…there was a government that was being very unfair to its people. The officials who ran the government weren’t listening to what the people were saying about how they were being governed. The officials in the government seemed to have their own self-serving agendas, and did pretty much what they wanted over the people's howls of protest. Taxes were passed which were unfair; tarrifs on exported goods were passed which didn’t benefit the people producing the goods being exported, the money being spent elsewhere at the whim of the officials in the government. The leader of the government turned a deaf ear to the protests of the people, and let the people suffer.
Pretty soon there was talk of revolution, of throwing off the shackles and chains binding the people to the oppressive government and forming their own nation, governing themselves as they had the right to do. The talk of revolution spread quickly, and the movement towards rebellion grew and spread like a wildfire across the land. The people throughout the land gathered and spoke of revolution and rebellion, and soon the decision had been made to rebel against the government and form a separate nation to be governed by the people themselves as they saw fit. The critics warned that the new nation that was about to be formed wasn’t ready to fight a war, and that they surely would have to fight if they rebelled. They had no formal government, no established treasury, and no army or navy with which to fight. Surely they would be defeated if they rebelled!
But the talk of rebellion was a fever that could not be stopped. A formal notice of separation was prepared and served to the oppressive government, and shortly after that the first shots were fired. A full-scale invasion of the rebellious nation then took place, the troops of the oppressive government plundering and pillaging wherever they went. The government of the new nation struggled to establish itself and defend its land with its new and poorly equipped army, while at the same time trying to garner support from nations across the oceans in Europe. The war turned into a war of attrition, the soldiers in the new nation’s army enduring severe hardships as they fought to defend their land and their homes. For years the soldiers fought on with poor supplies, poor arms, and not enough food to eat, but still they fought. And then, almost without warning, the tide of the war turned….
Think you know how this story ends? I’ll bet you don’t.
If you think I’m talking about the events of 1770-1776 that led to the American Revolution and the first few years of the war, you’re dead wrong.
I’m talking about the events of 1850-1861 that led to the Second American Revolution, also known as the War Between the States, and the first few years of that war. (Personally, I prefer to refer to it as the War for Southern Independence.)
If this is the first time you’ve ever taken a look at those events in this light and find yourself being surprised, then I suggest that you’re a student of “conventional” American history – the one-sided, historically incorrect version of American history that has been taught in the American school system for about the past 50 years, using school books written and published by the victors.
And if that’s the case, then I strongly suggest you do some reading and learn the true history of this most turbulent era in our nation’s history. Trust me, there’s a hell of a lot more to what went on than is portrayed in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
By the way, did you know that Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” never did any research on Southern plantations, never traveled to the South to see a Southern plantation for herself, never interviewed any plantation owners OR slaves/former slaves, and used the stories she’d read in Northern newspapers as the basis of fact for her book?
Ain’t history wonderful?
IHC
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