Bloodlines: When Harry Met Mary

Cousin Steve's daughter Lindsey Parker with her three kids

Lest I be accused of painting Alabama with a rainbow-and-glitter brush that creates a picture every bit as misleading as the standard tar-and-feathering of the state, let me start by saying Alabama has all kinds of people with all kinds of viewpoints, just like California or any other place.

For all I know, my Alabama family may be as out of step with their state as Julie and I now find ourselves to be as Republicans in California. In any case, they are the Alabamians I know and love.

It's said that more people in Alabama identify themselves as fans of either Auburn or Alabama football teams than as Christians, which in the Bible-belt is really saying something.  Within my own family, there's a split on that.

Aunt Ann's branch of the family goes with Auburn, where her great-grandson Cameron will soon be a freshman, following in the steps of his mother, Lindsey, who is a nurse living in Mississippi with her husband and three children.

Cousin Reba and her granddaughter Kaitlin Homler

Angie's sons Zach, who had lunch with us in Prattville, and Jonathan, who now lives in Mobile where he's an engineer for Chevron, both graduated from Auburn.

My cousin Donald likes to say, "Alabama is blessed to have two great universities: Alabama and Troy." If you haven't guessed, he graduated from Troy University.  At the Catfish House dinner, his granddaughter Natalie seemed more interested in Disneyland, but I'm guessing Troy or Alabama for Donald's grandkids.

My cousin Reba's granddaughter Kaitlin just graduated from Mississippi State, so she doesn't seem overly committed one way or another on the Auburn/Alabama issue.

As you can see from this sampling, even within our family there are differences on the most basic of issues.

In addition, it shows how subsequent generations have spread out, not necessarily thousands of miles across the country like our daughters, but far enough to make it inconvenient to schedule in a whirlwind weekend visit by relatives they barely know.

Mom Jet-skiing at Lake Martin A Few Years Ago

My much beloved mother made a summer pilgrimage to her birth state every year, and each year when she arrived, that became a rallying call for a big family reunion. As a boy, I figured the whole family got together like that every week, which they didn't, I learned later. And back then, they all lived within a reasonable driving distance.

On one of her later visits when Mom must have been older than I am now, the cousins convinced her to take a jet ski out on Lake Martin.  Now that may not seem that daring, but consider that she did not swim most of her life.  She rarely went in the water anywhere when I was growing up.

Emma and Her Aunt Darlene

I'm sorry I missed that.  We did have an opportunity to visit beautiful Lake Martin for lunch at Kowaliga Restaurant, where the "Wooden Indian" that inspired the now culturally inappropriate song by Hank Williams still stands.
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The gorgeous lakeside restaurant has a diverse menu.

Having overeaten for so many meals in a row, I needed a break, so I went with a $5 Spinach and Arugula Salad with Berries.  I doubt that is a big seller in Alabama, but it would have made my currently vegan kids who didn't make the trip happy.

The best choice probably was the Catfish Fillets plate, which Darlene and Brooks split and said was fantastic, but when the burgers and fries came, I have to say that was what made me regret my choice.  That's what Julie and I would normally split at the Lighthouse or Chopper's, our usual haunts in California and Montana, but she went with a Kowaliga Chicken Salad, which she said was terrific if a bit too much to eat.

Gina, Emma and Laszlo standing close to where my Mom and Dad met

Later that afternoon, Darlene and Brooks were heading to the airport in Atlanta to return home, and we had two other carloads following them as far as Auburn.

Our destination wasn't the University but rather Chewacla State Park, on the other side of the highway.

From the time I was small, I knew that during World War II, my dad and mom met at a park, where my dad was throwing his knife at a tree, so when Aunt Ann asked if we wanted to see where they met, we emphatically said yes.

Emma, Gina and Wes at a Waterfall in Chewcla Park

I had assumed the park must have been close to the family farm, but it was actually quite a ways down the road.  My dad was a soldier training at Fort Benning, only 4 miles away from Chewacla Park.

As a young soldier from the desolate plains of North Dakota, Dad must have felt like he had found the Garden of Eden, with lakes, rivers, waterfalls and of course the rolling green hillsides rich with lush foliage.

