that I could impress these sentiments, in their full force, on every living Southerner and bequeath them to every one yet to be born! May such sentiments be held universally in the outraged and downtrodden South, though in silence and stillness, until the now far-distant day shall arrive for just retribution for Yankee usurpation, oppression and atrocious outrages, and for deliverance and vengeance for the now ruined, subjugated and enslaved Southern States!
..And now with my latest writing and utterance, and with what will be near my latest breath, I here repeat and would willingly proclaim my unmitigated hatred to Yankee rule--to all political, social and business connections with Yankees, and the perfidious, malignant and vile Yankee race."
--Edmund Ruffin , 1865
That would be 'contemptible', unless you're still trying for that literary thing.
Zachariah Bullock Tate
1st Georgia Infantry
11th Reg. Co.B
Army of Northern Virginia
Who freed his slaves, then went to war for his state, and his nation!
Thanks for the HTML help......
If I can ever return the favor, please ask....I am a certified computer tech......
The easist and fastest way to lose credibility is to contradict your own personal data.
OK?
Ruffin became a proponent of secession in the 1840's as an old-school Jeffersonian Republican. He spoke out against the central government and what he saw as the unconstitutional strengthening of it's power. At the same time he became more and more pro-slavery and anti-abolition. In his early years Ruffin was mildly anti-slavery, viewing it as a necessary evil. He became influenced by the pro-slavery writings of Thomas Dew, who wrote about the superiority of slave society, and incorporated his opinions into his secessionist ideals. Ruffin became acquainted with all the secessionist 'fire-eaters' of the time like Rhett, DeBow, Hammond, Tucker, and Keitt, and quoted their ideas widely. They, on the other hand, viewed Ruffin as something of a joke. Ruffin never became the influential center of the secessionist movement that he aspired to. He became something of a comic figure; the wacko who refused to buy anything made up North, the crazy old man who dressed up in a VMI uniform to witness the hanging of John Brown ( he later carried around one of the pikes taken from Brown's men as a reminder of what the abolitionists had in store for southern men and women), the man who joined the Charleston Greys and carried on until he was allowed to fire one of the first shot against Sumter. Legend has it that he fired the first shot but that was probably legend of his own making. Ruffin was very much a self-promoter.
As to Ruffin's views of blacks, they weren't any different than other southerners of the age. He believed in slavery, believed that it was the proper place for the negro. There is no evidence that he was an abusive or cruel slave owner. On the contrary, his agricultural methods required slave labor to implement and he would have been foolish to abuse the slaves that made it possible. As to Ruffin's views of Yankees, well he was downright bigoted.
This must be a joke!
LOL. I guess general lee must have led the FDNY and NYPD up the steps at the WTC last year. How else could those "contempible" yanks have done such a brave act, without folding, unless a blessed jackass from the south such as yourself was in the lead?
As you move up the Atlantic Seaboard, a "Yankee" is someone from further north than you are at any given time. When you get into New York-New Jersey area, a "Yankee" is someone from New England. Only after you cross the state line into Connecticut does anyone actually begin to answer to the term.
FWIW, Southerners first started calling those from anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon (in reality, the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania by the way) "Yankees" because the most strident abolitionists--the sworn foe of the true Southern bigot and racist--were "Yankees" in fact, folks from Massachusetts in particular.
Thus, originally, "Yankee" meant "anyone who believes in the abolition of slavery and the *shudder* equality of the races."
However, there were others who actively aided and abetted the rebels, and they were dealt with.
What would YOU say today to the prospect of an Arab resident of the U.S. who actively and openly aided Al-Qaeda by sponsoring fund raisers for the purpose of raising money so they can kill Americans?
That's what Mr. Lincoln dealt with.
Now, Jeff Davis, on the other hand, sent troops to eastern Tennessee and locked up all the "rabble-rousers" he could find--mainly hillbillies who weren't about to fight no war for a bunch of slaveowners.
These guys were put in MILITARY confinement and didn't see the light of day until Grant and Co. finally cleared the rebellion out of Tennessee.
Under Ronald Reagan--a Republican (like Lincoln)--from Illinois, the tax rate went to it's lowest level in nearly 70 years.
Under Bill Clinton--a Democrat from Arkansas--the tax rates went sky-high again.
Now, tell us again about the legacy of Lincoln.
What a git.
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