Maryland, My Maryland

While Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to invade the 7 Southern states that had seceded was received enthusiastically by many Northern states, the border states viewed it as as an act of tyranny.  Governor Magaffin of Kentucky replied to the order saying :" I say emphatically Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose  of subduing her sister Southern states" and Governor Jackson of Missouri was even stronger in his reply to Lincoln :" Your requisition is illegal, unconstitutional, revolutionary, inhuman, diabolical,  and cannot be complied with".  As a result of Lincoln's order the border states of Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Arkansas seceded and secession efforts were in progress in Missouri and Kentucky.  Maryland was also against the order.  one of Lincoln's first steps was to secure the
Northern Capitol and in order to accomplish this the mustered Union regiments had to march through Baltimore.  On the 19th of April the 6th Massachusetts chose to march through Baltimore fully armed and in military formation and consequently were jeered by unsympathetic bystanders.  To make matters worse the troops fired on the crowd killing 12 civilians.  The fire was returned by the crowd and 4 soldiers were killed.  These 16 were the first casualties in a long bloody struggle that would claim more than 620,000 lives.  By May, Lincoln was closing dissenting newspapers form New York to Chicago and he also suspended the writ of Habeas Corpus, a Constitutional guarantee of the Bill of Rights.(Habeas Corpus is a fundamental liberty which prevents the arbitrary arrest and imprisonment indefinitely without defined charges, trial, or means of release.  Habeas Corpus can only be suspended temporarily under conditions of civil disorder but the suspension must be authorized by congress within 30 days.  Lincoln did not comply with these rules of government.) After the arrest of Baltimore resident, John Merryman, (without charges or trial) and the subsequent order of arrest of U.S. Chief justice Robert B.Taney, for defending Mr.Merryman and for speaking out against the injustice perpetrated by the government, Maryland began to seriously consider seceding.  However, Northern informants made this known to the government, and Secretary of War Simon Cameron issued an order that "all or any part of the legislative members must be arrested to prevent secession" and so Lincoln took over Maryland (as well as Missouri and Kentucky) to prevent them from seceding.  As Maryland's state song (which was directed against Lincoln, his cabinet and his generals) says:

The despots heel is on thy shore

Maryland, My Maryland!

His torch is at thy temples door

Maryland, My Maryland!

Avenge the patriots gore,

That flecked the streets of Baltimore,

And be the battle queen of yore,

Maryland, My Maryland

Dear Mother, Burst the tyrants chain,

Maryland, My Maryland!

Virginia should not call in vain,

Maryland, My Maryland

 She meets her sisters on the plain,

'Sic Semper' is the proud refrain,

That baffles minions back amain,

Maryland, My Maryland

Arise in Majesty again

Maryland, My Maryland

Lincoln's Despotism and War against dissent in 6 Northern States

Though it has been covered up by politically correct history, Lincoln was actually fighting 2 ruthless wars.  One against the Confederacy and one against dissent in 6 Northern States (Those states being New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin).  Many Democratic Northern newspapers and politicians voiced reservations on the justice and wisdom of the war and were in favor of a negotiated peace to end the war.  They also spoke out against Lincoln's conduct in the war.  Lincoln and his cabinet responded with ruthless despotism, beginning with the suppression of over 300 dissenting newspapers, critical of Lincoln, the government, or the conduct of the war.  Dissenting Editors, Politicians, Clergyman or anyone suspected of disloyalty to the Union or of being critical to Lincoln were arrested without formal charges or trial.  Pastors were barred from preaching if they refused  to support Lincoln in their sermons and prayers.  Freedom of speech and Freedom of the press were non-existent and it is estimated that 14,000 to 38,000 Northern civilians were arrested and taken to unknown places of confinement for voicing their opinions against Lincoln, others simply disappeared.  In July of 1863, 50,000 New York state and citizen militia fought against federal troops and New York city police in a battle against federal tyranny and despotism.  It took 4 days for federal troops to suppress the organized revolt and thousands were killed or wounded.  As General Sherman said, half the Union Army was tied up suppressing dissent in 6 Northern states.

Who Started The War???

This is a detailed timeline that I made to go with the previous post 

"Fort Sumter and the War Conspiracy" to put the firing on Fort Sumter into perspective.

