The U.S. Civil War

[Eliot]

I've never met anybody who sympathized for the CSA, so I just want to see different peoples opinions on this war. I'm pro-USA (by which I mean, I support the Federal Army during the Civil War), and have a great interest in the war.

I know there was some very Godly (I'm a Christian) Christians in the CSA, but I don't support their views or methods of governing a nation at all. So, just post your thoughts, views, opinions, etc.

[Aerin]

Hmm, perhaps this is a thread better suited for Time Lords?

Eliot, I would hazard guess that there as many "godly" types in the Confederate states as there were in the Union. Just because the people in power wanted to secede from the Union doesn't mean they were a bunch of lawless pagans. :rolleyes:

Also, we must keep in mind that history is written by the victors. How many books have you seen written by Confederates that deal with the Civil War? Most of the history books I have seen, with the exception of very few, were written by male, white, Protestant Northerners. Does that give an accurate and unbiased view of the events that took place? Hardly.

You can't say that all of the Confederates wanted slavery, or even secession. There were many who held the same views and ideologies as those in the Union, but had no say in what their leaders did.

For an example, take Robert E. Lee. He did not believe in the secession, or in slavery, or much of anything the South wanted. What convinced him to fight on the side of the Confederacy (he was offered a military position in the Northern army), was his home state, Virginia, siding with the South. He felt his duty was to stay loyal to his home, even if that meant fighting on the side he didn't believe in.

The Civil War is one of my favourite things to study as if you couldn't already tell....:D

[Eliot]

Originally posted by Aerin
Hmm, perhaps this is a thread better suited for Time Lords?

You're probably right, but I don't feel like joining any guilds right now.

Originally posted by Aerin
Eliot, I would hazard guess that there as many "godly" types in the Confederate states as there were in the Union. Just because the people in power wanted to secede from the Union doesn't mean they were a bunch of lawless pagans. :rolleyes:

That's true.

Originally posted by Aerin
For an example, take Robert E. Lee. He did not believe in the secession, or in slavery, or much of anything the South wanted. What convinced him to fight on the side of the Confederacy (he was offered a military position in the Northern army), was his home state, Virginia, siding with the South. He felt his duty was to stay loyal to his home, even if that meant fighting on the side he didn't believe in.

Wow. I just learned something new. I never really understood that man at all.

Originally posted by Aerin The Civil War is one of my favourite things to study as if you couldn't already tell....:D [/B]

Yes, the Civil War is very interesting. I barely knew anything about it, but a couple of months ago I read a book about all of the US' wars. I learned so much more about the Civil War, and how close the CSA came to victory.

It's truly amazing that if McLellan hadn't lost the election of 1864, then the war would've ended with a treaty, and the CSA might even exist today. I find that very interesting.

[Athelas]

Shortly after the end of the war, services were being held in a church. The time had come for communion, when a black man arose, walked forward, and knelt at the altar. This must have been quite a shock to the whites who always went first, the blacks being segregated in their own section at the back of the church. Nobody, not clergyman nor congregation moved in the dead silence as this brave black man knelt at the altar to recieve the Eucharist. One grey haired old white man, who a moment before had said to a friend that he was no one and had nothing, walked forward and knelt beside the black man at the altar. It was Robert E. Lee.

Eliot, I honor the heroes of the North and the South and can steer you in the right direction for good books or info.

If you can still find a place that's playing "Gods & Generals," check it out or get it when it's released on DVD (Which will be a 6hr version) "Gettysburg" is pretty good too.

[Eliot]

Originally posted by Athelas
If you can still find a place that's playing "Gods & Generals," check it out or get it when it's released on DVD (Which will be a 6hr version) "Gettysburg" is pretty good too.

I, unfortunately, haven't seen Gods and Generals yet, but I want to so bad. It looks very good. I've seen Gettysburg the whole way through twice, and have watched parts of it at different times. A few years ago, my brother bought the Gettysburg VHS set.

I want (in the future) to read:

Killer Angels, Gods and Generals, and The Last Full Measure. My dad has read all three, and he really learned a lot, and enjoyed them each very much.

P.S. That's a very interesting story about Robert E. Lee.

[Aerin]

Gods and Generals was an excellent movie. It was a very poignant portrayal of some of the "behind the scenes" that was taking place at the time. I especially liked the favourable light that Stonewall Jackson was portrayed in. In the textbooks, and history books, that I have read, Jackson is portrayed as a cold, cruel, heartless man who wanted only victory. In Gods and Generals, it showed him to be much more 'human'.

Ack, I have to go now.. I'll post more later.

[Athelas]

Stephen Lang just nails the role of Stonewall Jackson; a shoe-in for an oscar nomination.

[Eliot]

Did you know that Stephen Lang also played Pickett in Gettysburg? That's kinda weird.

[Athelas]

But he has a great range, and never repeats a character. His Pickett was heartbreaking in a different way.

"General Lee, I have no Division."

He also played Ike Clanton in "Tombstone."

"Law don't go 'round here Lawdog!"

[Mrs. Maggott]

Another very crucial character in the American civil war/war between the states is one that is seldom considered: Albert, Prince Consort of Great Britain's Queen Victoria. The British government wanted very badly to side with the Confederacy for several reasons. Primary among them, of course, was the British concern with the rising might of the United States. At the time, Britain was the sole "super power" in the world, but it was obvious that should the United States continue to grow as it had done in its first less than a century of existence, the future belonged to the Americans. However, a divided nation would end that superiority aborning and the two remaining countries would never achieve what would eventually be achieved by a single political entity.

Also, the British appreciated the more old world nobility of the South and considered most of the North - at least the Northeast - to be crass, brazen and totally lacking in the finer gentleman and womanly qualities personified by the plantation owners of the antebellum South. Also, they recognized that it was from the industrial and financial might of the North that the greatest challange to their world hegemony was going to come rather than from the rural, pastoral South.

Therefore, overtures were made between the British government and Jefferson Davis' cabinet in hopes of forming an alliance. The British would have been a tremendous asset to the South. Their great navy would have put an end to efforts to blockade southern ports and the threat of an actual armed intervention on the part of their allies would doubtless have led to some sort of armistice and peace settlement which would have left the nation in worst straits than it was before the war began. However, before negotiations were able to gain sufficient impetus to lock the British into acting on behalf of the South, Prince Albert addressed Parliament and made it quite clear that he would counsel his wife, the Queen to at all costs prevent Great Britain from entering into an alliance with a nation or "would-be" nation fighting to retain the institution of slavery, an institution which Great Britain had so recently eschewed. In the end, it was Albert's refusal to support the fight to preserve slavery and his appeal to the British government and the people that put an end to the threatened alliance between Great Britain and the Confederacy. However, had it not been for Albert's forthright position and his appeal to his nation's moral goodness, it might have all turned out very differently since most of those who favored an alliance were unconcerned about anything but the political advantage that they believed it would provide.

[Athelas]

I had wondered what kept Britain from taking sides in the Civil War. Thanks for filling in that piece of the puzzle for me. I see their motivations more clearly now.