Confederate Sesquicentennial

My Southern roots, such as they are are rankled a bit by the talking heads needlessly ranting about the in process 150th year anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the Southern Confederacy.

A little history. In all 11 states, by either popular vote and/or vote by legislature determined to secede form the Union. The basic legal justification was the Declaration of Independence of the 13 colonies from Great Britain. The general part of that declaration which was the basis for this belief is,
"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,[72] that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."

President Lincoln did not accept this argument and raised 75,000 troops to regain control over those states who by popular acclamation chose to 'abolish and institute a new government'. By force of arms the United States invaded the Confederacy. As we all know, the Confederacy lost the war, which was not actually a declared war at all.

There are some questions which arise as a result of the defeat of the Confederacy. How is it that West Virginia can be a state if Constitutionally you cannot make a state from another? If Virginia did not secede as Lincoln stated, then West Virginia is illegal. Here though is the part I don't understand. If the states did not legally secede, then why did they have to be readmitted?

Slavery was not the primary reason for Southern Secession. States rights were and yes, they were coupled politically by slavery. There was a political imbalance which favored the non-slave states. Up until then, there had been balance between slave and free. The Supreme Court had ruled in Dred Scott that the Federal Government could not ban slavery in the western territories. As much as we find slavery a terrible thing today, back then everyone benefited from it. Northern industry relied on cheap Southern products to fashion into manufactured goods for sale domestically and foreign. Today we tolerate cheap labor in China and India and we feel no remorse since we benefit from cheaper goods at the detriment of our own industry. The domestic solution would be to eliminate the minimum wage and let US industry pay slave wages here.

Today we read and hear about states rights, Federal interference in states business. These were the same issues the Southern states faced in the 1850's. This was not just about slavery, it was also about the political imbalance between the industrialized north and the agricultural South. 90% of the rail system was in the north as well as manufacturing plants. The power brokers in the northeast were in control and wanted to be sure that the South stayed relatively poor. This was to their benefit to do so. The balance in the Senate was the only leverage the South had left. When the number of Free states out numbered the Slave states, the South was doomed. What choice did the Southern states have?

I am not here to re-fight the War between the states. There are many myths still floating about the Confederacy, mostly evil. Southernors are not evil by definition as many would have you believe. Racists are evil. Not all Southernors are racist, nor are most racists, Southernor's.

This is about Southern heritage, simple facts that there was another nation on this continent from 1861-1865, one which was destroyed by force of arms.