The Great Truth?
June 30th, 2010 | Published in History, Morality, Politics, Quotes, Race | 9 Comments
A haunting quote:
Our new government is founded upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man.
—Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America
June 30th, 2010 at 7:20 am (#)
And they say that the Civil War wasn’t about slavery…
June 30th, 2010 at 8:10 am (#)
I don’t really understand why people want to make such a big deal out of the “it’s not about slavery” argument. Even during the Civil War many people (including Lincoln) tried to keep the war about southern secession, but why was the South seceding? Because of the slavery issue; they didn’t want the Union to dissolve all their equity that was tied up in slaves, and they were also afraid of the economic consequences. I’m sure that is oversimplified, but to pretend it wasn’t about slavery is silly. That was one of the issues, but not the only one.
June 30th, 2010 at 8:54 am (#)
Wow, not exactly a righteous foundation for civil governance.
The little reading and study I’ve done of the period has shown great confusion about the cause of the war. Slavery was surely an issue, perhaps even the issue for some people. Others, however, state unequivocally that they would have never fought the war if slavery had been the issue.
This is one of the reasons I recommended Wilson’s book “Black and Tan” yesterday because he deals with the complexity of the issue of slavery, the collective guilt on both sides of the war, and its disastrous legacy on our nation.
If you look at the war as a judgment upon our nation, things make a lot more sense than by looking for simple historical facts.
June 30th, 2010 at 9:04 am (#)
I agree, the War was very likely a judgement from Zeus for abandoning His principles, and not giving proper sacrifices.
June 30th, 2010 at 9:06 am (#)
…and also for my shameful typos.
June 30th, 2010 at 11:19 am (#)
I don’t see any significant difference between Stephens’ and Lincoln’s views on the matter:
“There is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.”
—Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America
June 30th, 2010 at 11:40 am (#)
And yet Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves. I think that’s a pretty big difference between Stephens and Lincoln.
I don’t think anyone is arguing that Lincoln wasn’t a man of his time, was always consistent, or was perfect in any way. I found this article on wikipedia helpful.
Why do I feel like I’m surrounded by confederates? ;)
June 30th, 2010 at 10:58 pm (#)
Nope, Lincoln only freed certain slaves; in particular, those slaves in states where Lincoln’s supposed authority over such matters was currently being disputed. Via PBS.org:
The Emancipation Proclamation did not free all slaves in the United States. Rather, it declared free only those slaves living in states not under Union control. William Seward, Lincoln’s secretary of state, commented, “We show our sympathy with slavery by emancipating slaves where we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can set them free.” Lincoln was fully aware of the irony, but he did not want to antagonize the slave states loyal to the Union by setting their slaves free.
In other words, the Emancipation Proclamation was nothing more than a political move to garner Union support among black slaves in the south, and to cripple the Confederacy’s slave-dependent economy.
The slavery was reprehensible, but so was Lincoln.
June 30th, 2010 at 11:23 pm (#)
Seriously, someone should have shot him.