The Civil War, AKA The War Of Northern Aggression

[Darrell]

The South started it.

*ducks*

[mekender]

only cus they smelled something bad coming from the north

/ducks next to ya

[cu74]

[FelixEstrella]

we have smelled this shit before.

[Darrell]

Sorry, I was being a smartass, and celebrating the return of political and history threads in our new home. As I've said over at the GT forum, I've been rereading Shelby Foote's The Civil War: A Narrative (I'm now about 1/3 through the third volume), I'm fascinated by the war and the major actors in it. I hate to see how postmodern culture has oversimplified the war... I was googling Robert E. Lee, and see that I need to read more about him. Lee was an honorable man, in many ways he represented the best of America at the time. Sherman is a fascinating character as well. I know he's reviled by many south of the Mason-Dixon Line, though.

[Frosch]

Sorry, I was being a smartass, and celebrating the return of political and history threads in our new home. As I've said over at the GT forum, I've been rereading Shelby Foote's The Civil War: A Narrative (I'm now about 1/3 through the third volume), I'm fascinated by the war and the major actors in it. I hate to see how postmodern culture has oversimplified the war... I was googling Robert E. Lee, and see that I need to read more about the man. Lee was an honorable man, in many ways he represented the best of America at the time. Sherman is a fascinating character as well. I know he's reviled by many south of the Mason-Dixon Line, though.

As they say, Robert E. Lee freed his slaves. Abraham Lincoln sold his.

That proves nothing, of course, except that historical revisionism tends toward the
cartoonish.

1. Identify bad guys.
2. attribute every evil of mankind to them
3. congratulate self

[Steamforger]

There is no smilie offered on this site that can properly convey my feelings about Gen. William T. Sherman.

[dfwmtx]

War's over, the Federals won, the Rebels surrendered, everyone went home, and Union and Confederate troops already buried the hatchet at a veteran's reunion in the 1930s. I you don't like the outcome, you can try again and not drop your battles plans this time, or you can move and join these guys. Sure it's cool to be the rebel and the underdog, arguing in favor of states' rights for the South when it was their right to keep slaves means you loose the moral high ground. Honor their memories, don't reopen old wounds.

[mekender]

Im taking Western Civ II in school this semester, and we discussed the displacement of Indian tribes today. This black kind in the back of the room got all pissed about the teacher saying that the displacement was perhaps the worst act in American history.

Anyways, This kid starts in on how "they" are flooding his neighborhoods with crack cocaine and other drugs in order to keep the black man down.

So after about 30 seconds of this, I piped up that "his neighborhoods" are flooding the decent hardworking peoples neighborhoods with carjackings, robberies and murder. Of course i got called a racist for daring to point out the truth.

[Mike OTDP]

What has me worried about the Civil War sesquicentennial coming up is that it will likely be transformed into a four-year Festival of Hating Southerners.

You can debate the causes of the Great Unpleasantness until you are blue in the face. Personally, I think you can blame Charles Stuart, Charles Stuart, James Stuart, and Oliver Cromwell for the whole business. But this is an argument that needs to be conducted with professional detachment and an appreciation that neither side intended to do evil - instead of twisting it for political and social advantage today.

Anyone familiar with Will & Ariel Durant's "History of Western Civilization" will recognize the approach. Those two were particularly good at recognizing that most of history is made by people who may have had conflicting interests, but were not villians. And that an honest appreciation of the motivations of both sides is critical to drawing the full lessons that history has to teach.