So I hereby present :

Who Started The War? : Facts and events that led up to the firing on Fort Sumter.

      

November 6th, 1860*
** Abraham Lincoln elected as 16th President.
State secession conventions meet leading to 7 states seceding by his inauguration.  

                                          

* In late 1860 most Northerners believed secession was a constitutional right.

** As opposed to all the Presidents before him and most Northerners, Lincoln did not

 believe secession was a legal right.

December 9th
An agreement between President Buchanan and the South Carolina Congressmen is reached.  Forts Moultrie and Sumter will not be attacked as long as they are not reinforced or act aggressively.

December 12th  
Lincoln (before his inauguration) sends orders to Army Chief,Winfield Scott, with instructions to prepare to hold or retake the forts after his inauguration on March 4th.

Fort Sumter was unoccupied except for construction crews.    

December 20th 
South Carolina secedes from the Union.

December 26th 
Maj. Robert Anderson moves his 84 men from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter causing a stir in Charleston.  Shortly after his move he reported to headquarters that he had provisions for 4 months (enough to last 'till April 26th).  A few days later he wrote to a trusted friend saying he actually had provisions for 5 months (enough to last 'till May 29th).

December 31st 
General Scott, secretly and unbeknownst to President Buchanan, has the Navy ship, Brooklyn, outfitted to supply and reinforce either Fort Sumter or Fort Pickens.  Besides supplies and ammunition, it carried 200 artillery soldiers under Army Capt. Vogdes.

January 7th 
Under orders of General Scott, the merchant steamer, The Star of the West, leaves the Norfolk area with supplies for Fort Sumter and 200 soldiers concealed below deck.

January 9th 
The Star of the West sails int Charleston harbor making for Fort Sumter. Charleston batteries fire a warning shot across her bow. She continues towards the fort but turns back after the Charleston batteries begin to fire in earnest.

January 10th 
Florida secedes.

That night the commander at Fort Barrancas on Pensacola Bay moved his men to Fort Pickens.

January 21st 
The Brooklyn with Army Capt. Vogdes and his 200 artillery men arrive in Pensacola Bay and are joined by the Sabine and Wyandotte.

January 29th 
Following tension between Confederate civil authorities and Gen. Braxton Bragg an armistice is signed by Union Secretary of War and Navy Secretary, Toucey, agreeing that Fort Pickens will not be attacked unless reinforced or acting aggressively towards Confederate forces.

February 7th  
Retired Navy Capt. G.V.Fox presents an aggressive plan to reinforce Fort Sumter.

February 18th 
President Buchanan vetos the plan presented by G.V.Fox knowing that reinforcing Fort Sumter or Fort Pickens would be an act of war.

February 20th
Gen. Scott renews the reinforcement plan.

February 25th 
Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, appoints 3 high ranking peace commissioners to go to Washington to discuss the disposition of Forts Sumter and Pickens.

                     

* Lincoln refused to see them, however they received promises from Secretary of State William Seward, that Fort Sumter would be evacuated.

March 3rd 
President Davis assigns Brig. Gen. P.G.T.Beauregard as Confederate Army Commander.   

March 4th 
Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated.

March 9th 
Lincoln proposes to his cabinet that Fort Sumter be reinforced. Only 2 support him.

March 12th 
Gen. Scott orders reinforcement of Fort Pickens.

March 15th
Lincoln again proposes reinforcing Fort Sumter to his cabinet with negative results.

March 21st 
Capt. Fox is sent on a special mission to see Maj. Anderson and S.C. Governor, Pickens,  to asses the situation and possibilities of reinforcing the fort.

March 29th 
Lincoln's cabinet is finally persuaded to approve Lincoln's plan to reinforce Fort Sumter though they all know it means war.

April 1st
Lincoln issues 6 secret orders to various naval personell (without consulting the Secretary of the Navy or the Secretary of War) concerning the outfitting of the Powhatan, one of the fastest, most heavily armed ships, for a secret mission to fort Pickens.  Also Army Capt. Vogdes finally delivers the March 12th order from Gen. Scott to reinforce Fort Pickens to the squadron commander, Navy Capt. H.A.Adams.  Adams refuses to comply since it would violate the armistice.

