The growing kerfuffle on the issue of some southern Republican state governors proclaiming April as a month to celebrate and honor the Confederacy inevitably leads down a rabbit hole of arguments over actual causes of the Civil War (or, to read our 300-something comments on this article, "War Between the States" or even "War of Northern Aggression"), motives, etc. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is taking flak, including a blistering editorial by our opinion writers in today's CA, for saying the fuss doesn't amount to "diddly" and for not making sure his state's own Confederacy proclamation included unequivocal acknowledgment of the evils of slavery. The AP article quotes an official with the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Rev. Cecil Fayard, claiming that the "primary cause" of the "War Between the States" , in his opinion, "was not slavery."
That view -- that slavery was not THE cause of the Civil War, is interesting point of view to take, given the existence of this document, "A Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union." In it, the actual Mississippi secessionists of 1861 seem to disagree strongly with Rev. Fayard's worldview. Reason No. 1 for secession: "Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery -- the greatest material interest of the world." It goes on: "Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its consummation. There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin."
While pondering whether the Republican party is helping its cause or hurting it with the Confederacy proclamations (and Haley Barbour, oft-mentioned as a possible presidential candidate), you can read the whole document here.
That view -- that slavery was not THE cause of the Civil War, is interesting point of view to take, given the existence of this document, "A Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union." In it, the actual Mississippi secessionists of 1861 seem to disagree strongly with Rev. Fayard's worldview. Reason No. 1 for secession: "Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery -- the greatest material interest of the world." It goes on: "Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its consummation. There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin."
While pondering whether the Republican party is helping its cause or hurting it with the Confederacy proclamations (and Haley Barbour, oft-mentioned as a possible presidential candidate), you can read the whole document here.
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