Driving the South to Secession

From: bernhard1848@gmail.com

It is said that if the Crittenden Compromise of December, 1861 had been submitted to the people, it would have had far-reaching effect in arresting the secession movement except for the already-departed South Carolina. By January, the opportunity had passed though the Republicans showed by their support of the proposed 13th Amendment that slavery was truly not an issue, and that their coming war against the American South was expressly for other reasons.

Bernhard Thuersam, www.Circa1865.com


Driving the South to Secession

"From Buffalo, on January 18, 1861, he [Horatio Seymour] wrote Senator Crittenden of Kentucky in support of his scheme of compromise. It was in his opinion that this "great measure of reconciliation" struck "the popular heart." [Senator William] Bigler of Pennsylvania had proposed that the Crittenden Compromise be submitted to popular vote, and Seymour assured the senator that Bigler's suggestion was "here regarded as vastly important."

He thought the measure would carry New York by 150,000 votes in a referendum . . . [and] Republican congressmen who feared to support the compromise would be glad of the chance to throw the responsibility on their constituents.

[Author] James Ford Rhodes fortified one's belief in the good judgment of Seymour when he studied the defeat of Senator Crittenden's proposals. In view of the appalling consequences the responsibility of both Lincoln and Seward for the defeat is heavy, if not dark — in spite of all that historians of the inevitable have written of "this best of all possible worlds." The committee to which Crittenden's bill for compromise was referred consisted of thirteen men. Crittenden himself was the most prominent of the three representatives from the Border States.

Of three Northern Democrats, Douglas, of Illinois was the leader; of five Republicans, [William] Seward was the moving spirit. Only two men sat from the Cotton States, [Jefferson] Davis and [Robert] Toombs. Commenting on the fateful vote of the committee, Rhodes observed:

"No fact is clearer than that the Republicans in December defeated the Crittenden compromise; few historic probabilities have better evidence to support them than the one which asserts that the adoption of this measure would have prevented the secession of the Cotton States, other than South Carolina, and the beginning of the civil war in 1861 . . . It is unquestionable, as I have previously shown, that in December the Republicans defeated the Crittenden proposition; and it seems to me likewise clear that, of all the influences tending to this result, the influence of Lincoln was the most potent."

In January the House refused, by a vote of 113 to 80, to submit the Crittenden Compromise to the people. About the same time the Senate joined this action by a vote of 20 to 19. Two-thirds of each House, however, recommended to the States a compromise thirteenth amendment to the Constitution, as follows: "No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said State."

Conservative Republicans voted with the Democrats to carry this measure of which Lincoln approved in his inaugural address."

(Horatio Seymour of New York, Stewart Mitchell, Harvard University Press, 1938, pp 222-224)

Lincoln's Real Motive

From: bernhard1848@gmail.com

Lincoln's belief that the American South after solemn conventions of its States remained part of his government was a fiction to which he clung throughout the war, surpassed only by his belief that ten percent of the voters of a State can determine its legal and constitutional government. He refused to believe that his own authority as president was limited, and the supremacy of his political party over country motivated him.

Bernhard Thuersam, www.Circa1865.com


Lincoln's Real Motive

"From Mr. [Robert] Toombs, Secretary of State, Message No. 5, Department of State, Montgomery, Alabama, May 18, 1861.

To: Hon Wm. L. Yancey, Hon. Pierre A. Rost, Hon. A. Dudley Mann, Commissioners of the Confederate States, etc.

Gentlemen: My dispatch of the 24th ultimo contained an accurate summary of the important events which had transpired up to that date, and informed you that the Executive of the United States had commenced a war of aggression against the Confederate States.

On the 20th instant the convention of the people of North Carolina will assemble at Raleigh, and there is no doubt that, immediately thereafter, ordinances of secession from the United States, and union with the Confederate States, will be adopted.

Although ten independent and sovereign States have thus deliberately severed the bonds which bound them in political union with the United States, and have formed a separate and independent Government for themselves, the President of the United States affects to consider that the Federal Union is still legally and constitutionally unbroken . . . He claims to be our ruler, and insists that he has the right to enforce our obedience.

From the newspaper press, the rostrum, and the pulpit, the partisans of Mr. Lincoln, while they clamorously assert their devotion to the Union and Constitution of the United States, daily preach a relentless war between the sections, to be prosecuted not only in violation of all constitutional authority, but in disregard of the simplest law of humanity.

The authorized exponents of the sentiments of [Lincoln's party] . . . avow that it is the purpose of the war to subjugate the Confederate States, spoliate the property of our citizens, sack and burn our cities and villages, and   exterminate our citizens . . .

