Civil War Time Wingnuttery Made Fun and Easy from the Sons of Confederate Veterans

Old School Style:

Some of Lincoln’s strongest support came from the “48er’s”, predominantly German socialists
who were thrown out of power in the 1840’s. They subsequently moved to the U.S. (mainly in the Midwest) and comprised a powerful pro-Lincoln voting bloc. Their belief in strong centralized government made them perfect Lincolnites and, unlike their ideological descendants - the modern-day “neoconservative new world order chickenhawks” - many of them actually saw combat duty in the Union Army. 

Alabama Sons of Confederate Veterans April 2012 newsletter [pdf]

Isn't the shot taken at neocon chickenhawks sweet?  Who can't find that simply adorable.  That reason alone justifies the post.  Neocons are chickenhawks. Even outliers like Neo-confederates see it.

However, one of the themes you see in this particular brand of wingnuttery found on the right is that one of the causes of the Civil War was a dispute over centralization of federal authority vs decentralization of power to the states.   This is of course Bullshit.

 

There are four good examples of Federal authority pre-civil war that show the limits of this argument.

First, prior to the civil war, the Post Office was the most paramount example of centralized federal authority.  For the ordinary person, interacting with the Post Office was  greatest example of central authority that s/he'd experience in daily life.  The Post Office would deliver mail and even build roads to be able to deliver mail in some instances.  Slave holders were quite upset when the post office was used to deliver anti-slavery pamphlets, so the ability to control appointment of Post Masters was an important issue. But was the Post Office a form of outrageous tyranny like super duper scary Obamacare or was it infringing upon people's or states rights on a routine basis? Of course not, but yet it is the biggest example of Federal Authority.

Other than the Post Office, the next biggest source of Federal Authority that folks experienced was the Army during the first half of the 1800s.  However most southern whites supported this application of Federal Authority as it was used for in the Southern States was to expel native peoples from the lands to open it up for settlement by folks, many of whom would become prominent secessionists.   One example, of the use of Federal Authority in the southern states is the Second Seminole war which lasted 7 years and was the nation's longest war until Vietnam. It was also the most costly Indian war. It'd probably go just above the cost of the war of 1812 in today's dollars.

The next example of Federal Authority was the taxing authoring or ability to impose tariffs on Imported goods. This authority did outrage many in the Southern States, since the tariffs protected industries that relied upon Northern free labor at the expense of Plantation Agriculture.  By taxing imported goods, Congress protected domestic industries while making it more expensive for foreign countries to purchase American exports, i.e., Cotton , Tobacco, Rice, Sugarcane - the plantation crops produced in the south that relied upon slave labor.

The final example of Federal Authority - or lack of Federal Authority- was the Fugitive Slave Law. This authorized Federal Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law to return runaway slaves back to slavery and to allow kidnapping of northern blacks to be sold into slavery.  This expansion of Federal Authority was demanded by representatives from Southern States as part of the compromise of 1850. The lack of Federal Authority to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law is one of the causes that is listed in different State's Secession Declarations. The argument could go along the lines that if the Federal Government was not able to force the individuals states to comply with law, what good was it?  Prior to secession many southerners were calling for more Federal Authority to protect the institution of slavery. What this is not, is an example of outrageous governmental centralization run amok.

From the examples above, you can see that there was very little central authority in the hands of the Federal Government prior to the beginning of the civil war.  However, contemporary neo-confederates often cite a centralized federal government trampling upon states' rights as a cause of the civil war and they'll use examples of government centralization that occurred during or after the war as a reason for the start of the war. Lincoln, was a bad guy, he did all these things during wartime.

The problem here of course is the efforts to centralize authority in the federal government is not a cause of the war, but rather a result of the war.  Centralized authority has been the result of all major American Wars.  It is true of the Civil War, WWI, WWII and the Cold War. The reason for centralization is simple. Harnessing the nations resources  in an efficient and orderly manner is critical to winning the War.  It takes precedence over ideology.  The US did not go into the Cold War with a plan to invent the internets, but that is what happened along the way. Likewise Lincoln did arrive in Washington ready to kick ass and take names, but once the fighting started he rolled up his sleeves and did what was necessary to win the war.

You find all sorts of neo-confederate bullshit lurking around the edges of the conservative movement at various wingnut welfare outfits. Absent a series of FEMA camps you just have to put up with it.