Lincoln, Hamilton, and Immigrants

In my opinion the Civil War did not occur when it did by accident. I believe that there is a reason it happened when it did because certain things had to be in place; in particular certain changes in the population were needed. Contrary to what many have been taught I believed that on its battlefields were left the remains of the United States.

When our Founding Parents developed the idea of a new nation they had had the ability to experience what many in Europe have never experienced. With their government three thousand miles away with only representatives or agents of their government in the colonies with them they had to learn to do a lot of things on their own. Just to get help or assistance could take months for the request to get there and the answer to come back. They had to build entire communities from scratch. They had to learn to depend on one another to help in good times and emergencies. They had to form and train militias with its own leadership. They had to learn to workout issues with the indigenous population which wasn’t too happy about the Founding Parents being there. They had learned the value of one another.

Through forming their own economy and society they discovered an amazing thing. In their need to work with one another they found that there was great potential in the sharing of ideas. They found true value in listening to others. They saw that competition between rivals was highly unproductive when it came to governance. They saw that much could be accomplished through members of their various houses such as the Virginia House of Burgesses. Not necessarily agreeing with each other but bringing their different viewpoints and experiences and their understanding of the situation with the idea of working together to create and bounce ideas off one another in an effort to resolve the situation. It was about what was best for the members of their communities, not what was best for the crown or local nobles who often oversaw decisions back in England as was the same in all the other European nations with their respective ruling families. Our Founding Parents realized that they had the ability to rule themselves and had learned to see the government of Great Britain as more of a hindrance to the pursuit of their happiness.

Where did I come up with this—well, from reading their writings and looking at what they had done. They had talked about alliances with none and free trade for all. Their first attempt at a unifying government was a forum for debate and discussion of ideas which was known as the Continental Congress. Their second attempt at a government was the Articles of Confederation which showed that they wanted unity but they valued their individual freedoms even more. Again, the main part of this government was a Congress, again a huge forum for the discussion and creation of ideas with no real single authority. However, Shay’s Rebellion starting in 1786 pointed out some major flaws in this government so they went back to the drawing board. Delegates from the various states as they were now known came together at Independence Hall in Philadelphia and got to work on the issue. After bouncing around some ideas they decided that instead of attempting to fix the Articles of Confederation they would create a whole new government.

Again, we see this whole idea of individual freedom and bringing together ideas with a bicameral Congress which was designed to give people a voice through their representatives while at the same time making sure that one state through a larger population wasn’t able to impose itself on the rest through the equality of power in the Senate. You had a judiciary which was to be an impartial group of referees with one thing in mind the rules and concepts of the Constitution and you had an executive to enforce the laws created, to help protect the rights of the people, to be an agent in helping our nation to negotiate treaties and trade deals, while appointing federal posts which must be confirmed by Congress and this is important. You have three branches of government with much power especially the power to keep an eye on one another through our system of checks and balances. However, there are limits to their power and they only had authority over certain things. This was definitely something built into the system to protect the rights of individuals as well as to allow ideas to be developed while limiting the chance of one person imposing their will on everyone. Our Constitution is our rule book. But beyond all of this, the Constitution was not imposed on the states. States were given the opportunity as new members are today to decide if the Constitution was a good fit for them and so far fifty have agreed.

It is all about being able to express ideas and coming together to workout issues. Like I said, you may see something which from my perspective I might have never imagined. We are all in this together. Local governments are forums for working out local concerns and issues. Our state governments are there to help us workout statewide issues. I should mention all of these organizations have the abilities to share ideas and solutions with one another with the idea that one state has the ability to see what others are doing and learn from them in their own pursuit of resolving issues. Then we have a federal government to handle national issues as well as to help out with interstate issues. They are there to handle foreign issues which may affect us. They are also a point of standards for our nation such as money, weights, and measurements. It is all about individual freedom and being able to express and use ideas to grow and evolve as a nation and as a people. It is about keeping the mind free so we as a nation can continue to evolve and benefit for this ability to evolve. This ability to evolve is evident as there is universal suffrage for all citizens above the age of eighteen, the abolishment of slavery, and the inclusion of many within our government which weren’t considered part of it in 1776 or 1787. But something has changed drastically and one of the first indicators of what had happened was evident in the election of 1800.

This had been an especially nasty election. But then, how do you win an election against the very man who wrote the Declaration of Independence? But before we get into this let’s back up a little bit to the creation of the Constitution. In the early days of the republic following the Treaty of Paris in 1783 ending the Revolutionary War Alexander Hamilton had hoped that instead of a new republic that a new nobility would be emplaced with George Washington as the King and Alexander Hamilton as one of the newly installed barons. Remember, Hamilton had not been born in the U.S. colonies and did not know of the liberty many of the colonist had. He had been born in what is now Saint Kitts and Nevis which as you may know remained loyal to the crown until now even though it has been independent since 1983. It still sees Charles III as its monarch with a governor-general who is appointed by the monarch running the nation for Charles III. Hamilton had only come to the American colonies in 1772 and had only just started to get acclimated to life in the American Colonies when the war broke out.

I am reminded of a little story of my current local area which helps to demonstrate the difference between an American Colonist such as George Washington and a colonist of another British territory. Bedford was a place that President George Washington used as a command post in dealing with the Whiskey Rebellion. Farmers in western Pennsylvania had found that it was profitable to produce whiskey to ship east to the major markets instead of the costs of shipping pumpkins and other products east. Items such as pumpkins were easily damaged in transit and would probably spoil in those days. Whiskey was far more portable and potable—ha ha ha, enough fun, on with the story. However a tax was levied on whiskey and the farmers would not have it so they started a rebellion. It was one of the first taxes imposed on an internally produced product. But even determined farmers were no match for militias from various states and regular army members under the leadership of George Washington. Fortunately very few died in the conflict (mostly from disease and accidents—the 1700s were a rough time) and peace was restored. Alexander Hamilton in a true European government mindset of the time suggested that the appropriate thing would be to send a strong message to all others by having the leaders of the Rebellion executed by guillotine. George Washington in a very typical American style decided to have a beer with and pardoned them.