[The] real motive which actuates Mr. Lincoln and those who now sustain his acts is to accomplish by force of arms that which the masses of the Northern people have long sought to effect – namely, the overthrow of our domestic institutions, the devastation and destruction of our social interests, and the reduction of the Southern States to the condition of subject provinces.

It is not astonishing that a people educated in that school which always taught the maintenance of the rights of the few against the might of the many, which ceaselessly regarded the stipulation to protect and preserve the liberties and vested rights of every member of the Confederacy as the condition precedent upon which each State delegated certain powers necessary for self-protection to the General Government, should refuse to submit dishonorably to the destruction of their constitutional liberty, the insolent denial of their right to govern themselves and to hold and enjoy their property in peace.

In the exercise of that greatest of the rights reserved to the several States by the late Federal Constitution – namely, the right for each State to be judge for itself, as well of the infractions of the compact of the Union, as of the mode and measure of redress – the sovereignties composing the Confederate States resolved to sever their political connection with the United States and form a Government of their own, willing to effect this purpose peacefully at any sacrifice save that of honor and liberty, but determined even at the cost of war to assert their right to independence and self-government."

(A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Confederacy 1861-1865, James D. Richardson, Volume II, US Publishing Company, 1905, excerpt, pp. 26-31)

Ancient Relics and Statues Destroyed in Mosul...Sound Familiar?

This is heartbreaking, and difficult to watch...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2970270/Islamic-State-fighters-destroy-antiquities-Iraq-video.html

"Islamic State thugs have destroyed a collection of priceless statues and sculptures in Iraq dating back thousands of years.

Extremists used sledgehammers and power drills to smash ancient artwork as they rampaged through a museum in the northern city of Mosul.

Video footage shows a group of bearded men in the Nineveh Museum using tools to wreck 3,000-year-old statues after pushing them over."

How utterly disgraceful and disrespectful to destroy the culture, heritage, and history of a people because of hate and ignorance.

Sound familiar? How frightening is it that there are people in the United States who would like to see the same thing happen to our Confederate memorials, monuments, and artifacts? It's already happening here, and will continue, if we don't start standing up and defending our heritage!

"The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here."  Matthew 12:41

Susan Hathaway
Va Flaggers
Sandston VA
info@vaflaggers.com

RESCUING GENERAL STUART

General James Ewell Brown Stuart is once again in danger! Though he is no longer prey to the mortality of the flesh, his monument in Richmond is in serious danger of being rendered hors d'combat due to the passage of time and frailty of every man-made substance no matter how "permanent".

THE STUART-MOSBY HISTORICAL SOCIETY is sponsoring a fund-raising effort to keep General JEB in the saddle for many years to come. For a cost of $35,000, craftsmen will return the General to full health and continued existence. It is hoped to have the funds raised by June so that the work can be done during the summer. All monies collected above and beyond the cost of restoration will be placed in a trust fund for future maintenance.

To help in this most worthy cause, please make out your check to: The Stuart Mosby Historical Society and mark for the "Monument Restoration Fund." Please send your tax-deductible donation to:

The Stuart-Mosby Historical Society
5405 Midship Court
Burke, VA 22015

Susan Hathaway
Va Flaggers

The Civil War Soldier – Who Are They?

WALKER COUNTY, GA – The American Civil War is the most widely written and discussed topic in American history. Details pertaining battles are reviewed; political figures and their policies are examined and debated; military figures are studied to find the defects or geniuses of their engagements. However, the common solider is overlooked and rarely discussed. On February 28, 2015 at 6 P.M. at the Walker County Civic Center the Georgia Civil War Commission will present an educational symposium entitled The Civil War Soldiers - Who Are They? Notable historians will discuss the aspect that the War was not just a "white man's war" but that both armies consisted of a conglomerate of different people from different walks of life.  This event is free and open to the public.

The Georgia Civil War Commission has arranged many distinguished and prominent historians that can delve into the subject of "Who are the Civil War soldiers?" Those speakers include Earl Ijames, who is the African American and Community Curator of the North Carolina Museum of History; Teresa Roane who currently is the Archivist of the United Daughters of the Confederacy; Charles Kelly Barrow who is not only a Commissioner but also author of Black Confederates and Black Southerners in Confederate Armies; Brad Quinlin who is a renowned genealogist and researcher for many of the Confederate and National Cemeteries around Georgia; Lewis Regenstein who a regular contributor about Jewish Confederates to periodicals; John Carroll who is not only a Commissioner but also a historian; Greg Eanes who is author of Virginia's Black Confederates; and James Yancey who is a Commissioner and former archivist of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library.

For more information, contact Cassie Barrow at gcwc@inbox.com or 770.468.4313.

