WAS THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES ABOUT SLAVERY?

Yes, of course, the War Between the States was about slavery, among other things.

The larger issue was sectionalism.  The United States by 1860 was divided into 3 distinct sections:  the industrial North, the agrarian South, and the expanding West.

SECTIONALISM:  Each section of the nation had very different lifestyles, economies, political viewpoints and needs.  The economic system of the agricultural South depended on slavery. The North's economy no longer did.  

THE TARIFF:  The North, which exported goods, wanted a protective tariff on imported goods to protect its manufacturing or industrial base from foreign competition.  The South, which depended largely on imported goods, hated the tariff.  As far back as 1828, the Congress passed a high tariff to protect goods manufactured by Northern industries.  The South hated it so much they called it "the Tariff of Abominations."  This conflict continued until the civil war broke out in 1861.

STATE'S RIGHTS:  The argument was really the political argument that could not be solved.  The southern states had always, since before the Constitution was ratified, believed that each state was sovereign and entitled ultimately to set its own political course.  The South viewed the Union as a subordinate thing--agreed upon voluntarily in Philadelphia by the various sovereign states, which could, when necessary nullify unwarranted acts of the national government at will. The North, by contrast, felt that the Union was sacred, ultimate, the final authority in the nation.  These opposing viewpoints came so severe that they could only be decided at terrible places like Gettysburg and Antietam.

Thus, the 3 major issues that caused the War were:
1.  Sectionalism
2.  The Tarrif
3.  Conflict over state sovereignty vs. national soverignty

These were the three sticks of dynamite in the powder keg.  The West was the catalyst that prevented delay in finding a peaceful solution.  New territories were being settled and were applying for statehood.  The balance between free states and slave states was carefully maintained until 1850.  Then Kansas and Nebraska exploded into what really became the real "civil war," as slaveholders and opponents of slavery fought and killed each other there.  So Kansas and Nebraska lit the fuse.

The event that blew the lid off was the unlikely election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860.  Lincoln was a dark horse Republican candidate without a chance of winning the presidency.  Except for two things.  The Democrats chose Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois as their candidate and Douglas was unacceptable to the southern states.  So southern delegates walked out of the Democratic convention and selected John C. Beckenridge to run as a "Southern Democrat." Thus, the Democrats had their vote divided two ways.  Finally, there was a fourth candidate, John Bell of Tennessee, who voiced no clear stand on the urgent issues of his day, declaring himself only to be "for the constitution and the union."  

Come election day 1860, the electoral vote was splintered like a barn door.  Douglas won 12 electoral votes, Breckenridge got 72, Bell 39, and Lincoln 180.  The popular vote was just as scattered:  Lincoln had 39.8 percent.  Breckenridge had 18.1 percent.  Douglas had only 29.5%, while Bell received 12.6%.  The most divided election in American history.

And Lincoln won without carrying a single southern state.  If you look at the election on a map, there is a line running along the southern boundaries of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.  Lincoln did not carry a single state south of that line.

When it was announced that Lincoln was the new president, the South exploded.  Legislatures were called into special sessions and southern states began to secede.  This was, I believe, irrational and suicidal; nevertheless, this is what they did.

So, was the war about slavery?  Yes, of course it was.  And it was also about state's rights, the tarrif, balance of power in the new western states--all the clouds forming under the horizon of intense sectionalism.

I would contend that the causes of the war were different from the course of the war. After Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to invade the South and "put down the rebellion," the course of the war became to protect the homeland.  Each southern state's objective became, not the preservation of slavery, but keeping the invading federal armies out of Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia....

Go to any battle line in the Confederate army and ask the common soldier, "Why are you fighting?"  I doubt you would get anyone to say, "Why, I'm fighting to preserve slavery."  No, sir.  Here is what you would get:  "I'm fighting for my home."  Or, "I'm fighting for my state."  Or, "I'm fighting to protect my rights."  Perhaps, "I'm fighting to preserve our way of life."  Or, as one Alabamian put it when a Union soldier asked him why he was fighting:  "I'm fightin' because you are down here."

Listen to General Lewis Armistead, one of Pickett's Brigade Commanders at Gettysburg.  In the minutes before the fateful charge Armistead shouted to the 5,000 Virginians in his command:  "For your homes, for your wives, for your sweethearts....For Virginia!"  And the chorus swelled behind him in reply, "For Virginia!"

  No one answered "For slavery!"







 

VIRGINIA'S HOUSE OF DELEGATES VIOLATES THE FIRST AMENDMENT (AGAIN)

Virginia's House of Delegates (legislature) has again violated the First Amendment by refusing to allow the Sons of Confederate Veterans to have a state license plate.

For years, the non-profit, tax exempt educational and historical group has had custom license plates sold in the Old Dominion.  Then, after fierce debate, the House of Delegates said, no more.  They have refused to allow these plates.

This comes after a federal judge had earlier ruled that if you allow one group to have custom license plates, you must allow all groups to have one.  For example, you can't allow public school teachers to have a plate but deny one to NRA members.  You can't allow a plate for the NAACP but deny one to the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV).

Constitutional attorney John Whitehead, the founder of the Rutherford Institute, makes this point very clearly on his website.  Here is the link for those who want to read Mr. Whitehead's piece:

https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/censoring_the_confederate_flag_is_unconstitutional 

Whitehead makes the point that it is controversial or unpopular speech that needs constitutional protection.  And that you cannot censor speech just because it is unpopular or controversial.  The Supreme Court has ruled on this time and again.