Even though Hamilton pushed for a new nobility or very similar features, the majority of the Founding Parents wanted to have what they had come to know and love—an existence where they were in charge of their own lives without the hindrances they had seen with a monarchy and parliament forcing the economy to their desire. They, especially George Washington, wanted a nation ruled by the people. Hamilton was stunned that they were going to give a nation so rich in resources to the average person. He thought that there should be a noble class in control of these resources. According to John Taylor of Caroline—thought to be one of the most advanced political theorists of his time—Hamilton desired many of the attributes of what Hamilton had been familiar such as like the House of Lords the Senate would be for life and a hereditary thing. Hamilton wanted a strong central government—pretty much what the colonists had just fought the Revolutionary War in order to free themselves from such constraints. However, Hamilton wasn’t the only one who saw the opportunity for a rich and powerful class to arise and take advantage.

Meanwhile at the time there was a mass emigration from the United States as people who had been still loyal to the crown and the old ways fled to Canada or the British Isles or other British colonies in the Caribbean. Most who stayed looked forward to the development of a new nation in which a person (white adult males at least) were able to blaze their own trail in life. Thomas Jefferson was one of the most outspoken of this idea and in the election of 1796 he had come in second place to John Adams and was therefore elected as John Adams’ vice president.

At this time John Adams was a member of the Federalist Party who wanted a stronger centralized government with state governments being weaker. They desired an indirect election of government officials who would have longer term limits. They had also imposed various taxes. Thomas Jefferson was a founder along with James Madison of the Democratic-Republicans which stood for less government in the lives of people. They saw the Federalists as pro monarchy or aristocracy and thought it imperative to protect the public freedoms and championed westward expansion. Democratic-Republicans also preferred the relationship with France which had waned during the Adams’ Administration. Our government refused to payback loans which France had made to us during the Revolution because the French had killed Louis XVI from whom the loans originated. There was even a small war which isn’t mentioned in most American Textbooks which occurred between America and France during Adams Presidency. It was known as the Quasi War which ignited over trade agreements and alliances the Federalists made with Great Britain and also the reneging on the debt to the French. (It should be noted that one of the reasons for the uprising in France which ended the Bourbon Dynasty was that France needed money because of the loans to the Americans and at the same time the French subjects saw the American Revolution as a wonderful idea and wanted to be free citizens as well.) Democratic-Republicans also opposed the Federalist taxes and British influence.

While in power the Federalists passed a set of four laws in 1798 collectively known as the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Alien Friends Act gave the president power to imprison and deport aliens he deemed to be basically problems for the safety and security of the nation. Under the Alien Enemies Act the president had the ability to imprison, deport, and relocate non citizen males over the age of 14 of the belligerent nation as well as regulate all non-citizens during the war. In this case it was mainly aimed at French immigrants during the Quasi War. Other presidents would use this law such as Wilson concerning citizens of the Central Powers or FDR with the internment of Japanese Americans. Then there was the Naturalization Act which increased the time needed to become a citizen to fourteen years from the three or five years of residency. It is believed this was done due to most immigrants supported Jefferson and this was a way of suppressing those votes. And finally, there was the Sedition Act itself which prohibited any criticism of the President, his cabinet, or of the War which led to the persecution of many Jeffersonian Newspaper Owners for any criticism of the Federalists or their agenda. By the way, it was perfectly okay to trash Jefferson.

The election of 1800 was one of the nastiest elections ever held in this nation. Whereas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans weren’t allowed by law to say anything false, misleading, or critical of the Federalists even if it was 100% true and verifiable, the Federalists were allowed to attack Jefferson. These attacks included rumors of Jefferson sleeping with his slaves which has never been proven—a nephew who had lived with Jefferson did admit he had but never his uncle. There were false reports of Jeffersonian supporters helping French to infiltrate the nation to bring down the American Republic creating a new reign of terror and tyranny. Jefferson was bashed as an atheistic blasphemer. One Federalist aligned newspaper even reported that Thomas Jefferson had died which wouldn’t happen until 26 years later when Adams too would die on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Even with all of this the people of this nation who were still a majority of people who had been born here and had learned to love the freedom they experienced spoke and Jefferson and Aaron Burr were able to prevail. By the way, this was the first election in which the person running for president also had a running mate who ran for vice president. Prior to this the presidency was awarded to the person who won and the vice presidency was awarded to the one who came in second—I wonder if that is such a bad thing?

The people had spoken and desired the rule of the people supported by Jefferson and Aaron Burr. Jefferson would do much to redirect the nation from the designs of the Federalists. He would convince Congress to purchase French controlled Louisiana which doubled the size of the nation. He would do his best to promote individual freedom and education. He would be instrumental in developing the United States Navy through his attempt to end the terror of the Barbary Pirates. He would cut the budget and greatly reduce the deficit and eliminate the whiskey taxes. One thing he wasn’t able to accomplish was the end of Hamilton’s brainchild which was championed by the Federalists, the Bank of the United States or commonly referred to as the BUS. Hamilton had formed this bank through granting a loan from the bank to Congress in the amount of $10,000,000 which was immediately deposited in the bank.

Here again is that attempt to have an economy which was free to find its own direction and grow and evolve as it needed to in order to respond freely to its various members’ needs and desires which is what Jefferson and so many Founding Parents desired. But the BUS was very much like the Bank of England put in place to dominate the United States’ economy (it is believed that one of the biggest straws which broke the camel’s back and set off the Revolutionary War was that George III desired to impose the Bank of England on the Colonists.) By creating the BUS the Federalists had effectively taken control of the economy. The economy’s direction could be dictated and controlled by rich investors deciding which received support and what didn’t. Jefferson would have gotten rid of it but it had a twenty year charter which put its renewal some years after Jefferson’s presidency. Andrew Jackson would put an end to it during his administration when he refused to renew the charter for a third time stating that the BUS favored northern business at the expense of the south and allowed for strong foreign influence not only in the economy but also Congress. But in all, the nation experienced freedom on many levels but this was not the end of the Federalists’ aspirations of a strong government with the nation in the hands of the wealthy. Twenty days before the end of Jefferson’s second term a man would be born who would do much to help Hamilton and the Federalists see their dreams come true but first something needed to change drastically and it would. Yes, despite all of the efforts Federalist had made to thrash Jefferson the people still loved their freedom and voiced it by re-electing Thomas

One of the best ways a nation has used to maintain control of certain areas was to have it populated by their people. Andrew Jackson who had made himself into one of the richest men in America by confiscating tribal land for his own while fighting against Native Americans created the Indian Removal Act to force Native Americans to the west of the Mississippi under the idea of keeping Americans safe but actually more likely so Native American lands could be sold to land speculators and be owned by wealthy European descendants. As mentioned Jefferson had doubled the size of the nation with the purchase of Louisiana from the French—Napoleon really needed the cash. To help maintain these lands as part of the United States it was imperative to have settlers make claims to the various parts. However, the people of the United States only numbered about five million who were busy occupying the land before the addition of the Louisiana Purchase. To make matters worse almost nine hundred thousand were enslaved individuals which depended on a lot of individuals to oversee and maintain the slaves as slaves. Another thing to think about was that birthrates though high took a lot to actually add to the population considering families would have up to ten kids just so two or three would reach adulthood—things were tough before Pasteur or Semmelweis. America needed people.

