All Comments on 'The South will Rise Again'

I too am a Southron (no, that's not misspelling) whose ancestors fought for their country, the CSA, but we're not slave holders. I still fly the Stars and Bars at my house though few recognize it. We are both likely to be sent to reeducation camps if the revisionists have their way.

Slavery in its raw form is still practiced in Africa by people who follow a supposed religion of "peace"

There are slave markets in Libya right now, open for business.

How strange we are told it is peaceful yet you cannot draw it's pedophile leader under serious and real threat of death and its followers have no problem with suicide attacks.

Even showing a picture of the degenerate child rapist got a teacher in France beheaded a few days ago.

But we are all told by left wing filth that it and they are peaceful and anyone who dares to tell the truth is a racist.

The label of racist is used by low life low IQ political extremists to silence people who do not buy into their mindless drivel.

It's meaningless now and a person can dismiss any degenerate scumbag who calls them a racist.

No. Owned by Dutch and the British. The same British who were so against slavery. The same British who watched the Irish die and did not lift a finger...

States rights have been briefly mentioned but not explored in any depth in any of the comments here! There were many other issues going on between the northern industrial states and southern agricultural states. One of the left overs of the revolutionary war and the writing of our constitution was the issue of how strong the federal government should be versus how strong the individual states were! Until the Civil war the Federal government was quite weak!

One; the issue of expansion of slavery into new territories or states. The south worried that they could loose power in the national congress particularly in the Senate if new states admitted to the Union weren't on an even handed slave/no slave basis as the country expanded to the west. The southerners felt that every new state should have the right to decide which way to go! States rights over a strong national government

Two; The northern industrialists were attempting to get the export of cotton outlawed so that the factories in the north could monopolize the cotton garment industry. The south wanted to be able to sell their cotton to the highest bidder which was usually European concerns. IE; a states right to control its own trade!

Three; As mentioned by one commenter the southern plantation owners were beginning to drown in debt due to the escalating cost of buying, trading, owning and maintaining the health of slaves. Human nature being human nature the plantation owners couldn't admit that their way of life was flawed! Here it was an institutional blindness that they blamed the northern efforts to control the cotton trade for! (After the civil war sharecropping turned out to be a much more profitable way of business for the northern carpetbaggers who by hook or crook took over those plantations).

Four; The Federal Government being much weaker then, the Declaration of Independence was a much more important idea in peoples minds. Remember it was only a couple of generations since the revolution. Many people had living relatives who fought to free us from foreign rule, not just British but French and Spanish too. The idea of someone distant telling you how to live your life or that what you were doing was wrong was totally unacceptable to pretty much everyone in the USA! And Yes that meant that Washington DC was considered by many to be an outsider when it came to how they lived their lives! Local thoughts, morals, churches and schools had more influence than distant government! Remember this was before telegraph, telephones or any other fast communication existed! It could take weeks or months for a letter to get from one end of the country to the other! States rights, local rights did matter a lot more to people back then! That was an issue between the north and the south.

Ultimately all wars are about power! In the west we often measure power with money, but it's still power! The south was doomed to loose the Civil War from the beginning! The north had the power, fumbled with control issues in the beginning but ultimately got their act together and prevailed.

The war destroyed the cotton industry, it took a long time for it to recover. And the Federal Government had to spend a lot of time effort and money to rebuild the south that they had destroyed. But that is the result of every war the USA has fought! Guilt (and greed) drives us to rebuilt what we destroy.

In many ways the south has risen again! Just not like it was! New industry, trade and business. The shipyards of the north are migrating to the south, and the oil industry has been there for many years. Now the aircraft industry is moving there for the cheaper living, wage and business climate.

qhml1 I enjoy your stories and essays! Keep up the good writing! Ignore the assholes!

We didn't invent slavery is a piss poor defence.. would you have the same defence when defending acts of theft, rape or murder. Southern states are still filled with racists who thrive on voter suppression. States like Georgia invented new run-off system to specifically avoid getting black people elected to the senate. Constant diet of Fox news, Newsmax & OANN has polarized these people even more than ever.

