Losing the South’s Conservative Tradition

 

When Southern members left Congress in early 1861, nearly all conservative restraints enforced on that body were removed and the seeds of the Gilded Age were sown. The war of 1861-1865 will be forever seen as the unnecessary crime against liberty that it was, and the ending of the second experiment in government undertaken on these shores.
Bernhard Thuersam, www.Circa1865.com   The Great American Political Divide

Losing the South’s Conservative Tradition

“To those who fought and suffered during the long and fearful years of the War Between the States a tribute is always due. To the survivors of that momentous conflict – in which the South displayed unequaled bravery and marvelous determination – sincere reverence cannot too often be paid.

The young men and women who lived in the South after 1865 were tragic figures. They were the lost generation of the South, who led hard, bare and bitter lives, when young people of the South before and since were at play and in school.

That Tragic Era from 1865 to 1880 was a period when the Southern people were put to torture – so much so that our historians have shrunk from the unhappy task of telling us the truth. That was a black and bloody period – when brutality and despotism prevailed – a period which no American can point with pride. To the generation of Southerners who struggled in the years after the war in the sixties we owe the redemption of the South and the preservation of its society.

[The War and Reconstruction] cost the South heavily – but they also cost the nation. The South paid for theirs in an economic collapse and carpetbag domination extending over a period of nearly thirty years. But the nation also paid its price – it lost the powerful influence of the conservative Southern tradition.

In antebellum times the South had steadied the nation’s western expansion by its conservatism, but when the South was broken and destroyed, we saw a period of western expansion, of European immigration, of speculation, of graft, and of greed – unknown before in the annals of our history.

The nation after the war – especially the North and West – entered into an era of expansion, of worship for the new, of so-called progress, for which we still pay the price in our periodic overproduction. We should learn that economic wealth may be amassed, yet the fickle turns of business fortune can destroy it in a few years. Witness the economic collapse of our nation in the last few years after a period of unrivaled business growth.

The eternal national values are then those intangible contributions to national life such as the old South gave – not wealth, not progress, but those great qualities of tradition and conservatism and individuality which neither Depression nor hard times can destroy.

May the faith of the old South be ours, so that we can rebuild our State and Nation – and as we do so may we add the South’s contribution to American life not only its heritage of conservatism, of tradition and individuality, but also that spirit of silent strength in the hours of adversity – that spirit shown during the War and Reconstruction.”

(The Tragic Era, Dr. Julian S. Waterman, Dean, University of Arkansas Law School, Memorial Day speech at Fayetteville, Confederate Veteran Magazine, July, 1931, excerpt, pp. 275-277

The Unspoken Significance of Fort Fisher’s Fall in January 1865

This weekend the Fort Fisher historic site near Kure Beach, North Carolina observes the 152nd anniversary of the second Northern attack that succeeded in capturing the fort after a massive bombardment of 50,000 shells which killed or wounded 500 or so mostly-North Carolinians who fought valiantly from traverse to traverse before capitulating. Those taken prisoner by the enemy were shipped northward to frigid prisons in New Jersey and New York – the latter infamously referred to as a death camp.

Many people visiting Fort Fisher note that it can be an eerie experience – like walking the fields of Appomattox and sensing the death-knell of liberty and independence it is known for.

The State employees of the historic site will hold events of blue-clad troops splashing ashore to free North Carolinians from the yoke of independence and self-government, as well as waving the US flag from the top of captured cannon traverses. The red, white and blue flags of the North Carolinians will be minimized if shown at all. Rather than note that most of the defenders were North Carolina farmers from surrounding counties, the fort and media will refer to them as merely “Confederates.”

Often noted during these observances is the enemy soldier who fell out of ranks to visit his mother’s home — as his brother was fighting to defend his country in a grey uniform.  And few seem to comprehend that this wayward North Carolinian in blue is the very definition of treason, of aiding, abetting and going over to the enemy.

Also, what is usually not discussed at events like this are the sectional differences of that era and multitude of reasons why the South was invaded, and the important aftermath of that battle for the fort. What really happened in mid-January 152 years ago was the ending of an American struggle for freedom and independence, the consent of the governed to rule themselves, and the equivalent of Washington surrendering to British forces at Yorktown.

What happened after the fort fell is very important to remember, especially as one looks at the blue-clad reenactors splashing ashore waving their flag on what was then foreign soil to them. What was their true purpose?

After the fort was overwhelmed and silenced, the 10,000-man enemy army marched toward Wilmington in two columns and after some spirited skirmishes, captured the city, imposed martial law, seized private property, and forced citizens to swear allegiance to a foreign government in order to conduct their businesses.

When the enemy departed Wilmington, they moved to join other enemy forces coming into North Carolina from South Carolina and from occupied New Bern. At Bentonville the combined enemy outnumbered Southern forces 4 to 1 — who fought them to a standstill – they then moved on to capture Raleigh, arrest and imprison the governor, and impose military rule on North Carolina. Think of the French capitulation to Germany in 1940.