One answer was found in immigrants. Personally, I find immigration to be a wonderful thing. Nothing is more a part of the human experience than exploration; learning knew things, the sharing of ideas. It is through migration that humans have come to inhabit the vast majority of the planet, even islands surrounded by thousands of miles of ocean. It was through this need to explore or to find your personal niche that humans developed bridges, roads, and vehicles of all types including boats which allowed us to reach those islands and also led to the development of trade. Most importantly it gave us the chance to share ideas and lessons learned. If it wasn’t for migration there would be no New York or New York style pizza. We have reached some of our greatest pinnacles through the sharing of ideas, culture, and products. Immigration was also a great way to get the population you needed to tame and maintain recently acquired territory such as the Louisiana Purchase or the American Southwest which would be added through subterfuge and violence by the Polk Administration.

America was already a great allure for foreigners. Many lived under repressive regimes where they basically eked out a subsistence income while producing great wealth for those who actually dominated the economies. Many of these rulers had tough restrictions on their subjects. Many rulers had installed special security forces and spy networks to keep tabs on their subjects and to keep the subjects in their place. These were extensively used in the period following the Napoleonic Wars which ended in 1815 and were used through the 1860s—they did not want what had happened in America or France to happen in their territories. Prussia would form the ‘Preussische Geheimpolizei’ in the 1850s which was one of the first organizations of its type to be publicly known. It would be the model for organizations such as the Imperial Russian Okhrana. It was used to keep records on various subjects especially those who were deemed as political radicals also to control voting, assembly, and especially unions. The Preussische Geheimpolizei would be in use until the Nazi Regime transformed it into the Gestapo. Later organizations such as the ‘Комитет государственной безопасности’ or KGB of the Soviet Union or the ‘Stasi’ of East Germany continued the tradition of the secret police in spying on and terrorizing people to remain within the limits or rules of the game imposed from the top down. Our own Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI with its use of the COINTELPRO (Active 1956-1971) was used to investigate and discredited or slander various organizations such as Civil Rights Groups, Black Panthers, Anti Vietnam War demonstrators, Communist and various Socialist Parties, Hispanic Groups, and target individuals such as liberal minded Jean Dorothy Seberg who would commit suicide after her career and life were destroyed through the agency’s slander. COINTELPRO even reportedly attempted to persuade Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to commit suicide with the threat of releasing an audio tape created by the organization. That was hardly the America that was created to be the land of the free. Let’s look more to what happened, what made America a land just like any other.

Besides the oppression such as vast majority of Ireland being owned by English Landlords there was very little room to grow in Europe. Basically if you started a business and expanded you had to step on other people’s toes and it wasn’t just with business it was with many things. This was one of the main reasons for the oppressive regimes with their secret police it was to keep people in their place to limit competition and help those in power remain in power. It was to keep people in their place where they best suited those in power or who controlled the resources. America had plenty of room and many unclaimed resources if you totally ignored the fact that there were Native Americans already living there. It was also an opportunity to create your own life which most did not have in other countries of the time. Chances were high that if you were born into a tenant farmer’s family that is what you would be as well as your children. Rules, oppression, restrictions were all designed to keep people in the places that best suited those who ruled the country and the economy. Some groups such as Jews were still being persecuted for their religious beliefs and it wasn’t that long before when our Founding Parents had created America that the Jacobite Rebellion which was an attempt to reinstall James II as King and his plans to force Catholicism on Great Britain had occurred. A place where the people ruled the country and the economy, and had the ability to decide their own lives with religious freedom sounded pretty good. It was a place which was a far cry from the America of COINTELPRO sanctioned terror; where a person was free to speak their mind and try new things and decide their destiny while worshipping God the way which they felt was best to give them eternal bliss and these immigrants wanted that.

So, besides talks and wishes of being free to lead their own lives in a fabled land to the west or to the east for those in Asia seeking freedom and opportunity there were agents encouraging and recruiting people to come to America. And, they did come. In fact it was nearly enough that by the 1850s the nation had doubled its size in population. They brought their work ethics and skills. They brought the ideas of their homelands along with their customs and traditions which all added to the wealth of America. They brought different experiences and points of view which all of this and so much more added to the American potential. However, they did bring something else as well which worked well for those who shared Hamilton’s vision of America.

Remember Hamilton had not been born here and attempted to impose that with which he was familiar and understood completely. Many of the Founding Parents had either lived here all of their lives or had had time to get very well acclimated to what was then America and to become fully immersed and part of the American character. Immigrants within these waves escaping the confines of their homelands only knew of the confines of their homelands. Instead of having time to assimilate into their new home they came in droves. Incoming immigrants looking for that better life helped to double the population of the nation in the period of 1815 to 1860 and mainly in the Northeast. These waves came in such a volume that they were not fully diluted and mixed in with Americans and given the chance to assimilate. They arrived in such amounts that they actually formed pockets of concentrated, homogeneous immigrants in the mixture of Americans.

Now I must imagine giving up all that you know to travel to a far away land not only presents the challenge of learning a new language but a whole new concept could have been incredibly exciting, stressful, and frightening all rolled up into one state of being. In such situations most people will go with what they know as a fail safe while learning the ways of the new land and many would form Chinatowns, Little Italy, and Little Germany—in fact many Germans escaping religious persecution during the Thirty Years War had already formed a large community around my home town of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Many other communities formed with groupings of Norwegians, Irish, Poles, Russians, and so on which is nice that they could form a safe haven of the familiar but at the same time it didn’t force them to challenge themselves to acclimate and become American except in little doses. They were Americans as far as Hamilton was an American but they were a long way from being an American such as George Washington or Benjamin Franklin. For the most part they understood obedience, subservience, and following the rules of a strong central government and bosses. They worked well in forming the backbone of labor within the nascent industrial age of the Northeast. I should say that at the same time while these immigrants were forming their own communities it gave Americans the opportunity to learn from and enjoy various elements of the immigrants’ cultures.

