Yeah, the English were defending their “country.”
The south feels they had the right to declare the south their own country.
The north kicked their asses back to the stone age.
The north pretty much kicked the British out as well.
One the US soil, the north is pretty much like 5-0.
Therefore, the south found out they were NOT another country. Seems to me that Grant should have taken the horses and sidearms as well. Then the South might have figured out they were beaten.
Rah rah. Your team won. That makes you right because you had the power to force your will on others.
I have little doubt the Fed Zilla is going to say the same d@mn thing when it rams homosexuality and "Global Warming" down our throats.
But again, let's get to the central focus here. Why was Brigadier General Irwin McDonnell heading to Richmond? Was he going to free the slaves?
Again, how about putting the cheer leading for your team aside for a minute and just give an honest answer to the question?
And that is a big part of the problem and contributes to the lingering feelings in the south.
Once it became clear that the war was effectively won by the north there was no need for the Union army to march through the south destroying everything they could and laying waste to half of the nation.
That was done out of petty bitterness and a an impulse to get even or get some payback.
Imagine if after the end of WWII hostilities the US had spent a year or so sending armies through Germany, Japan and Italy, raping plundering, destroying or stealing everything that was left. Burning the homes and possessions of civilians, turning them out into the streets with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, taking away what little they had left - their homes, lands and livelihoods.
Relations between the US and those countries might still be strained, to say the least.
Your attitude exemplifies and is the reason why the South wanted to dissociate from a land populated by self righteous assholes.