After the surrender of Southern forces in May, 1865 at Bennett Place, the “reconstruction” of the South lasted until 1877 – some say it never ended — though without armies and without as much gunfire. North Carolina endured rule by a new State constitution imported by a military consul appointed from Washington, and corrupt local men who sought employment with the late enemy. The new imported constitution settled the secession issue for good by stating that North Carolina will never again seek independence or political freedom from the United States Government.

Understandably, July 4, 1865 in occupied Wilmington was a muted affair, celebrated only by locals collaborating with the enemy and newly-freed blacks who were unaware that they had only changed masters.” Blue-clad sentries still patrolled the streets to ensure the rebellion did not re-ignite; then came the vultures known as “carpetbaggers.”

Former Governor Zebulon Vance described the aftermath of war in North Carolina in 1890:

“The carnival of corruption and fraud, the trampling down of decency, the rioting in the overthrow of the traditions of a proud people, the chaos of hell on earth which took place beggars the descriptive powers of plain history . . . I believe a committee of Congress, who took some testimony on this subject, estimated in 1871 the amount of plunder which was extracted from the Southern people in about 5 short years — some $300 millions of dollars in the shape of increased debt alone, to say nothing of the indirect damage inflicted by the many ways of corruption and misrule which cannot be estimated in money.”

The fall of Fort Fisher and ultimate surrender at Bennett Place led to the carnival of corruption that Vance illuminated. We should remember what occurred at Fort Fisher in mid-January 1865 for what it was and what it led to — the ending of an American struggle for freedom and independence, the consent of the governed to rule themselves. This is the sad fact that we should observe, and be cognizant of when gazing at the great earthen fortress.

Judicial Overthrow of State Governments

Stephen B. Presser

The framers of our second constitution in 1787, as they did in their previous Articles of Confederation, clearly intended to protect their States, and their citizens, from an oppressive central government like the one they had just freed themselves from. And in no way would they have wanted a federal agent intruding into State domains and forced compliance with regulations formulated by distant bureaucrats. With an all-powerful federal bureaucracy emerging victorious in 1865, no State – North or South – could dare challenge the federal interpretation of the Constitution or what passed for federal law.
Bernhard Thuersam, www.Circa1865.com   The Great American Political Divide

Judicial Overthrow of State Governments

“Two hundred and eight years ago, when the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, there was general agreement with its text: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Two hundred and eight years ago, Americans thought of themselves as citizens of their States first, and only secondarily as citizens of a national federation. Now it is unclear that most Americans are aware of the Tenth Amendment, let alone the principle that the federal government is supposed to be one of limited and enumerated powers.

How did we come to this pass? Is there any hope that the federal courts will once again read the Constitution and, at least to the extent implied by that document, resurrect something of the doctrine of States’ rights? [Even] Washington, Hamilton and Madison would have been astonished at present-day incursions of the central government and its courts.

Passed after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment was originally designed to allow newly freed blacks to own property and to make contracts. But it became a tool, in the hands of mid-20th century federal courts, to impose a centralized, secularized and egalitarian social system on the entire nation.

Federal judges began to read the 14th Amendment provisions that no State should be permitted to deprive any person of the “equal protection of the laws” nor to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without “due process” as a license to turn the restrictions of the Bill of Rights against the States and to set up strict rules about which State policies were permissible and which were not.

With the scantiest evidence, and in the face of overwhelming data to the contrary, the Supreme Court declared that the 14th Amendment was designed to “incorporate” at least some, and perhaps all, of the protections of the Bill of Rights against State governments.

There is no doubt that the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, had been drafted in the late 18th century in order to reassure the proponents of strong State governments that the federal government would not infringe on the sovereignty of the States or their people. Without even acknowledging the usurpation, the federal courts turned the Bill of Rights into a tool to reduce radically the discretion of the State governments.

The First Amendment clearly provides, for example, that “Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of speech . . . or regarding an establishment of religion,” but the congressional prohibition was soon read – blatantly contrary to the intention of the frames of the Bill of Rights, if not the framers of the 14th Amendment itself – to extend to State legislatures and officials as well.

It may be too late to save State sovereignty and the original intention of the Constitution. A slew of bold supreme Court appointments by a conservative Republican president might help, but so far only Justices Thomas and Scalia, and occasionally Justice Rehnquist, have acknowledged that the Court has been operating for one or two generations in clearly unconstitutional territory.”

(Sisyphus and States’ Rights, Stephen B. Presser; Chronicles, April 1999, excerpt, pg. 13-14)

Is Donald Trump the New Joe McCarthy?

Via Billy

 

Thanks to our faulty understanding of (and lack of knowledge) history in this country, the name Joseph McCarthy brings up all kinds of negative bugaboos about the late senator, mostly undeserved but all promoted by the Far Left and those that finance the Far Left.

