This is pretty much common knowledge in the South.

Southerner: "Yankees invading! Shoot 'em!"

Yankees: "Why are you fighting us? We're here for the slaves!"

Southerner: "Oh! They're over there. I'm going home."

I think this comes to a surprise only to yankees suffering from the misconception that all Southerners were uniformly slave-owning rebels who hated the Union when just about everyone from the South knows better. In fact, if you have roots going back that far down here, it is far from unusual to find you family members serving on both sides.

They're responsible for being losers, d'oh.

Nabb1: I think this comes to a surprise only to yankees suffering from the misconception that all Southerners were uniformly slave-owning rebels who hated the Union when just about everyone from the South knows better. In fact, if you have roots going back that far down here, it is far from unusual to find you family members serving on both sides.

Well, many smart people would have us believe that the Civil War wasn't about slavery per se, but I get what you're saying. Not everyone wanted to leave the Union and the South was divided. Thanks.

I could have sworn this thing was declared over in 1865. Then you come to find one side still fights it regularly to this day.

A Yankee to me was a New York baseball player til I ventured south, then I found out I was one.

.

That large Union army leisurely lunching on the James might have had something to do with it too. Details are spotty and proof is scarce.

Nabb1: I think this comes to a surprise only to yankees suffering from the misconception that all Southerners were uniformly slave-owning rebels who hated the Union when just about everyone from the South knows better. In fact, if you have roots going back that far down here, it is far from unusual to find you family members serving on both sides.

Anyone who knows history knows the poor were duped into fighting a rich man's war. I didn't really HOW MUCH they were duped.

elysive: Well, many smart people would have us believe that the Civil War wasn't about slavery per se

It's hard to accept, that slavery drove the other reasons for the civil war, but it did. State's Rights? Yep, the right of a state to be a slave state. Economic factors? Yes, the Southern economy was driven by what crops were most tended by slaves, such as cotton. Social factors? Yes, Southern Society was ruled by a social elite of slaveholders, who were overwhelmingly the ones in power in all levels of government, stripping poor Southerners of a coherent voice.

All roads lead to slavery in the end.

PC LOAD LETTER: I didn't really

I didn't really realize

/gah, I am sleepy

Generation_D: I could have sworn this thing was declared over in 1865. Then you come to find one side still fights it regularly to this day.

Don't worry, the South will really get around to it one of these days.

I'm pretty sure with a war the length and scope of the Civil War, there's no 'one reason' any one side won or lost, nor is any side more responsible than the other, tactically. It took many battles and many decisions to collectively end the thing.

PC LOAD LETTER: All roads lead to slavery in the end.

My view also. Every time someone lists another reason for the Civil War, it always eventually comes down to "well, the US was divided that way because the South had slaves and the North didn't."

Capitalist1: This is pretty much common knowledge in the South.

Southerner: "Yankees invading! Shoot 'em!"

Yankees: "Why are you fighting us? We're here for the slaves!"

Southerner: "Oh! They're over there. I'm going home."

Wow you nailed it

Generation_D: A Yankee to me was a New York baseball player til I ventured south, then I found out I was one.

A Yankee is a baseball player from New York. You, my friend, are a Damn Yankee.

I was 13 before I learned those were two separate words.

DamnYankees: I'm pretty sure with a war the length and scope of the Civil War, there's no 'one reason' any one side won or lost, nor is any side more responsible than the other, tactically. It took many battles and many decisions to collectively end the thing.

Sherman burning down Georgia helped.

I just wish someone would grow some balls and do it again. It needs it.

KiwDaWabbit: Sherman burning down Georgia helped.

I just wish someone would grow some balls and do it again. It needs it.

Putin tried.

Gonz: Generation_D: A Yankee to me was a New York baseball player til I ventured south, then I found out I was one.

A Yankee is a baseball player from New York. You, my friend, are a Damn Yankee.

I was 13 before I learned those were two separate words.
I lol'd yankee

It's explained here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQZCoA_T_zM

And unfortunately, they will also be responsible for the fall of Georgia to the Russians.

Forget, Hell! Some are still trying: Link (new window)

Um...how is this book new at all? I learned ALL of that in a single seminar on the Civil War in college.

I do love that the guy flat out points out the racist retconning of the confederate flag.

/family on both sides

Nabb1: I think this comes to a surprise only to yankees suffering from the misconception that all Southerners were uniformly slave-owning rebels who hated the Union when just about everyone from the South knows better. In fact, if you have roots going back that far down here, it is far from unusual to find you family members serving on both sides.