And who should appear but a high school girl with a bubbly personality, laughing eyes and an engaging smile.  He was hooked.

Emma On River Boulders at Chewacla Park

Aunt Ann said Mom had a boyfriend who wasn't happy about her meeting a new beau, and I assume Dad being a northerner didn't help matters.

In any case, they had a wartime accelerated courtship, and before he shipped off for the Normandy invasion, they married.

Only he didn't get sent for D-Day after all.

Dad told me he was pulled out by "the brass" because he had what sounded like a Jewish last name, although I can't find record of any official policy like that.  Perhaps it was just a particular officer, or maybe that was something he conjectured based on speculative talks with his Army buddies.  In retrospect, my own theory is that he was more likely pulled from what at the time was a top secret invasion of German Nazi-controlled territory because our last name is definitely Germanic, making him a potential liability to the cause.

Mom's High School (and elementary school, actually)

Had my dad been at Omaha Beach for that invasion 75 years-ago, he might easily have been shredded by machine gun fire like so many young soldiers, as graphically illustrated in Saving Private Ryan.

Perhaps I would not be here, or at least not with my current genetic makeup.

Perhaps my dad would not have re-enlisted to serve during the Korean War and not been stationed in Fort Ord, California.

Julie, Wes, Darlene, Brooks, Laszlo, Gina and Emma at Koaliga's

And just maybe, I would never have grown up in California, which turned out to be paradise for me.

Yes, I love my Alabama family and am happy to have the opportunity to visit them, but I also loved growing up in what is now derided as the granola state by many besides cousin Donald.

Furthermore, while Alabama still has lots of points in its favor, I understand why my children have ended up where they now happily live for their own reasons.  What a wonderful country we call home, with so many amazing choices.

Aunt Ann, Steve, Angie, Julie, Emma, Gina, Laszlo, Brooks and Wes

Gina at Chewacla Park Waterfall

A few photos of family I snatched from social media

(Apologies to those whose photos I didn't find)

Angie's son Zach Gibbons and fiancée Tyler Ingram

Angie's son Jonathan Gibbons

Donald's son Michael Strickland (no family photos that I could find)

Cousin Donald with daughter Michelle a few years ago

Donald's daughter Michelle Strickland Collier and children

Cousin Ronald's daughter Renee Strickland Sanders and daughters

Ronald's daughter Denise Strickland

Cousin Reba with daughters Jenny O'Neal and Melissa Grier

Mike and Reba Mays

Sweet Home Alabama: July, 1976

Very few places have been maligned to the extent of Alabama. I find myself sometimes avoiding the state's name just because I know someone will equate Alabama with racism. I have no doubt racism played a big part in Alabama's history, but times have changed. If you're a University of Alabama Crimson Tide fan or an Auburn Tigers follower, you don't care what color the star running back is; you just want your team to win the big annual football game.

I've spoken before about my mother being the sweetest person I ever knew, and how my grandmother held that title before her, but the whole family is really nice. Those are the people I equate with Alabama. When I pulled in on the bus during that bi-centennial summer, with my long hair and scruffy beard, holding my guitar case like some hippie from the 60s, I was welcomed with open arms by them all.

My mom was there on vacation, and my intention was to spend a day or two visiting everyone before heading down to Florida. I had thoughts of going to Jamaica, although I don't know that I even considered the fact that it was a foreign country and might require a passport or birth certificate. As it turned out, I stayed in Alabama a few days more than I intended, so that issue never came up.

By the way, none of the writers of the famous Lynyrd Skynrd anthem hailed from Alabama. Two were from Florida and one from California. Their time at the Muscle Shoals studio where they developed their sound also led to their affection for the state. Regarding the message to Neil Young in the song, co-writer Ronnie Van Zandt said, "We thought Neil was shooting all the ducks in order to kill one or two." For many people in my generation, however, Neil Young's "Southern Man" and "Alabama" made lasting impressions and prejudiced them against the state.

Sweet Home Alabama

A big green sign reading "Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama" brought a smile to my face as we drove in from Georgia.  I must add that upon crossing the border, the trees looked more lush and vivid.

I'm obviously not the only one who appreciated the sign, because the next day as Darlene and Brooks drove into Alabama, my sister also specifically mentioned it making her happy.