Btw ever wandered why so many southerners like traitor Lee's statues if it was just a matter of economics?

I could have written most of your words for you. You could have added many more ancient and current examples. Your detractors seem to think you’re justifying slavery, they are like horses with blinders. It existed. It wasn’t right. Deal with it in the current time to eliminate what remains. I choose to be anonymous only because of my Facebook experience with current mindset. You can’t (successfully) argue with a fool.

Thanks

Regarding slavery and the trend today of trying to remove statues and symbols of those times. People fought and died in the civil war and their are statues erected of many of those officers and generals from both sides. I am totally against the attempts to remove any symbols reminding us of those times. You cannot change history we need reminders or we are doomed to repeat our mistakes. Leave the statues and the reminders but attach a footnote to them so people will remember but not glorify that dark time in our history.

Grew up in a little place east of Omaha, just about as white as you get. I have loved reading since I was able, including history. After getting married we lived in Alabama for at least 8 years. I don't worry about color, assholes come in every one. Besides reading I have always loved music, not all but a variety. I voiced how I didn't like rap and was accused of being racist. I explained that I couldn't stand squash soup but that didn't mean I hated ALL soup. One of my favorite country singers is Darius Rucker and of course I love Vernon Reed on guitar (Living Color). I try to take people as they come. I can't change history but do the best I can with the present. Sadly, slavery still exists - we all need to do our part to put it in the history permanently!

The raid on Baltimore, Cork, Ireland took place in 1630. The price of the trip to America was often indenturetude which means they would have some rights and be set free after a while. Basically a labor contract. The slaves of 1619 were sold as slaves with the price of their freedom being indeturetude. Slavery was legalized in Virginia in 1661.

Yes, other black Africans sold many blacks into slavery, but about half were sold by Arab slave traders.

Funny how many 'African-Americans' name their children with Arabic names.

It could seem to appear like they are happy their ancestors were sold by them.

The new constitution has put at rest, forever, all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institution, African slavery as it exists amongst us – the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jefferson in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the “rock upon which the old Union would split.” He was right. What was conjecture with him, is now a realized fact. But whether he fully comprehended the great truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted. 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. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with, but the general opinion of the men of that day was that, somehow or other in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away. This idea, though not incorporated in the constitution, was the prevailing idea at that time. The constitution, it is true, secured every essential guarantee to the institution while it should last, and hence no argument can be justly urged against the constitutional guarantees thus secured, because of the common sentiment of the day. 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.

- confederate VP on slavery.

your argument boils down to 'everyone was doing it back then and it still exists today'. and only rebuttal to those people is fuck them. if catholic church is doing it, then fuck the church.. same thing goes for the south during civil war. they were racist pieces of shits and no amount of revisionist history will wash it down. their treacherous nature was visible in last few months when they tried to storm the capitol..

@dgfergie nope. none needs to see traitors' statues to remind us of history. do you see Nazi statues in Germany?

A few facts of slavery. The Muslims of North Africa took more Europeans as slaves than were transported to the new world. Brazil and South America took more slaves than North America. Piracy in the Mediterranean was at its heights up to the earlier 1800's, including raids on American shipping in the Atlantic. Under Pres. Jefferson, the United States Navy and Marines brought the Sulimen to their knees. Marine Corp. hymn, "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli"! Slavery was a global solution to labor markets (objective economic view).

The southern decision to bomb Ft. Sumtner had more to do with the recent election of Lincoln. The south viewed the federal government as weak and Lincoln as a weak president. The decision to move forward was with the idea that the north would not be able to organize an effective response and over time would agree to allowing the south to cede.

It was about states rights!

States rights to what?

States rights to own peop... er, uh,

No, it was about the economy. Because the economy of the South would have suffered if slavery had...oh.

No, no, it was about the rights of states to set their own rules. Because there was a lot of disagreement about whether slavery should have been allowed in the territories when...shit.

But most southerners didn’t own slaves. Which is why the wealthy slave owners who ran the government declared war over...nope.

