Saturday, January 16, 2016

The North Shifts the Issue

 File:North Carolina state coat of arms (illustrated, 1876).jpg

The victor of wars writes the official history, inflates his lofty intentions and controls what is set in the historical record. William Joseph Peele was a simple North Carolinian who is credited with the creation of the Agricultural and Mechanic Arts schools in the State, and support for a State Historical Commission which would set the record straight.
Bernhard Thuersam, www.Circa 1865.com   The Great American Political Divide

 The North Shifts the Issue

“Mr. Peele could not get away from the idea that the cause of the Civil War was commercial jealousy. Henry Adams and Mill say that in ’61 the people of England entertained the same opinion. Peele did give credit to the North for so shifting the issue that it seemed to be a war for freedom.

“The agitation about the Negro, as a counter-irritant to distract attention from the injustice of Federal revenue laws, was [said Peele] more than a success; for the shallow politicians of both sections forgot the real issue; but the beneficiaries never lost sight of it. I will use a homely illustration:

A and B are doing business on the opposite sides of a street; B begins to undersell A; A becomes angry, but cannot afford to tell his customers the cause; he hears that B once cheated a Negro out of a mule; he makes that charge; they fight; the court record of the trial shows that the fight was about the Negro and the mule; but there is not a business man on the street who does not know that the record speaks a lie.”

(William Joseph Peele, by Robert W. Winston, Proceedings of the North Carolina Historical Commission, November, 1919, page 116)

12 comments:

  1. i always said that it was not about slavery. the yanks had slaves [thus the phrase 'sold DOWN the river'] but they had free irish and other labor and wanted to defeat the commercial juggernaut the South was becoming.
    what a mess.
    'the love of money is the root of all evil.'.

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    1. I have heard many, many times from my mother, "Money is the root of all evil."

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  2. Hi Brock,
    "Tariffs!!' You know, that "Eco-Political" Concept....I heard all about them in the 7th Grade!!" The school year 1957-58. 'Back when!!!! My teacher that year was Mrs. Taylor and she was "Well Versed!" in Southern History!! I am so glad to have have known her!!

    We fight the "Good Fight!!" I don't have to tell you the words of Jefferson B. Davis!! Just the first word, is all I have to say, "TRUTH!!" .......That is all that Matters!!!
    Got "Truth,"
    III%,
    skybill-out

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    1. That is all that Matters!

      You got it! Thanks for the story.

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  3. In preparation for a visit to Wilmington today I had been doing some research on the history of the area. Consequently I had been thinking on this very topic. I find it more than a little ironic that Lincoln and Rahm Emmanuel both hail from Illinois because I think Emmanuel's quote: "Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste"never (miss a chance to convert crises into political pork for special interests) is exactly what Lincoln did.

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    1. Good point and just think we'd be visiting each other today if I wasn't out here. So, the 4th time wasn't the charm after all. :)

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    2. I know. :(
      I was quite disappointing, but as my mother used to say, I have the same clothes to get glad in. ;)
      It poured rain most of the day, but I had some of the best seafood I have had in a long time. The margaritas weren't bad either. ;-)

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  4. The war profiteers got filthy rich over this war. The costs:

    Thousands of families, North and South, losing sons, fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins, etc.

    Thousands of young and not so young men, North and South, dying, getting maimed, physically and psychologically scarred for life. Many Civil War veterans, North and South, addicted to Morphine for years.

    That's only scratching the surface. War is the Devil's delight.

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  5. http://bbs.dailystormer.com/t/this-southern-girls-singing-is-unbelievable/924

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    1. Thanks. http://freenorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2016/01/southern-version-of-battle-cry-of.html

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