Wednesday, May 23, 2001

I, like Mr. Greg Sims, desire the truth to prevail. I took his suggestion to read various speeches from the Civil War era, and I would like to share my summary of what I found.

Many factors worked together to develop and shape the South. I am not here to analyze how it all came to be, but the fact is the South became a primarily agricultural region that depended on slave labor. John Calhoun, a senator from South Carolina, said in 1850 that "the relation between the two races in the southern section constitutes a vital portion of her social organization." Even Jefferson Davis said that the production and sale of cotton was the South's "chief interest." The fact is slavery was crucial to the structure and success of the South whether an individual actually owned slaves or not.

The morality of slavery had been a hotly debated issue since the birth of America, but nothing significant had ever been done about it, because no one had come up with an adequate solution that people could agree on. But eventually a majority grew who believed slavery was wrong and gained the power necessary to make changes despite the difficulty of those changes. The conflict between the sides grew.

History shows us that the Civil War was about slavery. Again, John Calhoun, a southerner, said, "I have believed from the first that the agitation of the subject of slavery would ... end in disunion." In Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address he said, "One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute."

In his second inaugural address four years later, Lincoln stated, "One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All know that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents 'rebels' would rend the Union, even by war."

Jefferson Davis said the Confederacy would fight to "preserve our own rights and promote our own welfare." That was true. The obvious connection is that they were fighting for the right to continue slavery and to promote their way of life that was dependent on it.

I don't doubt that there were many brave and devoted Confederate soldiers. That doesn't make their cause a just one. And while I also know that terrible things were done to the South during the war, as Lincoln stated to those contemplating secession, "You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it."

War, for any reason, is tragic. It is also sometimes unavoidable and necessary. I believe the Civil War is an example in our nation's history where a grievous national sin required a painful and costly payment. I think we should be careful how we commemorate it.

Heidi Vehrs

Fayetteville

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