Slavery and the U.S. Civil War (or War between the states)

Lest you fall for sanitized revisions of the history leading up to the U.S. Civil War, I suggest you read this brief article by Carl Cannon: Why Liberals Are Right to Refuse to Honor the Confederacy, at PoliticsDaily.com

Jefferson Davis, in a speech to the Confederate Congress in April 1861, extolled slavery as a benevolent invention that allowed a "superior race" to transform "brutal savages into docile, intelligent, and civilized agricultural laborers." Alexander H. Stephens, Jefferson Davis' vice president, proclaimed that Jefferson and the Founders' high-minded declarations of universal liberty were "in violation of the laws of nature." This was profoundly wrong, Stephens said.

There are those who stridently insist there were many important factors other than the abolition of slavery that led to the "War between the States." There certainly were other factors, but those who examine the record agree: Slavery was undeniably a central issue for those rallying southern citizens to secede and fight.

"Our new government is founded on exactly the opposite idea," thundered the vice president of the Confederacy. "Its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition."

As Mr. Cannon notes, the Governor of Virginia certainly did go a long way to make public amends after the fact when he revised his proclamation in the face of the firestorm after he'd signaled his solidarity with white racists to include:

WHEREAS, it is important for all Virginians to understand that the institution of slavery led to this war and was an evil and inhumane practice that deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights and all Virginians are thankful for its permanent eradication from our borders, and the study of this time period should reflect upon and learn from this painful part of our history...

Yet he'd already made it clear that racism is such a fundamental and acceptable part of his world-view that neither McDonnell nor his staff saw anything wrong with the first version of his "Confederate History Month" proclamation, which was tantamount to glossing over the brutal realities of slavery in exchange for the support of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, and political analyst who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.