Is it possible you didn't get some of the same history lessons the majority of us did?

I think a majority of us realize that slavery was only one component of why the war happened (and only the few upper middle income/rich had slaves).

And yes, when a country has an internal war, there will be disagreements throughout the country due to everyone having family and economic ties on both sides of the issues.

That is only common sense.

So, the North didn't own slaves?

Well, you learn something new (old) everyday.

The Civil War wasn't fought over slavery. At all. In the least.

The Union had it's own internal problems with groups trying to undermine the war effort such as the Copperheads and Harry Rei....er Clement Vallandigham

PC LOAD LETTER: It's hard to accept, that slavery drove the other reasons for the civil war, but it did. State's Rights? Yep, the right of a state to be a slave state. Economic factors? Yes, the Southern economy was driven by what crops were most tended by slaves, such as cotton. Social factors? Yes, Southern Society was ruled by a social elite of slaveholders, who were overwhelmingly the ones in power in all levels of government, stripping poor Southerners of a coherent voice.

Quoted for truth. Also, FTFA:

"The popular vote didn't decide the question. It chose delegates to a convention. That's the way slaveholders wanted it, because they didn't trust people to vote on the question directly."

I just thought I'd post this in here before the usual crowd shows up to rage against the War of Northern Aggression.

Crude: The Civil War wasn't fought over slavery. At all. In the least.

LOL. Here's one. Unless I missed the sarcasm tag.

PC LOAD LETTER: It's hard to accept, that slavery drove the other reasons for the civil war, but it did. State's Rights? Yep, the right of a state to be a slave state. Economic factors? Yes, the Southern economy was driven by what crops were most tended by slaves, such as cotton. Social factors? Yes, Southern Society was ruled by a social elite of slaveholders, who were overwhelmingly the ones in power in all levels of government, stripping poor Southerners of a coherent voice.

All roads lead to slavery in the end.

You are very correct. It's ignorant to say that the war was about slavery, because it certainly wasn't. However, slavery was the driving force between all the other reasons why we went to war. Well said, you obviously know your history.

good read, thought i was about hear some racist idiots ramblings but i found it pretty interesting

KiwDaWabbit: DamnYankees: I'm pretty sure with a war the length and scope of the Civil War, there's no 'one reason' any one side won or lost, nor is any side more responsible than the other, tactically. It took many battles and many decisions to collectively end the thing.

Sherman burning down Georgia helped.

I just wish someone would grow some balls and do it again. It needs it.

It would only help Atlanta's cost with all those demolitions of 15
year-old buildings.

Most people presuppose that General Custer died at the battle of little big-horn. By book suggests that maybe he didn't.

As a descendant of a slave owner and 4 Confederate soldiers (Antietam, Cold Harbor, Malvern Hill, Fredricksburg, etc) I am conflicted on the remembrance of the causes of the Civil War. Our family maintains it was the "War of Northern Aggression" but I know that slavery, not States Rights, is the root cause of all of the trouble.

With that in mind, I would like to offer to pay reparations to the descendants of the 5 slaves my 3X-Great-grandfather owned. If you can prove that you are a descendant I will happily buy you anything you would like off of the Burger King Value Menu. This is a 1-time only offer and it expires in 4 minutes. Extra bacon is not included on the Jr. Whopper.

/Flame broiled is better
//Flame on

Sammy Jenkins: If all southerners weren't racist, ignorant rednecks back then, how are they all like that now?

selective inbreeding.

Q: You say the war didn't start at Fort Sumter.

A: The shooting war over secession started in the South between Southerners. There were incidents in several states. Weeks before Fort Sumter, seven Unionists were lynched in Tallahatchie County, Miss.

Imagine this today. Instead of just name calling between conservatives and liberals, your neighbor decides that your support of George W. Bush is a threat to his health. So as you come home from work, him and a few of his buddies catch you walking from your car to your house, drag you out back and hang you on a tree.

And instead of the cops being called, your neighborhood devolves into its own series of killings over which political party should be in poser.

That is some serious f*cked up shiat right there.

FarkedOver: Most people presuppose that General Custer died at the battle of little big-horn. By book suggests that maybe he didn't.

if he didnt die at little bighorn then how did he get that arrowhead shoved up his peepee?

Sammy Jenkins: If all southerners weren't racist, ignorant rednecks back then, how are they all like that now?

nascar

jaylectricity: over which political party should be in poser.

Oops haha...unintentional slip, I meant to say "in power."

unclejimbo827: Sammy Jenkins: If all southerners weren't racist, ignorant rednecks back then, how are they all like that now?

nascar

Wrong.

