They Honor The Valor Of Their Ancestors

From Confederate Digest:

Wednesday, June 9, 2010


They Honor the Valor of Ancestors



A letter to the editor of the York (Pennsylvania) Daily News

By Steve Weller



As a descendant of one who fought in the 36th Wisconsin, I enjoyed reading Donald Coho's editorial on the causes of the Civil War. I agree that secession was the proximate cause, but slavery, and the desire to contain it or perpetuate it, was at least one fundamental cause. It ignited passionate anger and indignation on both sides, and it gave the sectional argument an emotional dimension that could not be quenched.





However, it would be a mistake to conclude that all Confederate soldiers were consciously fighting to preserve slavery. The average soldier was a subsistence farmer who didn't own slaves. It is much more likely he fought to defend his home. If you had to choose between joining an army that will invade your homeland or joining one that will resist it, which would you choose? Robert E. Lee himself was confronted with the same choice. He thought slavery was "an unmixed evil" and he would not draw his sword again save in the defense of his home state.



Was racism rampant in the South in the 1860s? Certainly. But it was in the North as well. All reasonable people agree that whatever racism remains today is another unmixed evil.



When Southerners issue proclamations commemorating the Confederacy, or when re-enactors fight under the Stars and Bars, I believe their intent is to honor the valor of ancestors who fought in defense of their homes. I have never heard any of them laud slavery or pine for a return to it. Nor have I heard racial slurs.



Please, let's have a little less vitriol and a little more understanding.



STEVE WELLER

WINDSOR TOWNSHIP



Source: http://www.ydr.com/opinion/ci_15252416