About Georgia Civil War Commission

The Georgia Civil War Commission was created by the 1993 Georgia General Assembly. Its mandate, as spelled out in Senate Resolution 21, is to coordinate planning, preservation, and promotion of structures, buildings, sites, and battlefields associated with this significant period of our common heritage. The Commission is to develop a State of Georgia Civil War Sites Heritage plan. The plan will promote heritage tourism and provide incentives to local landowners and local governments to preserve Civil War battlefields and historic sites. The Commission is to acquire or provide funds for the acquisition of Civil War battlefields, cemeteries, and other historic properties. The Commission can receive and accept loans, gifts, grants, donations or contributions of property.

Cassie A. Barrow,
Chief of Staff
Georgia Civil War Commission

Re: How one man reminded me what I love about the South

From: cscitizen@windstream.net
To: jarchibald@al.com

http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/02/how_one_man_reminded_me_what_i.html

John,
     
Tell your friend Justin that to totally & truly love the South one must personally come to terms with the fact that it is not perfect. We have our flaws like every other section of America but, we borrowed them from the rest of the country when America was young. So, do not make the South the sole scapegoat for them as the rest of the country does in an attempt to relieve its conscience & itself of its part of the responsibility for those events.
 
While we do have good food, weather etc., we are also a distinct region unto ourselves with our own history, heritage, culture & symbols unlike places I have lived or visited in the rest of this country. All foreign & distant compared to what I knew at home.
 
In short, do not be a South hater because we have no more or no less the number of faults as the rest of this country, we just get singled out more for them. I for one will be glad when the rest of America shoulders their share of the responsibility for America`s shortcomings instead of piling them all on us. It has gotten old, worn-out & is no longer believable to most thinking people.

Billy E. Price
Ashville Alabama

We Won! We have the deed to Confederate Memorial Circle!

It's time to Celebrate, Commemorate & Re-Dedicate!

The Friends of Forrest and Selma Chapter 53, UDC Cordially Invite You to Attend & Share The Celebration of our Historical & Monumental Victory!!!

Saturday, May 23, 2015
1:00 PM
Confederate Memorial Circle
Historic Live Oak Cemetery
Selma, Alabama

A Guided Tour of Live Oak Cemetery
9:30am
Reception to follow program at the
Smitherman Building Museum
(The Original Site of the NB Forrest Monument)
109 Union Street

The host hotel is the Quality Inn here in Selma – 334-874-8600. I have blocked off 15 rooms at the Special Friends of Forrest rate of $69 per night plus tax. There are only 60 rooms in the hotel so call now for your reservations! May 23, 2015 is Memorial Day weekend. This will give out-of-towners an extra day for travel back home & work or to stay an extra day to tour Historic Selma! For more information contact: Pat Godwin at 334-875-1690; 334-419-4566 (cell) or e-mail: oldsouthrebel@zebra.net

Confederate Memorial Circle was originally dedicated 137 years ago on 26 April 1878. It's time to celebrate, commemorate & re-dedicate Confederate Memorial Circle where we will re-dedicate the Nathan Bedford Forrest Monument by unveiling the REPLACEMENT bronze bust of Lt. General Nathan Bedford Forrest. We will re-dedicate the Confederate Soldiers' Memorial and also the new Battle of Selma Memorial. This will be a HUGE MONUMENTAL HISTORICAL event- the most paramount Confederate accomplishment throughout the South in recent times. We beat the enemy in their own territory, the Civil Rights hotpot of the world! We have won our case against the City of Selma. Selma Chapter 53, UDC has been awarded the deed to the one acre Memorial Circle plus the Pigeoneers House! Our Security & Beautification Enhancement of Confederate Memorial Circle project has been quite a test of patience, endurance, perseverance and faithful dedication of all our supporters. We are very GRATEFUL for ALL our supporters and contributors to our efforts to defend, protect and preserve our noble Southern history and heritage here in Selma. Even though we are having the dedication on May 23, this project is not quite finished. We still have LOTS to pay for and also erect 20 bronze historical interpretive markers throughout the Circle. These historical markers will cost approximately $1500 each. We are also still selling the ancestor pavers; if you want your paver laid by dedication day please place your order NOW!  However, we will continue to sell the pavers until we have all 4 quads filled with engraved pavers. Contact me at 334-875-1690 for order form & information. If you would like to contribute to this historical, monumental project, please make check payable to and MARK FOR: CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL CIRCLE:

NBF Monument Fund
C/o Patricia S. Godwin
Fort Dixie
10800 Co. Rd. 30
Selma, Alabama  36701

Keepin' the skeer on'em!

DEO VINDICE!

Patricia S. Godwin