They were gathered up and recruited by, oh, let’s call them bosses who offered them dwellings, jobs, and assistance as long as they worked for the bosses. There were also other strings attached such as being told for whom to vote. I think that many of these newly arrived immigrants didn’t see a problem with it because it was what they had been used to throughout the vast majority of their life. It also seemed that these bosses offered a fast track to being settled successfully in America. Who knows, they play the game right they could be the next generation of bosses. Many stayed with what they knew in the northeast. They probably felt that they had already taken a huge risk leaving their homeland and now it was better for their stress levels to stay where they were. They filled the needs of the industrial growth in the northeast. They also represented a large group of voters who had known nothing but strong centralized governments. Plus they had their bosses to clarify which candidate was the best for whom to vote. They were basically perfect for the needs of the followers of Hamilton.

Following Jefferson’s victory the Federalists had fragmented into various groups and other political parties had risen which shared some of Hamilton’s ideas such as the Whigs who believed in a strong government which directly helps to create and support businesses. Many Northern Whigs did not approve of slavery while many of the Southern Whigs did. With the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 the Whigs fragmented. Some Whigs such as Abraham Lincoln did not like slavery and may have even felt it was horrible. They would go on to form the Republican Party along with other groups such as the American Party or Know-Nothings and Free Soilers.

Yes, slavery was a very touchy subject of that day as it should be any day (An Article in National Geographic estimated that to this day there are approximately 50,000 slaves in America—this needs to end.) In the seventeen planks of the Republican Party’s Platform which was posted in the form of Broadsides party member’s did condemn the slave trade vehemently and were going to stop all transportation of slaves to America which I am sure did upset quite a few slave owners. Thing is, in many ways it was considered to be more cost efficient to purchase new slaves than to it was to raise new generations of slaves. The broadside even reiterates that all men are created equal and have been endowed with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They also insisted that states had the right to decide what was and wasn’t legal within their borders. Fully against the interference of the federal government within the states though they were very anti-secession they never stated that they had a goal of ending slavery just the end of the African Slave Trade and the gross favoritism shown by the Democrats while in office to their supporters.

Winning a whopping 39.8% of the popular vote Lincoln was pronounced the president elect. Electors were torn between four main candidates however, the Republicans stood firmly in unison behind their candidates. Out of the 303 eligible Electoral Votes Lincoln had managed to gain 180 which was a bit above the 152 required to win. But Lincoln was excluded from the ballots in Southern States and John C. Breckinridge took the vast majority of the slave states. But then with the nation having doubled its population between 1815 to 1860 with most of these immigrants remaining in the North and Northeast the states which Lincoln had won obviously had far more electoral votes than Breckinridge’s or the other two candidates John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party or Stephen Douglas who was supported by Northern Democrats. Douglas came in second place for popular votes. Not only was a Republican now president but Republicans had gained control of both chambers in Congress with the 1858 election and with the 1860 election both the legislative and executive branches were in the firm control of the Republican Party.

Lincoln would spend a good portion of his Inaugural Address explaining how he has no intentions of interfering with the institution of slavery. He expressed no wish to do so as well as to state he doesn’t believe he has any legal right to end slavery. He even makes a point of promising to do what he can to protect the owner’s rights as far as the returning of runaway slaves. Even if the slave makes it to a non-slave state Lincoln promises to protect the rights of that slave’s owner to reclaim their property. Lincoln will even go as far as relieving General John C. Fremont of his command when the General decides that people within his department, basically Missouri and on west who are in rebellion against the Republic are no longer protected by the Constitution, especially the 4th and 5th Amendments and issues an Emancipation of all slaves owned by individuals in rebellion.

Granted, Lincoln did this so as not to upset the Border States such as Kentucky or Tennessee which did allow slavery but had not left the Union. He wanted them to remain in the union. Imagine, had Maryland left the Union then our capital would have been surrounded by Confederate Territory. But he would go on to refuse to state that the war was about slavery when Garibaldi, the military genius of Italian Unification, offered his services. In fact when he does sign his Emancipation Proclamation or Presidential Proclamation on 22 September 1862 to go into effect 1 January 1863 it only frees slaves in areas that are in open rebellion against the Republic. Slave owners still within the Union and of pacified areas were still permitted to keep their slaves. This was actually more of an attempt at total war to help our forces in the field. Telling the slaves in areas of open rebellion that they had just been granted their freedom could force the military of the Confederacy to pull more men from combat to maintain law and order on the home front. People in slave states have always lived in fear of a slave uprising such as the Nat Turner Slave Rebellion in the second half of August 1831 in which about 65 white people had been killed. Many more slaves and Free Blacks would be slaughtered in retribution.

One foreign observer of the time stated, “The Union government liberates the enemy’s slaves as it would the enemy’s cattle, simply to weaken them in the conflict. The principle is not that a human cannot justly own another, but that he cannot own him unless he is loyal to the United States.”

Slavery would not actually end as a legal institution until the passing (31 January 1865) and ratification (6 December 1865) of the 13th Amendment. Mississippi would hold the distinction of being the last state involved in the rebellion to ratify the 13th when it finally did so in 1995. Former slaves would become official citizens of the United States after the 9 July 1868 ratification of the 14th Amendment. This Amendment had a bit more difficult time as several states refused to ratify it and others actually rescinded their ratification later. California would finally ratify it in 1959. Segregation would be legally ended by the 1964 Civil Rights Act. African Americans became citizens under one Johnson (Andrew) and were finally legally allowed to participate as full citizens under another Johnson (Lyndon B.).