But, in the typical over-reaction to all things that could be considered controversial or racist or "insensitive," the Virginia lawmaking body decided to lash out at the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The federal courts, of course, will step in and put them in their place.

But it just shows you how crazy and hyper-sensitive our PC world has become. 

WHITE CHRISTMAS, AS RE-WRITTEN BY A POST MODERN PC SCROOGE

"WHITE HOLIDAY"

I'm dreaming of a white holiday
With every hol-i-day card I write.
Where the tree tops glisten
And children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow.

I'm dreaming of a white holiday
With every holiday card I write
May your days be merry and bright--
And may all your hol-i-days be white.

______
Seems we're at the breaking apart stage of our society where you can't even mention Christmas in public any more.  Everything is a 'holiday.'  Holiday cards, holiday trees, holiday greetings, holiday turkeys....and the ultra-radical "winter holiday" celebrated by the government ("public") schools.

I admit it's gotten better in the last 5 years.  It got really crazy about 5 years ago with department stores trying to sell "holiday trees" and "holiday greeting cards."  Store greeters were instructed to avoid the traditional "Merry Christmas" in favor of the bland and stupid "happy holiday."

My reply was always, "Which holiday are you referring to?"
 Then, I'd give a good hearty "Merry Christmas!" loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.  December 25 on my calendar still reads "Christmas" and it is a federal holiday (though we don't know for how much longer if the radicals have their way).

So when someone wishes you a "white holiday," remember that most holidays are not going to be white.  I've never seen a white Fourth of July where I live!  

Thankfully, I'm seeing more traditional Christmas cards in stores than I saw a few years ago.  Many department stores now have "Christmas sales."  Even if you detest the ultra-commericalization of the season, it's better than "Winter sales" or "white holiday sales."  

So from all of us here at the Center for Useless Social Statistics (CUSS) - MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

TOP 10 REASONS WHY MILEY CRIES

TOP 10 REASONS WHY MILEY CRIES:

10)  She is a spoiled brat.
(9)  She is a sexist who hates men with power.
(8)  She really identified with Hillary.
(7)  She kinda digs the brown pants suits!
(6)  She's a non-conformist or rebel.
(5)  Her Hollywood friends told her to.
(4)  She's a little goofy to start with.
(3)  She always gets her way (almost).
(2)  Not getting her way makes her spinny headed.
(1)  Hillary had promised her a cabinet position.

MILEY CYRUS IS CRYING TONIGHT - SEE MILEY CRY!

Miley Cyrus is crying tonight.  See Miley cry.  Cry, Miley, cry!

Donald Trump has announced most of his cabinet and while the choices are not all perfect, they represent such an improvement over the atrocities of the Obama left that it makes Miley cry!  There is much rejoicing in America as Miley cries.

Hollywood has failed!  While the left wingers spewed forth their venom and thought they had once again beguiled America, the common citizens of America have spoken.  Hollywood has lost its hold.  "Oh, foolish Americans, who hath beguiled you...?"  Well, they are not beguiled any longer!  It is no wonder that Miley cries.  Cry, Miley, cry!

I must point out of course, as NPR has been doing since the election, that Trump did not win the popular vote.  In fact, Hillary got about 2 million more popular votes than did Donald J. Trump.  I suppose we should, in fairness, abolish the electoral college retroactively.  At least, those individual electors who pledged to cast their votes according to the discretion of the American voters should now be free to dishonor their sacred duty--because they do not agree with the election's outcome.

But you see, Miley, if you do not believe now that the electoral college is a good idea, you are addressing the wrong audience.  The audience you should address is made up of the following Esquires:  James Madison, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Jay, Patrick Henry, Alexander Hamilton...., etc.  In their wisdom, they set up the American electoral process in 1787 (signed September 17, 1787).  They gave the final power to elect the President to a group of electors chosen by the individual states.  They withheld that power from the popular vote and they did it after careful and compromised negotiation.  It was James Madison who said, "Asking the common man to choose a president is like asking a blind man to choose colors."

Donald Trump is not the first president who failed to get a majority of the popular vote.  It has happened 5 times in American history.  Presidents who did not get the majority of the popular vote are:  John Quincy Adams (1824); Rutherford B. Hayes (1876); William Henry Harrison (1888), George W. Bush (2000) and Donald Trump (2016).

It was Thomas Jefferson who enjoined us that governments should not be changed "for light and transient causes."  Perhaps we should not rush to dismantle the electoral college system just because Miley's candidate is not going to sleep in the White House.







 

Why We Must Never ASSUME...

When we ASSUME things to be true, even when they are not, we get into logical quagmires.

An example?  When we ASSUME that the War Between the States was strictly a war about slavery, nothing else.

Or when we ASSUME that the South fought to preserve slavery.  Or that the Confederate flag is racist.

Let's digest that terrible word ASSUME.

ASS-U-ME.

When we ASSUME, it makes an ASS out of you, and an ASS out of me.

ASS-U-ME.

A very bad thing.

SHELBY FOOTE ON THE CONFEDERATE FLAG

If you have not heard Shelby Foote, the noted writer, comment on the Confederate flag, you owe it to yourself to listen to him for 2 minutes.  Here is a link:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9J8P6WfS7w

Foote correctly relates that the Confederate flag was never about racism.  He says the Confederacy respected law and order above all else.

This may be the most interesting and most accurate brief discussion about the misunderstandings of the flag that I have ever heard.