No state in the union has been maligned to the extent of Alabama, and while I'm not going to say that it has been sin-free in the past, it was used as the poster child for the worst elements of racism by everyone from Water Cronkite to Neil Young to CNN.  As recently as last week, I saw memes on facebook calling for Governor Kay Ivey to be impeached for signing an Alabama legislative bill on abortion limitations.  The memes illogically framed the "heartbeat law" as "racist," because they say it would affect African-American women more than others.  While there are logical debate points to be made on both sides of any complicated issue, how can anyone be called a white supremacist for protecting the rights of mostly African-American unborn babies?

Having visited Alabama frequently since I was a child, allowing me to know family who live there, I knew the claims have always been greatly exaggerated in the general, even if some were true in specific cases.

The smear has been so complete that it is embarrassing to admit we believe otherwise.  As a band from Jacksonville, Florida, famously sang, "I miss Alabammy once again, and I think it's a sin."  No one should ever tar an entire group of people with the same brush, and in this case, it proves the accusers guilty of exactly what they accuse those they tar and feather.

Perhaps others knowing this truth for themselves is what accounts for the enduring appeal of the Lynyrd Skynyrd 1974 anthem quoted on that sign.



An alternative truth about Alabama is that my family members who live there say a prayer aloud before sharing a meal together, whether at home or in a restaurant, thanking God for His many blessings.

While they believe their history has been maligned, Alabamians don't feel compelled to leave their beautiful home state to prove that to self-righteous hypocrites who might be encouraged to move there.

No, they enjoy having open space and home lots considerably larger than postage stamps.  They'd just as soon never have Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders moving into their neighborhoods.

The racial tensions stipulated to have been worse in the past have dissolved more dramatically than in other regions where they think themselves superior on the issue.  I doubt most African-Americans would prefer life in a northern big city over Sweet Home Alabama.

The state has nonetheless encouraged industry to relocate there, bringing jobs to a region where textile manufacturing jobs long ago moved overseas to lower labor-cost countries.  Many foreign auto factories have moved south.  Korean signs can be seen along the highways on large concrete buildings where I assume they manufacture or distribute auto parts or tech products.

It's always interesting how many perceived social problems can be solved with meaningful employment.

However, we weren't there to work.  Our time was spent visiting family, and while I try to interject some history and travel information about most places we visit, the reality is that the best parts of a family visit don't translate well to written words.  The feeling of being with people you love and sharing meals and conversation is a different kind of bliss.

We enjoyed many great meals.  Cousin Angie grilled steaks and made delicious sides including baked beans and salad for Julie and me upon our arrival, and there seemed to be enough leftover to feed the rest of our family if they arrived unexpectedly early.

The next day after Darlene and Brooks arrived, we all went to lunch at Prattville Pasta Mill, where Angie's fireman son Zach and his fiancée met us for a great southern meal of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and banana pudding.

After resting up in the afternoon, we met at Catfish House for another of my favorite meals, cornmeal-battered catfish and hush puppies.  Cousin Donald was there with his son Michael and two granddaughters, as was cousin Reba and her husband Mike.  Donald, Reba, Steve and Angie were the cousins we spent the most time with on summer vacations, as the other cousins were all college kids in my memories, so it was great reunion.

Unfortunately, when we have a lot of people gathered together, it is hard to spend a lot of time talking to individuals.

Reba and Mike had just returned from watching their granddaughter graduate at Mississippi State University, so they were too tired to go by Angie and Steve's house after the meal.  I hoped to see them the next day on our whirlwind, but it didn't come to pass.

Michael is facing some medical issues that factored into them also heading home rather than going all the way to Angie's.

As happens far too often at family gatherings, I was so busy enjoying discussions that I failed to take photos. In any case, it was wonderful seeing everyone.

Alabama For Your Golf Vacation?

Harry, Wes, Mary, J.E. and Alma, about 1963, on the farm.

To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man's character
  one must judge it by the standards of his time, not ours. 

 --- Mark Twain

Wes, Stanley, Darlene and Reba at Treadwell's yard.

Golf course view from our room.

