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As soon as you cross over the Mason-Dixon Line, leaving Maryland for Virginia, you’re greeted with the Stars and Bars (see above) and a BIG sign that reads, “Dixie Starts Here.”
Two of my brothers and my wife don’t much care for that specter, but I’m fine with it.
My Dad’s family came over from Ireland and many of them fought in the Civil War (over 80% of the Union’s troops were of Irish descent), but I tend to agree with the great abolitionist and Liberty-lover, Lysander Spooner, on both the hypocrisy of that war and the reasons for it, when he said, “On the part of the North, the war was carried on, not to liberate slaves, but by a government that had always perverted and violated the Constitution, to keep the slaves in bondage; and was still willing to do so, if the slaveholders could be thereby induced to stay in the Union."
Two of my brothers and my wife don’t much care for that specter, but I’m fine with it.
My Dad’s family came over from Ireland and many of them fought in the Civil War (over 80% of the Union’s troops were of Irish descent), but I tend to agree with the great abolitionist and Liberty-lover, Lysander Spooner, on both the hypocrisy of that war and the reasons for it, when he said, “On the part of the North, the war was carried on, not to liberate slaves, but by a government that had always perverted and violated the Constitution, to keep the slaves in bondage; and was still willing to do so, if the slaveholders could be thereby induced to stay in the Union."
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"The principle, on which the war was waged by the North, was simply this: That men may rightfully be compelled to submit to, and support, a government that they do not want; and that resistance, on their part, makes them traitors and criminals.
"The principle, on which the war was waged by the North, was simply this: That men may rightfully be compelled to submit to, and support, a government that they do not want; and that resistance, on their part, makes them traitors and criminals.
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"No principle, that is possible to be named, can be more self-evidently false than this; or more self-evidently fatal to all political freedom. Yet it triumphed in the field, and is now assumed to be established. If it really be established, the number of slaves, instead of having been diminished by the war, has been greatly increased; for a man, thus subjected to a government that he does not want, is a slave.
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"And there is no difference, in principle - but only in degree - between political and chattel slavery. The former, no less than the latter, denies a man's ownership of himself and the products of his labor; and asserts that other men may own him, and dispose of him and his property, for their uses, and at their pleasure.”
To the extent that the South fought for the original Constitution, I agree with what the great Confederate General Longstreet said, “We should’ve freed the slaves and then fired on Fort Sumpter.” It certainly would've made the rationale for the war far clearer.
At any rate, I love natural beauty of much of the South, the more genteel and well-mannered people of the South and the ideological Conservatism of the South.
I also LOVE all those “Ham, Tobacco and Fireworks” shops all along the highways of the South! Even though I’m not a huge ham fan, I don’t smoke and I rarely have much use for fireworks, I’m glad such shops are around, if only to keep alive the spirit emboldened on those tee shirts that read, “Alcohol, Tabacco and Firearms Should Be a Convenience Store, NOT a Government Agency!”
I couldn’t agree more!
I also love the history of the South, from Jamestowne (the first lasting English settlement in America), to Yorktown, where General Cornwallis surrendered to then General George Washington, successfully (at least for America) ending the American Revolution, to the various battlefields and military museums.
And of course, I LOVE the Southern coastline, especially the Sandbridge area of Virginia Beach - See the sunset over Sandbridge above.
To the extent that the South fought for the original Constitution, I agree with what the great Confederate General Longstreet said, “We should’ve freed the slaves and then fired on Fort Sumpter.” It certainly would've made the rationale for the war far clearer.
At any rate, I love natural beauty of much of the South, the more genteel and well-mannered people of the South and the ideological Conservatism of the South.
I also LOVE all those “Ham, Tobacco and Fireworks” shops all along the highways of the South! Even though I’m not a huge ham fan, I don’t smoke and I rarely have much use for fireworks, I’m glad such shops are around, if only to keep alive the spirit emboldened on those tee shirts that read, “Alcohol, Tabacco and Firearms Should Be a Convenience Store, NOT a Government Agency!”
I couldn’t agree more!
I also love the history of the South, from Jamestowne (the first lasting English settlement in America), to Yorktown, where General Cornwallis surrendered to then General George Washington, successfully (at least for America) ending the American Revolution, to the various battlefields and military museums.
And of course, I LOVE the Southern coastline, especially the Sandbridge area of Virginia Beach - See the sunset over Sandbridge above.