* By this time Northerners are beginning to reassess their position on secession after  seeing how it will affect their revenues.

April 4th 
Maj. Anderson receives notification to expect reinforcement by the 15th.

April 6th 
Adams sends a letter to Navy secretary, Welles, to authenticate the orders from Gen. Scott.  

 Lincoln gives the final order to reinforce Fort Sumter. 
The Pocahontas, the Pawnee, the Harriet Lane, the Baltic ( which would carry 200 troops) and the Powhatan are assigned to the task force.

April 7th 
The Confederate peace commission is still in Washington listening to Seward promise that Fort Sumter will be evacuated.  However, they have grown suspicious and surmise that the fleet is already on its way to Fort Sumter.

April 8th 
S.C. Governor Pickens receives and envoy saying :" I am directed by the President of the United States to notify you to expect an attempt will be made to supply Fort Sumter with provisions only, and that if such an attempt be not resisted, no effort to throw in men, arms and ammunition will be made without further notice, or in case of an attack on the fort". 
In the meantime, Lincoln had planted in the Northern press the misinformation that the garrison at Fort Sumter were starving and in great need of provisions.

April 9th 
Beauregard sends Col. James Chesnut and Capt. Stephan D. Lee to demand the surrender of the Fort, to which Anderson refuses.    

April 11th 
Union reinforcement warships arrive and are within striking distance of the fort and Charleston.

April 12th 
Capt. Adams receives confirmation from Welles that Fort Pickens must be reinforced immediately.  The Pensacola task force is joined by the Powhatan which sails into Pensacola Bay deceptively flying the British colors. Under cover of night they succeed in reinforcing the fort.  Confederate General Braxton Bragg takes no immediate action, still hoping for peace.

    

     3:20 am 
Beauregard sends a message to Maj. Anderson saying the fort will be bombarded within the hour.

    4:30 am 
Confederate Batteries around Fort Sumter begin their bombardment.

    6:30 am 
Fort Sumter begins returning fire.  

The Union flotilla does not engage and keeps it's distance.

April 13th 
The warship Pocahontas arrives.

    7:30 am  
Seeing that the Fort is on fire the Confederates cease firing and offer a fire engine which Anderson refuses. 

Firing recommences. 

    2:00 pm 
A white flag is displayed from the fort and the almost 34 hour bombardment ends.

The defenders of the fort are evacuated with all honor.

April 15th 
 Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers to invade the South for "attacking the half starved garrison and preventing ships from bringing them provisions". And so the bloody 4 year war starts.

So it was not the South, and it was technically not the North.  It was a war started by Lincoln to prevent Southern Independence.

                 

Fort Sumter and The War Conspiracy

It is necessary to state that the South wished for a peaceful separation from the Union and went so far as to include that fact very specifically in section 2, article VI of the Confederate Constitution: " The Government...hereby declaring it to be their wish and earnest desire to adjust everything pertaining to the common property, common liability, and the common obligations of that Union upon the principles of right, justice, equity and good faith".  Many Northerners at this time believed that secession was a legal, constitutional right. Therefore, working towards achieving this end, South Carolina Congressmen met with President Buchanan to discuss the disposition of several coastal forts, of which the most important were Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor and Fort Pickens near Pensacola.  An agreement was reached stating that Forts Sumter and Moultrie in Charleston would not be attacked by South Carolina forces unless reinforced or acting aggressively towards the Confederates.  Abraham Lincoln (having been elected the 6th of November) sent orders to Army Chief Winfield Scott to prepare to hold or retake the forts after his inauguration on the 4th of March.  Lincoln, as opposed to all the previous presidents and most Northerners, was strongly opposed to secession and did not believe it to be a legal right of the state.  After the Union commander at Fort Barrancas relocated to Fort Pickens, the Confederates reached an armistice with the Union Secretary of War, Holt, and Navy Secretary, Toucey, that Fort Pickens would not be reinforced.  However, during this time secretly and unbeknownst to President Buchanan, Maj. Robert Anderson relocated to Fort Sumter with a garrison of 84 men and General Scott prepared to reinforce the forts.  An attempt was made smuggle 200 soldiers into Fort Sumter but was unsuccessful. Nonetheless the Confederates did did nothing against the forts as they hoped for peace.  Several aggressive reinforcement plans were presented but were vetoed by President Buchanan who said that it would be an act of war to break the armistice with the Confederate states.  After his inauguration, Lincoln proposed a plan to reinforce Fort Sumter even while Secretary of State, William Seward was promising the Southern peace commission that Fort Sumter would be evacuated.  After proposing his plan 3 times, Lincoln finally convinced his cabinet to approve it, even though they all knew it was an act of war.  Lincoln planned everything carefully so that the Southern batteries in Charleston would have to fire the first shot and thus "cause" the war.  However, the North broke the armistice many times before the South attacked Fort Sumter and their only reason for attacking it was self defense against the union warships that the government had sent to reinforce the garrison.

