walrus
Member
- Joined
- May 10, 2005
- Messages
- 191
- Reaction score
- 15
- Location
- Georgia
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Libertarian
Datamonkee, I enjoyed your rant, and I thank you for it. I have always been a fascinated student of the Civil War. It is hard to grow up in the area which I did and not be interested in it. Armies marched and fought through my backyard, and I am surrounded by signs of the war (both modern and historical). I, like Datamonkee, believe there was far more to the war than the issue of slavery and in fact I believe slavery was the Civil War's equivalent of WMD's - a convenient popular excuse for a war that the politicians wanted for entirely different reasons. One of the simplest ways of putting it is this - would you fight and die for Rush Limbaugh's right to own a private jet? The very vast majority (over 95%) of southerners who fought in the war did not own slaves, and had no prospects of ever owning slaves. Slaves were an expensive luxury item owned only by the wealthy. Why would one million men be motivated to fight in a war to secure other people's property?
Either the colonies had no right to seccede from Britain, or the South had a right to seccede from the Union. In both cases the local governments sought to sever the ties with the parent government over economic reasons. Either the Declaration of Independence applies to all people in all times, or it is a farcical document.
One more Civil War gripe - the name itself. A civil war is one in which two (or more) factions are vying for control of the central government. The Confederacy never had any aim of conquering the government of the U.S. They simply wanted to form their own government.
I personally do not and would not fly a Confederate flag. I am an American, and while as a southerner I have pride in my ancestors who served in the Confederacy I myself am not a Confederate nor do I owe any allegiance to it. I do however defend the rights of those who want to fly it on private property as an expression of free speech. I see no reason to fly it over a public place, unless that place is specifically memorializing the Confederacy (cemeteries, monuments, etc...) The war is long over, and while I love to continue to debate it I see no reason to restart it.
Either the colonies had no right to seccede from Britain, or the South had a right to seccede from the Union. In both cases the local governments sought to sever the ties with the parent government over economic reasons. Either the Declaration of Independence applies to all people in all times, or it is a farcical document.
One more Civil War gripe - the name itself. A civil war is one in which two (or more) factions are vying for control of the central government. The Confederacy never had any aim of conquering the government of the U.S. They simply wanted to form their own government.
I personally do not and would not fly a Confederate flag. I am an American, and while as a southerner I have pride in my ancestors who served in the Confederacy I myself am not a Confederate nor do I owe any allegiance to it. I do however defend the rights of those who want to fly it on private property as an expression of free speech. I see no reason to fly it over a public place, unless that place is specifically memorializing the Confederacy (cemeteries, monuments, etc...) The war is long over, and while I love to continue to debate it I see no reason to restart it.