When considering possible vacations, Alabama doesn’t come quickly to mind for most people.  In fact, negative stereotypes, so familiar that I need not even mention them, dominate opinions about this state to the point that many would just as soon dismiss it altogether.

Because my mother grew up in Alabama and most of her family remained there when we moved to California, we took many summer vacations there when I was a child.  By the time I was in high school, I felt a little embarrassed about being born in Alabama myself, because negative opinions already dominated discussions in school and on television.  And I felt that way despite knowing how wonderful it can be from personal experience.  Such is the power of peer and media pressure.

Julie and I returned to Alabama this past weekend, as a business trip to the south with her new company would bring her to Huntsville anyway.  I bought my own flight and tagged along, arriving a weekend early to drive down to Prattville on our own dime. 

Another view from Mariott room.

We stayed at the beautiful Montgomery Marriott Prattville Hotel and Conference Center at Capitol Hill.  Obviously, the name was not selected to roll off the tongue any more than the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim formerly known as the California Angels moniker.  However, at about $125 per night almost any time of year, it would be a super value in most parts of the world, especially when you consider it is located on a Robert Trent Jones designed Championship Golf Course, where golf runs about $46, considerably less than inferior public courses most other places.

Do the math, and you’ll soon realize this is a great value for serious golfers. 

Cousins at Fantail.

For meals, you don’t have to pay resort prices.  There are lots of restaurants nearby, including the familiar fast food chains and independents featuring fantastic local cuisine.  Anyone who has been to Alabama, or had a meal at my late Mom’s house in California, knows the fresh ingredients prepared by cooks who understand seasoning with love results in meals that are easily equal or superior to meals from more renowned culinary destinations like New Orleans and Paris.  We were fortunate to enjoy meals in the area that showcased some highlights of the local choices.

My cousin Angie met us by the highway and led us to her home in the woods, which involves turning at the correct trees rather than street signs.  She fed us barbeque superior to anything I ever tasted in Texas or anywhere else.  By the way, what we call barbeque in California is what the south calls grilling.  Barbecue is meat smoked for a day or so and then served with a sweet, spicy sauce.

Zachary, Uncle Roy and Aunt Ann.

For dinner, Aunt Ann and Uncle Roy beat the drum to bring in my cousins from all other necks of the woods to meet at the Fantail for a seafood buffet.  The thought of a buffet brings to mind somewhat bland food most places, but not in Alabama.  The fried freshwater catfish and hushpuppies were as fresh, crispy and delicious as the ones we had when I was a child and we caught and fried them up in an open kettle of peanut oil on the same afternoon.  The shrimp creole and stuffed crab measured up well with anything in New Orleans or San Francisco.  Deep fried oysters, popcorn shrimp, Alabama gumbo, buttery broiled fish fillets…it was all delicious.  The company was even better.

Aunt Ann, Donald and Steve.

Now I’m often accused of being quiet, but the same charge can’t be leveled against my country cousins. Their brand of self-deprecating humor might be misunderstood by a casual observer who wants to believe negative stereotypes.

 “We have a dope problem in Eclectic,” my cousin Donald said in the booming voice of someone who almost became a minister like our great-grandfather but instead went into his family’s fabric business.  “Most of us don’t have an IQ much above 60 or 70.” Now I know he, like my other cousins, is not simply college educated but has a quick wit and sharp business mind, but he comes off like Larry the Cable Guy. 

Wes and Julie at Lake Martin.

We had enough cousins to fill the banquet room, but someone in the main restaurant might have heard Donald shout, “At church that Sunday the preacher said, ‘We have to put it off a week so Donald can attend a Klan rally.’”  That raucously delivered punchline was true, but so was the more quiet explanation that he, as an avid gun collector, actually would be attending a well-known gun show in Birmingham, adhering to an equally strong but far less negative stereotype of guns and religion. 

I actually think they like being misunderstood.  It keeps the interlopers away and the buffet lines less crowded.

Steve, Michael, Wes and James by Grandparents' house.

