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Originally Posted by Mr Mephisto
This is an interesting discussion. I've been an (armchair) Civil War buff for years, and I've never had any doubt that
a) The war was, on a fundamental level, about slavery
b) That Lincoln did carry out some illegal actions, but justified them in his desire to save the Union. As most Northerners agreed, there was not much opposition to this.
c) That the legality of secession is a murky area, but arguing over it is meaningless. The South always knew the North would fight to preserve the Union
It's interesting to see that this topic still engenders such feelings and mixture of interpretations today.
Mr Mephisto
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That's one reason I've enjoyed this thread--because many of us see some parallels between that time and the present.
I'm not clear if the positions above represent the way you feel today, especially in regard to a).
Although no one would say slavery wasn't an important component of (gig inserted here) the "War for Southern Independence," it has always appeared to me that the fundamental cause was clearly an intolerably overbearing central government. The financial aspects have been covered to some extent here, but not as much as I'd like.
b) The NORTHERNERS might have agreed, but the Southerners would (and still do) react quite differently. You tend to take it personally when an army steals your possessions (silverware and livestock, not slaves) and destroys your crops, in order to have your family starve in your absence. The words "Never Again," borrowed from another cause, seem appropriate here.
I also tend to contrast excusing "some illegal actions" of Lincoln to the flamebait thread I saw earlier in which someone delivered a rant because, for security, the parade participants weren't supposed to fix their gaze on President Bush.
Examples from that thread:
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Why do I feel the tendrils of Fascism wrapping around my ankles
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Irate, we shouldn't suspend our rights for even a single day.
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These statements were about
directing your gaze. I haven't seen a word from either author in regard to the wrongness of Lincoln's suspension of Habeas Corpus. If Bush followed Lincoln's example, a great many people on TFP would be locked up under "martial law" without official charges or a trial.
Habeas
At least Bush hasn't ignored the chief justice of the US Supreme Court!