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Why the South lost the Civil War
http://fredericksburg.com/ ^ | 10/15/2005 | NED HARRISON

Posted on 10/15/2005 8:38:50 AM PDT by teldon30

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To: teldon30

Tom Scott was the most valuable man in the North's Army. His railroad was the dominant factor is trucking supplies and troops quickly to meet the Armies of the South wherever they popped up. Following the War, Tom Scott leveraged his position as the most valuable man to create the first modern American corporation, which led directly to the present dominance of America in the world of commerce and statecraft.


81 posted on 10/15/2005 9:53:16 AM PDT by RightWhale (Repeal the law of the excluded middle)
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To: Fenris6
I thought Slavery wasn't a major issue of the war until midway through when that pesky Moral Majority [Northern Repub Abolitionists?] gained steam? Did I misunderstand that?

The secession movement really gained steam with Lincoln's election, which was seen in the South as the final rejection by the rest of the country to the idea of incorporating more states out west where slavery would be legal. Realizing this, and that the days of slavery were numbered, South Carolina started the move toward secession and was shortly thereafter joined by the rest of the Confederate states.

82 posted on 10/15/2005 9:54:04 AM PDT by Zeroisanumber
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To: R. Scott
There's a monument in the Cedar Grove Cemetery in Lebanon, TN which reads:

THE CONFEDERACY WITHOUT AN ARMY, NAVY, OR GOVERNMENT, 600,000 VOLUNTEERS SUSTAINED THE ASSAULT OF 2,778,304 MEN, SUPPORTED BY THE STRONGEST GEVERNMENT IN THE WORLD FOR FOUR YEARS. ITS DESTRUCTION RENDERED NECESSARY A PUBLIC DEBT OF $2,708.393,885, THE SACRIFICE OF 349,944 LIVES AND OF 1,366,443 PRISONERS.

(Note: bad comma splices are as they appear in my source)

Incidentally, I'm sitting about a mile from this monument as I type this.

83 posted on 10/15/2005 9:54:22 AM PDT by Morgan's Raider
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To: Fenris6

If state rights and other issues were in the cauldron over the fire, slavery was the fuel that kept it warm.


84 posted on 10/15/2005 9:54:41 AM PDT by aft_lizard (This space waiting for a post election epiphany it now is: Question Everything)
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To: teldon30

Why didn't Abe let the South go? Breakaway states are getting independence all over the Earth. What about Taiwan? We have an agreement to help Taiwan. What if Abe were the leader of China. Would he let Taiwan go?


85 posted on 10/15/2005 9:55:33 AM PDT by Blake#1
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To: Fenris6
If the South had won, a de-centralized confederacy [or a split North America] would never have mustered the strength to fight the Nazis or the Soviets. "Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers".

It was during the reign of imperator Woodrow Wilson that the US got dragged into foreign conflicts that were none of our business. The entry of the USA in WWI prolonged that conflict by seveal years, and brought about the collapse of the Ottoman, Russian, and Austro-Hungarian empires, followd by the rise of national and international (German and Russian) socialism. Wilson's reign also saw the percentage of the national GNP confiscated by the central/"federal" government rise from 8% (less than God requires) to 20% (double the tithe).

While president at Princeton U, at the age of 50, Wilson indulged in an extramarital affair -- and from that point on was never able to make a mistake. In his own eyes, at least. It was at some point after this event that he conceived the notion of outperforming Jesus, Who could only speak of the desirablity of peace on earth, while He, the great Wilson, had a scheme (his word) to make peace happen.

86 posted on 10/15/2005 9:55:52 AM PDT by TomSmedley (Calvinist, optimist, home schooling dad, exuberant husband, technical writer)
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To: Morgan's Raider
That's a great point.

Given the correlation of forces in 1861, the wonder is that the South lasted as long as it did or came as close to victory as it did.

If the war had happened 20 years earlier (especially) or 20 years later, the South have been much more advantageously placed to win its independence. The 1860's presented all the benefits of industrialization to the North while denying the defensive firepower of repeating rifles and rifled artilery in any real quantity to the South.

87 posted on 10/15/2005 9:58:32 AM PDT by The Iguana
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To: teldon30; SouthernFreebird

Thread title alone guarantees 500 replies...