After dinner, everyone headed home except my cousins Angie and Steve, who went back to our hotels to have drinks by the fire, where we swapped stories about when we were kids and Steve shared some adventures as a detective.  The stereotype of southerners is hard drinking rednecks, and I imagine there must be quite a few, but at dinner, we all drank iced tea, and at the bar, Angie had a water and Steve had another iced tea while Julie had a glass of wine and I had a Sam Adams.  Actually, I can’t recall seeing any of my relatives back there drink alcohol ever, although they make jokes about white lightening, and I’ve heard stories about my dad and Uncle Edwin honky tonkin’ around the time of Hank Williams, something Granddaddy made sure they knew he disapproved of.

Wes, Jay, Gina, Julie and Amy in Alabama, Summer 1992.

The next day, we headed to Lake Martin for lunch at Sinclair’s Kowaliga.  If you’re familiar with Hank Williams, you’ll know the song “Kaw-liga,” which is written about this area, but the restaurant most brings to mind the feel of an old Rodney Crowell song, “Stars on the Water,” even if the stars weren’t out when we dined at lunch time.  It is a rustic restaurant appropriately decorated with Hank Williams memorabilia beautiful setting. 


That day, they had a fried chicken special for $8.99, which came with two vegetables, mashed potatoes and corn bread.  Since that would have been my favorite meal when I was a child, I couldn’t resist ordering it, and the huge chicken breast was delicious.  The mashed potatoes couldn’t hold up to Mom’s, but this would be a nice day trip for your golf escape.

All Men Are Created Equal

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Preamble to The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

What powerful, inspiring words with which to start "a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

You may recognize that second quote as being from our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, who spoke them 87 years later --- "four score and seven years," with one score understood in the parlance of the era to equal twenty --- on November 19, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, following the largest battle ever fought on American soil.
51,000 men died in that battle fought by 165,000 Americans, family against family and sometimes brother against brother, which subsequently brought an end to slavery.

The underlying truths of those italicized quotes could not perpetually co-exist with the institution of slavery, which is the antithesis of freedom.  As Lincoln went on to say at Gettysburg, "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure."

The Gettysburg Address is only 270 words long and should be read by every American.  I think we were required to memorize it around fifth or sixth grade.  I know much of it by heart to this day.

Despite our grand opening statement as a nation, a compromise was made to allow slavery in order to muster a sufficient shared mutual defense against the British Red Coats, the most powerful military on earth at the time, and other European nations who would have loved to reap the benefits of ruling America's New World.

As I would think everyone knows by this point, the southern states had become agricultural powerhouses utilizing slaves to perform back-straining labor to bring in crops that could be exported to Europe for less than Europeans could produce them, even after transportation costs.

The incontrovertible fact that the United States still remains an agricultural powerhouse 154 years after the end of slavery, and that we still can grow and transport crops for lower prices than Europe or even China can produce them shows the underlying fallacy of that southern premise.  While it could be argued the technology we now have only made that possible after the demise of slavery, as the Greek philosopher Plato said, "Necessity is the mother of invention."

It is obvious to me that no person kept in literal or figurative chains and forced to work for the exclusive benefit of a ruling class would ever produce as much as free people pursuing their own self interests.  I don't accept slavery apologist descriptions of it being a benevolent institution that provided food and shelter to people who couldn't otherwise provide for themselves.

While plantation owners may have seen slave labor as an easy, legal solution at the time, in fact it has led to problems since its inception that have morphed into distinctly different but still significant problems today.  Too many ancestors of slaves continue to languish as impoverished, fatherless families in crime-ridden, inner-city neighborhoods, never fully assimilated into the most economically successful culture in history, dependent on government hand-outs.  It's not unlike what slave owners provided but without the requirement of labor on the "new plantation." I can't help wondering how the descendants of slaves would have fared if instead of being brought in chains that they or others had been lured by promises of the freedoms and opportunities of our remarkable country?

In recent decades, such promises augmented by free government giveaways have attracted far more "volunteers" than slave ships ever brought involuntarily.  I guess future generations will have the answer to that question based on the illegal immigration explosion of the last fifty years.

After all, it is estimated we currently have over 26 million undocumented aliens in our country, predominantly people of color who are trumpeted by self-serving politicians, celebrities and media as "doing  the jobs Americans won't do," which I would modify with the words "at wages too low to support lifestyles to which US citizens have become accustomed."  In other words, slave labor, and that doesn't count Documented Seasonal Migrant Agricultural Workers brought in legally to pick crops or do other field work as needed at state-required minimum wages.