A little side note: Many people are screaming about reparations to this day. They come up with all of these neat little mathematical scenarios why the U.S. should have to or shouldn’t have to pay. Slavery is horrible and has robbed generations of lives they could have had. Yes, I believe they deserve reparations but not just because of the slavery but mainly because since the 13th Amendment America continued to target, subjugate and segregate African Americans. Through endless racism, subjugation, and segregation which were all officially sponsored by our government generations were robbed of possibilities. We aren’t talking just making it tough for them to succeed by increasing the challenge but official elements geared to keep these people in their “place,” a place subservient to white America and we as a nation are all the more poorer for it. For example: during World War II when African Americans weren’t allowed to wear rank or denied recognition for their bravery. Again, here was a chance for the people of this nation to face a challenge, learn and grow from it but instead clung to easy answers. Sure, slavery was ended as an institution but the racial horrors just continued and were fed into by politicians using fear to manipulate and gain a power base. Had the slaves upon being freed been given the support and help they needed to become American Citizens and fully accepted as such perhaps instead of reparations we would have created an amazing nation full of potential. My one true hope about the reparations is that we as a people learn to be more acceptable and understanding of others. But in seeing how viciously people are attacking subjects such as Critical Race Theory without even trying to understand what it is about I think we have an amazingly long and hard road ahead of us. I could actually visualize where whites playing the victim in this seeking ignorant retribution and keeping the division and hate going which works so well in keeping us dependent employees on rich masters instead of being Americans.

Obviously there was no hurry to free slaves under Lincoln and he did attempt to explain how that wasn’t one of his goals. Even though the seventeen planks of the Republican 1860 platform do condemn and express ending of the African Slave Trade it only really alludes to the possibility of the end of slavery. There were staunch abolitionists within the Republican Party but the party seems more interested in ending the trade and restricting the spread of slavery to new territories or states. Lincoln even had the idea according to author of “Lincoln Unmasked,” Thomas DiLorenzo, that Lincoln envisioned having the nation send slaves back to Africa while compensating their former owners for their lost property. This had not just been his idea it had actually been bounced around before.

So, why was there a reluctance to end slavery? Why did it basically take the destruction of the South to do it? Best answer I can give is to look at the facts of the story. When looking at the slave states we see that not all people owned slaves. Some have argued that the percentage of slave owning families was incredibly low. To some extent this is true especially with the Northern States and what were deemed as the Border States. Further south you went the percentage would jump from 1% in a place such as Maryland to almost 50% in Mississippi or Alabama. Yet, much of the population either couldn’t afford slaves or did not want them. As mentioned there were many who were in competition with slave owners, there were some who were afraid of the possibilities of uprisings.

Thing is, a huge portion of the economy of the United States of the time was very dependent on slavery. Not just with crews who hunted down runaway slaves. It was not just limited to those who were involved with the selling of slaves. Nor was it just limited to those who worked as overseers to keep slaves on tasks or the patrols which kept slaves under control. Or am I just talking about those who specialized in brutalizing disobedient slaves. A large portion of the United States’ economy of the time benefited from slavery. One of the reasons Lincoln fires Fremont and waits to do exactly what Fremont had attempted a year earlier—freeing slaves in areas of open rebellion—was that Lincoln was concerned about harvests being completed successfully. Textile mills in the New England States were dependent on the low cost cotton farmed and harvested by slaves. Lincoln’s administration even issues permits for Northern Business to carry on business with Southern States. Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee, Missouri, Delaware, and what would become West Virginia, even though their slave populations were nothing compared to that of Mississippi or Alabama were still dependent on slavery for parts of its economy and were part of the Union.

To tell you the truth, before I begin to accept that the Civil War was about slavery I would like to see letters or diary entries of Union soldiers stating that they were more than happy to risk everything to end slavery or of Confederates writing of how they were willing to keep slavery in place. I believe that if there was such a strong desire to end the institution that a person was willing to lay down his life that there would have been far more John Browns. I believe that if men were willing to give their lives for that of a slave’s freedom there would have been far more raids and havoc reeked in the slave states prior to the war. There would have been far more bands like the Jayhawkers who bled Kansas into a free territory. In searching various quotes by Confederates I cannot find one piece which states that they were fighting for slavery instead I find much about maintaining their right to choose and freedom from the demands of the North. I believe the main reason of the war was purely about maintaining the Union as Lincoln stated and as stated as a main interest of the Republican Party in its platform broadside.

Colonel Richard Henry Lee C.S.A. wrote, “It is stated in books and papers that Southern Children read and study that all the blood shedding and destruction of property of that conflict was because the South rebelled without cause against the best government the world ever saw; that although Southern soldiers were heroes in the field, skillfully massed and led, they and their leaders were rebels and traitors who fought to overthrow the Union, and to preserve human slavery, and that their defeat was necessary for free government and the welfare of the human family. As a Confederate soldier and as a citizen of Virginia, We were not rebels, we did not fight to perpetuate human slavery, but for our rights and privileges under a government established over us by our fathers and in defense of our homes.” So what exactly is the Colonel talking about?

What caused the snap? What was that final straw which broke the camel’s back? Though Lincoln spends a lot of effort trying to convince people for whatever the reason that he has no interest in interfering with the institution of slavery where it has been established he does say that he will be doing what is necessary to protect what he believes to be Federal Property and that he will be enforcing and collecting duties. When he mentions duties what he is talking about is tariffs which had been officially increased when James Buchanan signed the Morrill Tariff Act of 1861. Phillip W. Magness, an economic historian, wrote a piece explaining how the Civil War being sparked by tariffs was a myth. Yes, he is right that slavery was a major issue but just because he says that tariffs were a distant secondary issue doesn’t make it so.

Personally I think looking at the whole picture such as Lincoln won several states only by a slight margin. He had won his home state with 172,171 votes while Stephen Douglas walked away with 160,215 votes from Illinois which was also Douglas’ home state that there was a definite interest in preserving things as they were. Lincoln and the Republicans didn’t win by a landslide so obviously many did not agree with them even in the states they won—Lincoln was reported to have had to wear a disguise to make it through Baltimore unscathed. If Stephen Douglas and John C. Breckinridge had not divided the Democratic vote the outcome could have been different looking at the polls. Magness fails to mention that the North did profit from slavery in its own way—which was one of the reasons Lincoln was slow to act and at first not willing at all. But a lot of Magness’ argument does seem to actually support the idea that tariffs did in fact play a major role. Morrill Tariff Act would go on to greatly help the industrial desires of the states which voted for Lincoln. It would help to create jobs which the massive influx of immigrants would be familiar—essentially working for a boss. Being in a situation where the vast majority of your life was dictated to you. Promote a stable environment of birth, work, and then death. In fact the Act worked so well for the Republican purposes that it was in use and the framework for future Tariff acts well into the 20th Century.

