I was born and raised in Tidewater, Virginia. My parents had been in the area since their childhood and had met there. However, they were brought to the Tidewater by military parents. Our actual family roots are firmly and deeply planted in the North. My father’s family consists of pre-Independence English and French settlers from eastern Canada and northern New York. They’ve stayed in that region for about 400 years. Maple syrup from the trees of St. Lawrence County, given in jugs to my father by cousins is a particular treat. The autumn colors right on the St. Lawrence River are striking. The cold is brutal. Being up there makes me miss the humid swamps of southeastern Virginia.
My mother’s family hails chiefly from southern Pennsylvania – Franklin County, right near the Mason-Dixon line. The German ancestors were in the area as long as any other Germans were, as far as I know. The Danes (from which comes my mother’s maiden name) came to the Commonwealth in the late 19th century, after the War. The sprawling farmland that quickly curves into gorgeous mountains has taken my breath away at times. Much of southern Pennsylvania feels like the past (seeing Amish and Mennonite farmers certainly helps), but not in a negative way. The way of life is slower and more peaceful. “Major” “highways” that lead to cities reveal themselves to be quiet country roads with 150-year-old covered bridges. It’s easy for me to imagine calling this land my home. It’s easy to understand why so many Europeans settlers did just that.
Growing up with parents who had distinctly military upbringings, and by thoroughly Northern parents, ended up giving me a higher view of the South and the Seceders than one might expect. I was raised with the typical pro-America, and pro-South, mindset. We hailed the flag, sang the Star-Spangled Banner, and said the pledge (not too often though, we were homeschooled). But we also frequented the local racetracks, where Confederate imagery was front and center. Confederate flags flew freely in our county. And, my parents never spoke a word against it. We were told about Robert E. Lee being a great man, and we were told the same about old Abe Lincoln. As such, as I got to be a teenager and began studying secession and the events preceding it, it wasn’t difficult for me to realize the glory of Lincoln was exaggerated.
Being a fiery young man, I quickly became a zealot. With permission from my parents, the various Confederate flags were common sights in our house. I started making fun of Yankees. I began wishing I had a thick Southern accent, but alas my grandparents were Northern, and my parents were raised in an urban area. I was bestowed with a general Mid-Atlantic accent. I wasn’t ignorant of my lineage. But, in small ways, I began spurning Providence by wishing I had been given different ancestors. It wasn’t until I was a little bit older and calmer that I realized I hadn’t been honoring my father and my mother. I had been wishing for a different father and mother. Ancestors that God had, with His almighty and loving will, decided not to give to me. My lineage did not consist of Southern plantation owners or Confederate soldiers. It consisted of simple rural people from New York and Pennsylvania.
I now live very close to the Mason-Dixon line. I still reside in the South (although some do not recognize this area as such, all you need for proof is to meet some of the natives), but I am a relatively quick drive to the land of my fathers in Pennsylvania. I am also not far from Sharpsburg, which houses the body of my 4th great grandfather, who traveled from Saranac, New York in 1861 to perish near Antietam Creek. I visit him frequently. My realization of the need to not be ashamed of my ancestors for being Northern brought with it a kindled fire of interest in the Copperheads – the anti-war Northern Democrats. My attention has been most closely drawn to President Buchanan.
Buchanan hailed from the same neck of the woods that my Danish and German ancestors did. He’s also quite the underdog, consistently slandered by “historians” as the worst president in American history. His crime? Refusing to slaughter Dixians for asserting their own self-will. Buchanan was a principled man. He declared in his inaugural speech that he refused to run for re-election (in terms of the executive re-election, the CSA Constitution is an obvious improvement over the current Constitution) and also predicted the state of the United States if public virtue were to dissipate. I encourage you all to investigate President Buchanan. I, for one, am a Buchananite.
My goal in writing this piece is simple. I exhort you all to honor your father and your mother. You don’t get to choose who they are. God knew He was requiring you to honor them when He planned your existence.
God save the South and the North! May our futures be guided by God. May we be allowed to be governed by our own people. Even if we separate again, let us not war again.
-By Copperhead Anon
O I’m a good old rebel, now that’s just what I am. For this “fair land of freedom” I do not care at all. I’m glad I fit against it, I only wish we’d won, And I don’t want no pardon for anything I done.
That is of course a sentiment we all, on this side the Mason-Dixon, share, albeit (in my view) an unrealistic one. I’m really just taking human nature into account, here; let us say, for example, that the current U.S. balkanized into four or five Republics. How in the world does anyone propose to prevent their experiencing normal human jealousies, one between the other? Meanwhile, and as I’ve mentioned before, how does anyone propose to divide up the spoils between all of these competing interests? How, e.g., does anyone propose to divide the common properties up between sovereign U.S. citizens and their states – perhaps most importantly, their common military hardwares?… If anyone can answer those questions, among many others, I’m definitely all ears!…
Only phony pretend southern nationalists censor. Pour yourselves another tea and ignore the boiling water. This is as useless a site as any other tea & talk blogs. When your grandchildren ask “how could everyone have let this ( the collapse of America, the south and them having to live in FEMA zones ), happen?” – just say “we distracted ourselves with intellectually sounding useless trivial babble because it didn’t require effort or courage. It was just our ‘hobby,’ and when confronted by real southern nationalists we just censored and attacked them. Now shush and eat your GMO porridge.”
Josey W. wrote:
Josey, there was a time, not so long ago, when comments to this site were not automatically posted. In other words, they had to be approved (or not) by the site administrators. Even comments from our contributors had to be approved. I don’t know for sure why the admins decided on the current arrangement because I’ve never bothered to ask them, but my assumption is that it just became too burdensome for them to monitor or moderate every single comment as the number of our readers has increased and, likewise, the number of comments. In any case, I say all of that to say this: I guarantee you that, under the old policy, half or more of your comments would have never made the cut. Why? Well, because you insult us and libel us at virtually every turn, and you rarely exercise even a modicum of self-restraint. You’ve been begging for censure all along, in other words. Why do you think it is that I have continually advised you against all of that, so’s I can “attack” you. Give us all a break. No one here has attacked you, Josey, and if any of us has, you should be able to produce evidence of the fact. Since you can’t in fact produce such evidence, the judge in this case is simply going to laugh in your face and tell you to take a hike.
This was bound to happen sooner or later, Josey. It was bound to happen in part because you misunderstand Southern Nationalism, and Identity Dixie in particular to be some kind of a democracy, otherwise known as mob rule. But that isn’t Southern Nationalism, and it’s certainly not what we’re about at this site. Clear enough?
I have many Copperhead friends, as one does growing up in Florida.
Honoring your ancestors, sometimes lead you on a different path.
Thank you for your contribution.