The Last Words of Edmund Ruffin, Southern Patriot

1865 | Edmund Ruffin

[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

[Illbay]

V-E-R-Y sloppy.

And it's not like it's that hard to look it up. Some folks are just Google-deprived, I guess.

This guy is confused by the fact that Wilson was a professor--or was that President?--at Princeton University at the time of his election.

[Illbay]

Dr. Laura has a word for it: It's called "agendized." The agendized person sees only the facts that fit the agenda, and dismisses--or even discards--those that don't.

[Illbay]

Because Lincoln was elected President, the terrorists have won...

[rebelsoldier]

That's fine and will I say the same to you. My problem is with individuals and groups that seek the prohibition, supression, and erasure of symbols and history that they claim are "offensive" or "injurious" to select groups for simply existing. And this is by no means limited to Confederate symbols, figures, or history as Founding Fathers of the American Revolution and early American historical figures are being maligned and expunged from the public stage by the same groups that accuse this country of being a hellhole of racist, sexist, and gender inequities. You may detest the South and southerners, which is your right. But being part and parcel of an agenda seeking to annihilate and supplant and American heritage and history, eventually comes around to destroying all of it.

[rebelsoldier]

Sorry if the truth hurts, but the numbers don't lie. As for the WTC, I used to work in it smart ass, did you? And what is the extent of your military service if any? Since this "backward" South, is the place where the most military training bases and installations in the US reside, including my state where Fort Bragg (the largest military installation in the world) is located, you might want to rethink your assumptions. When I reference Yankees, I refer to arrogant, disrespectful, and disagreeable individuals with an innate distain for the south and southerners, not simply northerners or non-southerners of which many of my own family are.

[4CJ]

What part of "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" don't you understand?

Thomas Jefferson wrote to Edward Carrington (16 Jan 1787):

The people are the only censors of their governors: and even their errors will tend to keep these to the true principles of their institution. To punish these errors too severely would be to suppress the only safeguard of the public liberty. The way to prevent these irregular interpositions of the people is to give them full information of their affairs thro' the channel of the public papers, and to contrive that those papers should penetrate the whole mass of the people. The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.

John Marshall wrote "I am not an advocate for the alien and sedition bills; had I been in Congress when they passed, I should, unless my judgment could have been changed, certainly have opposed them."

James Madison, the father of the Constitution opined in the Virginai Resolutions that the Sedition Act "exercises, in like manner, a power not delegated by the Constitution, but, on the contrary, expressly and positively forbidden by one of the amendments thereto."

The soapbox, the gun, and the vote are the fundamental rights of the people to protect themselves from a tryrant. Lincoln abused them all.

[Commie Basher]

My point: Bayonet Rule breeds hatred, contempt, and sews the seeds of future political action.

Are you saying the US should pursue a non-intervensionist foreign policy? I'm all for that. But to cite a Civil War veteran out of the blue, without explaining its contemporary context, was confusing.

[Commie Basher]

I don't understand this whole thread. Why are we re-fighting the Civil War?

[Non-Sequitur]

You may detest the South and southerners, which is your right.

But I don't detest the south or southerners. I don't care enough about either enough to have any strong feelings one way or another. I do care about accuracy and that is one thing that tends to be lacking when you sothron types get together to thump your chests and reminisce about the old days.

[TexConfederate1861]

You may bite my rebel backside at anytime....:)

[Non-Sequitur]

I don't understand this whole thread. Why are we re-fighting the Civil War?

Hobby?

[Non-Sequitur]

Several New England states talked of secession during the War of 1812, although it was not for the purpose of joining the British. There were other instances of other parts of the country talking secession prior to the Civil War as well. The big difference was that they all talked, but the south actually acted on their talk and entered into a rebellion. Had the New England states tried to carry out their threats in 1814 I would have expected the federal government to take steps to end the rebellion. And had the New England states resorted to armed action then I would have expected the federal government to reply with force. No different that in 1861.