The Civil War

"Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

Before Abraham Lincoln assumed office, seven states had seceded and formed the Confederate States of America.

Great-Great-Grandfather Julius Floyd Strickland

While Lincoln had not introduced any legislation, C.S.A. leaders thought they saw the writing on the wall.  "Slave states" were already the minority, and the Republican Party and its anti-slavery principles were ascending.

Lincoln's campaign promise to stop expansion of slavery into new states on our vast continent meant that the Senate and Electoral College would skew rapidly in Republican favor, with the House inevitably following suit, especially if elimination of the slavery compromise on voting came to pass.

Lincoln won only 39.6% of the popular vote, but with votes divided between four significant candidates including his famous debate opponent Stephen Douglas, he easily won the Electoral College.

If you think the idea of secession based on one election not going your way is beyond comprehension, consider present day Democrats' reaction to the election of President Donald Trump.  Beyond the collusion delusion and rattling of impeachment swords because he doesn't do what they want, there has been open talk of eliminating the Electoral College, and assuming that successfully made a Democrat President, increasing the number of Supreme Court Justices to 15 to shift the judicial balance left.  Either of those, of course, would be major Constitutional changes to circumvent the will of the nation.

Another Democrat proposal calls for California to be split into three states, which would triple the number of Senators representing our increasingly far-left state and add Democratic votes in the Electoral College.

Great-Great-Grandmother Mary Elizabeth Barber

California and other Democrat-controlled states and big cities have already stopped following federal immigration law, declaring themselves Sanctuary States and Cities.  They refuse to co-operate with the United States government on immigration and intentionally release felons into the general population rather than turn them over to ICE for federal prosecution or deportation.

In my home state of California, there is open talk of secession by Democrats once again.

Of course, California would be the likely place for a new CSA to start, because while Democrats loudly repeat that Hillary won the popular vote by 2.9 million votes, in California --- where Trump rarely campaigned, recognizing it to be a lost Electoral cause --- Hillary won by 4.3 million votes.  That means outside California, Trump won the popular vote by 1.4 million votes.

But let's get back to our original Civil War, the one with shooting.

Several federal forts in Confederate states had already peacefully surrendered to the CSA, but before Lincoln took office, the United States decided to make a stand at Fort Sumter.  It was the key installation for the defense of South Carolina, the first state to have seceded.

The Congress of the seven Confederate States elected to take possession of Fort Sumter, whether with negotiation or force.

In his inaugural address on March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln seemed unwilling to confront the CSA militarily, probably hoping they could be brought back into the fold by diplomacy and reconciliation, recognizing that violent conflict would make that exponentially harder.  In his speech, Lincoln addressed the CSA directly, saying, "You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors."

Whatever his underlying thought process, President Lincoln obviously did not want a Civil War, and perhaps the Confederate State Congress in Montgomery hoped Lincoln still believed what he said in a speech to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1848.

Cousin Steve and Aunt Ann At JIM'N NICK'S BBQ (delicious!)

"Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better-- This is a most valuable, -- a most sacred right -- a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world."

Of course, all rational humans may change political positions as they evolve personally, but in 1848, Lincoln was talking about the United States annexing Texas from Mexico during the Mexican-American War.  At that time, such a philosophy was in favor of the United States, with Texans seceding from Mexico.

All politicians tend to have philosophies that change based on the situation, including Honest Abe, apparently.

On April 12, 1861, the Confederate military fired thousands of shells on Fort Sumter, forcing the Union to raise the white flag of surrender.  No one was killed by the opposing sides, though two Union soldiers were ironically killed by their own side when a parting salute misfired.

The southerners took the surrender of Fort Sumter as an omen that it would be a short conflict, with Lincoln and company allowing the C.S.A. to go their own way rather than repeating the mistake of the British in the Revolutionary War. It is much harder to attack an entrenched military position, and the South would have the home field advantage.

This seemed to be confirmed at the Battle of Bull Run, where Confederate forces defeated a larger Union contingent, sending them running back to Washington, D.C.

Aunt Ann With Pauley Perrette of TV's "NCIS"

The Civil War was not destined to be a quick, easy war.

The greatest military strategist in America, Robert E. Lee, saw that clearly but nonetheless took command of the armed forces for the C.S.A., the side taken by his Virginia kin. His choice stoked the flames of southerners who imagined overwhelming battle field superiority despite having at most half the available soldiers as the Union. Some estimates put southern forces as low as 750,000 men with the Union fielding over 2,500,000 soldiers.

Over the course of the war, the Union lost over 360,000 soldiers, with 110,000 dying on the battle field and another quarter of a million from disease.

The Confederate States lost 102,000 fewer troops, with only about 90,000 dying in battle and 160,000 from disease. So, with only 258,000 deaths, I guess you could say the Rebels won if you score by that method, but the Union had at least two or three times as many soldiers, so they could afford to lose more.

The final result in war is measured by who surrenders, and the Rebs definitely lost.

So, why did my great-great-grandfather and men like him fight for the Confederacy?

Julius Floyd Strickland and Mary Elizabeth "Mollie" Barber Strickland

Julius Floyd Strickland was a Private.  Based on my other relatives, I would guess he was a good shot, and the fact that he survived the war and lived another 45 years in the devastated and plundered south in its aftermath would seem to confirm that.  He must have been a good hunter to feed his family in those hard times.

