Where It All Began

Where, and when, did the War of Northern Aggression begin? I submit that it did not begin with the firing on Fort Sumter, nor with the illegal invasion of Lincoln’s army. Neither did it end with Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. The seeds of this great contest were sown much earlier than that. No, the War was not about slavery, as we have been wrongly taught since Reconstruction. Unfair and unconstitutional tariffs imposed upon the South were a large issue which resulted in the secession of the first few states. However, to get to the beginning of this needless conflict, we must go back to 1796, just a few short years after our independence had been won from Great Britain.

From Facts and Falsehoods Concerning the War on the South 1861 – 1865, page 96, we see:

“From the “Olive Branch”, published in 1814, and from the Pelham Papers, published in 1796, we learn:

1^st. That the Federal leaders of New England, in 1796, advocated disunion, and were eager to get New England to secede from the Union, and to form a Northeastern Confederacy.

2^nd. On finding that the common people of New England did not favor secession, did not want disunion, did not dislike the Southern States, and were proud of the Union, the Federal leaders resorted to measures to convert the masses to their views on secession and disunion.

3^rd. These measures were of the meanest, the most contemptible character; were a direct and base violation of the Ninth Commandment, “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” Politicians, newspapers, and preachers of New England engaged in the evil work of bearing false witness against the people of the Southern States, whom they painted as “savages”, as “barbarians,” as “demons incarnate,” as unfit to live in the “same Union with the virtuous people of New England.”

On page 97 of Facts and Falsehoods, we read:

“The following extracts from the “Olive Branch” throw light on this subject:

‘The increasing effort to excite the public mind to that feverish state of discord, jealousy, and exasperation, which was necessary to prepare it for the consummation of their desire (the secession of the Eastern States), the unholy spirit which inspired the writers of these dissolution sentiments has been from the hour (1796 to the present 1814) increasingly employed to excite hostility between the different sections of the Union. To such horrible length has this spirit been carried that many paragraphs have appeared in the Boston papers intended to excite the negroes of the South to rise and massacre the whites. This is a species of baseness of which the world has produced few examples.

The baseness was indeed extraordinary in face of the fact that these efforts to instigate negroes to rise and massacre the whites of the South were made while the people of New England were still enriching themselves by carrying on the slave traffic.”

So, while filling their pockets with money from the slave trade, these New Englanders were advocating for blacks in the South to rise up and murder white Southerners. This was not only being printed in the newspapers of New England, but it also was being preached from the pulpits as well. Lies, bearing “false witness” against the South were intended to shape the thinking of the “common people” of New England so that they would despise the South and wish to separate from it.

Bear in mind that those advocating secession and who were slandering the South at this time were of the “Hamiltonian” mindset, meaning that they were in favor of a large, centralized, controlling government and not in favor of States’ rights. They did not view the States as they actually were; free and independent sovereigns bound together with the Constitution for their mutual benefit. The people of the South had the “Jeffersonian” mindset, meaning they were opposed to a controlling government, like the one they had just fought a war to free themselves from, and believed in individual liberty and the independence of each individual State. Also, we must keep in mind that the Northeast was largely Unitarian, meaning they denied the deity of Christ, that He was not the Son of God. This was a huge difference from the beliefs that Southerners held, that Christ is the Son of God, as is taught in the Holy Bible.

On page 102 of Facts and Falsehoods, we read:

“A convention in Ohio in 1859 declared the Constitution was a compact to which each State acceded as a State, and as an integral part, and that each State had the right to judge for itself of infractions and of the mode and measure of redress, and to this declaration Joshua Giddings, Wade, Chase and Dennison assented.”

So, it was common knowledge that as each State had joined the Union, each also had the right to withdraw if it felt that infractions of the Constitution were being suffered, at least until it was actually put into practice by the South.

It’s interesting to note that numerous times from the late 18^th century through the first half of the 19^th century that the New England States threatened secession, yet no threat of war was made against them to keep them in the Union. No one called them traitors for wanting to secede from the Union. However, we see a completely different picture when the Southern States, who were actually being damaged by the excessive tariffs of the North, seceded to form its own Confederacy. People today call the Confederates “traitors” and accuse them of “treason” for exercising their right to withdraw from the Union. Such people are grossly ignorant of history and the truth.

We have learned here that the seeds of the War were sown many years before either side took up arms. As stated earlier, the War did not end with the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. Yes, the military aspect of the War ended, this is true, but the subjugation, economic, social, and political phases of the North’s war upon the South were just beginning, and I submit to you that they continue right up to the present day in this 21^st century.

How can this claim be made? Look at the rewritten propaganda taught in the government schools which is passed off as “history.” All the blame for the War and slavery are laid at the feet of the South, even though it was the New England slave traders who brought the slaves to America while flying Old Glory on their ships. The Confederate Battle Flag is disparaged as being “the flag of slavery,” yet no Confederate flag ever flew on a slave ship. The South must ever be bowing at the stool of repentance, it would seem. What about the war waged by the media, politicians, NAACP, and others against all things Southern and Confederate? Our flags, statues, and monuments are being removed. Schools, streets, and parks are having their names changed to erase any connection with Confederate soldiers. Cultural genocide is being perpetrated against our heritage, history, and heroes. These gallant men were not fighting to preserve and perpetuate slavery. Had they wanted to protect slavery, all they had to do was remain in the Union where it was already protected by the Constitution. The Marxist myths, lies, and propaganda have brainwashed millions over many decades, and it continues today. If everyone knew the truth about our history, we would not be facing this evil campaign to rid our country of memorials to brave, deserving men who fought an illegal invasion, and suffered defeat and subjugation so that the Founders’ dream could be exterminated and replaced with the centralized government which the victors so long desired.

Our Confederate ancestors fought with honor and dignity, careful not to render unto the civilians of the North the same horrors visited upon Southern civilians by the Union army. The attacks upon Southern culture and honor continue through Hollywood stereotyping, misleading and false documentaries on PBS and the History Channel, and outright lies spouted by the media. In the DNA makeup of the true Southerner is the belief that death has no sting like the stain of falsehood, and the certainty of death at any time is preferable to the possibility of dishonor.

As I have told many anti-Confederates who call us “losers,” there is no disgrace in losing if you fought honorably, bravely, and for a just cause. Though the bones of our dead Confederates molder in the bosom of the Earth, the honor and dignity with which they defended their homeland reflect the virtues of the Southern people, and we may confidently hope that their souls will bloom eternally.

-By Jeff Paulk