Jesus was a redneck. Duh. Have you not seen the new Kid Rock/Dale Earnhardt Jr/National Guard commercial?

jaylectricity: Q: You say the war didn't start at Fort Sumter.

A: The shooting war over secession started in the South between Southerners. There were incidents in several states. Weeks before Fort Sumter, seven Unionists were lynched in Tallahatchie County, Miss.

Imagine this today. Instead of just name calling between conservatives and liberals, your neighbor decides that your support of George W. Bush is a threat to his health. So as you come home from work, him and a few of his buddies catch you walking from your car to your house, drag you out back and hang you on a tree.

And instead of the cops being called, your neighborhood devolves into its own series of killings over which political party should be in poser.

FuzzyNoNoseChimp: You are very correct. It's ignorant to say that the war was about slavery, because it certainly wasn't. However, slavery was the driving force between all the other reasons why we went to war. Well said, you obviously know your history.

It's not ignorant to say the war was about slavery. It's cutting through the bullshiat and the intermediary steps. People often want to make slavery seem much less important than it was. After all, if you can frame the war about stuff like economics or political representation, then the South looks a lot more noble.

Byno: Jesus was a redneck.

I thought he was a velociraptor?

Confederate Gen. Pickett (of Picketts' Charge fame), when asked why the South lost, is said to have replied: "I always thought that the Yankees had something to do with it."



/Texan
//Union man
///It was slavery, in the end. Deal with it.

I get called Yank all the time . I live in Australia and im Canadian.

My friends like to fark with me.

When it was realized the war and union [most of all] could not be won without freeing the slaves it become about slavery...

Approves

/Wonders why, between zombie and raptor Jesus, there's not more redneck Jesus

coloclone: When it was realized the war and union [most of all] could not be won without freeing the slaves it become about slavery...

No. That's what the people involved *realized* it was about slavery.

theorellior: Byno: Jesus was a redneck.

I thought he was a velociraptor?

Win.

jaylectricity
Q: You say the war didn't start at Fort Sumter.

A: The shooting war over secession started in the South between Southerners. There were incidents in several states. Weeks before Fort Sumter, seven Unionists were lynched in Tallahatchie County, Miss.

Imagine this today. Instead of just name calling between conservatives and liberals, your neighbor decides that your support of George W. Bush is a threat to his health. So as you come home from work, him and a few of his buddies catch you walking from your car to your house, drag you out back and hang you on a tree.

And instead of the cops being called, your neighborhood devolves into its own series of killings over which political party should be in poser.

That is some serious f*cked up shiat right there.

Sounds like the Bloody Kansas stories. Pro-slavery Missouri Bushwackers vs. abolitionist Kansas Jayhawkers. Lawrence, Kansas was burned pretty much to the ground and people were massacred by both sides in the argument over Kansas being admitted to the Union as a free or a slave state.

/I knew that History degree would come in handy someday - it only took 17 years!

Generation_D: A Yankee to me was a New York baseball player til I ventured south, then I found out I was one.

Yankee = someone from the north
Damn Yankee = Yankee who comes down south
God Damn Yankee = Yankee who comes to live down south

DamnYankees: I'm pretty sure with a war the length and scope of the Civil War, there's no 'one reason' any one side won or lost, nor is any side more responsible than the other, tactically.

I think I lean with PC LOAD LETTER on this. Most of the factors given seem to trace back to "slavery" in one way or another.

One exception: the screwup with Special Order No. 191. Without that, Lee might have had a chance at securing an early end to the war and a treaty with favorable terms... but it still wouldn't have been a sure thing.

Generation_D: I could have sworn this thing was declared over in 1865. Then you come to find one side still fights it regularly to this day.

A war doesn't end until one side is completely demolished. They might not be shooting anybody right now, but they'll be back to fight again when they think the time is right.

theorellior: Byno: Jesus was a redneck.

I thought he was a velociraptor?




That's the book of mormon you're thinking of. Doesn't count to the fundies.

DamnYankees: coloclone: When it was realized the war and union [most of all] could not be won without freeing the slaves it become about slavery...

No. That's what the people involved *realized* it was about slavery.

i thought it was about grabbing land for the railroads.

abb3w: I think I lean with PC LOAD LETTER on this. Most of the factors given seem to trace back to "slavery" in one way or another.

Well, that's why the war happen. I was talking about tactically. If you want to know why the north beat the south, there's no one moment of decision which completely accounts for the military victory of a 4 year long campaign.