Just to be clear, the United States did not invent slavery, which has been around throughout history.

When a tribe, city-state or nation lost a battle, their people could be executed or imprisoned, with the latter being more expensive in the long run, requiring limited resources to feed, clothe and house the prisoners.

Alternatively, the victors could put those prisoners in service to their tribe, city-state or nation as slaves.

Sometimes, families sold children into slavery, as you may recall from the Biblical story of Joseph and his multi-colored coat. You can further read about Moses leading enslaved Jews out of Egypt in the Book of Exodus. The Holy Bible also tells of Jews being taken involuntarily into exile by the Babylonians.

Greeks also had slaves, and they were themselves eventually enslaved by the Spartans and Romans.  The Romans also took Central Europeans as slaves, and in fact people from those captured regions are still called "Slavic." 

Note that none of those involve people with black skin, but of course there was also slavery in Africa, where tribes captured other tribes. Arabs and eventually Europeans became deeply involved in slave trades.  Slavery in Africa and Asia continues to this day, though for some reason that doesn't receive as many headlines as slavery that ended over 150 years ago in Western Civilization.

The first indentured servants brought to the Americas were actually Irish Redlegs, but their fair skin wasn't suitable for the sunny climate, and soon better acclimated African slaves replaced them in the fields.  You may also not realize that far more African slaves were brought to the Caribbean and South America than the 14 British colonies.

It's surprising to learn that only about 480,000 slaves --- less than 6% of those brought across the sea to the Western Hemisphere --- came to America north of Mexico.  By comparison, we currently have over a million undocumented aliens a year plus another million legal immigrants voluntarily entering our country each year.

Admittedly, the United States was slower to ban slavery than our European counterparts who actually introduced the practice to our colonies along with the better angels of Western Civilization.



It has been noted that while slavery existed throughout human history, only Western Civilization ended it voluntarily.

Something that few people seem to know these days is that the United States Congress passed The Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves in 1807.  It was signed into law by our third President, Thomas Jefferson, who also happened to be the primary author of the Declaration of Independence.

Had that legislation been accompanied by a total ban of slavery or at least a "sunset clause" whereby it ended with that final generation of slaves, then we may have a different view of history today.

Instead, slavery was allowed to be perpetuated by forcing children of slaves to be slaves themselves.  With legal importation of slaves prohibited --- though limited illegal smuggling of slaves did continue by what we today would call "coyotes" --- children of slaves remained in bondage.  The inevitable result was separating families to trade the children of slaves, which cannot be seen as anything but abhorrent, especially as a parent who understands what it is to want a better life for your children.

It was the fear that children of slaves would not be allowed their full rights and privileges of citizenship after the Civil War that brought about the 14th Amendment, stating anyone born on United States soil is automatically a U.S. citizen. That Constitutional principal has been abused in recent years to allow such absurd practices as birth tourism, whereby pregnant women come to the U.S. just to have babies so that they can claim citizenship for their child and subsequently use that "anchor baby" to bring an extended family into our country.


However, that's getting ahead of ourselves.  The arguments over whether slavery should be allowed in new states and what effect that would have on slave states brought about the first rumblings of secession by the south.

And you know what comes next, right?

Republican Abraham Lincoln became our 16th President by promising to end slavery, a cause that most of the country was so strongly behind that they were willing to fight a war.

No.  That's a myth, albeit one that is at least an empowering belief that makes us feel noble.

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation did not come until January 1, 1863, over 2 1/2 years after the first shots were fired in the Civil War.

Lincoln was against the expansion of slavery into new states, that is true.  It is also true that the first Republican Presidential candidate, John C. Fremont, did run as an abolitionist in 1856, but he lost rather badly, because most of the country was more concerned with their own life struggles than the fate of slaves.

When Lincoln became President, he appointed General Fremont head of Union Forces in the West.  On August 30, 1861, without consulting the President, Fremont issued an emancipation proclamation of his own for Missouri, which was in open rebellion, teetering on the edge of becoming a Confederate state.  Fremont believed this would tilt the state conflict in favor of Union forces.

