In the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll released Tuesday, roughly one in four Americans said they sympathize more with the Confederacy than the Union, a figure that rises to nearly four in ten among white Southerners.
When asked the reason behind the Civil War, whether it was fought over slavery or states’ rights, 52 percent of all Americas said the leaders of the Confederacy seceded to keep slavery legal in their state, but a sizeable 42 percent minority said slavery was not the main reason why those states seceded.
People on both sides fought for many reasons, but secession and the war were about slavery. Period. Regardless of the valor of many, the Confederate cause can never be justified and should never be cherished.
Unless one believes in human bondage.
I imagine you’ve been through Richmond and seen the statues raised to Confederate generals.
Now, maybe in other countries they allow the vanquished to commemorate their cause (I sorta doubt it), but it strikes me as damn odd.
I want to tell Trent Lott and Hailey Barbour all these other throwbacks, “You lost (well, actually, your great-great-grandparents did): get over it.”
I live in Arizona, Richard. You know, the State that is trying to out do the South in all things that are embarrassing? For instance, in Tucson we have a statue of Pancho Villa. The general that lost a revolution in a foreign country!
I was driving to preschool today and the car in front of me had a Virginia license plate I had never seen before – a Robert E. Lee plate. Yep, with a drawing of Old Bob on there and everything.
Maybe I’ll ask the DMV whether they have any Erwin Rommel plates available.
As a genealogist with many confederate roots only one family was slave owning. Why did the others fight? I wish I could ask…