Last year I made some 8 or 9 addresses, to various audiences, about the Confederacy and the way history has been skewed, and revised, to cover-up the North’s involvement in, and complicity with, the Slave Trade in America.
One point I make to every audience is... at the beginning of hostilities in the “War Between the States”, the two cities in America with the most slaves per capita were: Charleston, SC, and New York City.
The New England states were the engine of the American Slave Trade. They had the fleets of slave ships and they had the rum distilleries with which to make rum from sugar, which they bought from the Caribbean Islands. The New England slavers used the rum to purchase African slaves from the Arab and African slavers on the continent of Africa.
This is the truth about the sorry story of slavery in America. As much as some would like to believe… nobody’s hands were clean, in America, when it comes to slavery.
Now, some, in the Northern States, are beginning to get the word out… beginning to correct the record so that it is historically correct and not politically correct.
For more on this interesting movement go here:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/03/17/teaching.slavery.ap/index.html
Slavery is an awful, awful, blight on the history of the US. Nevertheless, we were in it up to our necks. All of us, North and South alike. We can never hope to recovery fully from the stain slavery has left upon our land until we recognize that we are all guilty, North and South alike. The South long ago understood it’s part in slavery and moved toward ridding itself of that stain by not denying it, but admitting it, and vowing to never allow anything even remotely like it to happen again in our land. When our brothers and sisters in the North do the same, then we will begin the long process of healing. Until they do, it will be an open sore subject to causing lots of pain and suffering.
I have advocated, for a very long time, that the history of the War Between the States and the story of Slavery be told in its entirety, leaving nothing, and no one, out. Americans need to know the truth about that era. We also need to understand that to judge the Americans of the 19th century by the standards of the 21st century is not only unjust but will impede the exposure of the truth. If we point fingers of accusation at the 19th century Americans for allowing slavery, they can rightly point fingers at us, and accuse us of murder, for allowing abortion. These are two different eras in the history of America. They deserve to be seen and understood in the context of their times.
America needs, desperately, to know its history. If a nation doesn’t know where it has been, how can it know where it is going?
Our schools should be allowed to teach American History… warts and all. Our children deserve to know the truth. As Christ himself said, “…the truth shall make you free”.
Longstreet
It's past time for the whole story to be told. As a southerner, I'm tired of taking all the blame for something we were all equally at fault about. If our northern brethern knew how deep their involvement actually was it might serve to lessen their arrogance toward their southern brothers and sisters.
ReplyDeleteLongstreet,
ReplyDeleteI normally agree with you;however
YOU are also guilty of 'revising'
history. The New York State legis-
lature abolished slavery in 1827.
I believe the Civil War began in
April,1861. Did the North take ad-
vantage of slavery? YES! However,
ALL Northern states with the exceptions of Delaware,Maryland,
Kentucky and Missouri had abolished
slavery BEFORE 1861. My home state
of Indiana NEVER established a provision for slavery in its constitution.
Another issue; secession. South Carolina was always THE hot-bed for
secession in the South. As early as
1828, South Carolina was threatening secession for one reason or another. In 1832 it was
tariffs that were hurting its economy. John C. Calhoun was the
leader of this particular secessionist movement. South Carolina demanded that these tariffs be repealed or they (South
Carolina) would seceed from the
Union. The South Carolina legislature forbade the Federal courts from enforcing the law (the tariffs). Andrew Jackson,then President, issued a proclamation
on December 18,1832 ordering Lt.
David Farragut to sail to Charleston and General Scott to make preparations to invade South
Carolina if secession took place.
This set the precedent for the actions Abraham Lincoln took AFTER
the Confederacy fired on Ft.Sumpter.
Longstreet, don't misunderstand me;I LOVE the South. I am descended from Southern roots (Dad's family was from North Carolina;Mom's from Virginia).I have lived in the South(Tennessee and Kentucky). However, that does not prevent me from making critical observations concerning
the South's role in the "peculiar
institution" of slavery and the
secession that led to the Civil War. The correct assumption is the
United States, as a whole, is guilty for slavery along with Great
Britain and France.
My Dear Hoosier: You cut me to the “quick”, suh!
ReplyDeleteMy intention was never to revise! My God, suh, ‘twas the farthest thing from my mind!
Indeed, you are correct about the 1827 NY law. However, it was not enforced, so that by the time the war broke out, New York and Charleston had more slave than any other American cities.
I am aware, too, of the “Tariffs of Abomination” (Which the Congress slapped on the South beginning in 1828)the South felt were unfair and unjust. I am also aware of the “Nullifications Laws” the South passed to get around those tariffs.
As you know the dispute over Ft Sumter, and the man made Island upon which it sat/sits, pre-dated the civil war.
As a South Carolinian I believe SC DID own that island. After the secession, which the US Constitution did not forbid, Federal troops should have evacuated, but, as you know, they did not.
Just prior to CSA troops firing on Ft Sumter, a Peace Delegation was sent to Lincoln, from President Davis, to try to settle this thing before the shooting began. As they waited in the hallways and anterooms of the White House, Lincoln flatly refused go see them. The war was then a certainty.
It could have been prevented, the war I mean. I believe secession would have come anyway. The South then, and even today, feels it has a different culture and a different way of looking at most things than the northern states.
Thank you, Hoosier, for your kind correction, and the gentlemanly way with which you offered it.
With your Southern roots, might I be so bold as to offer you a membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans? Just drop me an e-mail and I will personally see that an application is sent out to you without delay!
You, sir, are welcome on this site any time.
I have the honor to be,
Your Obedient Servant,
Longstreet
Hoosier: One other thing, lets not forget the Dutch involvement in the slave trade. The Dutch ran a huge fleet of slave ships as well as Great Britain, France, and of course, the US.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't, already, look up the sugar trade in the Carribean Isles and the making of rum in the New England states. I spoke to a group last Summer about that "Triangle Trade".
I don't mean to harp, but I think you will find the info on that phase of the Slave Trade very interesting.
It's always nice to hear from you.
Longstreet,
ReplyDeleteIt is ALWAYS an honor to interact
with honorable men such as yourself. You are a student of history.I believe this nation is
doomed to repeat our failures because we refuse to learn FROM our
past. As far as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, I'm afraid
both of my family histories are a
bit "fuzzy" especially as to which side they fought on. Most of the family records have vanished; however enough verbal family
history has endured. Several of my
cousins and myself have made recording of our history from our
elderly relatives before they passed away.
Longstreet, you are correct;the South is a different culture. It is
one I sorely miss living here in
the Socialist Republic of Wisconsin. As for the Dutch, they STARTED slavery in the US in 1619
Thank you for that post Longstreet. Living in Springfield, IL doesn't exactly expose one to any of the seamier aspects of the North in general and Lincoln in particular with regard to slavery and the Civil War. It doesn't seem like anyone here is remotely interested in hearing anything about Abraham Lincoln that might be construed as negative. I was born & raised in the south (Alabama & Mississippi), so constantly hearing how the North did no wrong while the South is demonized gets kind of old.
ReplyDeleteAgain, thank you!
You are more than welcome, sir. It is an honor to have you visit this site.
ReplyDeleteBest regards!
Longstreet