Tariffs had been used in the United States by the Federal Government to help bring in revenue for the government to run. It also sold permits or license for producers to harvest resources while renting various resources and selling land not only to raise cash but to promote a Free Market economy by protecting resources from being owned and controlled by a private entity. Tariffs had accounted for 68.2% of the national budget in 1860.

Tariffs are tricky. If the tariffs are at a modest level they can produce a lot of revenue while helping to promote trade. If you raise them to certain levels it could spark a tariff war with your trading partners and cause trade to drop as well as revenue. But America did have industries which if they could get trading deals it could help them grow but they were faced with stiff competition from well established and experienced producers in Europe. Lincoln and his Republicans wanted to promote American factories to get them to be able to compete successfully with these more experienced and established producers. They were willing to sacrifice revenue to help these businesses gain customers within the nation. So, instead of forcing these industries to face the challenges and forcing themselves to become lean, mean, fighting machines in the world of commerce the GOP thought it was best to coddle their business supporters and friends.

New Orleans Daily Crescent in 1861 stated, “They (the South) know that it is their import trade that draws from the peoples pockets sixty or seventy millions of dollars per annum, in the shape of duties, to be expended mainly in the North, and in the protection and encouragement of Northern interest. These are the reasons why these people do not wish the South to secede from the union”.

Of course in an economy where value is maintained through control of resources or are limited naturally or artificially in order to promote someone, others must do without. Southerners were going to be forced to help pay for the success of the northern industry.

One excellent example of this was that the South did a lot of commerce with European Nations. English textile mills craved Southern Cotton and the supply of it helped to maintain the trade balance with the South. Southerners desired to maintain this trade freely. One of the items they preferred to buy from Britain was British Steel according to Thomas DiLorenzo in his various books on Lincoln. British Steel was of higher quality and cost less than that produced in the Northeast at the time. Until 1844 all iron rails were imported from England. A Free-Market South was now going to be forced to buy what the North wanted them to through the use of these tariffs.

On 19 February 1861, the ‘Union Democrat Manchester,’ New Hampshire published this statement, “The Southern Confederacy will not employ our ships or buy our goods. What is our shipping without it? Literally nothing… it is clear that the South gains by this process and we lose. No…we must not let the South go”.

And, this is the overall theme of the situation. I have found that the GOP has been notorious in not providing individuals to debate and bounce around ideas but has been a group of politicians who toe the party line and strongly enforce what the party’s designs are. In essence with Republican Politicians I see a single minded hive which will vote for whatever the party desires. Through sheer numerical advantages they push their single minded agenda through with no debate or challenges. In essence instead of getting a representative you get a rubberstamp. Unlike the Democrats who have a party platform but members are allowed to speak out for what they personally believe whereas Republicans will attack and destroy dissenters in their ranks as they did when Liz Cheney spoke out against Donald Trump’s actions on 6 January 2020. Other Republicans did speak out against Trump’s actions as well but they only had the guts to do so because they weren’t up for reelection. It should be mentioned that though the Democrats have more outspoken members for the most part they do toe their party line as well but have been less successful in forming a solid party platform because they are open to ideas whereas if you keep track the Republicans just keep supporting the same basic things.

There was a hint of what America was going to be like under a Republican Congress and Presidency. Leading up to the election a group was formed known as the Wide Awakes. These were groups of men some about the size of a military company who were identified by wearing short, black capes, a distinctive hat, and carrying lanterns on poles. I actually find it interesting that very few classes or books on this era mention them at all. These groups would hold rallies much like the Brown Shirts of a later era. They would march into towns and besides holding their rallies they would rip down any banner or broadside of opponents of the Republican Party. They were there not only to promote the idea of Lincoln being president but to impress upon people to vote for him. If the townspeople weren’t impressed then they would be intimidated.

In 1860 the Republicans controlled both the House of Representatives and the Senate and with the Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln the Republicans controlled the Executive Branch. This was not going to be a government of give and take or of bouncing around ideas to form better ideas. It was going to be a government in which the Republicans through sheer dominance of numbers in Congress were going to push their agenda on the rest of the country. Having basically lost their voice in the government the South decided to break away and form their own nation where states had the authority within their boundaries and dissenting voices could be heard and discussed. In theory the Confederacy would not be at the demand of Northern Industry.

Charles Dickens, renowned author and world traveler would observe, “The Northern onslaught upon slavery was no more than a piece of specious humbug designed to conceal its desire for economic control of the Southern States.”

Foreign impression of the war was well stated in the ‘London Times’ on 7 November 1861, “The contest is really for empire on the side of the North, and for independence on that of the South, and in this respect we recognize an exact analogy between the North and the Government of George III, and the South and the Thirteen Revolted Provinces. These opinions…are the general opinions of the English nation.”

But let’s hear what Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy had to say, “I love the Union and the Constitution, but I would rather leave the Union with the Constitution than remain in the Union without it.”

He also states, “I tried all in my powers to avert war. I saw it coming, for twelve years I worked night and day to prevent it, but I could not. The North was mad and blind; it would not let us govern ourselves, and so war came, and now it must go on unless you acknowledge our right to self government. We are not fighting for slavery. We are fighting for independence.”

It should be interesting to note that with the Morrill Tariff Act in place since the Confederacy was a separate nation Northern Textile mills would probably had to pay far more for the cotton they needed. Since the South would be officially outside of the Morrill Tariff Act they would be free to do business with whomever they desired and Northern Industry would have lost a huge customer base. Not to mention the outright defiance of the government—Lincoln wanted those states back. But instead of attacking the South he took a page out of James K. Polk’s playbook and did what he could do to provoke a fight so it would be seen as an act of defense.

In 1847, while in Congress Lincoln stated, “Any people, anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable, a most sacred right; a right which we hope and believe is to liberate the world.”

When the Virginia Compromise Delegation approached Lincoln in March 1861 and challenged Lincoln about his belief stated in 1847 and “Why not let the South go in peace?” Lincoln replied, “I can’t let them go. Who would pay for the government? And, what then will become of my tariff?”

Dr. James Henly Thornwell of South Carolina offered this tidbit in 1862, “They are now fighting the battle of despotism. They have put their Constitution under their feet; they have annulled its most sacred provisions; the future fortunes of our children, and of this continent, would then be determined by a tyranny which has no parallel in history.”

