150th Anniversary of American Civil War: Commemoration or Celibration?

[LostAmerican]

FORT SUMTER NATIONAL MONUMENT, S.C. — Somber period music, flickering candlelight and booming cannons will usher in the nation’s observance of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

The opening salvo of that war that began in Charleston Harbor will be recreated Tuesday. The war began before dawn on April 12, 1861, with the start of a Confederate bombardment of Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. The conflict ended four years later with the surrender of Confederate forces in Virginia on April 9, 1865.

“We’re very clear we don’t see this as a celebration but rather as a somber time,” Tim Stone, the superintendent of the Fort Sumter National Monument said Monday. “We know that over the course of the four years of the Civil War 600,000 lives were lost. It’s a very tragic event.” AP

150th: commemoration, not celebration - Chicago Sun-Times

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The "South" alone could beat the crap out of the invading Mexicans and reclaim the United States for all Americans.

WHAT WOULD ROBERT E. LEE DO?

 

[Big Black Dog]

Hold on to all of that Confederate money. South's gonna rise again!

 

[zzzz]

Commemoration. How could a time when a brother fought against brother be a celebration? How can we celebrate Americans taking American lives. The war between the States is an example of what happens when politicos cannot work together for the betterment of the country and let their pride goad them into armed disagreement. This time period may have forged a stronger country in the long run but the cost ...

And let us not forget that the slaves were set free because of this conflict, but the celebration of the emancipation proclamation is a separate day and that will have its celebration.

We glorify the battles and military leaders in that war in books and movies, the flag of the Confederates still flies over not just the south but all over the north. A commemoration is a time, not to set blame or hate, but to remember all of those sons of America who died, not just those who fought to keep the union together but those sons who fought for their states and the Confederacy. They were all brave men who gave up their lives or limbs, for something they believed in.

May God bless their souls.

 

[Anachronism]

To me it's a commemoration. As President Lincoln indicated during his famous speech at Gettysburg, there is nothing that we can do to hallow the ground those men fought on and over any more than their blood and sweat already has. All we can do is remember their courage, their heroism, and their sacrifices for the causes they believe in.

We do not celebrate the dead. Especially since many of us still believe the wrong side won the war.

 

[rightwinger]

It is the defining event in American history and made the country what it is today

 

[Mad Scientist]

I live about 15 miles from Gettysburg. My wife and I have been all over the battle fields but we've never attended any of the re-enactments. There's just too much traffic.

I work with a guy that owns a couple of horses and participates in quite a few re-enactments all over the south. He was an extra in the movies "Gods and Generals" and "Gettysburg".

 

[Anachronism]

It is the defining event in American history and made the country what it is today

Very true, and not neccesarily in a positive way.

 

[The Gadfly]

That war defined this nation, for better and worse. Whatever good may eventually have come of it, the War Between the States (the proper and most accurate name for it) was our greatest national tragedy. We cannot celebrate such a thing, but I hope we take some time over these next four years to solemnly contemplate it. I hope we remember the honor, valor and sacrifice of the men who fought on BOTH sides of the conflict;in the end, those are all good that is in any war; there is no glory in it-not then, not now.

America, for all it has accomplished since, is as bitterly divided as it was then. Our ancestors might not recognize some of the reasons, but they would know the sentiments very well. I read somewhere, that the majority of Americans today are descended from people who came to this country well after that terrible conflict had ended. That makes it all the more important, that we remember the terrible cost of submitting our differences to the arbitrament of the sword. Let us all pray, that it never comes to that again.

 

[LostAmerican]

many of us still believe the wrong side won the war.

The rich won. They always win.

 

[Momanohedhunter]

Hold on to all of that Confederate money. South's gonna rise again!

They already would have if they would stop making babies with there sisters and drinkin' the shine.

 

[Ringel05]

Hold on to all of that Confederate money. South's gonna rise again!

They already would have if they would stop making babies with there sisters and drinkin' the shine.

Sounds a lot like Texas....... or West Virginia, that Yankee border state....... created by the do nothings at home while the majority of their young men were out fighting for the confederacy........

 

[Momanohedhunter]

Hold on to all of that Confederate money. South's gonna rise again!

They already would have if they would stop making babies with there sisters and drinkin' the shine.

Sounds a lot like Texas....... or West Virginia, that Yankee border state....... created by the do nothings at home while the majority of their young men were out fighting for the confederacy........