I couldn't have expressed it better. All the people who wag their fingers at southerners because of slavery are some of the biggest racists going. When I was first out of college, I became friendly with black that worked with me. He told me that in the fifties, his family had moved to New York City, saying they were tired of all the racism in the south. Seven years later they moved back to Alabama. My friend explained to me that in the south, the racism was blatant. In the north, he said the racism was more insidious. The Northerners would run their mouths about how broad minded they were while denying blacks jobs, opportunities, decent living. His father finally got fed up with the hypocrisy so they moved back south.

Let at least be honest here, racism exists in every country. If you want to see a truly racist country go to Japan. They truly believe that every other race is inferior to them. They treat minorities like shit.

You can say whatever you want to about the United States, but at least we abolished slavery with the death of hundreds of thousands of men, both north and south. We also passed laws to outlaw discrimination. Is our system perfect? Not by a long shot, but we keep trying which is more than most other countries.

Black LIves matters is a racist organization. They preach that only black people count. The sad thing is that I think that a large majority of black people are embarrassed by that organization. Supporting an organization like that only furthers the racial divide. And as long as I'm talking about organizations, lets look at Antifa. They claim to be anti fascist. But the truth is they operate the same way that the Nazis operated in Germany. They attack, verbally, physically, and economically, anyone who disagrees with. They use their bully boys to physically attack anyone they thinks even questions them. Like the Nazis who blamed everything on two groups - the communists and the Jews, Antifa blames everything on the police and white conservative males. They are a cancer on our society.

Barack Obama set back racial relations seventy years when he was president. One of the first things he did as President was to severely criticize the Cambridge police who were trying to help Professor Gates when a neighbor saw him trying to force his way into the back door of his house. His neighbor thought someone was trying to break into his house and called the police. They responded to protect Professor Gates' house. He became belligerent and forced a confrontation. All of the black officers at the scene agreed that Professor Gates was totally wrong. Barack Obama is a very angry half-black man whose white grandparents gave him a privileged life. And was he grateful for this - NO. He accused his grandparents of being racists.

Well-balanced point of view. I agree that rewriting history denies it. Slavery is an incredibly complex issue, and targeting only one segment of society is just stupid.

Earlier this week, I read Unicorn, loved it, and was left wanting more. I then read Boston to Birmingham, and quite enjoyed that as well. Thank you for taking time to write, edit, and publish those stories.

That being said, I'm here to throw my hat into the ring, albeit 8 years late. I had no issue with your mention of slavery, and thought that your inclusion of the fact that Jess was in no position to refuse such advances was a nod to the horrors of slavery. I took bigger issue with the inclusion of the UDC, which historically venerated the KKK and spread the lie that the civil war was not fought over slavery.

Thank you. These are very well-taken points. I couldn't have put it better myself.

I will never read another one of your stories... "Im not making excuses for american slavery... BUT!!!"... And the sad thing is... You're not even aware that you're a racist... And most definitely an apologist... I enjoy so much your writing... But i don't enjoy what you are...

-jaye-

For the most part I agree. However Moses was not a slave. His family, his people were but Moses grew up in the royal family. Yeah I know. Nitpicking.

Nice to see someone who actually reads and digs into history. As a history nut and a Texan whose roots go back to the Austin Colony...I was particularly fascinated in the War Between the States and the continuing institution of "slavery." Couple of key points here.... first, plantation farming using slaves had become bankrupt suring the 1840's. It was kept in practice by people who made their money in business and bought failed plantations to shoehorn their way into the Planter class. The practice of slavery was in severe decline way prior to the War. Secondly, the plight of ex slaves was WORSE after the civil war as all the slave states, and most of the rest of the country enacted the "Jim Crow" laws...which made it virtually impossible for a free black male to stay out of prison. In prison these unfortunate "convicts" were rented out to the old plantation owners for pennies on the dollar giving them virtually free labor that they could work to death. During the period up to WW2...the old plantation farms went through dramatic expansion...using this government provided "slave" labor.

Unfortunately like in Haiti these individuals used these "slaves" like used disposable diapers.... so the fate of the rural black population during the 1890-1940 period was absolutely horrible,...much worse than the true slavery period prior to the Civil War.

