On the face of it, this is not really very convincing. I lived in Los Angeles in
1965 when the National Guard occupied the central parts of the
city, supplementing inadequate police power (The LA or Watts
"Riot", "Uprising," etc.) Now, these chiefly white soldiers were
from out of town. Would this then have been a justification to take
up arms against them?
This whole business of "invasion" and "home" requires a
prerequisite of political thinking: the South or Virginia as home,
rather than the United States. Thus, white Unionists in western
Virginia, eastern Tennessee, and the Ozark Plateau were being
"defended" by Confederate troops, whereas northern Virginia and
southern Louisiana were being "invaded" by troops from
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin.
At the risk of contradiction, I assume that every rebelling regional
group in history imagined that they were fighting for their
independence from forces at least alien, if not downright tyrannical.
But such notions do not arise naturally or without effort, they are
cultivated and spread by a leadership group that expects, and
usually achieves leadership of the new nation.
Date sent: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 00:59:14 -0800
From: Maitland Westbrook <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Gods and Generals
To: [log in to unmask]
Send reply to: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
<[log in to unmask]>
> Per Shelby Foote:
>
> Union Soldier coming upon wounded Confederate laying on the battlefield:
> "Why are you fighting us?!?!?"
>
> Confederate's Reply: "Because you are here."
>
> M. Westbrook, III
>
>
> --- [log in to unmask] wrote:
> > How about the fact that their homes were being invaded, with all that
> > that entails. People don't need much more motivation than that to take
> > up arms, whether they owned slaves or not.
> >
> > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the
> > instructions
> > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>
>
> __________________________________________________
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Harold S. Forsythe
Assistant Professor History
Director: Black Studies
Fairfield University
Fairfield, CT 06430-5195
(203) 254-4000 x2379
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