Texas was a confedrate state. I did not know this until yesterday. I dont trust whiki much but here is some neet stuff on it- Texas in the American Civil War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[editec]

Hold on to all of that Confederate money. South's gonna rise again!

They already would have if they would stop making babies with there sisters and drinkin' the shine.

Sounds a lot like Texas....... or West Virginia, that Yankee border state....... created by the do nothings at home while the majority of their young men were out fighting for the confederacy........

Here's the rosters that includes some of the names of the "do-nothings" from West BY GOD Viginia, amigo.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]FEATURED SITES[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]1st W. Va. Infantry Website - (Includes Book)
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]1st W. Va. Cavalry Website
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]12th W. Va. Infantry Website - (Includes Book)
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Carlin's Battery "D" - 1st W. Va. Lt. Art'y Website
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]5th W.Va. Cavalry (2nd Infantry) Regimental History Book
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]The Civil War Medals of W. Va... Where Are They?
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]ON THE WAY HOME - W.Va. Soldiers on the Sultana
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]7th W. Va. Infantry - Company "B"
[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]ROSTERS, ETC.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Loudoun (Va.) Independent Rangers
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]W. Va. Independent Exempts Infantry
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]W. Va. Soldiers of U. S. Reserve Corps
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]11th W. Va. Infantry - Adj. Gen'l Report, 1864
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Calhoun County In The Civil War - Book
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Confederate Soldiers of Wheeling Area
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Marshall County, W. Va. Civil War Obituaries
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]The Shriver Grays - "G" 27th Va. Infantry
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Independent Guerrilla Volunteers
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]45th U.S. Colored Infantry - W. Va. Troops
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Veterans Buried at Mt. Zion Cemetery, Wheeling
[/FONT]

While the tools of the VA aristos were fighting for their masters' right to own slaves, the free men of West Virginia were fighting for what they believed in...some of them fought for the USA and some for the CSA.

There was actually quite a lot of Southerners who remembered that they were first and foremost citizens of the USA, God bless 'em.

 

[Ringel05]

They already would have if they would stop making babies with there sisters and drinkin' the shine.

Sounds a lot like Texas....... or West Virginia, that Yankee border state....... created by the do nothings at home while the majority of their young men were out fighting for the confederacy........

Here's the rosters that includes some of the names of the "do-nothings" from West BY GOD Viginia, amigo.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]FEATURED SITES[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]1st W. Va. Infantry Website - (Includes Book)
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]1st W. Va. Cavalry Website
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]12th W. Va. Infantry Website - (Includes Book)
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Carlin's Battery "D" - 1st W. Va. Lt. Art'y Website
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]5th W.Va. Cavalry (2nd Infantry) Regimental History Book
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]The Civil War Medals of W. Va... Where Are They?
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]ON THE WAY HOME - W.Va. Soldiers on the Sultana
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]7th W. Va. Infantry - Company "B"
[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]ROSTERS, ETC.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Loudoun (Va.) Independent Rangers
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]W. Va. Independent Exempts Infantry
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]W. Va. Soldiers of U. S. Reserve Corps
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]11th W. Va. Infantry - Adj. Gen'l Report, 1864
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Calhoun County In The Civil War - Book
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Confederate Soldiers of Wheeling Area
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Marshall County, W. Va. Civil War Obituaries
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]The Shriver Grays - "G" 27th Va. Infantry
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Independent Guerrilla Volunteers
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]45th U.S. Colored Infantry - W. Va. Troops
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Veterans Buried at Mt. Zion Cemetery, Wheeling
[/FONT]

While the tools of the VA aristos were fighting for their masters' right to own slaves, the free men of West Virginia were fighting for what they believed in...some of them fought for the USA and some for the CSA.

There was actually quite a lot of Southerners who remembered that they were first and foremost citizens of the USA, God bless 'em.

Funny bone broke?
Hell, it depended on which valley one was in as to which side one was on. As for your statement about the "tools"...... well, it was at least as dumb as my stereotypical attempt at humor if not more so.

 

[Momanohedhunter]

They already would have if they would stop making babies with there sisters and drinkin' the shine.

Sounds a lot like Texas....... or West Virginia, that Yankee border state....... created by the do nothings at home while the majority of their young men were out fighting for the confederacy........

