would you have supported the North or South?

[libertarian4321]

The North, because that's where my ancestors lived at the time and where I probably would have been drafted, even though I live in the South now.

 

[nate895]

When the war started were both sides equally represented in wealth? ...

Are we in similar circumstances today? Is that why the question is being raised?

They were about equal in wealth, but the South paid around 90% of the tax burden.

 

[nate895]

Possibly, and very well probably would start out as such, but I wouldn't bet on the state of affairs remaining as idyllic for any long portion of time.

I'd imagine that each union would maintain its own military forces, but I cannot foresee them battling it out with each other. As long as each union maintained a free republic, then they'd be at peace. If one became totalitarian, then there would be war, but that will happen under totalitarian regimes, even if they are consolidated.

 

[Chosen]

This is a very easy answer for me. I would chose what my ancestors did and side with the South. It is very simple, the legal and moral ground sided with the Southern States. Slavery was NOT the cause of the war, but the recruitment slogan for the average sloth thrust into the Army of Northern Aggression.

As quoted many times, a Southern soldier was asked why he was fighting the North and he answered: "because they're down here." This puts the conflict in the simplest and most honest of terms. It also prudent to point out the the South had no desertion on principle, troops left only to defend their families, while the North had massive desertions based on low morale. The Northern army was a revolving door of recruits and deserters. This shows you the feelings of the average soldier and where the morality lies.

 

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

I would have been a Confederate without question. My ancestors were Confederate soldiers and sailors and I would have been as well. All of the other reason for why I would have been a Confederate have been mentioned already.

Deo Vindice indeed

 

[LibertyEagle]

I'd have chosen and pulled a "Jeremiah Johnson".

He fought.

 

[Pauls' Revere]

I'd have chosen and pulled a "Jeremiah Johnson".

I was thinkin sorta like Montana or somethin myself

 

[raiha]

I would have been fighting the Brits in India and fighting Hindus and Sikhs around that time. But if news ever reached me of a civil war, I would have sent some samosas and scimitars over to the confederates, and of course offer a daughter or two in marriage to President Davis.

Yes indeedy, India and the South share hospitality as a positive quality.

I would have been in the Jeb Stuart's cavalry...who cares if i' a female.

For those who say the South was racist...who WASN'T then? New York was built on slave cotton money. Massachussets and New England spun the cotton...474 looms they had in NE. Money yum..
Who built the slave ships in the first place?
How many slaves were burnt at the stake, hanged and/or sent packing back to their slave masters during the New York riots?
Why did Mr Lincoln send a whole pile of them "back to where they came from" where they didn't speak the lingo, it wasn't home, they didnt know anyone. Liberia. In the Haiti experiment they died in their droves of hunger and disease.
Best send them back to Africa thought Abraham befoe they start thinking about marrying white Illinois girls.
A new zealander shouldn't reeeaaaally be giving you history lessons about what really happened. As usual the victors of war get to write the fables/ i mean, history.

 

[psywarrior13]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd1oA47Ti0I

The CSA

Edit: NOT advocating violent revolution

 

[Kilrain]

The South, for a multitude of reasons.

This seems a good thread to plug my all-time favorite movie, available in four parts here:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=gettysburg&emb=0&aq=f#

"Gettysburg" June 30, 1863

"Gettysburg" July 1, 1863

"Gettysburg" July 2, 1863

"Gettysburg" July 3, 1863

 

[TruthisTreason]

disclaimer: I am not a racist nor do I supported involunitary servitude (slavery) however as we all know the civil war had many complex issues below the surface.

quite simply, who would you have supported and why?

The South. The reason I would have supported the south is simple. The north invaded, the north were pushing massive tariffs, secession should be recognized by the other states of the "United States" and last but not least Abraham Lincoln, The Dictator.

Not all southerners own slaves. And I know this southerner doesn't want ANY!

 

[RJB]

I would have went west.

 

[mconder]

The south. Slavery would have ended peacefully just as it did in England.

 

[Kludge]

I would have joined the ten-person group of grumbling libertarians representing the combined states of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

 

[Aratus]

i'd have supported abe lincoln over jefferson davis and/or thaddeus stevens and
hopefully andrew johnson over edwin stanton and the same said thaddeus stevens.
over time, amendments 13,14 and 15 became the law of the land, and the latter
two achieved this status over a string of vetos by a sitting and very legal potus...

the tragedy of the civil war is if slavery is the primary fuse, then why not compensate both
slave and master insted of having all those inflationary paper monies printed thusly to wage war...

 

[Cowlesy]

Great x 3 Grandpa Alfred (I think..me, dad, grandpa, great grandpa jim, great-great grandpa horace, great-great-great grandpa alfred) hid slaves in his house and then under hay on his wagon as he transported them from his farm up to the NY State border (he was in PA), so I would have sided with Freedom.

 

[gaazn]

the Indians in Oklahoma.

 

[torchbearer]

Great x 3 Grandpa Alfred (I think..me, dad, grandpa, great grandpa jim, great-great grandpa horace, great-great-great grandpa alfred) hid slaves in his house and then under hay on his wagon as he transported them from his farm up to the NY State border (he was in PA), so I would have sided with Freedom.

My family back then didn't own slaves, they were indentured servants.
Not every person in the south was a slave owner, just a few big rich white plantation owner.
How many of the guys who died for the south actually owned slaves? How many were former indentured servants...
Had I picked up a rifle for the south, I would have picked it up for my state because it was a soveriegn republic, and the country I am a citizen of...
That is the fight for freedom. State rights vs Central Government.
Central Government won in 1865.
Do you feel very free today with 50 wards to a central planner?

 

[torchbearer]

the Indians in Oklahoma.

Some of my family are cherokee from fort smith, ark and del city, ok.
Those natives also fought with the south and for similar reasons as I state above.
The federal government is the one who drug them from their homes and put them on the reservations.

 

[Chosen]

The South. The reason I would have supported the south is simple. The north invaded, the north were pushing massive tariffs, secession should be recognized by the other states of the "United States" and last but not least Abraham Lincoln, The Dictator.

Not all southerners own slaves. And I know this southerner doesn't want ANY!

Yes this is a point that always seems to be overlooked. Next time you go to a bus stop, count the number of multi-millionaires waiting for the bus. This would provide the correct ratio of slave owners to the population in the south. Slaves cost about $1200 and up to $1800 dollars in 1860. The average income of a very successful plantation was around $900-$1200 annual before the war broke out and rapidly declined during and after.