Civil War Truths

The subject of the Civil War is brought up a lot, but we rarely hear true facts. The name itself is a misconception, there was never a civil war. A civil war means a war within a country. In truth, this was a war between a union of states within the United States and the Confederate States of America. The southern states of the United States of America seceded and formed their own country. They even had their own currency and was trading with foreign countries.

Those who don't know true history might be wondering what I meant by a union of states. When the US government became upset over the secession of states, they decided on going to war. There were several states that refused to go to war against the the confederacy because they believed in the right of secession. Those states are referred to as border states and that's why it was a union of states that invaded the Confederate States of America. Lincoln did the same thing to the CSA that the British did to the USA when the colonies declared independence. 

“Left” and “Right” Confusion

We keep hearing the terms “left” and “right”. I doubt most people even know where those terms came from when applied to political ideology. The terms “left” and “right” wing are based on the seating arrangements in the French National Assembly, which directly preceded the French Revolution. Some believe those terms represent certain beliefs, and they did in the beginning. The aristocracy sat on the right side of the Speaker, which was traditionally the seat of honor, and the commoners sat on the left. This gave birth to the terms “right-wing” and “left-wing” politics. The left had been called “the party of movement” and the right, “the party of order.”

Common Ground

I recently had a conversation about opposing ideologies finding common ground and willing to view problems facing both sides. Unless we are willing to open our minds to problems facing both sides, then we can never find common ground. No matter if people are left or right, they are still citizens and the Constitution and all laws apply to them equally.

We can take this to an extreme and point to the Civil War. There were two differences of opinion and neither side could find common ground. Because the country had a weak leader who couldn't find a resolution to problems, he resorted to guns. Unless something changes, the USA is once more on that same course.

The USA has two major ideologies and both have been conditioned to hate one another. Most of the time, each side wants all or nothing, whether it's gay marriage or drug legalization. Let's take a moment and revisit history and see what happens when both sides become immovable objects that refuse to change.

Slavery, Yesterday and Today

I was just reminded about Irish slavery, something about which history rarely speaks. Slavery is alive and well in today's world. We all know about Uganda slaves, but the largest slave market might currently be the one for women and children. This is typically known as the white slave or sex trade.

I can never forget the tale of a Russian teen during the 90's. She had dreams of being a European model. The young beauty signed with some company and managed a visa to leave Russia. She arrived at the address given to her and was immediately taken into captivity. For some time she was used as a prostitute in Europe. She was eventually sold to someone in the USA. Her captives planned to bring her through the southern border with fake documentation. She sat nervously in the back seat as they were questioned at a border checkpoint. Finally, one of the border guards looked at her paperwork and ask the Russian captive a question. Despite speaking fluent English, she decided to reply in Russian. The cold war was still fresh enough in everyone's mind that this made them look more closely at her and the paperwork. The guards took her from the car to some place where she could be questioned alone. It was then she revealed to them who she was and that she had been kidnapped. The kidnappers were arrested and and she was given asylum in the USA.