A Glimpse at History

“If the Civil War was civil, I’d hate to see an uncivilized one!”

Continuing on……part 2

President Davis’ inaugural address did not mention slavery and a partial list of Southern leaders who were not slave owners include: General Robert E. Lee, C.S.A., General Joseph Johnston, C.S.A., General A.P. Hill, C.S.A., General Fitzhugh Lee, C.S.A. and General J.E.B. Stuart, C.S.A.  An additional General Who’s name is apart of that list was General Stonewall Jackson. Many people do not know that he set up the first all black school in his hometown when it was illegal to educate blacks. At the start of the war; he had over one hundred students enrolled. Add to this evidence to support that the Civil War was not a war over slavery for the South, is the testimony of a soldier who served in the Confederate Army:

   “I was a soldier in Virginia in the campaigns of Lee and Jackson, and I declare I never met a Southern soldier who had drawn his sword to perpetuate slavery…What he had at heart was the preservation of the supreme and sacred right of self-government…It was a very small minority of the men who fought in the Southern armies who were financially interested in the institution of slavery.”1

In personal letters, soldiers told their most private feelings.  Occasionally, they would testify to the principals for which they were fighting:

  “The hard fighting will come off here and our boys will have a fine opportunity of showing the enemy with what determination we intend to fight for liberty, and independence…History will record this as being the greatest struggle for liberty that has ever been made…”2

In an officer’s letter to the family of a dead soldier I found these words:

   “He was an excellent soldier and a brave young man. The company deeply mourns his loss but he is gone, another martyr to the cause of Southern Independence.”3

Throughout my research, it has become clear that the South wanted to remain sovereign states.  Abraham Lincoln would have argued that the Union preceded the states, however prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the colonies had control of colonial legislation. Many colonies had removed their royal appointed governors. On July 4, 1776 the colonies declared their independence to the world that the thirteen colonies were now free and independent states.  There is even an incident recorded during the war with the British, where New York and Vermont almost declared war against one another.  This is a strong example of two states exercising their sovereign authority.  John C. Calhoun described the state as the “sovereign community.” The state, as the agent of the people, exercises sovereign authority by the consent of those who create it. A state, as the agent of the sovereign community, may give a portion of its power to another government (like the central government) but it cannot delegate a portion of sovereignty.  Sovereignty is not transferable nor can it be divided.

I will be talking about the Articles of Confederation tomorrow in support of my belief that the Civil War was not a war over slavery for the South and that it should be called the “War of Southern Independence”.

Works cited:

1. Sons of Confederate Veterans, The Gray Book, p.36

2. Thomas McGuire, McGuire Papers (Mrs. Herman McGuire, Louisiana Society, N.S.D.A.R., 1966), pp 19-20

Filed under: Civil War Blogs by Savannah Meade