Why would he take up arms against the United States, when he obviously wasn't one of the "Colonels" in their large plantation houses who wanted to protect what they considered not only their chattel property investment but elitist way of life?

In many ways, the motivations weren't unlike those in the Revolutionary War.

In retrospect, was that Quixotic quest that began in 1776 really a smart play by the American colonies?

Frankly, the extra taxes the mother country wanted to collect for tea would be used almost exclusively to reimburse his majesty King George for defending the colonies from the French, or at least that's how the Brits saw it.

The 14th Colony, the one that did not join our revolution and evolved to encompass modern Canada, is still ruled by Great Britain with a very light hand, so in retrospect fears about setting a precedent with those taxes proved unfounded.

"Four score and seven years" after the Revolutionary War, the states which formed the C.S.A. felt they too were being taxed unfairly.

Wes in Prattville by Monument for Cotton Gin Manufacturer Daniel Pratt

Tariffs that protected fledgling factories north of the Mason-Dixon line from more established European manufacturers that could produce better quality at lower prices limited the South's ability to trade on the best terms the cotton and other agricultural products that they produced more efficiently than anyone in the world.

Still, they could realistically afford to pay a bit more for the good of the country, or so the federal government assumed.  Tariffs throughout history have been one of the main ways governments finance themselves.  Income taxes in peacetime are a relatively recent phenomenon, not beginning in the United States until the 20th Century.

While only about 6% of Confederates owned slaves, the unsavory institution had become ingrained in the region as normal, just as it was in other societies throughout history.  Money brought in by any source always circulates through the community many times.  Those slave-owners would purchase goods and services from the other townspeople.  The wealthy plantation owners would also be the primary contributors to important civic causes and charities.

While some slave owners may have indeed treated their slaves as cruelly as the fictional character Simon Legree, rationally that would have been as foolish for the slave owner as intentionally destroying a tractor would be for a modern farmer.  I am not saying that being a slave was ever a pleasant way of life for the enslaved, but it's not too much of a stretch to imagine the neighbors benefitting from the rich benefactor would see him in the most favorable light.  These rich landowners would likely be dominant political forces who could convince young men that this was indeed their battle too.

Recognition of Georgia Cavalry Private Julius F. Strickland

Heroic stories had emerged from our unexpected American victory in the Revolutionary War, and in a region as rich with folk lore as the South, that would have inspired young men of Alabama to claim their own chance for glory.

Most envisioned themselves as following in the footsteps of our Founding Fathers.

While the Confederate States did fire the first shots of the war at Fort Sumter, many southerners refer to the Civil War as the War of Northern Aggression, because for the most part the C.S.A. was defending their home lands inside their boundaries.  However, General Lee sometimes felt it necessary to press north of the Mason-Dixon line, most notably at the Battle of Gettysburg when his troop combat readiness and numbers were at their peak, probably to force Lincoln to negotiate a peace with the C.S.A. The Confederate Vice President had sailed under a flag of truce into Chesapeake Bay, but he was rejected passage up the Potomac River to Washington, D.C., following the bloody Union victory at Gettysburg.

The Rebels believed the Declaration of Independence authorized the Confederate States to take control of their own affairs, "deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed," an honor which they believed the United States federal government had abused by favoring Yankee states over the South.

Julius Floyd's brother Pvt. Ephriam Strickland, Prisoner of War

Early victories spurred them on, and when their friends and family were killed by Union forces, their resolve was redoubled.  As always happens when generalities begin to take on names of people we know and love, they would've been motivated by the desire for vengeance.

As months stretched into years, and death counts rose on both sides, the Rebels nonetheless fought until there was no hope of victory.

My family members who shared time with us on this trip probably wonder how I got off on this tangent about a subject we didn't discuss. As Julie asked walking home from church yesterday, "You obviously spent a great deal of time on this, but why?"

My wife and I had rushed through the State Archives Building that houses Museum exhibits with much to reveal about Alabama's history, which at least provides me some rationalization for venturing down this path.

Julie and I had stopped into downtown Montgomery as an afterthought on our way out of town after dropping Gina, Laszlo and Emma at the modern Montgomery Airport.  Interestingly, Montgomery Airport is along the lines of the Bozeman Airport in terms of size and just as lovely, but with a distinctly different classic Greek motif as compared to Montana's rustic mountain vibe.

Family Photo Next to Kowaliga Restaurant (Great Catfish and Burgers!)

I must add that downtown Montgomery is really quite beautiful, clean and surprisingly uncrowded.  My cousins had warned that it could be a dangerous place, but it didn't seem that way at all.  I wish downtown Los Angeles was as easy-to-reach and tranquil as Montgomery.

With family, we talked a little about heroism with my family, but not from the Civil War.  My cousin Angie, who is one of the sweetest people alive and always welcomes us warmly when we visit, married a wonderful man named Steve a few years ago.  Steve retired from Army Special Operations with the highest enlisted rank possible, so he shared lots of fascinating war stories.  He didn't tell us any top secret information, of course, or he might have had to kill us.

Next time, I promise I'll get back to what we did on our sojourn.