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.