Commander's Column: Jefferson Davis's Principle
Is Reasserted
Kerri and I just returned from a trip to New Orleans to
celebrate her birthday. New Orleans is
her favorite city because of its cuisine, music and the unique culture and
people. The architecture, music,
language and cuisine are the result of a melting pot of French and Spanish and
of course Southern--both black and white--influences. I was surprised to learn that New Orleans is
home to the second largest collection of Confederate memorabilia--the
Confederate Memorial Hall Museum--which is also the oldest museum in the state
of Louisiana (see http://confederatemuseum.com) dating from 1891. At the entrance to the museum, a plaque is
mounted indicating that it was here that Jefferson Davis’s body lay in state on
May 28, 1893. This was actually four
years following his death. He was
temporarily buried in Metairie at a cemetery with veterans from the Army of
Northern Virginia and his body was disinterred, placed in a new casket and
transported to Richmond, Virginia, on a funeral train with full military
honors, greeted by throngs all along the route, venerated by as many citizens
as any leader in the history of the country.
Current events caused me to recall Davis’s quote, “The
principle for which we contend is bound to reassert itself, though it may be at
another time and in another form.” Comm
Officer Tyrone Crowley recently emailed a link to an article discussing the
Scottish vote for secession, the
reasons, the precedent and the future of similar movements. The Scots sought independence for political
self-determination as a minority to the ruling English Tories and for economic
reasons to control and develop resources within their borders and stabilize
wages shrinking from the inflation driving those in England. The Scots also claim a distinct heritage with
political and social views largely contrasting with the rest of the United Kingdom. Russia is claiming that within Ukraine there
are Russian minorities in the Crimea and western regions who seek independence
and reunification or realignment with Moscow, whereas Russia’s economic
interests in these regions is unquestionable and certainly worrisome to the
European Union. The past few decades
have seen a steady movement including multiple referendums in Canada for the
secession of the province of Quebec.
Quebec has a strong economic incentive including geographic control of
trade routes as well as a very distinct French heritage and culture including
the language contrasting this province with the rest of Canada.
Interestingly, in Canada and Scotland, the citizens of
those regions were permitted by the mother country to hold referendums, popular
votes for secession. There were no invasions and no bloodshed, although there certainly
was some coercion, including dangling economic carrots and propaganda warnings
of dire consequences, employed to sway public opinion and voting results. It is difficult to imagine that should a
serious secession movement gain traction in the United States today or in the
future that carnage would ensue as resulted from Lincoln's War of Northern
Aggression 150 years ago to reunify the country and secure the South’s economic
resources and political subservience for the Northern industrialists. The article mentioned above indicated that up
to today, the War for Southern Independence and its ultimate demise seemingly
settled the question of legitimacy of secession for Americans for all
time. And yet the reasons for these
recent worldwide secession movements is much the same as the reasons our
Confederate ancestors sought independence, a distinct social order and culture,
a growing imminence as a political minority, and economic subservience while
contributing an inordinate portion of the national wealth from inherent natural
and institutional resources. It is the
growing realization today that these same issues were the actual drivers 150
years ago which led to the secession of the Southern states and which makes it
imperative for the politically-correct to reinforce their single-issue revision
of the historical account of the period to that of a magnanimous liberation of
the tortured plantation slaves. But, as
Jefferson Davis foretold, the day may come when the principles which led our
Confederate ancestors to form their own union will be
recognized and indeed may come to fruition.
Just ask certain residents of Colorado and California whether secession
is a settled issue.
Stuart Waldo
Camp Commander
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