Blogger Atrios (of Eschaton) has been looking into the Confederate heritage movement, partly as an extension of the flag debate. One outfit, known as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, has been in the news. We found this story from Eschaton's comments section.Man brings Confederate history home
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Hall is commander of Camp J. Patton Anderson, which is the Olympia chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, an organization open to male descendants of Confederate veterans. Camp Anderson has grown from six to 30 members under Hall's tenure.
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[Hall said] "Most people think that the whole Civil War was about slavery, but that's just not accurate." How about we check with an authority on the situation? Perhaps Abraham Lincoln's thoughts as expressed in his Second Inaugural. In it, we find:... On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. ...
One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war ... Remember that the next time you hear that the Civil War was fought for high-minded ideals like states rights. |
