Yesterday, I wrote on the subject of Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell's proclamation of "Confederate History Month" and the misuse of history.
Then the Governor's office issued a statement noting that "a major omission" in the original proclamation. That oversight?
That there were actual slaves in Virginia in 1861. And that they might not have been very happy about being forced to support an illegal government in rebellion against the United States. Yes, believe it or not, there were SLAVES in Virginia, and they JUST MIGHT have had something to do with "a four year war between the states for independence that concluded at Appomattox Courthouse."
Governor, you need to fix this proclamation...FAST. The damage has already been done to some extent; the NAACP and other civil rights organizations have already come out in protest to this planned celebration of all things Confederate. You've taken the first step by recognizing "...that the institution of slavery led to this war and was an evil and inhumane practice that deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights and all Virginians are thankful for its permanent eradication from our borders."
Take the next step. Recognize the valor, sacrifice and patriotism of Union soldiers, black and white, from Virginia. Recognize the fact that they--not the poor misguided victims thrown away by the Confederacy at Antietam, Gettysburg and the numerous battlefields in Virginia for some amorphous mixture of "states rights" and human bondage, sprinkled with a heavy dose of racism--were the true Virginian heroes of the Civil War. They stood by the Old Flag when their fellow Virginians went mad. They watched their homes and families scattered by bands of Rebel guerrillas and the Confederate government. Recognize the fact, that in the end, they returned home the victors but watched their victory be reviled by their neighbors, hated in their old age, and forgotten by their grandchildren.
Lastly, recognize, on the same level as the Confederate 'gods' Jackson and Lee, General George Henry Thomas, the Rock of Chickamauga, whose grave now lies in the loyal soil of Troy, New York. (http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Thomas_George_H_1816-1870)Whose loyal and patriotic service to the United States of America resulted, even in death, his banishment from his native Virginia. His service in Reconstruction should be recalled as well, as he led the suppression of the Ku Klux Klan, jailed local leaders who denied Constitutional rights of freed slaves and did all within his power--to include the use of military force--to uphold the rights of African-Americans and loyal white Unionists against the resurgence of racism and violence after the war.
Do the right thing Governor. Recall the proclamation. Reissue it as "Civil War History Month." Recognize all Virginians--not just white male secessionists--for whom the Civil War was the great crisis of their lives and left all Americans with issues that are still being addressed today. Use the month as an opportunity to discuss the hard questions of racism, war, and Federal vs. local government.
also posted at Obsidian Wings (http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/)
This paragraph from Gov. McDonnell's proclamation is particularly historically misleading. He ignores the simple fact that the War of the Rebellion ended, like most wars, when the soldiers on the losing side on their own got up from the lines and walked home. Grant writes:
"AFTER the fall of Petersburg ... the Confederates were more than correspondingly depressed. Their despondency increased with each returning day, and especially after the battle of Sailor’s Creek. They threw away their arms in constantly increasing numbers, dropping out of the ranks and betaking themselves to the woods in the hope of reaching their homes. I have already instanced the case of the entire disintegration of a regiment whose colonel I met at Farmville. As a result of these and other influences, when Lee finally surrendered at Appomattox, there were only 28,356 officers and men left to be paroled, and many of these were without arms."
Thoroughfare Gap, Virginia
Dear Friends,
This is beautiful country and...It is sad to think that a picture so lovely is marred by the hand of war...But in spite of the desolation caused, a great work is being wrought in the midst of this by the blasts of war...when peace come, if it should be decided in our favor...It may be that in twenty years from now we shall see...an active population and thriving villages of homes of intelligent freeman...and it would be a glorious sight to see a young and free civilation springing up here where slavery has wrought ruin...God being my Friend, I know that whatever befalls me, all is well for I am in safe hands...Phillip
Sgt Phillip Rice Hamlin, MN 1st Volunteers, died a few weeks later at Gettysburg. He was 24. His brother, Jacob Leslie Hamlin, died the next year in the Battle of Nashville, age 23. They were my great-grandfather's 2 eldest brothers, and they are not forgotten.