Robert E. Lee would note, “The consolidation of the states into one vast republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of that ruin which has overwhelmed all those that have preceded it.”

Lee would also state, “Everyone should do all in his power to collect and disseminate the truth, in the hope that it may find a place in history and descend to posterity. History is not the relation of campaigns and battles and generals or other individuals, but that which shows the principles for which the South contended and which justified her struggle for those principles.”

When it became okay for Americans to kill Americans in combat that is when America ended. When it became okay for one group to force its will on others, especially when they had less than 40% of the vote; when it was acceptable to silence others and refuse to hear their thoughts America ceased to exist as it was founded. America was a vision of people working together, bringing their experiences and viewpoints into a forum designed to be heard and to bounce around ideas.

One of the ways to tell what the war was truly about is to look at what the victors did upon successful submission of the their rival. During the war there was a rise in Northern Industry. Many of the nation’s richest families such as the Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Armour, and others can trace their great fortune’s origin to government contracts and grants during the war. Through government spending, endowments, grants, contracts, and with the help of numerous protectionist laws business grew. Through these business leaders’ control of the resources and jobs that average person was made to be dependent on the business leaders. Not only would they rule with iron fist within the realm of their business it would extend to the employee’s personal life as well. There was a large labor pool to draw from which was even enlarged with the freeing of slaves. In the 1840s there were a group of people who called themselves Malthusians. They basically had little to do with the economist Thomas R. Malthus but cherry picked what they wanted from his work to support their own agenda. Part of this was the idea of keeping labor in a position where they earned just enough to produce the next generation of labor which meant a subsistence level paycheck for labor and massive profits for the owner. Freeing the slaves added almost a million more to the labor pool raising competition for jobs which lower labor costs and willingness to stand up to your boss while creating more consumers to consume your products. It was do what you were told, have complete loyalty to the one who signs your paycheck, or be fired which could even include being blacklisted. Unions would start to rise during this time in hopes of improving the average person’s position at the bargaining table especially against a person who controlled the resources and had the power of the U.S. Government legal code behind them.

There would be a massive attempt by not only the Government but by businesses to crush unions and keep the working person at a distinct disadvantage. Since we are dealing with the idea of protecting private property Business Leaders were able to use what they deemed necessary and within legal limits to protect their property. This could even include prosecution for trespassing if a worker decided to speak up while at the job. There would be a reawakening of the Alien and Sedition Act as well as the Conspiracy Doctrine and used to persecute Union Leaders. When the Haymarket riot occurred the leaders were sentenced to death even though there was very little evidence to show that they had anything to do with the violence but under the Conspiracy Doctrine since they were leading the event and it was reported that union members were responsible without any proof the leaders were held responsible. There was a great outcry for clemency for these condemned men even by political leaders. However, business leaders who owned the politicians screamed for the execution to be carried out to send a message to all as to who was in charge and what happens to people who stand up to those in charge. Hamilton would have his new nobility.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt would stumble on the way to remove the teeth of unions. His 5th cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, in an attempt to defuse the tension growing between labor and owners invoked the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 to break up businesses and create competition not only for customers but for employees helping to improve the employee’s position in the business world. Franklin had been a rich playboy who really wasn’t concerned with the common man. His wife Eleanor, another cousin, would suggest to him to take up the fight for the employees. He did and found great success in his political career. He also helped to install numerous business regulations and laws while enacting social programs which basically in many ways reduced the attractiveness of a union—why pay dues for what you already have. They also it made it hard for competitive companies to start up.

Following the Civil War there were many changes. First Washington, DC was now the power center of the country which the states had to obey. One of the promises of the Republicans was to end the waste and the spending extravagance of the Democrats but through the growth of Federal Power over the States the peace time budget of the Federal Government had grown five times what it had been prior to the war.

One of the most sinister aspects of the war was started by Lincoln himself taking a page from the Federalist’s playbook. He used his authority as president during a rebellion to suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus and silenced those with influence who dared to question or criticize him through the use of indefinite imprisonment. It sent a strong message to all others to neither criticize nor question his commands. Again, this was a whole idea of I am going to do as I please and everyone will just have to deal with it. Lincoln wanted a nation in which all followed him—a death blow to the United States. In the decades that followed the words ‘Capitalists’ and Capitalism’ were coined as it slowly engulfed the nation replacing the Free Market System. As the victors of the Civil War demanded total loyalty to the United States with oaths and children were made to recite the “Pledge of Allegiance” on a daily basis. Laws and customs were created which basically defined what was to be considered patriotic. Much was written and said about the Civil War clearly stating it was all about slavery and nothing else as Colonel Lee had noted earlier. Parades, symbols, spectacles, and speeches were made to define what should be the American attitude. Earnest Starr would serve ten years in prison for refusing to kiss the flag which sounded a bit like the tale of William Tell when he refused to bow to the dictator’s hat.

When World War I flared up Woodrow Wilson would use parts of the Alien and Sedition Act to keep tabs on foreign nationals while nationals would be kept in line with laws against criticizing or questioning the Wilson Administration—again, this was totally against what it meant to be American or the intent of the Constitution. It would be used against unions as well as against would be Americans.

Rosa Pastor Stokes was arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison for writing, “No government which is for the profiteers can also be for the people. I am for the people while the government is for the profiteers.”

There are numerous ways to run a dictatorship and take advantage of the people. Most common is through a strong hand which our government did with its attacks on labor and people who have stood up to it. Another is to convince people that this is the best government knowing that most people are only limited to knowing your government. Along with that would be an over saturation of nationalism in the guise of patriotism. In 1919 a sailor shot and killed an elderly man for not rising to his feet during the playing of the national anthem before a baseball game—symbols had become more important than human life. Through fear of external enemies such as the Red Scare or the rise of Fascism people will cling tightly to their leaders for safety. Through intimidation through the lost of their jobs or being drawn before the House Un-American Activities Committee (I should state by this time both parties were party to all of this) or the hearings and deportation of McCarthyism people were taught to be obedient. Then there was the whole segregation and subjugating of African Americans being threatened by Jim Crow Laws as well as turning a blind eye to terrorist organizations such as the Klan.

