Ms. Betty Bowers–my favorite Christian–takes a look at the Civil War, and especially Lincoln’s determination not to allow the South to secede, and wonders whether he made the right choice.
Betty paints with a pretty broad brush, but it’s hard to argue with her characterizations of North versus South….
Lots of truth there. South is a region of ” takers”, notwithstanding Republican control.
How would the South have done as an independent nation? Great question. A likely scenario: agrarian economy based on slave labor, slave rebellion ultimately after years of sanctions by North and Europe? It might have emerged as something like South Africa
The South received a shattering Military Defeat during the Civil War. Politically, and Culturally I believe the South Won. The North for various reasons failed to insure a just peace for the African-Americans after the War. Slavery was abolished but Jim Crow was allowed to flourish. If the Jim Crows Laws were not enough, than the KKK could add violence to equation.
It interesting to note how many of our Army Forts are named after Confederate Generals. These Generals IMHO were traitors. I wonder how an African-American Soldier feels about being assigned to Fort Benning or Fort Polk?? Fort Benning was named after General Henry L. Benning. Benning according to WIKI – “Following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, Benning took an active part in the state convention that voted to secede from the Union, representing Muscogee County. In March 1861, the Southern states that had seceded appointed special commissioners to travel to those other slaveholding Southern states that had yet to secede. Benning served as the Commissioner from Georgia to the Virginia Secession Convention, trying to persuade Virginia politicians to vote to join Georgia in seceding from the Union.”
The Battle Cry of Freedom a popular song of the Civil War is rarely if ever heard today. A Chorus was : The Union forever! Hurrah, boys, hurrah!
Down with the traitors, up with the stars;
While we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
Another Chorus: We will welcome to our numbers the loyal, true and brave,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
And although they may be poor, not a man shall be a slave,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
We still have with us the attitudes of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who was quoted as saying, “They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.”
Betty must be related to George Carlin for her artful and ironic use of language.
If that Betty is the speaker in the video, there’s Canadian in her voice. That puts an odd slant on her ‘vast knowledge’ of the South. The piece was ‘Not Entirely Fair’ either. The South is not a region of “takers,” as it was referred to by one commenter.
If the federal government pulled its programs out of Mississippi and Alabama, they would constitute another third world, as if they don’t already. If there is an area where the states are compared, Mississippi and Alabama are in hot competition for the bottom. Furthermore, Louisiana is the home for corruption, misery and short-sighted government. Then consider the Atwater-based political campaigns in South Carolina and the crazy government in Florida. I think it’s fair to say that the south would classify as a taker. Contrary to the romantic southern identity as being messed over because they couldn’t secede, I think the south would have been on the ropes if left alone. I think Chris is dead-on.
Labels of entire states or regions are neither correct nor fair. The South is not a region of takers. See what has happened here when the name-calling started? We can all be grateful that the entire Southwest region is not like Cliven Bundy.
I believe that we have had about enough nonsense for today.
If the people in the South were given the choice, whether to secede or stay in the union, it would probably confront people with the nonsense they hear and the irresponsible talk about secession. The good people would have to stand up and decide whether they are going to be good or go along with demagoguery, accepted prejudice and 18th century thinking. Some people talk secession like they’re struggling with whether they are going to buy a car with good mileage, like it’s some sort of a romantic ideal. Well, deal with it. If they want to stay in the union, then get on with it, grow up and deal with the politicians who use them, stir up naive people against the “guvment”, and communicate the not-so-subtle racism and division, and decide what it means to be a citizen in the United States. Get rid of the Huey Long types, the smirking racists, and the rampant anti-intellectuals who think “evolution is from the pit of Hell” yet who actually run without opposition! In the end, I’m asking just where are all the good people in this deal if the South is such a great place? Evil triumphs when good people do nothing.