Nonetheless, Missouri was admitted as the twelfth Confederate State of America on November 28,1861, but the state government that approved that was forced into exile, settling in Marshall, Texas.  Throughout the war, Missouri was claimed by both the Union and the Confederate States of America, so Fremont's gambit didn't completely succeed or fail.

West Virginia split off from its former state of Virginia rather than be part of the eighth Confederate State.  Virginia seceded a month after the CSA attack on Fort Sumter, which officially kicked off the Civil War on April 12, 1861.

Virginia's secession forced General Robert E. Lee, who opposed secession and denounced it as a betrayal to our Founding Fathers, to choose between his beloved nation for which he had fought his entire life and his home state.  He chose to fight for his state, despite his moral qualms.

Robert E. Lee was the field General who suffered defeat at Gettysburg and eventually surrendered at  Appomattox a year and a half later.  As was the fate for most southerners, the Civil War cost Lee everything he had built in his lifetime, including his home across the Potomac River from Washington D.C.  The federal government confiscated his family estate called Arlington and transformed to be our country's most prominent National Cemetery.

While Virginia, along with Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee, didn't secede until a month after Lincoln took office in 1861, seven states seceded before Lincoln had a chance to hang his stovetop hat in the White House in Washington, D.C.: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.

Obviously, Honest Abe did not have time to address Congress as President, much less get them to pass a law prohibiting slavery or even proclaim an Executive Order for such that would have undoubtedly been challenged in Court.

From the outset, Abraham Lincoln had one primary goal: preserve the Union.

Alabama seceded on January 11, 1861, two months before Lincoln assumed office.  Montgomery soon became the first capital of the Confederacy.

The First White House of the Confederacy is located across from the Alabama State Capitol.

Alabama obviously was not on the bubble regarding the issue of secession like Border States, including Delaware and Maryland which stayed in the Union.

Alabama was all in from the get-go.

Because of that, you may assume that most white people in Alabama must have been slave owners.

According to the United States Census of 1860, only 6% of Alabamians owned slaves, which happens to be the average for the Confederate States of America as a whole.  South Carolina, the first state to secede, had 9%, but no others more than 7%.

Why would they possibly secede to form a new nation, much less withstand four years of brutal fighting over a questionable cause like slavery in which so few people had a direct vested interest?

If you visit Alabama, you may find some answers for yourself.  Allow a day to visit the beautiful, well-curated Museum of Alabama, which covers not just the Civil War but all aspects of Alabama history with an even-handed approach. Admission is free.

The First White House of the Confederacy, which displays elegant furnishings of the era, is right next door and also offers free admission.

33 days after Virginia joined the CSA, the capital was moved to Richmond, VA, in recognition of that state's historic, political and economic significance.  Virginia had been the home of Thomas Jefferson.

In essence, Alabama was like a jilted lover tossed aside for a sexier Siren.

Why did Alabama remain intransigent to the bitter end against Lincoln's efforts to bring the Confederate States of America back into the greater United States?



1860 United States Census for What Became CSA

State	Total population	Total number of slaves	Total number of households	Total free population	Total number[315] slaveholders	% of Free population owning slaves[316]	Slaves as % of population	Total free colored
Alabama	964,201	435,080	96,603	529,121	33,730	6%	45%	2,690
Arkansas	435,450	111,115	57,244	324,335	11,481	4%	26%	144
Florida	140,424	61,745	15,090	78,679	5,152	7%	44%	932
Georgia	1,057,286	462,198	109,919	595,088	41,084	7%	44%	3,500
Louisiana	708,002	331,726	74,725	376,276	22,033	6%	47%	18,647
Mississippi	791,305	436,631	63,015	354,674	30,943	9%	55%	773
North Carolina	992,622	331,059	125,090	661,563	34,658	5%	33%	30,463
South Carolina	703,708	402,406	58,642	301,302	26,701	9%	57%	9,914
Tennessee	1,109,801	275,719	149,335	834,082	36,844	4%	25%	7,300
Texas	604,215	182,566	76,781	421,649	21,878	5%	30%	355
Virginia	1,596,318	490,865	201,523	1,105,453	52,128	5%	31%	58,042
Total	9,103,332	3,521,110	1,027,967	5,582,222	316,632	6%	39%	132,760