I Have a Few Questions

[Mark MacKenzie]

And the war came.

Kate, I like Lincoln. I think reading Lincoln gives me an understanding of the times. Lincoln's second inaugural address ponders the guilt of the Union regarding slavery. I think he would readily agree that the history of slavery rests on everyone's shoulders.
Lincoln's first inaugural address tries to assure the south that he, or rather the Union, would not wage war unless the South provokes it by drawing first blood.

" I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." Lincoln

(This deserves to be read over and over until completely understood. I encourage anyone to read Lincoln.)

So, of course, the war was not started to abolish slavery. And the righteousness of many LOUDMOUTHS in the North was matched by the indignation of many LOUDMOUTHS in the South. You can't say all Northerners encouraged racism. Its simply not true. You can't say all Southerners are racists. Simply not true.

But the war did come. Lines were drawn that exist today. The South. The North. Yankees. Rebels. I don't believe you can refer to either as one person, one mind. To say the North felt one way is a gross broad stroke. To say the South felt another way is generalizing about a lot of different people. Many good people, many bad people, as today. Many still fight a war that is long over.


My viewpoint on slavery is hard and fast. My abhorrence of taking women without consent is almost on par with whipping a person to death. I believe the morality of slavery was decided long ago. I believe in a difference between morality, (immutable concepts of good and evil that may or may not even be perceived,) and popular morality, (what is popularly acceptable at a certain time.)

My viewpoints are not important. In fact, I feel no responsibility as a teacher might, to influence or change anybody's mind. I come to my feelings through what I read and have read. I grant myself the right to be wrong just as I grant anybody else to be right. I want to keep an open mind.

It is a huge subject. There are great books to read. There are horrible books to read. Good luck.

As to the name calling insults, I have nothing to say.