[ANALYSIS, OPINION, TUNES and FUN]
[Except where expressly noted, the following is totally human work product and not that of artificial intelligence. First we talk about the causes of the Civil War and how its many lessons still have relevance today. Then we turn to music and fun. So stick around and enjoy.]
NOTES:
In the last several years, with the events like those surrounding the tragic death of George Floyd, the rise of groups like Black Lives Matter and the defacement and/or removal of many Confederate statues and monuments there has been renewed discussion and a re-examination of the Civil War. The thought has occurred to us on more than one occasion that much about this nation’s history, especially as it pertains to the events surrounding the Civil War has been forgotten, overlooked or outright ignored.
Let’s begin by being absolutely clear. We are against slavery. Slavery was and is an abomination. We are for equal protection of the law and no one should be discriminated against because of race, color, creed, national origin, tribe, religion or sex. So, what’s stated below is merely our analysis of the videos and issues being discussed.
In the earliest days of this country’s founding, many felt that the union of states was strictly voluntary and that any state could secede at any time for any reason. Other articles on this this website we have argued that the three-fifths compromise pertaining to the slavery issue which was agreed to by Northern and the Southern states during the drafting of the U.S. Constitution created a reasonable expectation on the part of the South (if not an absolute Constitutional right benefiting all states, especially those in the South ) that slavery would remain legal in the United States indefinitely—or at least until each state voluntarily outlawed it. However, those important points usually get overlooked especially by the politically progressive community who often scream from the mountain tops that the Civil War was strictly about slavery. The point here is that the causes of the Civil War were more complicated and involved than too many folks now suppose. Other fundamentally important economic, moral and political factors were at play. As such, it is time for everyone including our political leaders to stop treating our Southern ancestors as being the morally bankrupt and oppressive group that many political progressives and liberals would have us believe.
We don’t say the foregoing as a prelude to some kind of White supremacist rant. We strive at this website to be objective and unbiased. As such, for those seeking, a more balanced fact-finding approach to determining not only the causes but also other historically significant facts about the Civil War we suggest the following three relatively short but well researched and unbiased videos as interesting places to start and/or to conduct one’s further investigation.
All three of the videos referenced below are on a Youtube Channel operated by Life on the Civil War Research Trail (LCWRT).
The first video is about a letter that Robert E. Lee wrote to his son about six months prior to the start of the Civil War. It was written while Lee was still in the Union army and prior to his joining the Confederacy. It is titled: “I Can Anticipate No Greater Calamity for the Country Than a Dissolution of the Union. Cut and past or click on the link below:
https://youtu.be/RxLex4eTzmk?si=5gLllZ7OLaEuBlDw
It is apparent from the video that six months before the Civil War started that Lee was very upset and opposed to the idea that Virginia should secede from the Union. Unlike many Southern leaders, he clearly felt that Union was not a purely voluntary association of its member states. As such, Lee felt that no state had a discretionary right to secede from the Union for any reason anytime that they desired. In addition, he thought that secession was an extremely unwise thing for any state to do and that doing so courted disaster for the seceding state and the nation as a whole. Lee emphasized the need for all differences between the states to be resolved through lawful processes. Moreover, and surprisingly, he viewed succession as rebellion, if not outright treason, against the United States. However, after stating many important and fundamental reasons why he should stay loyal to the Union, he notes some crucial limitations on that duty. He said that one of the things that would cause him to re-consider his duty of loyalty to the Union were actions presumably by Northern states that called into question his, or perhaps his home state’s, honor. Admittedly, it’s not exactly clear what he meant by this but given the context of Lee’s statements actions questioning honor would include those that he regarded as a Northern infringement of the state’s rights of Virginia. [Although the video doesn’t expressly mention it, presumably another limitation on Lee’s duty of loyalty to the Union would be if it caused him to take up arms against and shed the blood of his friends, family and neighbors.]
[Author’s Note: Also of often overlooked significance is that before the start of the Civil War Virginia probably had its own state statute prohibiting insurrection, sedition and/or treason against the Virginia state government which would have been independent of any federal law prohibiting those crimes against the federal government. So we consulted ChatGPT which responded by stating as follows:
“Virginia, like other states, would have had laws in place to protect its governance and authority, which could include statutes against acts that might be considered as sedition or insurrection against the state government itself.”]
In any event, Lee’s letter also shows an additional fact that not many people today are aware of. And that is that prior to the Civil War many of this nation’s leaders believed that the Union was a strictly voluntary association of states. The fact is, however, that this belief was not something that only Southerners held. Apparently, there was also a significant secessionist movement in the New England during the time of the War of 1812. (Consider, for example, the position of many Federalists at the Hartford Convention in Connecticut 1814 to 1815). Thus, many Northern leaders, agreed with many Southerners who felt that staying in the Union was strictly a voluntary matter and that all states had an unfettered right to secede at any time for any reason.