McCarthy  had a genuine concern about the numerous Communists within our own government and military that were working to destabilize the country and he found, as he went along,  that there were many within our own government that wanted these Communists in place to do exactly what they were doing. When McCarthy tried to expose all this, especially in the army, they blackballed him and eventually, when they could stop his exposures no other way, they got him censured. In other words,  when McCarthy was seeking to expose the treason in his own government to the American people, the traitors in his own government opposed and eventually managed to shut down his efforts. After all, the American people didn’t need to realize they were being sold out and certain people in high places in government were going to make sure they didn’t. For those that might be interested in a little background on this I would recommend the book McCarthy written by Roy Cohn and published by Lancer Books in New York way back in 1968. Believe it or not, it is still available on Amazon and worth the read to see some of what is going on right now in regard to Donald Trump and how the Ruling Elite are trying to stop his efforts. Read and begin to connect the dots.

More @ Revised History

Miss Violet on Westerners v Southerners

Comment by MissV on J. Evetts Haley and the Mind of the South

 

I read your comment yesterday, started to comment, then refrained myself because I wanted to think more on it.

As a born and bred Westerner I love the West, I love the land, I love the customs that have evolved from settling and living in this raw country. 

Yes, there are people that live in the West, that want to strip everything from her to make their fortunes. They are not true Westerners though. The Westerners that I know, that I have grown up with, worked with, and lived side by side with are not those people. The Westerners I know love the sage brush prairies, the deserts, the mountains, and canyons and rivers. They feel privileged to ranch and farm, or own a whitewater rafting business in some of the most majestic country on the planet. If I may quote an old Southern saying: Just because the cat had kittens in the oven, don't make 'em biscuits. You have to realize though, the West has had it's own invasion of carpet baggers to contend with, coming out of what I call, the "eastern" west, California, WA, and Oregon. Places filled with people who hold not one true Western value although, geographically as far west in the country as they can be. I am convinced they all have true Commie hearts, through and through and if the ocean were to take them all, it would be awesome.

Yes, I will admit that Westerners are open to new people. It is part of the Western Code (yes, it is still alive, no matter who makes fun of it) that you don't judge a man by his past, but by his actions today. How do you think thousands and thousands of Confederates were able to pour into this country and build lives for themselves after the war. The West was a place for second chances, new beginnings and a place, for the most part, free of interfering Yankee feds. The wonderful part is that all those Confederates brought all their best customs and traditions with them.

The West is big place. People had to help each other just to stay alive. Part of the Code is you minded your own business, but you ALWAYS are neighborly, someone's life might depend on it. You might think that isn't so nowadays, and maybe in the cities it doesn't apply so much, but in the rural West it still does.

My only credentials for my opinion are that of someone born in the Southwest and raised in Nevada and Wyoming, and who has lived in nine Western states. My people all arrived to the West from the South, where the best part of them had settled after leaving Ireland and Scotland.

I am a Westerner with Southern roots that run deep and I am not alone.

Miss Violet

MILO's talk at UC Davis cancelled after Clinton supporting students brought hammers and bottles of urine!

Via Billy

 Iranian Immigrant MILO Supporter Takes On Protesters, Gets Harassed

Mike Cernovich

🇺🇸 Verified account ‏@Cernovich

Censored! MILO's talk at UC Davis cancelled after sick Hillary Clinton supporting students brought hammers and bottles of urine!

Shootout at U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo Part of Cartel-Terrorist Attack Plan for Trump Inauguration

Via Billy

A deadly shootout at the construction site of the new American Consulate occurred this week in a Mexican border town where Islamic terrorists and drug cartels plan to launch attacks against the U.S. during the period surrounding the presidential inauguration, high-level government sources tell Judicial Watch. An unknown number of gunmen fired multiple rounds adjacent to the new U.S. Consulate compound in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, a crime-infested city in the state of Tamaulipas that lies directly across from Laredo, Texas.

More @ Judicial Watch

Election 2016 Seen As Remakes Of Great Hollywood Comedy.

Via Joe

Before we can get into examining the comedic insanity of the left's vindictiveness that serves no purpose but to damage the nation as a whole we have to lay out the facts, the how and why we got here.

From the very begining of this Presidential election season the Democrats had convinced themselves that the results were a forgone conclusion. Sure there were going to some variables and deviations from what they saw as a path of inevitability, that the election itself was going to be a pro forma act. Jan. 20th 2017 was to be Hillary's coronation and as much a finishing act for the American Republic as the rise of Octavian was for the Roman Republic.

But then like the title of the hit Broadway play and movie, "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum". And like that story the Democrat's certainties turned into a tragedy, a travisty and a comedy of errors. Hillary wasn't supposed to face anything but token opposition for the nomination which would allow her to stockpile vast sums of money with which she would simply steamroll over her Republican opponent whomever it might be. Martin O'Malley was supposed to look good but ineffectual. Jim Webb would be the last gasp of whatever conservatism remained in the party and Hillary would roll triumphant into Philadelphia.

More @ Joe Martin's Ghost