MAGGI PICAYUNE

I may have missed the 150th anniversary of this crucial battle but I saw some article about Ku Kluxers using the battlefield/park as a platform to spew their bullshit. Continuing that proud tradition…demonstrating what sore losers reside in the South.

I also take offense at the History Channel and other media using egregious misnomers for the two sides in the war. Union and Confederate. Fine, with the latter, I can get behind this. It’s not as accurate as Traitors, Separatists, Secessionists or Crybabies but there was an attempt at making a rival government so they can keep Confederate. However, Union is a load. The correct title is the Federal or American side. These states did more than stay together, they continued under the laws, flag and everything else of the US. By using the incorrect moniker it legitimizes the Confederacy through false equivalence. Like the nation was split in half and both sides divided up the spoils before going at each other’s throats. No, the South chose to “take their ball and go home” because they didn’t get what they wanted in the 1860 presidential election. How easily they forgot their dominance for Speaker and eight presidents despite having a fraction of the population.

We should brand the Confederacy and its apologists for what they really were, a traitorous uprising to defend an untenable system. You’ll hear people around Texas trying to spin the same-old tired lies I’ve heard:

• Federal “overreach”/States’ rights; something the South actually favored/opposed. “Overreach” to have the Feds enforce their “property” (aka slave ownership) rights regardless of location, thus they were against States’ rights which the North used to free slaves.
• Tariffs and taxes; this issue was ironed out a generation earlier and even discussed by 1860.
• Lincoln was a dictator: this accusation would be more accurate during the War yet the South was a nastier police state than the North. People were required to have travel papers for starters.
• The laissez-faire dribble saying it should’ve been left alone, slavery was going away; When the Founders were banging out the Constitution, it appeared probable. Northern states were banning slavery and the trend was spreading. The development of the cotton gin reversed this. Plus the South was always hostile to minorities, women, non-Protestants and workers rights. Continues to this day. Throw in slavery and there’s the perfect factory. Who needs China? Think it’s improbable? See Pakistan, Bangladesh and Latin America.

Gettysburg proved to be the deciding moment for the War. The American Army finally broke the Confederate forces enough to prevent them from being a threat any longer. Afterwards, the push was to mop the rebels up until a surrender. The long, outstanding and unnecessary stalemate would come to an end. If the US lost the battle, it would’ve still won the war, just later. The South was doomed from day one. It wasn’t a matter of how but when. Europe wasn’t coming to their aid especially with slavery being illegal in the UK and France which would need a lot of explaining to their citizens.

So in honor of those brave soldiers who gave their lives to hold America together and free a few million others, I thank them. In return, the Neo-Confederates, KKK and Secessionist D-bags deserve nothing but contempt.