It’s not clear from the video whether Lee’s letter mentioned the critical issue of slavery or not. [Here at reasonandbalance.com generally eschew and are very wary of artificial intelligence and its potentially dangerous ramifications for the long term welfare of mankind. Therefore, unless expressly stated we do not use ChatGPT or any other form of AI in writing content for reasonandbalance.com. However, we have to admit that we succumbed to the time pressures of getting this article posted in a timely fashion. Thus, it is relevant to also point out that, according to ChatGPT:
“Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general during the American Civil War, technically never owned slaves in his own right to free them at a specific date. However, he was involved in the management of slaves through his father-in-law’s estate. George Washington Parke Custis, Lee’s father-in-law, left a will that stipulated the slaves on his estate should be freed within five years of his death. Custis died in 1857, and Lee, as the executor of the estate, freed the slaves in December 1862, in accordance with the will’s terms. This action came just a few days before President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which declared all slaves in Confederate-held territory to be forever free from January 1, 1863.”]
[Before moving on we cannot help but to say that some of the secessionist folks down in Texas today may want to take serious note of Lee’s position regarding secession. And besides, didn’t the Union victory in the Civil War make it abundantly clear, once and for all, that states cannot lawfully secede from the Union? How someone can openly advocate and organize a group of people to secede from the Union nowadays without being criminally charged with sedition, insurrection, treason of some similar crime is a true wonder.]
The second video discusses debates in the Virginia House of Delegates concerning the possibility of abolishing slavery in Virginia. Very interestingly, this occurred in 1831 and 1832, a full 30 years prior to the start of the Civil War. See and/or click on: “A Confederate Officer Recounts the Virginia Slavery Debate of 1831-1832”: https://youtu.be/GOC8_o-SpKU?si=aVnhwzmmdEP_ZhF7. We point this out merely because some have argued that because of the Civil War, we will never truly know for sure if the Southern states would have ever acted to voluntarily abolish slavery without being coerced to do so.
In this regard, it’s interesting to note that there was actually considerable support in Virginia for freeing the slaves 30 years prior to the Civil War. In fact, if the recollections of the Confederate soldier in the video are correct, pro-abolitionist legislators in Virginia were on the verge of actually passing legislation freeing the slaves three whole decades before the start of the Civil War but were stymied at least in part, if not largely because of, the strong negative reaction many Virginians had to Nat Turner’s (Slave) Revolt and because of the other extremist rhetoric and activities undertaken by New England abolitionists during that period. In fact, the letter writing Confederate veteran (a friend of Thomas Jefferson’s grandson) seems to strongly imply that Virginia’s legislators were extremely incensed at the contemptuous scorn that New England’s abolitionists heaped on Southerners during this crucial time period. To put it in plain English, Northerners were acting holier than thou at the time and Virginia’s legislators weren’t about to do anything to bow to or to accommodate Northern pomposity. Is this an example of how militancy, even for a just cause, can sometimes backfire and impede otherwise beneficial social progress? It must be remembered that the foregoing video expresses only the views of one, albeit highly educated, Confederate veteran. However, there can be little doubt that it is human nature to resist being told what to do by outsiders.
The third interesting video on LCWRT is titled “Words Exchanged in an Ambulance Between Two Wounded Soldiers, Union and Confederate”. Click here: https://youtu.be/BDhutnfZY8w?si=Cqg1n-PNxbA5pcyl What we find particularly striking about the story told is that the two soldiers, fresh off the battlefield, late in the War, never mentioned the word slavery at all. Instead, the Union soldier simply said that the Union was fighting to preserve the Union and to keep the South from seceding. We mention this because many, especially in the Progressive camp, become extremely offended if anyone ever dare suggest that the Civil War was fought over anything but slavery alone.
The other interesting aspect of that video is that the Union and Confederate soldiers treated each other with infinitely more respect and civility than we have seen between the various political factions in this country during the past eight or nine years.
TUNES
[Okay, time for some tunes and fun. Once again, we invite, for your inspection and listening pleasure, a small portion of an old fashioned tele-typed transcript of short-wave radio broadcast from whence and where we do not know. Anyone who knows, please let us know. All you have to do, however, is enjoy.]
Good evenin’ folks
Out there in GURUland
Stony Riva here
On behalf of our
Resident musical GURU
And the gang
GURU just finished
Practicin’ his geettar
And left for parts unknown
…but probably
Some sleazy Karaoke bar
Just a few minutes ago
..not sure if we’ll hear from
Him tonight
But in any event
a couple of weeks ago
we posted an instrumental tune by our
First artist
But we did give him
A big shout out
for havin’ a really fine voice too
Even if our first post didn’t give it
Any airplay
So, let’s hear what what kinda pipes
This dude really has
So please enjoy…
The man himself
… once again
Here’s Freddie
….as in King…
With “I’m Ready”
https://youtu.be/-LlQk-x_sZs?si=3-oDBbdka6hHj3sf
[Yes indeedy that was Brutha Freddie again
One of the 3 Kings
Along with Albert and BB.
So sad that he passed away so young and all
Cos GURU and Stony
Really Love both his geettar playin’
And his singin’ as well.]
