The Civil War?
“If the Civil War was civil, I’d hate to see an uncivilized one!”
Part 3…(the Articles of Confederation) Let’s continue in our attempt to understand the real reason behind Southern Succession.
Article II of the Articles of Confederation states:
“Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled.”
It cannot be questioned that the states intent was to maintain their “sovereignty.” Most Southerners felt they were, first a citizen of their state that agreed to be bound by the Articles of Confederation. The differences in how to govern the states, started long before the “Civil War” with the historical figures such as John Adams and Alexander Hamilton who believed that the senate, the executive and the judiciary should consist of officials not subject to periodic elections. The objective was to strengthen the Central Government at the expense of the states. They claimed that they became absolute and that their preponderance over a more efficient and powerful nation could no longer be justified.1
James Madison believed the states to be a great threat to the Federal Government; therefore the Central Government needed more powers to protect itself against the state governments. Then there was Patrick henry who made it crystal clear that the purpose of the Revolutionary War was to secure for Americans “Liberty” not a “Great Mighty Empire.”2 He was a Virginian. It was fear of creating another “Great Mighty Emprie”, resembling the governnment we have today, (which is obvious to me now that it is not the same government we had prior to the “Civil War’) that the South was so afraid of.
The struggle between the Federalists and proponents of state sovereignty continued until the majority of the North at last took complete control of the Federal Government. When the states succeeded, to protect their belief in self-governing, (which according to the Articles of confederation they had a right to do,)the North waged war against the South. Most people do not know or understand that state sovereignty is the primary principal upon which the Constitutional Federal Republic was established. Our liberties and freedoms are not protected without state sovereignty. I think the best way to sum up this section would be to use Federal Judge Chase’s words, “State Sovereignty died at Appotomax.”
1. Marshall L. Derosa, The Cofederate Constitution of 1861 (University of Missouri Press, Columbia and London; 1991) pg.35
2. Abel P. Upshur, The Federal Government, C.C. Burr, editory of 1868 edition (Van Ewrie, Horton and Company, New York, NY; 1868)
Filed under: Civil War Blogs by Savannah Meade
Everything is ALWAYS about time, money, and power. I’ve been aware that the civil war was not about slavery (or people) but about “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power…” I do not believe that today’s Iraq war is about “freedom of a people from a dictatorship” or about “terrorism” but about time, money and power. I think it was that the mid-east was unstable and would create economic problems therefore the war was fed to us as “necessary to fight against terrorism”. Hopefully the history books will get that one straight also. Thanks for blogging your candid overview of the civil war. People need to realize the truth so we don’t relive some of our history.