88 posted on 10/15/2005 9:59:37 AM PDT by ErnBatavia (Like a midget at a urinal - stay on your toes...)
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To: cynicom

WE have many "Snow Birds" in our area. It's an honorable position to take and I (and others) enjoy them very much.Most of them maintain their status because of family and homes they don't want to let go of. It's understandable. I would reccommend the Hill Country, however. It's a bit further, but NC is lots colder than Texas. Besides that we have better BBQ than anyone anywhere.


89 posted on 10/15/2005 10:00:04 AM PDT by Adrastus (If you don't like my attitude, talk to some one else.)
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To: onyx

"I have been repeatedly posting that she is a SOUTHERN Christian woman. "

I was listening to NPR Diva Diane Reims during her interview w/ Tony Blankley she said that she's get the feelings no one can handle the hearings and that the earliest they are going to happen is after the new year.

I have heard her voice. It is a nice, crisp, SOUTHERN voice.

You are welcome. Sheesh this was so obvious all along...


90 posted on 10/15/2005 10:00:08 AM PDT by gobucks (http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/classics/students/Ribeiro/Laocoon.htm)
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To: trek

If the South had tried an insurgency style of warfare, wouldn't Lincoln's freeing of the slaves have created a counter insurgency in the South?


91 posted on 10/15/2005 10:00:20 AM PDT by slyfoxvirden
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To: Blake#1
Why didn't Abe let the South go? Breakaway states are getting independence all over the Earth. What about Taiwan? We have an agreement to help Taiwan. What if Abe were the leader of China. Would he let Taiwan go?

For one thing, the country would have almost certainly split into several pieces once the precedent had been established.

There was serious talk in the Pacific West about splitting off in the firts months of the war. The Mormons would have been happy to go their own way as well.

92 posted on 10/15/2005 10:00:30 AM PDT by The Iguana
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To: RobbyS
It has been speculated that Lee was ill at the time. He was unsually nervous and may have been suffering from the heart disease that laid him low the next spring and eventually killed him.

I've read that General Lee was suffering from dysentery during the Battle of Gettysburg - not good in July heat. He was probably dehydrated )(which can manifest itself into heart problems).

93 posted on 10/15/2005 10:00:43 AM PDT by Morgan's Raider
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To: onyx

One other very very interesting point to make: Robert Bork was born and raised a .....drum roll .... Presbryterian, before he converted to Opus Dei type catholicism...


94 posted on 10/15/2005 10:01:32 AM PDT by gobucks (http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/classics/students/Ribeiro/Laocoon.htm)
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To: teldon30
Somehow I just don't feel the war produced any winners. Militarily, perhaps. But that was just academic, considering the numbers.

The war is still being fought on other fronts. Nothing can justify the killing of over 600,000 American Citizens on both sides of the battle. That is why I will continue to call it the war between the federal government and the states -- both northern and southern.

95 posted on 10/15/2005 10:01:39 AM PDT by Eastbound
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To: RobbyS

"The people who live in the "Old Union"--the one that won the Civil War--think they are the natural rulers of the country/"

I've been doing homework on this tidbit. I'm finding it to be a very very interesting topic, especially the religious affiliation of the major players. The patterns that surface are fascinating....


96 posted on 10/15/2005 10:02:40 AM PDT by gobucks (http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/classics/students/Ribeiro/Laocoon.htm)
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To: Adrastus

Sure take a gentlemanly good thought thread and toss it up into what is sure to be an angry name calling thread by declaring your BBQ is better! How dare you sir, KC is much better anyways! :-)


97 posted on 10/15/2005 10:03:37 AM PDT by aft_lizard (This space waiting for a post election epiphany it now is: Question Everything)
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To: The Iguana

"Get real. "

Why don't you review the SCOTUS roster again ... and tell me again about how Southern Leadership is in play?


98 posted on 10/15/2005 10:03:54 AM PDT by gobucks (http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/classics/students/Ribeiro/Laocoon.htm)
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To: TomSmedley
Good points all. A very difficult question worthy of a thread all its own is which president was worse: Woodrow Wilson or Jimmy Carter.

We could rank them in various categories: foreign policy foolishness, domestic policy foolishness, post-presidential stupidity.

A "quien es mas macho?" format would be suitable.

99 posted on 10/15/2005 10:04:02 AM PDT by trek
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To: teldon30
Why the South lost the Civil War

One word: Grits.

100 posted on 10/15/2005 10:04:15 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Islam is merely Nazism without the snappy fashion sense.)
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