The Civil War was about abolishment of slavery. Just that simple. There is no glamour to it. The South wanted to enslave men/women/children and they did it to provide free labor to their plantations. In the eyes of the bigoted and the 'Sons of the Confederacy" Virginia does not have a proud Civil War history. As a matter of fact it was the place where the war turned in favor of the Union, even though there were many Union Soldiers lost. See, the battle in Virginia came with orders from a President sitting practically in the State of Virginia. The Union troops in that battle forced the Pro-Slavery Soldiers back from the northern border and ultimately would cause their failure.
Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865.
What followed was not just the Reconstruction of the South, but, Amendments to the USA Constitution, including the right of African Americans to vote. Amendments take a considerable number of Americans voting FOR them to add to the USA Constitution. So, the war of Southern Landowners was defeated NOT just in battle over an economy laced with human suffering, but, across the USA in voting booths as well.
1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Amendment 15 - Race No Bar to Vote. Ratified 2/3/1870. History
1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Those, such as Barbour and what's his name Governor, that stand in defiance to the outcome of that war and seek to honor the dead Confederate soldiers are standing in disregard and hatred of our USA Constitution. The South never finished belly-aching about the defeat and they refused to recognize their surrender. This is a pathetic attempt to rewrite history and dishonor our Constitution. It is a serious violation of the Public Trust as far as I am concerned. The two men should immediately apologize to the nation in regard to their immoral electioneering.
For those that have been to Arlington National Cemetery, they will recall there are two mounds (mass graves) to the soldiers of that war. They are already honored to the extent the nation has seen fit. There was not a Pro-Slavery soldier denied burial in Arlington. The point the Governor and Barbour are making is to stir hate and has nothing to do about the men that fought that war.
Amendment 15 - Race No Bar to Vote. Ratified 2/3/1870. History
1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Following a stunning defeat by the Union Army in early 1965, there was overwhelming support for the changes to the USA Constitution through THREE, not just one, not just legislation, but, THREE Amendments to the USA Constitution with in a period of five years.
For those that have been to Arlington National Cemetery, they will recall there are two mounds (mass graves) to the soldiers of that war. They are already honored to the extent the nation has seen fit. There was not a Pro-Slavery soldier denied burial in Arlington. The point the Governor and Barbour are making is to stir hate and has nothing to do about the men that fought that war.