Why the Cherokees alllied with the South

Stand Watie, Cherokee General in the Confederate army

Cherokee soldiers in the 1st Louisiana Native Gaurd

Understanding why the Cherokee and their kinfolk, the Seminole, Creek, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Indians joined the Confederacy against the North is very instructive to understanding the underlying issues of the Civil War.  In 1861 the Cherokee Indians were largely divided into 2 groups, the Western Cherokees of about 20,000, and the Eastern Cherokees of about 2,000.  The Cherokees were probably the best educated and literate of the American Indian tribes as well as the most Christian.  They watched with consternation as the conflict between the North and South grew and they initially desired to remain neutral.  Though the Cherokees had much common economy and contact with their Southern neighbors they also had a treaty with the U.S. Government which they did not wish to break.  However, after seeing the Northern conduct in the war against the South and the trampling of the Constitution under the new regime, they decided as a nation to declare independence of the U.S.A.  They did this not only to help their Southern friends but also as a protection for themselves after witnessing Northern exploitation of property and rights of the Indian tribes in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oregon.  They felt compelled to abrogate the treaties in defense of their people, lands and rights.  In the Cherokee Declaration of independence their reasons for joining the Confederacy in the conflict were clearly stated as: 1.) Self defense against Northern aggression, for themselves and their Southern neighbors. 2.) The right of a free people to determine their own destiny. 3.) The protection of their heritage. 4.) Defense of their political rights under a constitutional government. 5.) A desire to retain the principles of limited government and decentralized power guaranteed by the Constitution. 6.) To protect their economic rights and welfare. 7.) Dismay at the despotism and tyranny of those now in control of the U.S. Government. 8.) Dismay at the Unions total disregard for the accepted rules of war and their ruthless treatment of civilians and non-combatants. 9.) A fear of economic exploitation by the government and 10.) Alarm at the vengeful, self - righteous, extreme and punitive remarks pronounced on the slavery issue by radical northern abolitionists, of which the Unitarians were the most vocal.  So we see that the Cherokees highly understood the issues behind the war and carefully thought out and articulated their declaration for supporting and joining the Confederacy.

