150 Years Ago Today
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Apr 12, 2011 at 3:21pm
Although Google is (not unreasonably) commemorating the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight today, let us not forget today's other momentous anniversary: the first shots of the American Civil War were fired 150 years ago on April 12, 1861. It's what I'll be reflecting on today.
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Aug '10
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
Consider this: The causes of the Civil War back then all revolved around the power of the federal government and whether it had the right to dictate policy over the states. The situation is much more egregious now; not only the encroachments since 1866, but those weighing us down since 2009.
May '10
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
People still live who can recall hearing first-hand accounts of that war from their grandparents.
It's sad how that war has been caricatured.
It should remind us how fragile government really is. The United States as we know it is not very old. The initiation of states of Alaska and Hawaii occurred within living memory. The Southern states were not subject to D.C. government for years (during the war) and were not successfully reintegrated into the United States for years more. Still today, some states are held to prejudicial standards.
The United States remains an experiment. We are united by values, not by bureaucracies. There will forever be a danger of growing apart. If the peoples of Texas and Hawaii, of New York and Missouri, and so forth cannot agree on basic political principles and cultural priorities, then we will be reminded that all governments are fleeting.
Apr '11
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
This is what always strikes me about the Civil War is how recent it really is. The last Union widow died in 2003, and the last Confederate widow died in 2008. Imagine that.
Apr '11
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
River, I too would like the feds to return power to the states. But I am quite comfortable with the feds preventing secession and outlawing slavery.
Feb '11
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
Here is a link I thought you might find interesting, especially if you like old photographs.
May '10
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
Easy now, River. Your quarrel is with the New Deal, not the Civil War.
Jul '10
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
Charlotte Reineck River, I too would like the feds to return power to the states. · Apr 12 at 12:06pm
I would like the States to take Their power back.
Aug '10
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
Me and E.J. Hill just had this exchange:
E.J. rightly corrects my ambivalence over Mitt Romney's lack of military experience:
Lincoln served about three months in the Illinois militia and saw no action. Woodrow Wilson was an academic and Franklin Roosevelt rode a civilian desk in WWI in the Navy Dept. Only McKinley (Spanish-American War) had the privilege of being shot at in the Civil War.
My response:
I almost brought up Lincoln, he certainly demonstrated great leadership during a time of war.
I just didn't want to open another can of worms or get labled a Northern Agressor so soon after the recent unpleasantness.
I was only about 1/8th joking. Faulkner was right about the past.
One of my dearest friends is from Jackson, MS. He traces his roots to Cromwell's England. He taught me to appreciate the Southerner's perspective. My best friend traces his to a particular slave market in the Deep South. My people fled Mexico after Pancho Villa took their land.
There is nothing I wouln't do for these men and their families. I think this is at the heart of what makes me an American.
Edited on Apr 12, 2011 at 5:44pmApr '11
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
Oh, Finster, thank you so much for this link! The photos are fascinating.
May '10
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
Charlotte Reineck
River, I too would like the feds to return power to the states. But I am quite comfortable with the feds preventing secession and outlawing slavery. · Apr 12 at 12:06pm
Great post, Charlotte, and what an interesting comparison to consider...our country 150 years apart. I'm with you on everything except the feds preventing secession. Not that I want any of the states to secede, but the states own the federal government...not the other way around.
Sep '10
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
River, while I too hate excessive federal power, I can't let that hatred allow a gross misstatement of history to pass: the civil war was begun by the Confederacy to protect the institution of Slavery--states rights was merely rhetorical cover for their real aim. It's as simple as that.
Our beef is with the shredding of the Founding Constitutional order & the Progressives and Wilson, the New Deal & FDR, the Great Society & LBJ, the overreach of the drug war, price controls & Nixon, the Energy and Education departments & Carter, and Gun Control & Clinton, just to name a few of the most egregious injustices--not with the Republicans, Lincoln, and the abolition of slavery.
Aug '10
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
Charlotte Reineck
This is what always strikes me about the Civil War is how recent it really is. The last Union widow died in 2003, and the last Confederate widow died in 2008. Imagine that. · Apr 12 at 12:01pm
I just heard about this on my drive home: an interview of the last two surviving widows. The interview was recorded in 1997, at Gettysburg no less. I have not heard it yet, but I thought you would like to know about it.
Mar '11
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
"Our beef is with the shredding of the Founding Constitutional order & the Progressives and Wilson, the New Deal & FDR, the Great Society & LBJ, the overreach of the drug war, price controls & Nixon, the Energy and Education departments & Carter, and Gun Control & Clinton, just to name a few of the most egregious injustices--not with the Republicans, Lincoln, and the abolition of slavery."
Except that there is simply no way to get around the fact that those people found their inspiration for trashing the Constitution in Lincoln himself, and his actions during the war. Woodrow Wilson was very much inspired by both Lincoln's fondness for "emergency powers" and the way in which the Union became the first total war state in history. Lincoln's extra-Constitutional actions during the war were one of the factors that convinced Woodrow Wilson that the Constitution was inadequate for modern times, and so governments had to "go around it" if necessary.
Feb '11
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
Charlotte Reineck
Oh, Finster, thank you so much for this link! The photos are fascinating. · Apr 12 at 6:52pm
Your quite welcome. I am fascinated by them as well !
Apr '11
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
Thanks to Matthew Gilley and Demaratus for expressing my thoughts on this more succinctly and eloquently than I could have.
Apr '11
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
Andrea Ryan
Charlotte Reineck
River, I too would like the feds to return power to the states. But I am quite comfortable with the feds preventing secession and outlawing slavery. · Apr 12 at 12:06pm
Great post, Charlotte, and what an interesting comparison to consider...our country 150 years apart. I'm with you on everything except the feds preventing secession. Not that I want any of the states to secede, but the states own the federal government...not the other way around. · Apr 12 at 8:04pm
Thanks, Andrea! I'll have to give the secession thing some more thought, but I hope it's okay if we agree to disagree on it. :-)
Feb '11
Re: 150 Years Ago Today
Linked: Fort Sumter plus 150 years