April is Confederate History month, needed now more than ever!
Once again controversy stirs as descendents honor their Confederate dead, and the values of the CSA!
by Mark Vogl
(conservative)
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Down in Texas, in a small town called Palestine, a band of brothers, descendants of Confederate Veterans, part of an international organization known as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, approached the County Court about flying the first Confederate national flagat the Court House. The Court agreed, and on Friday, April 1st a formal ceremony was held. Many of the county’s most distinguished attended including the County Judge, representatives from several veterans associations, and others.
A small group of protesters of African American descent attended. After the ceremony there was a discussion between the President of the local chapter of the NAACP and one of the SCV members…which ended in two men hugging and promising further conversations about their views on history and heritage.
That brief commonalty ended abruptly when a television station from Dallas appeared after the ceremony to create havoc. From their biased reporting storm clouds have gathered in East Texas over Confederate History month. The flag was voluntarily removed from the Court House by the SCV and the Daughters of the Confederacy in an attempt to calm the situation, but the media, like hound dogs are on the trail.
So why do I say we need to look back at history…?
While many argue thatSouthern secession was about slavery, the fact is that secession was about that and a whole lot more. Slavery, or rather the fanaticism and terrorism of northern abolitionists were responsible for attacks on southern whites at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. In Texas, nine towns burned on one day, arson attributed to a conspiracy of abolitionists inciting a slave revolt in Texas in July, 1860.
But, the disagreements between north and south were much wider and deeper, across a wide spectrum of issues. If one looks at the two Constitutions, the US and the Confederate, one can see many of the differences. Here are the bigger ones:
1. In the preamble of the Confederate Constitution, the South called for the wisdom and protection of the Almighty God. If this were the only difference it would be big enough by itself. It reflected the South’s continuing devotion and subordination to God. It places God at the Founding of the nation. It reflects to the Christian roots of what is today called the Bible Belt.
God had been with the very first explorers of the western hemisphere. The first act of Columbus when he landed in the western world was to kneel in prayer offering thanks to the Almighty for the safe journey and the wonderful discovery. And God was evident through the settlement of the 13 colonies. Each colony had a predominant religion. And in all the colonies it was a requirement that one attend a church to hold office. And in fact, the very first tax resolution adopted to build a public school cited reading the Bible as the reason for the need for the public school! (The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States, by Morris)
2. The Confederate Constitution restates the preeminence of the states over the central government in the preamble,
When the 13 colonies first joined, they joined under the Articles of Confederation. This was the first constitution of the United States. It was created at the beginning of the American Revolution to provide a national structure to lead the 13 colonies during the war. At the end of the war, a convention was called by the states to fix the Articles, to improve them. When it was found that it could not be done, the states decided create a new governing document, the present Constitution.Again, the Founders sat down to draft a document…but all, north and south, feared a powerful central government.
It is important to note here, that England signed a trearty with the 13 separate colonies/states, listing each one!
And some patriots like Patrick Henry of Virginia, opposed adoption of the Constitution by the State of Virginia. Henry foretold the causes of Secession almost eighty years later.
Interestingly, to get to the new Constitution, each of the 13 states had to secede from the Articles of Confederation, and then adopt the new government under the present Constitution. The state of Rhode Island took two years to consider the question before they rejoined the new union!
3. The President of the Confederacy was given more power, vis a vis the Congress.
The President was given line item veto. The President could unilaterally cut spending not authorized in his budget bill. And Congress needed two thirds of each house to add even one cent to the president’s budget.
4. Bills could only deal with one subject, and earmarks were prohibited.
5. Federal appointees, whose jurisdiction was within one state, could be deprived of office by that state!
6. No monies could be spent to support an industry.
The bail outs recently done by Bush – Obama could not have been done in the Confederacy.
7. To hold office, and to vote, one must be born in the Confederacy.
These are just a few of the major differences between north and South.
Believing in God, curtailing central government powers and spending, making the central government more efficient at the powers it did have, were the hallmarks of the Confederate Constitution. The Founders of the Confederate Constitution saw into the future, and created a document intended to forestall much of what is occurring today!
Slavery has to long overshadowed a more complete study of why the South decided to secede. A closer look at the Confederate Constitution offers an alternative form of American government, one without huge deficits, earmarks, and excessive government spending. And a nation guided by Almight God.
On The Web: http://www.nolanchart.com/article8513.html
