Maverick
Member
Article by James Perloff
As a conservative, I normally take an uncompromising stand on every issue, weather abortion or gun control, defense spending or religious freedom. So I long wondered why I felt ambivalent about the War Between the States. On one hand, I could never condone slavery. Who could doubt the universal intent of the founding fathers in declaring "...all men are created equal?" And hadn’t the Yankees fought to preserve the USA I treasure as a patriot? On the other hand, I admired the South’s deep-rooted conservatism.
During the War Between the States, few people were uncertain about their sympathies. So had I lived then, resolute conservative that I am, surely I would have taken a stand. But on whose side?
Deciding to investigate, I obtained a heavy volume of Abraham Lincoln’s correspondence and speeches. Having recently read the distinguished letters of America’s patriarchs, such as Washington and Jefferson, I expected something commensurate. I was surprised and disappointed. Lincoln’s early writings often sounded rather neurotic, and presented a political not above penning anonymous denigrations of opponents in the local press. I saw little of the nobility of Lincoln’s Mount Rushmore neighbors. But, age often yields character, and as Lincoln approached the presidency, his writings began to manifest deep-felt
concern for mankind. During the war, he appeared steeped in its gravity. One could sense a burden over the casualties, sincere patriotism and reverence for God. After reading Lincoln, I concluded he had been on right’s side.
However, Proverbs 18:17 says: “ The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him. “ Deciding the Confederacy deserved equal time, I was pleased to find a dusty copy of Jefferson Davis’ The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government.
Previously, I had not known such books existed. Being raised in the North, I had only heard Yankee perspectives on the war. The South’s viewpoint reached me through prisms of Northern historians. I even attended Colby College--alma mater of Benjamin Butler, whose infamous order, permitting his troops to treat any disrespectful lady of New Orleans “as a woman about town plying her vocation, “ made him one of the most hated figures in Dixie.
Davis’ book revealed a new world. Here were not the words of a politician, but of a statesman, like his namesake, our third president. Rise and Fall not only contained a blow-by-blow of the entire war, but an exhaustive, lucid exposition on secession and state’s rights. Jefferson Davis apparently did far more homework that President Lincoln. He not only studied the Constitution, but the original minutes of the constitutional convention, the ratification statements of each state, and nearly all the important debates and correspondence related to those proceedings. Davis exploded the arguments of Lincoln, Webster and other 19th century Unionists, and demonstrated that the states originally confederated understanding that each would retain its sovereignty.
[snipped to comply with copyright legislation. Please provide a link for this article]
[ December 24, 2005, 07:34 AM: Message edited by: C4K ]
As a conservative, I normally take an uncompromising stand on every issue, weather abortion or gun control, defense spending or religious freedom. So I long wondered why I felt ambivalent about the War Between the States. On one hand, I could never condone slavery. Who could doubt the universal intent of the founding fathers in declaring "...all men are created equal?" And hadn’t the Yankees fought to preserve the USA I treasure as a patriot? On the other hand, I admired the South’s deep-rooted conservatism.
During the War Between the States, few people were uncertain about their sympathies. So had I lived then, resolute conservative that I am, surely I would have taken a stand. But on whose side?
Deciding to investigate, I obtained a heavy volume of Abraham Lincoln’s correspondence and speeches. Having recently read the distinguished letters of America’s patriarchs, such as Washington and Jefferson, I expected something commensurate. I was surprised and disappointed. Lincoln’s early writings often sounded rather neurotic, and presented a political not above penning anonymous denigrations of opponents in the local press. I saw little of the nobility of Lincoln’s Mount Rushmore neighbors. But, age often yields character, and as Lincoln approached the presidency, his writings began to manifest deep-felt
concern for mankind. During the war, he appeared steeped in its gravity. One could sense a burden over the casualties, sincere patriotism and reverence for God. After reading Lincoln, I concluded he had been on right’s side.
However, Proverbs 18:17 says: “ The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him. “ Deciding the Confederacy deserved equal time, I was pleased to find a dusty copy of Jefferson Davis’ The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government.
Previously, I had not known such books existed. Being raised in the North, I had only heard Yankee perspectives on the war. The South’s viewpoint reached me through prisms of Northern historians. I even attended Colby College--alma mater of Benjamin Butler, whose infamous order, permitting his troops to treat any disrespectful lady of New Orleans “as a woman about town plying her vocation, “ made him one of the most hated figures in Dixie.
Davis’ book revealed a new world. Here were not the words of a politician, but of a statesman, like his namesake, our third president. Rise and Fall not only contained a blow-by-blow of the entire war, but an exhaustive, lucid exposition on secession and state’s rights. Jefferson Davis apparently did far more homework that President Lincoln. He not only studied the Constitution, but the original minutes of the constitutional convention, the ratification statements of each state, and nearly all the important debates and correspondence related to those proceedings. Davis exploded the arguments of Lincoln, Webster and other 19th century Unionists, and demonstrated that the states originally confederated understanding that each would retain its sovereignty.
[snipped to comply with copyright legislation. Please provide a link for this article]
[ December 24, 2005, 07:34 AM: Message edited by: C4K ]