Keeping a Constitutional Republic

Though we often think of the U.S.A. as a democracy we are actually a constitutional republic.  The founding fathers mistrusted a pure democracy, knowing that it could become as tyrannical as any monarchy or dictatorship.  They also knew the weakness of men, even great and noble men, and the temptation that power would present.  Therefore, instead of a government of men, they sought to create a government of law as a lasting gift to the future generations.  The Constitution was created to protect our liberty and our rights as a free people and to define and limit the powers of the federal government.  The Constitution was ratified by the people of the states and thus, by the consent of the people, made valid.  The 10th amendment was created as a final reinforcement and guarantee that the powers of the federal government would be limited to those enumerated in the Constitution and as a safeguard against the infringement of rights and powers retained by the states and their people.  The 10th amendment clearly states: " The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively or to the people.".  thus the executive, legislative, and judicial branches and subsidiaries of the federal government have only those powers and those powers alone that are delegated to them by the Constitution.  All other powers are reserved to the state and the people and are prohibited to the federal government except by amendment to the Constitution.  Also, states do not derive their rights from the federal judiciary, nor have they delegated that power to the federal judges.  As a state we reserve the power to determine our unalienable rights to ourselves, therefore, the 10th amendment cannot be left to the federal government and it's courts to ignore or interpret for themselves.  A defining characteristic of a Constitutional government is that power must not be allowed to define it's own limit.  Power must be checked and restrained by an equal or greater power.  Our liberty will never be safe if we depend on the judiciary alone to protect us, Congress and and the stae must continually insist that federal judges abide by the Constitution.  Failure to honor and enforce the 10th amendment by the judiciary, Congress, the states and the people has caused an ever escalating abuse of power, social nonsense, and political chaos.  In it's unconstitutional zeal to impose a liberal and godless social agenda on the American people, the federal judiciary has overstepped it's powers so often that judicial tyranny is now accepted and defended as "the Rule of Law".  However, there is a big difference between the true Rule of Law, which is constitutionally based and the rule of judges, legislating their own agenda.  Any judge who flouts the 10th amendment, distorts the 1st amendment and creates federal powers not enumerated in the Constitution is not upholding the Rule of Law but is destroying the Law and has become a tyrant.  We, as a people, have been lulled into complacent surrender of the principles we inherited as a Constitutional and federal republic, and it seem the majority or our elected officials lack the moral courage to defend our rights and our republic.  This is why the issue of states rights is so important, it is the last bulwark against executive, congressional, and judicial tyranny.  States rights were largely ignored before the "Civil War" and completely ignored during the war.  When states rights were defeated on the battlefield in 1865, the Constitution and the legal structures to resist tyranny were weakened and there has been an ongoing trend since then of large government overstepping it's constitutional boundaries and slowly but surely taking away our sovereign, God given rights as a free people.  Not only are our states rights being threatened but also our religious and political rights.  The 1st amendment states that: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" and yet we see the government attacking the Christian faith left and right, prohibiting the free exercise thereof in public schools and public places.  In this time, courage is the virtue most needed to save our republic.  As our founding fathers and the great Southern heroes of the Civil War, we must fight to preserve our rights and defend the Constitution.  All free men must stand for liberty.  Let us pray that, as South Carolinian Henry Laurens (1742 - 1792) said: "At a time when liberty is under attack, decency under assault, the family under seige, and life itself is threatened, the good will arise in truth.".

Constitutional Issues of the Un-Civil War

Now we ask ourselves, was secession legal?  On July 4, 1776, 13 British colonies announced their secession from Great Britain, declaring: "Governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends (These ends being: "To assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of natures God entitles them...") it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute new government..." and in the closing paragraph the signers declare that the colonies are "free and independent states".  Note the the United States of America were not formed into a single, national state, but a confederation of independent and sovereign states.  While the Declaration of Independence is of immense importance as a founding document, it is the Constitution of 1787 and the Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791, that are the official founding documents by which our Republic was founded.  The Constitution was made official by the approval of the people of each state, by convention and it is important to understand that the states did not surrender their sovereign rights to the United States government.  Only limited governmental powers were delegated to the federal government and every state reserved the right to withdraw those powers, and the 9th and 10th amendments were added to guarantee the sovereignty of the states.  in essence the Constitution was a contract between the states and the federal government, acting as their delegate.  Thus it is the option of the state, not the federal government, whether a state shall remain in the Union or withdraw.  The New England states threatened secession 5 times before the Civil War : in 1803, due to fear that the Louisiana purchase would dilute their political powers. In 1807, because the Embargo Act was unfavorable to their commerce. In 1812 over the admission of Louisiana as a state.  In 1814 because of the war of 1812 and again in 1814 over the annexation of Texas.  As early as 1825 secession was taught in the text books at West Point and was accepted as an undeniable, constitutional right of each state.  The right of secession was very well stated by none other than congressman Abraham Lincoln in 1848: "Any people anywhere being inclined and having the power have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government and a form a new one that suits them better.  This is a most valuable and most sacred right, a right which we hope and believe is to liberate the world".  The great issues of liberty or union and of states rights or centralized federal power, would culminate in the secession crisis of 1860 and 1861, followed by 4 years of terrible war.  In the words of John C. Calhoun, vice-president under Andrew Jackson, and native South Carolinian: "Our Union, next to our liberty, most dear.  May we all remember that it (the union) can only be preserved by respecting the rights of the states and by distributing equally the benefits and burdens of the Union."

