Posted on 02/26/2005 9:53:22 PM PST by SmithL
Funny the southerners, in the entire decade leading up to Lincoln's election, didn't complain about tariffs. Funny that the ONLY THING they talked about was slavery; it was the ONLY THING their state legislatures legislated against; the ONLY THING their mail/censorship laws dealt with; and the ONLY THING that their entire religion changed over.
The only thing "tripping you up" is truth. You're clearly a Lincoln-hater and will use any deception to conceal the fact that slavery was the central issue in the Confederacy, and the sole reason they saw Lincoln as a threat.
Allowing for the possibility that you have read the debates in Congress for the entire decade, etc., you conveniently leave out of the equation the fact that both the Pierce and Buchanan Administrations were very friendly to the South. They did not have that much to complain of, except the fact that mobs in the North were interfering with Southern rights in some areas, and that the Abolitionist influence was on the rise in the new Republican Party.
It wasn't about slavery per se. It didn't matter what the particular precipitant was. The fact was that the South was being smeared in the North, and in the four way division at the polls in 1860, a purely sectional party--entirely non-Southern had captured the Federal Executive.
If you are not aware of the viciousness of the Abolitionist assault on their fellow Americans, read Daniel Webster's comments on the same: Webster Address. (We quote Webster's speech, rather than a Southern one, because Webster was definitely anti-slavery. But he loved the Union and the Constitutional compact, which respected all the States, more than his personal feelings on that particular issue.)
I do not know why you, as a man interested in history, do not have the decency and kindness to respect those Southern Negroes who were in fact loyal to their States. Why does that bother you? Booker T. Washington also alludes to that fact in his classic speech in Atlanta, 1895: Booker T. Washington Address.
William Flax
slaves could NOT/did NOT serve in the CSA, as they were NOT free to take the oath of enlistment.
the 100,000+ black men (and NOT a few women, btw!) who served HONORABLY in the PACSA were FREEmen, who were fighting for their families,homes,farms,state & EACH OTHER.
in point of fact, the blacks who served the TRUE CAUSE were just as good as soldiers as their NON-black compatriots-in-arms in the ranks.
the army of dixie was about 20% NON-white.
free dixie,sw
do you think they were TOO DUMB to know?
our black troops in gray were fighting for precisely the same thing as the NON-black troops = FREEDOM FOR DIXIE!
free dixie,sw
slaves could NOT be soldiers, as they were NOT FREE to take the oath of enlistment.
free dixie,sw
the VAST majority of the 100,000+ black CSA soldiers served in DESEGREGATED units.
MANY, until their deaths, were full members of the United Confederate Veterans.
free diixe,sw
Slaves were offered their freedom in return for signing up. See Jordan, "Afro-Yankees and Black Confederates in Civil War Virginia," Virginia University Press. Moreover, there were some---though not many---"free men of color" still in Virginia on the eve of the Civil War who could sign up.
I'm well aware of abolitionists. I'm also well aware that southern slave owners engaged in mob action when someone so much as breathed a word about abolition---so much so that mob violence related to slavery (but not on the part of slaves) constituted the single most common type of mob activity in the antebellum south.
That is simply nonsense. The difference between a laborer in a uniform, who was deliberately NOT given a gun nor trained in firearms because of fear he would revolt, and a soldier is the difference between night and day. The statistics showing ANY percentage of Confederate "soldiers" is highly misleading. The numbers of blacks who actually held a weapon was infinitessimal. See for example (though I know you won't bother to consult real scholarship), Jordan, "Afro Yankees and Black Confederates in Civil War Virginia," just for example.
Because he did not have the Constitutional power to outlaw slavery in non-rebel states.
Sure. Traitors deserve no better.
Of course it did. Free blacks came from former slaves.
Well said.
The point being that the North was not 'Heaven' for free blacks.
I used to have an article bookmarked that was written shortly after the civil war and had some excellent insight into the history of the time.
But apparently I am an idiot and can'r remember how to see my bookmarks.
I'm an idiot too, so don't feel bad :o)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.