[mac_truck]

the culture that, by and large wrote the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and The Declaration of Independance,

Hmm, and what culture would that be Joe? The tidewater arisotcrats who owned all the slaves perhaps?

Taking a look at who actually signed the Declaration of Independence, you don't find a lot of southern back country yeomen do you?

[Smokin' Joe]

Not very many paved roads back then, so I can't say what you mean by "back country". Over by Charlottesville, perhaps? Oh, that was the frontier. As for tidewater aristocrats, most of those go back to land grants. There were free blacks who owned slaves, not just whites. Please don't try to tell me none of the northerners whose signatures appear on the document owned slaves or were successful in their economic ventures. None of the signers were of low economic status. They all had something to lose. But I believe you'll find that Jefferson, Washington, Madison, Patrick Henry, Mr Lee, and George Mason were Southerners and all were important contributors to the founding concepts. I also acknowledge the contributions of (especially) Benjamin Franklin, as well as the Adams', Hancock, and others. Why do Northerners feel it is necessary to denigrate the South? Or is it that you can't accept that Southerners were simply tired of getting screwed by the very government they had helped found?