No worries, but I'll end with this. I came across that particular video, and really never heard any of those "statistics" on the ACW like those before. It happened to relate to that post I was reading a bit, so I thought I'd put it out there to get peoples views on it. I'm not knocking anyone, you know it's all good. Still, I really wanted to know what others thought because it is a compelling viewpoint, albeit ad nauseum for veterans maybe, but all newer to me. I appreciate this forum, and it helps me see multiple perspectives.
Boopsie,
Can you imagine an American history class that fails to mention the Declaration of Independence? That would be a massive fail... the DofI is an icon of US history, a vital text to understand the philosophical foundations of our nation.
The seceding states, desiring to uphold the declarative tradition of the American colonists, issued their own declarations of independence, which many refer to today as secession declarations. These declarations are foundational texts that offer essential insights into why those states dissolved the Union.
It is hard for me to take it seriously when people talk about why the slave states seceded, and yet, make no reference to these documents. In these declarations, the secessionists give their reasons for leaving the Union; why should anybody be afraid of letting the secessionists speak for themselves?
Well, there is a possible reason: a review of the secession declarations from the original seceding states discovers a common theme: they dissolved the Union over concerns that the incoming Lincoln administration was a sectional party (that is, a party that was partial to people in the Northern free states) which threatened the institution of slavery, racial supremacy, and the very future of white civilization in the South. Many people simply don't want to acknowledge the reasons that secessionists themselves gave for leaving to the Union.
The Mississippi secession declaration says outright that "Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery– the greatest material interest of the world." South Carolina says that the incoming Lincoln administration seeks to "(wage) war…against slavery until it shall cease throughout the United States." Texas makes the serious claim that the free states "have refused to vote appropriations for protecting Texas against ruthless savages (Indians), for the sole reason that she is a slave-holding State." Georgia says "The party of Lincoln, called the Republican party… is admitted to be an anti-slavery party… their avowed purpose is to subvert our society and subject us not only to the loss of our (slave) property but the destruction of ourselves, our wives, and our children, and the desolation of our homes, our altars, and our firesides."
The Declaration of Independence says that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." The state of Texas asserted an important clarification: "We hold as undeniable truths that the governments of the various States, and of the confederacy (i.e., United States) itself, were established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity; that the African race had no agency in their establishment; that they were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race, and in that condition only could their existence in this country be rendered beneficial or tolerable… in this free government *all white men are and of right ought to be entitled to equal civil and political rights* [emphasis in the original]."
The video you mentioned might be persuasive to someone who hasn't spent the time to read the words of secessionists themselves. But once we read what they said, things look a lot different.
A good place to start your review of
these documents is here. Have at it!
- Alan
Keeper of the Scales
Bringing the