Protestantism

» Brian Tubbs - Civil War

For the record, I support Lincoln and am glad the North won the Civil War. I'm not a "southron" (as you put it), and I reject the southern extremism evident in some circles even today.

However....as a former Virginian and one who has studied the Civil War at GREAT length, I can tell you the causes of the war are a bit more complex than you allude to in your line about the "sovereignty" of the United States.

First, there's a BIG distinction between why the Deep South seceded and why the Upper South seceded. Those two regions seceded at different times - and for different reasons. That's very important.

Second, most of the southern soldiers on the ground weren't fighting for slavery or some high-minded legal concepts of states' rights. Most of them (ESPECIALLY in the Upper South) were fighting because they saw Lincoln sending government troops into THEIR states, lands, neighborhoods, and homes. They saw it as a tyrannical government invading its own country. One southern soldier was asked by a Yankee why he was fighting. The answer: "Because yer down here!"

Now, do I agree w/ Lincoln? Yes. But I also think he made a couple mistakes early on that contributed to the war. And I don't support the vilification or one-dimensionalization of the South. There were good and honorable people fighting on both sides of the war - blue and gray.