Here's the rosters that includes some of the names of the "do-nothings" from West BY GOD Viginia, amigo.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]FEATURED SITES[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]1st W. Va. Infantry Website - (Includes Book)
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]1st W. Va. Cavalry Website
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]12th W. Va. Infantry Website - (Includes Book)
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Carlin's Battery "D" - 1st W. Va. Lt. Art'y Website
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]5th W.Va. Cavalry (2nd Infantry) Regimental History Book
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]The Civil War Medals of W. Va... Where Are They?
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]ON THE WAY HOME - W.Va. Soldiers on the Sultana
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]7th W. Va. Infantry - Company "B"
[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]ROSTERS, ETC.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Loudoun (Va.) Independent Rangers
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]W. Va. Independent Exempts Infantry
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]W. Va. Soldiers of U. S. Reserve Corps
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]11th W. Va. Infantry - Adj. Gen'l Report, 1864
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Calhoun County In The Civil War - Book
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Confederate Soldiers of Wheeling Area
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Marshall County, W. Va. Civil War Obituaries
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]The Shriver Grays - "G" 27th Va. Infantry
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Independent Guerrilla Volunteers
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]45th U.S. Colored Infantry - W. Va. Troops
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Veterans Buried at Mt. Zion Cemetery, Wheeling
[/FONT]

While the tools of the VA aristos were fighting for their masters' right to own slaves, the free men of West Virginia were fighting for what they believed in...some of them fought for the USA and some for the CSA.

There was actually quite a lot of Southerners who remembered that they were first and foremost citizens of the USA, God bless 'em.

Yeah, I wonder if the average Joe on either side fought for any other reason other then to defend against Northern/Southern aggression. My Great Grand Father fought for the Confederates. He was Chickasaw Indian and I guess that's what he did. I also dont buy that slavery was what the war was fought over because I suspect Lincoln was a racist

Was Abraham Lincoln a Racist?

Slavery was part of it, but considering that all the food and cotton at the time came from the South it makes more sense that economic concerns played a bigger role in why the war was fought.

 

[editec]

Sounds a lot like Texas....... or West Virginia, that Yankee border state....... created by the do nothings at home while the majority of their young men were out fighting for the confederacy........

Here's the rosters that includes some of the names of the "do-nothings" from West BY GOD Viginia, amigo.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]FEATURED SITES[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]1st W. Va. Infantry Website - (Includes Book)[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]1st W. Va. Cavalry Website[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]12th W. Va. Infantry Website - (Includes Book)[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Carlin's Battery "D" - 1st W. Va. Lt. Art'y Website[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]5th W.Va. Cavalry (2nd Infantry) Regimental History Book[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]The Civil War Medals of W. Va... Where Are They?[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]ON THE WAY HOME - W.Va. Soldiers on the Sultana[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]7th W. Va. Infantry - Company "B"[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]ROSTERS, ETC.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Loudoun (Va.) Independent Rangers[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]W. Va. Independent Exempts Infantry[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]W. Va. Soldiers of U. S. Reserve Corps[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]11th W. Va. Infantry - Adj. Gen'l Report, 1864[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Calhoun County In The Civil War - Book[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Confederate Soldiers of Wheeling Area[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Marshall County, W. Va. Civil War Obituaries[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]The Shriver Grays - "G" 27th Va. Infantry[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Independent Guerrilla Volunteers[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]45th U.S. Colored Infantry - W. Va. Troops[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Georgia, Bookman Old Style, Times New Roman]Veterans Buried at Mt. Zion Cemetery, Wheeling[/FONT]


While the tools of the VA aristos were fighting for their masters' right to own slaves, the free men of West Virginia were fighting for what they believed in...some of them fought for the USA and some for the CSA.

There was actually quite a lot of Southerners who remembered that they were first and foremost citizens of the USA, God bless 'em.

Yeah, I wonder if the average Joe on either side fought for any other reason other then to defend against Northern/Southern aggression. My Great Grand Father fought for the Confederates. He was Chickasaw Indian and I guess that's what he did. I also dont buy that slavery was what the war was fought over because I suspect Lincoln was a racist

Was Abraham Lincoln a Racist?

Slavery was part of it, but considering that all the food and cotton at the time came from the South it makes more sense that economic concerns played a bigger role in why the war was fought.

Oh I definitely think ECONOMICS played a huge role in the rebellion.


3/4 of the capitalization of the South's economy was locked into the value of slaves.

