• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

If you were alive during the Civil War....

JC Callender

DP Veteran
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Messages
6,477
Reaction score
3,270
Location
Metro Detroit
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Undisclosed
...would you have fought for the Confederacy, and if so, why?
 
...would you have fought for the Confederacy, and if so, why?

Depends? Do I have my knowledge of 21st century values, or am I product of the southern mindset of the 1840s and 1850s?
 
Fight for state rights against a government that showed no regard for the opinions of their people and the rule of law?

Hell yeah.
 
...would you have fought for the Confederacy, and if so, why?

Most likely but alot would have depended on the circumstances. Alot of support for the confederacy grew after the war took off due to the atrocities the north created. My own family then was mainly in missouri, which was neutral, and they were split on which side to fight for. Missouri gained confederate support as time went on, but then there were alot of extreme cases, like soldiers shooting anyone suspected of being a confederate supporter, to taking whole families behind a barn and shooting them because one member of their family joined the confederate army.

The union army also had a tactic of attacking farms and civilians, and burning down entire cities. If it had been any time after the war first broke out, I would not have joined the union, historically what they did to the south is the lowest of the low, but ofcourse history is written by the victors.
 
Fight for state rights against a government that showed no regard for the opinions of their people and the rule of law?

Hell yeah.

What states rights would have been more important to you than abolishing slavery?
 
I have ancestors who fought for the Confederacy. My family was actually very wealthy before and during the war. Lost a lot of it after due to the obvious. I would like to think being from a wealthy family I'd be somewhat educated and be able to see the national disgrace that was slavery, but I'd probably be a product of my environment and while I couldn't fight for the confederacy, I'd probably end up supporting the rebellion.

However, if the me of today were magically sent back to the civil war, I'd of course would help the Union in any way I could. They are the good guys, after all.
 
I have ancestors who fought for the Confederacy. My family was actually very wealthy before and during the war. Lost a lot of it after due to the obvious. I would like to think being from a wealthy family I'd be somewhat educated and be able to see the national disgrace that was slavery, but I'd probably be a product of my environment and while I couldn't fight for the confederacy, I'd probably end up supporting the rebellion.

However, if the me of today were magically sent back to the civil war, I'd of course would help the Union in any way I could. They are the good guys, after all.

There was no good guys in the civil war. Both sides had their animals and both sides had quite terrible causes.
 
There was no good guys in the civil war. Both sides had their animals and both sides had quite terrible causes.

Yes, there were, they're called the Union.

None of this confederate revisionist bull****.
 
There was no good guys in the civil war. Both sides had their animals and both sides had quite terrible causes.

No matter how you slice it, the South was less right then the North.

In the end their reason for seceding was slavery
 
Yes, there were, they're called the Union.

None of this confederate revisionist bull****.

The side that showed they had no regard for the law when the did things like arrest the government officials of Maryland in 1861? The side that marched from town to town attacking civilians in order to win the war? No, I'm pretty sure the North was not the good guys.
 
The me of today with my modern values? No. Of course not. If that isn't the case then it would depend around 95% on how and where I was raised.
 
Fight for state rights against a government that showed no regard for the opinions of their people and the rule of law?

Hell yeah.

Your belief in States rights overrides State sponsored enslavement, is ironic, but not surprising.

I am not even sure why I responded, other than promoting States rights, but there are other analogies which are better suited to the argument of Federal and States rights. By using the Civil War analogy, is **** stirring to flame some fans.

Are you bored tonight?
 
Last edited:
The me of today with my modern values? No. Of course not. If that isn't the case then it would depend around 95% on how and where I was raised.

Could you imagine an environment that would convince you that chattel slavery is good?
 
The side that showed they had no regard for the law when the did things like arrest the government officials of Maryland in 1861? The side that marched from town to town attacking civilians in order to win the war? No, I'm pretty sure the North was not the good guys.
Hitler did nothing wrong! (Godwin, I know.)

North Korea should hire you as their PR guy.

The confederate swine were smashed, they got what they deserved.

I'm not here for apologists or revisionists, I'm out.
 
Depends? Do I have my knowledge of 21st century values, or am I product of the southern mindset of the 1840s and 1850s?

Now that is a destructive attitude, isn't it now. ;)
 
...would you have fought for the Confederacy, and if so, why?

No, I would be a war profiteer: I would sell coffee to the Confederates and tobacco to the Union. :mrgreen:
 
I'm almost entirely ignorant on this topic, but wasn't the United States supposed to be a voluntary union, from which states - such as the southern states - could withdraw under certain circumstances?

And wasn't it the case that the southern states were heavily agricultural and hence somewhat dependent (or at least very much benefiting from) a vast supply of cheap labour? (In fact I've seen it suggested that the north supported higher import tariffs, which of course would have insulated their developing industries from foreign competition, whilst increasing prices for those goods in the south.)


Britain - colonial superpower, monarchist government Britain - managed to abolish domestic slavery before the United States did! It's got higher levels of atheism now than the US, despite still having an official state church. Why did it take a brutal civil war for America to get rid of an institution which their very declaration of independence on face value would have deplored? As important and valuable as individual freedoms are, one can't help but wonder whether the above-average individualism of US potentially comes at the expense of communtarianism; producing more polarisation and conflict than common goals and compromise. Disturbing as it is for folk to say that they'd support the Confederates, I can't help but wonder whether the other side was simply the lesser evil. Just some random thoughts, I guess.
 
Could you imagine an environment that would convince you that chattel slavery is good?

Sure. If I was raised by a family in a culture that condoned it and if I didn't know any black people. I highly doubt by stance on slavery is genetic.
 
Back
Top Bottom