What happened on this day, April 12, 1860? Confederate forces began bombarding Fort Sumter in South Carolina. They began that bombardment in the early morning hours and it continued for 34 hours. The commanding officer at Fort Sumter, Major Anderson agreed to evacuate the fort. Following that action President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to serve for three months. The thinking being, that's all it was going to take. We all know today it lasted for four long years, costing 620,000 lives. Those deaths include those that passed from disease. The numbers aren't really know with any degree of accuracy as many where simply declared missing or never counted in the first place. It is believed that 360,000 union troops died in that conflict. The union was saved!
That happened one hundred and sixty five years ago. The impact of that is still being felt to this very day. Yes, history has a way of influencing the future. The underlining reasons for that conflict have been debated by scholars and amateur historians, the general public, and philosophers for one hundred and sixty five years. The debate will continue. In my view it was simply about economic realities at that time in America. Those economic realities exist today as well.
In 1860 the fear was loss of the labor pool, slavery. Contrary to popular belief today owning slaves wasn't cheap and only the wealthier folks had the resources to obtain, house, food and clothe those people. Slaves were a big investment. The number of white slave owners in the south is hotly debated as well. The numbers vary from 1% to as high as 50%. The vast majority of those "owning" slaves held one or two individuals, the large plantations that are always depicted in the movies were actually quite few in number. It makes no difference if it was one, or two hundred, the holding of slaves is just wrong. But it needs to be understood whether it was one or two hundred they were just as valuable to that "owner" trying to make a living. And, in my opinion, that is what the southerners were fighting about.
It was the belief of the founding fathers and those after them that the institution of slavery would simply go away on its' own given time. Many states in the north had abolished that practice, making it illegal. As technology advanced it was believed that human labor forces would be reduced in size, making the cost of owning slaves impractical and inefficient. Same thing happening today with those self-service kiosks. How many people do you hear complaining about that? It's strange that it isn't the workers themselves, just those too impatient to wait in a checkout line that raise the most noise.
Now you can draw your own parallels with what is happening today regarding that cheap labor. They aren't being captured and sold into bondage, no today, they are just sneaking across the border. Why would they do that? Well, when you know that you will receive more in benefits by doing that than by staying in your own nation it does seem like a great idea. There is no question that has been the plan for quite some time, and historically it has worked for the majority.
Those in bondage in the south dreamed of being free, that dream usually involved escaping to the northern states. Where any of those people dreaming about a return to Africa? I suspect the first few groups did indeed dream about that. It has to be remembered that about ten generations had passed since 1619 and no one remembered anything about Africa in 1860. The last time slaves were sold legally in America was 1808. By 1860 at least two more generations had been born. It's my feeling those people just wanted to be free. They wanted to be able to work, live and build their families just like everyone else. It's my feeling they would have been perfectly happy to do so in America.
But here we are one hundred and sixty five years later and the Maryland state legislature has formed a commission to study reparations. The feeling being, descendants of those enslaved should be compensated for that. Yes those people were enslaved, there is no denying that, but should I be held responsible for that? Should the American taxpayers be responsible for that? You know there are black people that pay taxes as well and should they have to pay those reparations?
This idea that there is somehow government money and private money is just ridiculous. All government monies come from the taxpayers in this nation! The big question is, just who is going to pay for this and how are they going to do that? That is what this commission is supposed to figure out. That those descendants should be compensated in some fashion isn't in question, no one is going to say that they shouldn't, at least not out loud. That is especially true of anyone seeking any sort of political office anywhere in the land!
So just who did hold those people in bondage? It was the southerners, for the vast majority of the time. Seems to me that the southerners should have to pay any reparations due to them. There were eleven states involved n that secession. Those eleven states should be held accountable. Maryland isn't one of them. That's how I see that. Seems like state governments should pay the bill. But then only the descendants of those that actually held slaves should be responsible for that. And it should be determined by the number of slaves held by those families. Certainly one individual has had less impact on the future than two hundred would have.
You know it wasn't just white people that held slaves, that simply isn't the truth. Slaves were held by whoever could afford them. That's the long and short of that. My ancestors from my dads side arrived in America in 1855, they didn't hold any slaves. And neither did any of my ancestors on my mothers side, as they all lived in New England, just average everyday folks, not wealthy landowners or business people. What is true is that people of every color fought and died in the civil war. What is also true is that my Great Great Grandfather, James Buckley Terry, joined the union army on 30 August in 1862 and fought with the union forces. He was at Fort Sumter when the end of the war came and witnessed the raising of the American flag over that fort. He suffered from what we call today, PTSD, his entire life, having a nervous breakdown at one point. He passed away in 1917.
Freedom was won. In my thinking the bill isn't "past due" not at all. 360,000 union lives paid that cost and thousands of others for many years following that conflict. Who is responsible for history? Those that created it; is my response.
Fort Sumter
No comments:
Post a Comment