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Heartlander · 80-89, M
It's not the Republican's confederate heritage it's America's Confederate heritage. There were pro-union and pro-confederate partisans in every state. There were pro and anti slavery attitudes on both sides.
It was a family dispute, sometimes between brothers and friends. It was about whether we as citizens owed our primary allegiance to the state we lived in or the federal government. There were honorable people on both sides as well as horrible people on both sides.
This has to be taken in the context of the time, where most lived their entire lives within a few miles of where they were born, and Washington was a world away. Telegraph wasn't invented until the 1840s, trains moved at a snail pace, and most peoples connection to "the law" was their county seat and the state capital
When it was over we started healing. Both sides honored the bravery of those on the other side. Confederate soldiers were give pensions in many states. Confederate soldiers are buried at Arlington Cemetery. After the war, former confederate soldiers became Union soldiers, and some became members of the US congress.
With the exception of those who had mistreated Union POWs, there was no interest in punishing confederate soldiers or leaders. Confederate soldiers simply turned in their weapons and went home, and everyone, like it or not, accepted the federal government's ultimate authority over the states.
Interesting that the contest about state authority Vs federal authority is still with us.
It was a family dispute, sometimes between brothers and friends. It was about whether we as citizens owed our primary allegiance to the state we lived in or the federal government. There were honorable people on both sides as well as horrible people on both sides.
This has to be taken in the context of the time, where most lived their entire lives within a few miles of where they were born, and Washington was a world away. Telegraph wasn't invented until the 1840s, trains moved at a snail pace, and most peoples connection to "the law" was their county seat and the state capital
When it was over we started healing. Both sides honored the bravery of those on the other side. Confederate soldiers were give pensions in many states. Confederate soldiers are buried at Arlington Cemetery. After the war, former confederate soldiers became Union soldiers, and some became members of the US congress.
With the exception of those who had mistreated Union POWs, there was no interest in punishing confederate soldiers or leaders. Confederate soldiers simply turned in their weapons and went home, and everyone, like it or not, accepted the federal government's ultimate authority over the states.
Interesting that the contest about state authority Vs federal authority is still with us.