Just look at what happened to the Dixie Chicks who dared to speak up against the war which was their Constitutional given right to do. True Americans would have given them the ability to be heard and would have presented their arguments. In the long run either the Dixie Chicks would have changed their minds or you would have or you both would have come to a better idea and in the process everyone involved might have learned and grown. Instead in the new America they were shouted down and silenced by many just as many are still today. Just look at Critical Race Theory—without even having the slightest clue as to what it is or is about I have heard many attack it. They attack socialism without even being able to give a coherent definition of what socialism is.

This is what the new nobility needed. If a person speaks up and the government has to silence them that is just oppression which just sows a fertile field of more unrest, resentment, and rebellion. It turns the person into a legend, a hero, and a myth to inspire others to stand up. If the government or those controlling the resources must be the ones to force people to remain within the realm or limits of the game they need us to play to maintain their position it is just tyranny. But you don’t need the Gestapo, HUAC, Secret Police, COINTELPRO, or Okhrana if the people have been programmed thoroughly as to what an American is or should be. If the general public silences them, it isn’t oppression; it is seen as a nation protecting itself. Just think, the United States dropped more bombs on Vietnam than it did all of World War II and the Vietnamese only fought harder—we weren’t fight a government or a political ideology; we were fighting the people.

People are conditioned what to think and how to feel about certain subjects. They see on various modes of media how they should act and what should be important to them. One of the best ways to control someone is to make them think they are in control. To do this it is important to make them think that your values and what you want is what they need and want. This is easy to do if the only source they have is the sources you okay and promote. If all they know is what you want them to know; what they fear is what you want them to fear; that is all that matters. Fear and subterfuge along with symbols, music, nationalism telling them what an American is and that anyone who questions it, is a traitor has over the years reduced us from Americans to employees. And that is basically what the war and the aftermath was all about. It was about Hamilton’s new nobility taking over the nation meanwhile transforming of Americans into a reliable labor pool. Just think the House Un-American Activities Committee refused to investigate the KKK because it was an old American Institution but mainly because it targeted African Americans and the thing about such a focus on minorities, no matter whom, is that it gives the rest of the employee’s scapegoats as to why they are having it tough. In short the Civil War and its aftermath weren’t about slavery it was a war on what exactly made Americans American. Blindly patriotic individuals do make great and clingy employees who don’t form unions.

Woodrow Wilson would write in his “A History of The American People’, page 231, “It was necessary to put the South at a moral disadvantage by transforming the contest from a war waged against states fighting for their independence into a war waged against states fighting for the maintenance and extension of slavery…and the world, it might be hoped, would see it as a moral war, not a political; and the sympathy of nations would begin to run for the North, not the South.”

So here it is later, yes, great bad was undone with the ending of slavery which does sound better than we are fighting to force our determination to increase Northern Industry and how have we fared? We are a nation of employees clinging to our bosses for the sake of our paychecks to get what we believe we want or need. Seriously, look around you and think how much of this is really you or has been programmed into you. Does your life truly orbit about sales or branding? You have all of this stuff; are you going to be able to keep it? If you are struggling is it really because of immigrants or minorities or is that just an easy target you have been told was the reason over and over. Do you really believe the French were trying to end our freedom or is that what bin Laden had been after or is that what you have been told by those ending your freedoms? More importantly, how is a nation of the people, by the people, for the people supposed to truly operate as a nation of the people if the people are so dependent on those who control the resources and will always decide that which protects the interests of the person who signs their paycheck?

Hamilton would get his new nobility and the nation would be in the hands of the rich and powerful. However, Alexander would not live to see it materialize. Hamilton would be silenced forever by Thomas Jefferson’s Vice President, Aaron Burr. Another sitting Vice President wouldn’t get the chance to shoot someone and get away with it until Dick Cheney.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams would die within hours of one another on the 26th Anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Lincoln would be shot and killed in the presence of his wife and an Army Major Henry Reed Rathbone and his wife because everyone else the President asked to join him to see the Play, “Our American Cousin”, had declined the offer to be his guest. However, the investigators would collect around 1,500 eye witness reports about the shooting of which no two would be the same. Lincoln’s body would die the following morning and be taken on a nationwide tour as he was transformed from man to legend.

Lincoln would also set the record for okaying the largest mass execution when he gave the okay to hang 38 Native Americans. He would have made Washington DC the center of power in the United States.

John C. Fremont would eventually leave the service after being accused of fraud and mismanagement which seemed to plague the Lincoln Administration and Union Military.

Mary Todd Lincoln would piss through Lincoln’s fortune, a fortune which should have kept her in comfort for the rest of her life, in a relatively short time and petition Congress to award her a pension which it did which she spent like it was nothing demanding Congress to increase her pension which it did. She would spend through that as if it was nothing and would finally be placed in an asylum where the family could take charge of her finances.

Major Henry Reed Rathbone would carry the guilt of not having stopped the Lincoln Assassination for the rest of his life. It would eat at him over and over. Eventually, after moving to Germany he would flip out and attack his children. His wife would come to their defense and he would beat and stab her to death. He would spend the rest of his life committed to an asylum.

As Robert E. Lee predicted states would become subservient to Washington, DC while the nation would team up with Britain and France to bully the world. But the backlash from the nations we boss around are just terrorists seeking to end our freedoms just as the French tried during the Adams Administration and during the rise of Jefferson to the Presidency.

What about the immigrants? Well, many would serve their new nation. Almost half the ranks of the Union Army were immigrants mostly from Germany, Ireland, and other European nations. Of the Native born Union Military Members about a quarter were the children of immigrants. Immigration continued and the nation filled. Many brought much to enrich America. Today they serve as a fear factor as well in manipulating voters.

Anyway this was a long tale and there is so much more to it and should be explored even further. There are so many details I could go on for days and volumes compiling it all. It is so full of twists and turns in how our nation went from the land of the free to the land of cringing employees. From the ideals of our Founding Parents to the nation of HUAC or COINTELPRO; to a land where McCarthyism was actually able to happen; where a few prosper from the labors of the majority and the majority is under the spell of those on top to the point that the majority can’t envision themselves without those on top—the very type of land our Founding Parents had rebelled against.

Supposedly when the Constitutional Convention was done, they headed out for a cold beer on that late summer day. An elderly woman asked Benjamin Franklin, “What type of government did you give us Dr. Franklin?” And, Franklin quickly answered, “A republic if you can keep it, madam.”

“The principle for which we contend is bound to reassert its self, though it may be at another time and in another form.” Jefferson Davis.