----- Original Message ----- From: "Gautam Mukunda" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Killer Bs Discussion" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2004 6:41 PM Subject: Re: Why fight in the Civil War?
> --- Robert Seeberger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > I think that is to some extent "spin". The kind > > where only part of the > > truth is presented in order to make a point. I > > suspect that it > > originates with the Radical Republicans (The > > Reconstruction era ones, > > not the contemporary ones <G>) as part of their > > program to vilify the > > South in Northern minds for the purpose of gaining > > support in > > punishing the South. > > > > xponent > > Well, it depends on what you mean by punishing the > South, right? The Radical Republicans were reviled in > history and in the South for punishing the South for > forcing horrible things down the throat of the > South...like giving freed slaves the vote, for > example, and insisting on no segregation, etc. That > was their real sin in the eyes of most of the South. > It's worth remembering that in the first elections > after the war, the Southern states all went ahead and > elected secessionist radicals - they apparently hadn't > learned a thing. It was only _after_ this that the > "Radical" Republicans cracked down. Were _all_ > Southern whites pro-secession? No, clearly not. Were > a significant majority? I don't think there's any > doubt that they were. > > Now, had Lincoln not been assassinated, would things > have gone very differently? Of course they would > have. But he was. And from the perspective of civil > rights for blacks, it's basically been erased from > modern memory that the high point between 1776 and > 1960 or so was _1877_ - the end of Reconstruction. > When the Republican Party sold out Southern blacks in > exchange for Democrats conceding the 1876 election, > civil rights took a devastating blow that they took > _90 years_ to recover from. > > This, btw, should be an important lesson for liberals > who feel that we should be flexible in interpreting > the Constitution. Not all change is progress. Civil > rights got _worse_ between 1877 and the 1920s or so, > not better. > > So it seems a bit unfair that the "Radical > Republicans" are still vilified as radicals for > advocating such radical ideas as racial equality. > I agree with most of what you are saying, but to cast the RR's as "good guys" without qualification is a bit simple. They should be given great credit for the 14th and 15th amendments, those were necessary in light of Southern resistance. But one must also consider what they didn't do many things that they should have. Fredrick Douglas said: "You say you have emancipated us. You have; and I thank you for it. But what is your emancipation? When the Israelites were emancipated they were told to go and borrow of their neighbors-borrow their coin, borrow their jewels, load themselves down with the means of subsistence; after, they should go free in the land which the Lord God gave them. When the Russian serfs had their chains broken and given their liberty, the government of Russia-aye, the despotic government of Russia-gave to those poor emancipated serfs a few acres of land on which they could live and earn their bread. But when You turned us loose, you gave us no acres. You turned us loose to the sky, to the storm, to the whirlwind, and, worst, of all you turned us loose to the wrath of our infuriated masters. " Even considering 2 amendments, 2 civil rights acts, and the Freedmens Bill, it is a question whether enough was done to improve conditions not just for the former slaves, but for all Southerners who had basically had their economy ripped away. (I wouldn't call that anyone's fault, it was a consequence of the end of slavery). All in all it was a bad political situation in that no one seemed to plan beyond winning the war and the end of slavery. Was the post-war North economically strong enough to revitalize the Southern economy? What do you think about reconstruction in regards to Dunning Vs. Foner schools of thought? xponent The Threat Of A Second Revolt Maru rob _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
