Having a smiliar background as does Bill Cross, I concur with his statements
about the Civil War and Lincoln.  My ancestors came to Indiana from Virginia
and North Carolina ca 1830.  Their sons fought with the Union Army against
their cousins fighting for the South.  It was the darkest days in this country's
history.  The current war on terrorism cannot come close in equating to the
horrors of the Civil War.


In a message dated 07/31/2004 11:16:11 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:


> Paul,
>
> Very well put. As someone who also has roots in ante bellum VA (and
> apparently with slave-owners to boot), I am still mystified at those who speak of the
> "War of Northern Aggression" as some kind of defeat for this country. There
> were regrettable things about the war and its aftermath (for every white
> southerner outraged over Reconstruction, I could probably find 10
> African-American southerners who saw their voting rights, rights to property and other
> privileges their white neighbors took for granted revoked by the backlash that
> lasted until the Civil Rights movement 100 years after the war.
>
> For anyone who thinks that the war was a mistake, I invite them to justify
> such a conclusion with some evidence of how this country could have become as
> great and prosperous as it has divided into separate nations. It just
> wouldn't be possible. It's why many gray veterans came to believe that the results
> benefited the nation and the South more than had their cause not been lost.
>
> One man's opinion.
>
> As to Lincoln, he was far more complex than the hagiography that surrounds
> his memory would indicate, and his policies were not always as noble as the
> movies and books about him would have us believe. But if there's such a thing
> as "the right man for the job," I think he qualifies.
>
> Bill Cross
>


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