You people of the South don’t know what you are doing. This country will be drenched in blood, and God only knows how it will end. It is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization! You people speak so lightly of war; you don’t know what you’re talking about. War is a terrible thing!
You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people but an earnest people, and they will fight, too. They are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it…
Besides, where are your men and appliances of war to contend against them? The North can make a steam engine, locomotive, or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or pair of shoes can you make. You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical, and determined people on Earth—right at your doors.
You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with. At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, shut out from the markets of Europe as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. If your people will but stop and think, they must see in the end that you will surely fail.
Comments to Prof. David F. Boyd at the Louisiana State Seminary (24 December 1860); quoted in The Civil War: A Narrative (1986) by Shelby Foote, p. 58; also in The Civil War*: A Book of Quotations (2004) by Robert Blaisdell
In all my 50 years, I have never heard, nor seen, the attitudes coming from a small, albeit loud, segment of the population. If the average whackos we have on both sides of the political spectrum were the only folks squawking, it wouldn't be a big deal. But political leaders are becoming more brazen with this kind of talk in order to win the farthest of the right wing ultra-cons, people whom often determine the primary winners.
I'm speaking of modern day secessionists, or "States Rights" proponents. As General Sherman said when he resigned his commission in the Louisiana militia, "You don't know what you are doing."
Has anybody ever thought this through? Seriously?
The first thing I want secessionists to answer is simply this: Will you allow all those that refuse to secede free passage out, prior to declaring war on the United States? Or, will you execute them as traitors? Personally, I think you should let them flee.
The second thing I want to know is who will be your allies? I ask because secession is a Declaration of War against the United States and will bring the full weight of the United States against you.
Finally (for now), I would ask why you would want a European Union-style confederacy? You know, a loosely affiliated group of independent states? Doesn't that run completely counter to our history of one nation, the United States of America?
All this crazy talk of states rights and secession seems to be about as unpatriotic and anti-American as one can get. Wouldn't we all be better served to address issues that are within the scope of reality and stop treating fellow Americans as if they were an enemy?
You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people but an earnest people, and they will fight, too. They are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it…
Besides, where are your men and appliances of war to contend against them? The North can make a steam engine, locomotive, or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or pair of shoes can you make. You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical, and determined people on Earth—right at your doors.
You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with. At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, shut out from the markets of Europe as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. If your people will but stop and think, they must see in the end that you will surely fail.
Comments to Prof. David F. Boyd at the Louisiana State Seminary (24 December 1860); quoted in The Civil War: A Narrative (1986) by Shelby Foote, p. 58; also in The Civil War*: A Book of Quotations (2004) by Robert Blaisdell
In all my 50 years, I have never heard, nor seen, the attitudes coming from a small, albeit loud, segment of the population. If the average whackos we have on both sides of the political spectrum were the only folks squawking, it wouldn't be a big deal. But political leaders are becoming more brazen with this kind of talk in order to win the farthest of the right wing ultra-cons, people whom often determine the primary winners.
I'm speaking of modern day secessionists, or "States Rights" proponents. As General Sherman said when he resigned his commission in the Louisiana militia, "You don't know what you are doing."
Has anybody ever thought this through? Seriously?
The first thing I want secessionists to answer is simply this: Will you allow all those that refuse to secede free passage out, prior to declaring war on the United States? Or, will you execute them as traitors? Personally, I think you should let them flee.
The second thing I want to know is who will be your allies? I ask because secession is a Declaration of War against the United States and will bring the full weight of the United States against you.
Finally (for now), I would ask why you would want a European Union-style confederacy? You know, a loosely affiliated group of independent states? Doesn't that run completely counter to our history of one nation, the United States of America?
All this crazy talk of states rights and secession seems to be about as unpatriotic and anti-American as one can get. Wouldn't we all be better served to address issues that are within the scope of reality and stop treating fellow Americans as if they were an enemy?