The Un-Civil War Shattering the Historical Myths

 

Quotes from the Un-Civil War

Dixie and I read this when it first came out and is indeed excellent.

 

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The book discusses honestly and frankly the real reasons for the Civil War, the way in which it was fought, and the major differences between the two sides. One of these was the strong views over the meaning and obligations of Constitutional government. The South held the traditional position of limited government and strict adherence to the protections of the Constitution, especially States Rights. The North favored a strong, centralized government and material and social programs unfettered by Constitutional limits. These issues are still very much alive.

A sobering insight to historical distortion

By Blimey 

 Mike Scruggs has based his eye-opening book upon extensive research, which he cites. Recent articles by responsible academics have begun to admit many of the assertions he makes:

· The politically calculating Lincoln wasn't the humanitarian he is exalted to be--his precipitous "emancipation proclamation" was a wartime strategy that didn't even apply to states under Union control, and he considered blacks inferior; also,

· the Andersonville "atrocity" was forced by Lincoln's refusal to exchange prisoners in an effort to starve the South for manpower. Guards fared no better than prisoners, and Andersonville commander Wirz was hanged as a scapegoat. Finally,

· Lincoln, Sherman and others intentionally waged brutal "unlimited warfare" against Southern civilians instead of avoiding "collateral damage" as dictated by traditional concepts of "just war."

· The arrogant, punitive Radical Republican-engineered atrocity of "Reconstruction" was the breeding ground of both Jim Crow and crippling sectional animosity, and was fueled by profiteering. The South didn't recover economically until the mid-20th century.

· Though a significant factor, slavery was not the "cause" of the war and abolition wasn't a Northern goal. The South favored gradual, compensated emancipation and preparation of former slaves for freedom rather than dumping them unceremoniously into society. Instead,

· ruinous, unfair tariffs led the first states to secede; Lincoln's call for 75,000 troops to invade the South led the remaining states to secede, and precipitated hostilities. This book truthfully refutes the standard morality play about the slavery issue.

In summation, the currently accepted judgment of history in the mid-1800s is skewed. The "politically correct" version of that history, taught in schools today, tragically diminishes the courageous endurance of the Confederate soldier and the Southern people in the face of horrific suffering. Before his death in battle near the end, Confederate Major General Patrick Cleburn warned that "Surrender means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth...will learn from Northern school books their version of the War; will be impressed by all the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors...." The resulting distortion is not only unfair; it is a hazard to our judgment of public policy for the future and to domestic peace. This is an important book.

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New back cover endorsements. Submitted to editors September 10, 2013

“The War that erupted in 1861 is the central event in American History, but it is as little understood by the public as it is important. There is no book which, in such short compass, so plainly, and convincingly explains the meaning of that great conflict.”

Donald W. Livingston
Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, Emory University

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Over 150 years ago an internecine war took the lives of nearly one million people and transformed a constitutional republic into an empire. To this day, Americans are reluctant to agree on the most salient aspects of that world-changing conflict. Ignoring the modern day, nursery-rhyme version of history, Mike Scruggs’ The Un-Civil War clearly presents an arsenal of intellectual weapons to fire back at the historically inept. This book should be required reading in every school in America.

Michael Givens
Commander-in-Chief
Sons of Confederate Veterans

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The Un-Civil War is a moving presentation of the heartbeat of the Southern Cause. It presents the truth with clarity and makes significant applications to our present spiritual and political chaos. Here is an excellent answer to decades of distorted, revisionist history.

Mark W. Evans
Chaplain-in-Chief
Sons of Confederate Veterans.