One reason I hate living in the south.

[TheRealMafoo]

konnichiwa said:

TheRealMafoo said:

Well, to be honest, he is more right then wrong. When the colonies created the US, and became states, they did so with an expectation of what there state rights would be. Those rules radically changed, and changed in a way where it negatively impacted the southern states. It got to a point where they said "thanks, but no thanks. Good luck with that US thing, we are going to go another way". Left the group, and started there own country. The US said "sorry, but we need you, so no" and invaded them.

Think of it like if you joined a club where you had to pay $1000 in dues, and after a few years the club moves in a direction you don't like. You then resign from the club, but the owner (who likes your $1000) beats the shit out of you, and says you can't leave, and must pay the grand each year.

That sums up the war. It was a state rights thing, and had nothing to do with slavery (if anyone thinks it did).

Well I always thought that was the main reason or better said was the one of biggest reasons.  I know a lot of the Civil war (the most famous persons/generals, the fights that happened like Bull Run) but never really what it caused it.

Ugh sucks though, the only family that ever went to USA of me had to fight in the civil war (or that is what they told us when we asked it) and died in one of the fights.  Ugh I always saw him as some kind of hero.

And lol a lot of Americans who live here have this flag on their car/in their house:

 I always thought they did that because they are racist =p...Wups..

 

Well, a lot of people today think of race when they think of the civil war (both black and white). So I would not rule out racism when you see that flag (I would not automatically think it either).

I agree with States Rights, but I would never fly that flag. It pisses off to many people.

Oh, and Slavery was legal even after the war was over. It was not abolished until the 14th amendment was ratified on July 9, 1868. The Civil War ended April 9, 1865.

If you want to know more about why the war started, Wikipedia has some good info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War

As you can see in that article, slavery was a focal point that stimulated the argument, but it was not the underlying issue. The underlying issue what the states felt they had the right to say if slavery would be legal, not the federal government (like it still is today with murder, that's a state crime, not a federal one). Ironically, Lincoln never planed to outlaw slavery in states that already had it, he only wanted to outlaw it from any territory that wanted to become a new state.

But after the south was defeated, the north put there people into the political offices of the southern states, and it allowed the 14th amendment to pass. So the war ended slavery faster then if it had not happened.

Oh, also slavery and racism were two different things back then. In the south, before the war, there were 150,000 free black men. Of the free black men in New Orleans (the only location where they kept statistics on black slave owners), 90% of the free black men owned slaves. About 1% of white men in the south owned slaves. It's very hard to try and put what slavery meant to the people of that time into our value system.

A good example, would be if one day we let 15 year old's hold public office, and live free. If we did, in 200 years we would be ashamed at how we treat 15-18 year old's today. You can't buy property, live on your own, vote, and so on. We don't think of this as degrading to our youth, it's just the way it is. It was kind of the same mindset back then.

I am torn, as I feel slavery should have been a states rights issue, but I am also very happy about the 14th amendment (and the civil rights movement if the 1960's). In a perfect world, each state would have outlawed slavery on there own, and over 700,000 Americans wouldn't of had to die.