The First 13th Amendment

What exactly is the first 13th amendment?  This amendment was one that guaranteed that the government would not and could not interfere in issues of domestic institutions within the state.  This amendment had passed through congress and the senate and was only awaiting state approval to be sent to the newly elected president, Abraham Lincoln, who openly approved this amendment.  If the amendment was passed it would guarantee slavery forever however, after the firing on Fort Sumter the first 13th amendment was cancelled by Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to invade the South.  So, how is it that the "Pious Northerners" who invaded the "Wicked, Racist South" were for an amendment that was pro-slavery? well once again we see that slavery was not the issue of the "Civil War".  Lincoln himself said :"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union and it is not either to destroy or save slavery.  If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it...".  But why did the North want to "save the Union"? Simply because 90% of the industrial North's revenues came through the agricultural South, through high taxes and tariffs such as the Morril tariff, which impoverished the South.  This war wasn't a "Civil War", for the South it was a war for Southern independence from a tyrannical and unequal Union and for the North it was a war to prevent Southern independence because if the South seceded it would cause an economic collapse in the North and economic prosperity for the South.  And so we see that if slavery had been the issue the South would not have seceded as the 13th amendment would have assured them the solution on that score.  So the first 13th amendment provides shattering, documentary evidence against the cherished belief of a pious invasion to free the slaves.

True Causes of the Un-Civil War

Since we now know that slavery was not the crux of the war, we ask, what was?  The fact is that the real cause of the Un-Civil War was the unjust taxation of the South by the North ("Taxation without representation" sound familiar?).  The industrial North controlled the federal government and used their power to further their greedy, selfish, power hungry ends.  The North raised tariffs on imports from and average of below 20% to a whopping 47% causing an economic boom in the North and economic hardship in the South.  Due to the high tariffs the export rate dropped 25% in South Carolina alone.  The South tried to plead their cause but the North would not listen and said all Southern "dissenters and rebels" should be "rounded up and hanged" (quotes from Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, Pennsylvania iron manufacturer and radical abolitionist).  After failed attempts at diplomacy, the South decided to secede from an unequal and tyrannical union and at first the North said the South could secede, but after seeing how much their profits would drop without the southern states, they went up in arms to "save the Union" which was really save their pocket books.

Politically Correct History

We are taught that the "Civil War" was fought over the issue of slavery and that the "Noble North gallantly fought to free slaves and preserve the Union".   However this is very far from the truth. The Issue of slavery didn't even come into the picture until 19 months into the war, but the North needed a moral reason to justify their invasion of the South, so they grasped at slavery and presented the South as "racist, biased bigots".  The truth is that many of the Southerners didn't have slaves and those who did were not against the idea of freeing them, they only fought for their right to make that decision themselves.  Northerners freed their slaves because they thought of them as an inferior race and didn't want them near them, and they went so far as to enforce bans to keep Blacks out of their states ( which is why the underground railroad led to Canada, not to Northern states).  The North invaded the South because of the high revenues they got from the South through high taxes and tariffs, so it was a greedy, selfish cause that motivated the North.  But of course that was kept undercover and a cause was made up to justify their war.  And even during the time of "Reconstruction", the North harassed the south for their "rebellions", stripping Southerners of their Constitutional right as U.S. Citizens and forbidding them to vote. But all of this was hushed up through politically correct history, indoctrination, and Northern propaganda.

The New South and The Frogs of Egypt

Rev. Robert L. Dabney, a prominent Presbyterian theologian. seminary teacher, and pastor, delivered a discourse entitled " The New South".  In this discourse Dabney passionately spoke out against the politically correct propaganda and outrageous distortions of history then prevalent.  This discourse, delivered on June 15th, 1882, still holds true today.  We live in an age where false doctrines and distorted history are presented and taught as facts.  Instead of speaking out against these atrocities we accept them quietly and often say " Let us bury the past, it holds no significance today".  How can we bury something that is not dead? The issues which caused division then still exist today! Not to mention that our history is our heritage and inheritance.  How could we dishonor our forefathers who gave so much to give us this legacy?  we must treasure the memory of great patriots such as Jackson and Lee whose actions are the glory of our race.  There are those who would bury truth and honor to gain peace, prosperity, and comfort.  We must stand firm against them and the tools they employ to present this perversion of history, such as the media, government run educational institutions, large government and large corporations who will do everything to infiltrate thier lies into our homes as the frogs of Egypt. We must not allow them to indoctrinate us and our children, we must fight for truth and honor and defend our history and heritage.