Excellent piece, Col. Mackey. From Toronto, Canada, I honour your service to the United States. :)
Real Americans don't attack their own country. You conservatives might want to remember that... but you won't. Because conservatives still consider themselves Confederates.
If you think I'm kidding, go Down South and mention the war (you'd be talking about Iran/Iraq etc.) and they think you mean ...the Civil War.
You do not do what McDonnell did by accident...not at his level of government.
He is the wolf in sheep's clothing...
He should be watched very carefully...this is not the first controversial decision he has made.
It is another sad day to be a Republican...”
When the governor of the state decides to issue a "proclamation" that clearly chooses a side; it's unfair to the people of the state who may not want their state represented by the governor's bias.
The governor should represent his state as part of America and not present the state as biased by using a divisive tactic calling for a celebration of the "Confederacy".
"THE CAUSE of the great War of the Rebellion against the United Status will have to be attributed to slavery. ...
"Slavery was an institution that required unusual guarantees for its security wherever it existed ... Hence the people of the South were dependent upon keeping control of the general government to secure the perpetuation of their favorite institution. ... They saw their power waning, and this led them to encroach upon the prerogatives and independence of the Northern States by enacting such laws as the Fugitive Slave Law. By this law every Northern man was obliged, when properly summoned, to turn out and help apprehend the runaway slave of a Southern man. Northern marshals became slave-catchers, and Northern courts had to contribute to the support and protection of the institution.
"This was a degradation which the North would not permit any longer than until they could get the power to expunge such laws from the statute books. Prior to the time of these encroachments the great majority of the people of the North had no particular quarrel with slavery, so long as they were not forced to have it themselves. But they were not willing to play the role of police for the South in the protection of this particular institution."
He went through periods of excessive drinking, but remained sober after the Vicksburg campaign.
Grant was one of the finest writers of the 19th Century. For example here is part of a letter he wrote to a cousin from West Point in 1839:
"I have put asaid my Algebra and French and am going to tell you a long story about this prettiest of places West Point. So far as it regards natural attractions it is decidedly the most beautiful place that I have ever seen; here are hills and dales, rocks and rivers, all pleasant to look upon. From the window near I can see the Hudson; that far famed, that beautiful river with its bosom studded with hundreds of snow sails. Again if I look another way I can see Fort Putnan frowning far above; a stern monument of a sterner age which seems placed there on purpose to tell us of the glorious deeds of our fathers and to bid us remember their sufferings - to follow their example. In short this is the best of all places - the place of all places for an institution like this"
Not bad for a 17 year old college freshman. Please provide the "other writings" to which you refer.
"Dr. I ask you not to show this to any one, unless physicians you consult with, until the end. Particularly I want it kept from my family. If known to one man the papers will get it and they will get it. It would only distress them almost beyond endurance to know, and, by reflex, would distress me.
"... I think the chances are very decidedly in favor of your being able to keep me alive until the change of weather towards the winter. Of course there are contingencies that might arise at any time that would carry me off very suddenly. The most probable of these are choking. Under these circumstances life is not worth living. I am very thankful to have been spared this long because it has enabled me to practically complete the work in which I take so much interest."
As for the people who are going to not visit Virigina - you'll probably need to just stay home. The historical record books of any state you plan on vacationing could have a still active laws regarding race -- where you live might also. If you only know history from the side of the victor, by which most history is written and taught, you really don't know history and are simply a voice box.
If you want to stand up for a race of people that has been, and still is, treated horribly in this country look into the treatment of the Native American tribes.
The riots in New York took place in July 1863 more than seven months after the final Emancipation Proclamation was signed. They started as a protest against the draft but quickly devolved into a race riot in which many blacks were killed and many others fled the city.
The freed slaves were not welcomed by the North. The Great Migration of African-Americans from the South to the North took place between 1910 and 1930. It was partially a response to the victory of the forces of racism throughout this country. It was the victors in that strugle, the racists, who rewrote the history books to portray the Confederacy and slavery as noble and Reconstruction as a period of unjust oppression of the white race.
In 1948 the Democratic party broke with its racist past. In response in the early 1970s Richard Nixon made a deal with the devil, called the "Southern Strategy" and began the movement of the Republican party to the right. So the party of Lincoln is today the party of secession.