Well, Freddie might be ready
But here’s a band from back in the
Day who were probably most famous
For a tune called “Get Ready”
But let’s change it up a bit here
Cos GURU doesn’t like it
When Stony overplays a tune
So let’s try this one on for size
It’s another great tune
By Rare Earth called
Born to Wander
https://youtu.be/zJj0_rdzzZo?si=YgwOl3slqTbjnwe3
I don’t know about you
But I really like that tune
Movin’ on…
According to her own website
“ [Our next artist]
is an American songwriter,
guitar player, mandolin player and singer
whose to-the-point storytelling style
has elevated her to cult icon status in Europe,
Scandinavia, across the United States,
South America and the United Kingdom.
Her songs have been recorded by Lee Ann Womack,
Rodney Crowell, Sunny Sweeney, Charley Crockett
, and many others.”
And the thing of it is…
GURU says that
Her description of herself
Doesn’t do her justice at all.
‘cos she is mega talented!
But Yinz don’t have to take
GURU’s word
[or lack thereof]
for it…
let’s go down and pay a visit
To the Lone Star state
and see for ourselves
exactly what it is
that Brennan Leigh can do…
because here
she’s featured along
with her cohort in crime Ray Benson
together they do a
snappy tune called
In Texas with a Band
https://youtu.be/3R7CzT4vikQ?si=2dBAg9FlBjPVtlQL
[Yep she could definitely
Charm me out of a week’s pay
For one night out on the town….anytime !!
Charmin’ must be her middle name. And
Stony agrees with GURU and
Thinks she should be an even bigger name
Than she already is.
Stony thinks she’s pretty hot too]
[and interestingly enough
If what we see on line is true
It looks to us like she just
Had her debut at the Grand Ole Opry
about 6 months ago or so
and she in fact has very recently moved there
So maybe she’s really on her way now…]
[but I’ll tell ya
That gal plays a mean guitar and can really
Pick the heck out of a mandolin as well.]
[And btw3 ….Ray Bensen did some
Really cool vocals on that tune as well
And let’s not forget those boyz
And galz in that mighty fine band
down there
..and yes….in Texas
They have a real interestin’ name
They are called…
“Asleep at the Wheel”.]
Okay, thank you Suzi
Really I shouldn’t have had little Suzi
the station’s secretary
liftin those heavy boxes
Wow that little gal
– brought in
2 of ‘em
From the garage
Next thing we’ll know
She’ll be filin’
Some kind of Worker’s comp
Or EEOC thing against us
And GURU will be firin’
Ole Stony
But let’s not dwell on that ‘cos
Our next band is …
Naturally from back in the day
Yes these dudes were
A quite popular regional act
Back in the 60s
From the Rockville/D.C. area
They were American
But aspired to be British
And so
They hired a Scot
Do do their singin’
Although..who can tell?
This is the Hangmen with a tune called
The Girl Who Faded Away
https://youtu.be/QCRYA6ck3x0?si=X5cn3epDEixwUlPX
Okay….I rummaged around
Some more in the other box
Suzi brought us
And lo and behold
I do remember this one
Believe it or not
Originally, I wasn’t sure I liked this tune at all
Back in the day
But for whatever reason
I could never get it out of my head
And so I became kinduva addicted to it.
I guess just because of the way
It just sort of boils up
And cries out
According to the
Oracle of Wikipedia
This band “was an American psychedelic
and garage rock band from New York City,
New York. Their name is a reference
to the book The Tibetan Book of the Dead.[1]
The Third Bardo only had one recording session,
which yielded six tracks
Their technique of Eastern melody and
distorted guitar made the
single distinctive to the rock scene.””
In any event
For better or worse
Please enjoy a tune
Whose refrain
Ya can always tell Yinz’s wives and GFs
When ya do somethin’ stupid
But just remember
I did that with my better half
30 years ago
And now……. Oh well
But here are some really cool
Thought provokin’ dudes
The Third Bardo with
I’m Five Years Ahead of My Time
https://youtu.be/liTMlQV8n7A?si=q-lLJYdBynM4yclj
Alright, Alright
Okay, Yes I’ll do it.
Folks
Suzi here has just handed me another 45 from the
Garage box
And says her dad used to play it
All the time
And she wants me to
Dedicate it to him
And bein’ I see we have
3 or 4 minutes to spare
I’m gonna do it
Because
Well Suzi
Is Suzi
And I kinda owe her
for luggin’ all those
Record boxes from the garage around
And so, here’s a tune
I know absolutely nothin’
About but it looks like
…..
….well
…well
Maybe I do know this
….anyway
It’s by the Romancers
And it’s called
Love is a Thing
So enjoy…
https://youtu.be/5AFuGdLfEes?si=lugNBvz2BIkcUMjK
Okay, I see by the clock on the wall
That it’s that time again
Time to say goodnight
So….
As always
Yinz are the best
So…
Thanks for listenin’
Thanks for Watchin’
Goodnight
Don’t let the bedbugs bite.
March 29, 2024
David Dixon Lentz
© Copyright 2024; David Dixon Lentz; All Rights Reserved.