Beneath the Southern Cross

**Please note, the titles of my entries are from the sections in "The Un-Civil War" but the actual articles are my own work**

Slandered and condemned as a symbol of slavery and moral horror, the Confederate flag, or Southern Cross, is largely held in contempt. Instead of studying the origins of this flag, people accept withiut question the degradation of a flag which in truth holds strong Christian significance and symbolism. The Confederate battle flag was largely designed by U.S. Congressman (later Confederate Congressman) William Porcher Miles. The most prominent feature of the flag is its diagonal cross, or saltire. This symbol has been a preeminent symbol of Christianity world wide for centuries. In Greek the name of Christ began with the letter "x" and thus it became a symbol for Christ. After the apostle Andrew was martyred on a diagonal cross, the saltire took on even more significance, eventually being dubbed "St. Andrew's Cross". One of the reasons of the war was the growing religious differences between the North and South and the Confederate states wanted to establish their position as a Christian, God fearing nation, as opposed to the Deism, Unitarianism, Universalism, Transcendentalism and Liberalism that was becoming more and more prevalent in the North. Besides symbolizing Christianity, the flag held meaning as a symbol against tyranny, large government and unconstitutional politics and of the rights of a free people to determine their own destiny. The red field signified courage, the blue of the saltire signified truth, the white signified the purity of the cause and the saltire signified Christianity and strength. As a whole the flag symbolized Honor, the Honor of the Southern states and the Honor of all those who layed down their lives freely to defend it. As William Miles said : "The flag should be a token of humble acknowledgement to God and be a public testimony to the world that our trust is in the Lord our God". However it is interesting to note that the Southern Cross was not actually used in battle but it is still a very symbolic flag that is loved by all true Southerners.

Why a Civil War blog???

So before delving into the Civil War I thought it would be wise to give a bit of my background and the events that inspired the creating of this blog.  I come from a hispanic family, my dad being from Ecuador and my mother from Cuba, and was born here in SC.  Growing up, the Civil War was one of my least favorite parts of history as I just couldn't understand why such great men as Jackson and Lee could be in favor of slavery, that the Southerners wanted to destroy the Union etc.etc.etc.  At the begginning of the past school year my mother assigned me a 20 page project on the Civil War based on the book "The Un-Civil War" by Mike Scruggs. Needless to say I wasn't too thrilled but after studying around for a bit I was amazed to start learning the real facts about the War and the 20 page project grew into a 49 page project with 6 mini biographies, a Fort Sumter timeline, a Major Battle Chart and quite a bit more. I was thrilled learning all this information and wanted to share it with everyone I encountered and after talking non-stop about my studies to a friend, the idea of creating a blog on which to post my findings popped up and thus this new blog was made. I'm thrilled to be able to write and get the truth out to people and hope y'all enjoy reading my Civil War reports.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to A Southern Gal's Heritage! The purpose of this blog is to encourage people everywhere to learn the truth about their history and heritage and embrace the legacys that our forefathers have left us. In particular, this blog is to encourage Southerners to discover the real facts of the Civil War and the many causes that sparked of this long and bloody war. We live in an age where education is completely controlled by Government and a generation is growing up with nothing but a politically correct, whitewashed version of "History" which is full of falsehoods and misrepresentations. We have such an amazing history in the South if only we take the time to find it out and I pray that y'all would be encouraged to continue reading my posts and to dig in and find out the truth behind The War for Southern Independence.  Now I'd like to clarify that though I am a die hard Southerner, I know that God is ultimately in control and it was in His providence that the South lost the war. I'm glad the Union was preserved for us younger generations, I love the USA and am proud to be an American and only wish to present the true facts of the War from an accurate, historical, and christian perspective so that we might learn to appreciate and be proud of the legacies of our Southern Heroes and the sacrifices they made for us.