From All Of Us Here at Civil War Memory, Have a Wonderful Confederate Memorial Day

by Kevin Levin on April 27, 2009 · 9 comments · Follow me on Twitter

in Civil War Culture, Lost Cause, Memory, Slavery, Southern History

From Alexander Stephens’s “Cornerstone Speech“:

The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution, were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically….Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the government built upon it fell when the “storm came and the wind blew.”

Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.

I recollect once of having heard a gentleman from one of the northern States, of great power and ability, announce in the House of Representatives, with imposing effect, that we of the South would be compelled, ultimately, to yield upon this subject of slavery, that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics, as it was in physics or mechanics…I admitted; but told him that it was he, and those acting with him, who were warring against a principle. They were attempting to make things equal which the Creator had made unequal.

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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

Dan Wright April 27, 2009 at 12:22 pm 1

Interesting that you follow the Kunstler cartoon with an exerpt from Stephens’ speech.
To honor Confederate Memorial Day, I think I’ll also read South Carolina’s Articles of Secession and some of the speeches of the secession commisioners.
Those documents from the period eliminate the coloring of someone who might want to alter the way we remember.

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Peter April 27, 2009 at 3:45 pm 2

Let’s not forget Mississippi’s Declaration of Secession too, which eliminates the coloring of someone who might want to alter the way we remember:
“Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery – the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product, which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its consummation. There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin…Utter subjugation awaits us in the Union, if we should consent longer to remain in it. It is not a matter of choice, but of necessity. We must either submit to degradation, and to the loss of property worth four billions of money, or we must secede from the Union framed by our fathers, to secure this as well as every other species of property. For far less cause than this, our fathers separated from the Crown of England. “

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TF Smith April 27, 2009 at 6:04 pm 3

I know Sherman hated it, but it is still a great song…

Ring the good ol’ bugle, boys, we’ll sing another song,
Sing it with the spirit that will start the world along,
Sing it as we used to sing it 50,000 strong
While we were marching through Georgia.