1 out of every 4 Southern families owned at least one slave

So protecting their right to own slaves was the primary economic issue at hand.

The Southerners fully understood that eventually slavery was going to be outlawed if they remained in the Union.

So that economic casus belli was by far the greatest single economic consideration that drove the Southern States to rebel.

On that we are agreed.

 

[Anachronism]

America, for all it has accomplished since, is as bitterly divided as it was then. Our ancestors might not recognize some of the reasons, but they would know the sentiments very well. I read somewhere, that the majority of Americans today are descended from people who came to this country well after that terrible conflict had ended. That makes it all the more important, that we remember the terrible cost of submitting our differences to the arbitrament of the sword. Let us all pray, that it never comes to that again.

The Arbitration of the Sword, the Cannon, and the Gun are necessary and good at times, Gadfly. Without them we have nothing. I once heard a wise man say, and I agree: "Show me that which a man will kill or die for and I will show you what he values. Show me what that man will not willingly kill or die for and I will show you what he gives no value to." I've found that to be very true over time.

Though you are correct that this country is AT LEAST AS bitterly divided now as it was then. The Union may have won the War, but they have never won the philosophical battle that was the underlying cause behind the war. In fact, that mentality and philosophy has expanded over the last 150 years. It's come to embrace the "Don't Tread on Me" flag as much as it embraces the Stars and Bars of the Confederate flag. The new waves of immigrants have actually helped to maintain and build that philosophy as they have come here seeking to escape overbearing, controlling socialist governments in Europe and other places around the world.

WHEN the next Revolution comes, it won't be fought over land or anything like that. It won't be a North vs. South, clean-cut conflict. It will be something much more general in nature, and much harder to put down. Not unlike what has been going on in Northern Ireland or Israel and Iraq over the last couple of decades.

 

[LostAmerican]

[
1 out of every 4 Southern families owned at least one slave
.

No fuckin' way!

 

[Ringel05]

[
1 out of every 4 Southern families owned at least one slave
.

No fuckin' way!

In the South, at that time, it was a status symbol as well as an economic necessity but what he didn't tell you is in most of these instances the slave lived in the same, small, usually dirt floor cabin, lived, ate and slept with the family and was more often than not treated as one of the family. Not that I'm excusing slavery, just stating fact for fact's sake.

 

[The Gadfly]

America, for all it has accomplished since, is as bitterly divided as it was then. Our ancestors might not recognize some of the reasons, but they would know the sentiments very well. I read somewhere, that the majority of Americans today are descended from people who came to this country well after that terrible conflict had ended. That makes it all the more important, that we remember the terrible cost of submitting our differences to the arbitrament of the sword. Let us all pray, that it never comes to that again.

The Arbitration of the Sword, the Cannon, and the Gun are necessary and good at times, Gadfly. Without them we have nothing. I once heard a wise man say, and I agree: "Show me that which a man will kill or die for and I will show you what he values. Show me what that man will not willingly kill or die for and I will show you what he gives no value to." I've found that to be very true over time.

Though you are correct that this country is AT LEAST AS bitterly divided now as it was then. The Union may have won the War, but they have never won the philosophical battle that was the underlying cause behind the war. In fact, that mentality and philosophy has expanded over the last 150 years. It's come to embrace the "Don't Tread on Me" flag as much as it embraces the Stars and Bars of the Confederate flag. The new waves of immigrants have actually helped to maintain and build that philosophy as they have come here seeking to escape overbearing, controlling socialist governments in Europe and other places around the world.

WHEN the next Revolution comes, it won't be fought over land or anything like that. It won't be a North vs. South, clean-cut conflict. It will be something much more general in nature, and much harder to put down. Not unlike what has been going on in Northern Ireland or Israel and Iraq over the last couple of decades.

Sadly, my young friend, I know that all too well; war, terrible as it is, is sometimes the lesser evil. I greatly fear that you are all too correct about the fundamental rift that still divides our nation. If we are not wise (and perhaps a bit lucky, as well), the day may come when the pot boils over again. I can only hope that is not inevitable.

If there ever IS a next time, I believe it will be something close to what has happened in Northern Ireland. That is not a happy prospect; the last time, cost us about 2% of a population of a bit over thirty million, if memory serves. Today, the toll would be in the tens of millions-a ghastly, God-awful thing to contemplate, with an end result we can only guess at. If it came to that, I suppose I would do as Lee did....and it would break my heart, as it did his.