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The April 12th Post.

I know it's April 13th, but I had fully intended to post this yesterday. April 12th marks the anniversary of the Confederates firing upon Fort Sumter in 1861, starting the American Civil War. There would be 617,500 men dead by the time it would end in five years. The most brilliant military mind West Point produced in the 19th would surrender in shame (Robert E. Lee), while an alcoholic renegade general would not only stand in victory and be forever hailed as a hero, but would later be President for a full eight years (Ulysses S. Grant).

While we're on the topic, I'll get this out there: the Civil War was primarily an issue of states' rights and the nature of the union of United States. When the industrial North was seen to be using the federal government to put pressure on the South's agricultural way of life (and not protecting Southern crops with tariffs), the South - being of the mind that states had rights before the nation did - broke off to form their own group of semi-independant states, called a Confederation. The United States actually had a confederation under the aptly named Articles of Confederation, which stood until the Constitution was drafted.

What I am trying to say is that though I am very northeast-centrist in my view of American History and am very glad the United States was not dissolved into two parts and slavery was abolished, I can earnestly feel for the South's cause and do not somehow blame our Southern bretheren for the Civil War, something that was rampant in the Reconstruction period and still is prevelant today. Besides, the Confederates' cause is appealing to me in my nerdy fascination with alternate history. How would everything have panned out had the CSA won? Before even fifty years were through, I can tell you that the Russo-Japanese war would not have ended in a stalemate (long story) and Venezuela would have been a German possession (longer story). World War I would have gone on and on and on and on and Would War II may never have happened.

Before I lose too many people out of a general disinterest for historical rambling, I might also point out that one of my favorite politicians of all time, Henry Clay, was actually born on April 12, 1777. I will be posting about how he should have been president soon, I promise, but first I'd like to draw and interesting parallel to the Fort Sumter attack by pointing out that it was Henry Clay's "Missouri Compromise" and "Great Compromise" that caused the Civil War to start in the 1860s rather than the 1840s or '50s. Ironic that P.T. Beauregard would then fire the opening shot of the Civil War on Clay's 84th birthday.

The End.

posted by Michael @ 9:23 AM Comments: 0