One more politically incorrect insight... during the past 40 years, It seems what we in the USA have turned a blind eye to a similar revival of what is effectively a similar kind of slavery using Hispanic illegal aliens. What you see in places like California is massive immigration abet illegal.... and Wealthy modern robber barons...in meatpacking, agribusiness, and even high tech manufacturing...using these individuals as almost free (slave) labor....with similar abuses to that engendered by the black population during the slavery era of the pre civil war,

I invite you to do your own research...using quality on line databases like JSTOR and similar reliable sources for the plethora of academic papers that fully address and document these issues,

As a history buff, a avid researcher with advanced academic degrees in english and computer modeling... one of my big focuses is on the historic roots and evolution of slavery. Slavery is a very complex subject that defies simple "solutions" The author's treatment of southern slavery is accurate...as far as it goes... I would like to add a couple of significant caveats here, First the plantation slavery system was instituted in the "northern states" first. Large sale plantation farming which was a major European profit center in the new world just would not work in the rocky and mostly infertile land of the New England states...thus the "Yankees" sold those slaves south to areas with large areas of fertile "free land" in which large scale colonial plantation agriculture could reap huge profits. This system continued until the mid 1830's during which prohibition of imported slavery raised the cost of doing business until plantation agriculture was simply uneconomic. Increasingly though, the old plantations were purchased by individuals who made their money in business...and used the uneconomic ownership of slaves to shoehorn themselves into the high end "planter class." By the time of the War Between the States" slavery and plantation agriculture was in sharp decline... the high cost of "breeding" and supporting slaves for the work was simply too high,...and plantations were going bankrupt,

Following the civil war and the 10 year period of reconstruction...most states throughout the union instituted Jim Crow laws,, These laws made it virtually impossible for ex slave black males to stay out of jail, thus creating a semipermanent black convict population that was fed and maintained at State expense and rented out to the old plantation farmers at a fraction of the labor cost prior to the civil war. Thus during the period from 1880 - 1950 the amount of acreage devoted to large plantation farming grew exponentially...all supported by State supported black prisoners.

This kind of forced servitude makes a mockery of the modern analysis of this issue. Be very careful of using terms like "slavery" when you haven't a clue about the historical background. Frankly, involuntary servitude is not only still exists...but frankly has suffered significant expansion during the past 60 years. All one has to do is substitute the word "black" for "undocumented hispanic alien" and refocus the old agricultural model to one of high technology, meat packing, clothing manufacturing, etc....and you can reach a basic understanding of just how prevalent the current robber barons who run this USA....have used politically charged terms to hide the reality of a total economic and cultural transformation...back to a plantation involuntary service culture in California, and the west coast.

"Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Winston Churchill

As for Stoneywebb’s comments about the incident which he was referring too was racist! Because the Professor was black they “assumed” he was robbing his own home. If it were me (I am white) that the cops tried to arrest me entering my own house, I would have sued everyone including the idiot neighbour who reported the “break-in”! Black people are being treated very badly in your country. If black people drive an expensive car down the road, they are normally stopped by the police in road checks: racist!. A black realty estate agent and his costumer were arrested when he was showing a house for sale: racist!. A black man who was jogging in a white area entered a new partially completed home and he was killed by vigilante white Republicans! In my country I routinely enter houses under construction to look at how they are being built in my neighborhood. I find that most Republicans who I meet are racists! Maybe the Republican Party should be disbanded!

Going back through many of your stories, and loving most of them. That being said...

You are absolutely right. What is preached in schools and politics about 'Slavery' is soooooooo far off the mark that even some that find a way to read the actual history don't believe it.

Keep the tid bits coming. I try and put a few in every story I right just to see how many ignorant smart people are out there. You know you've hit the mark when they come unglued at you shattering their alternate reality... wait, wasn't that the name of the story they got pulled for pointing it out??? Hmmm.

You said a mouthful full and it's definitely something to think abouts. At the time of the Civil War, some of my family lived in southern Indiana and northern Kentucky. Had members on both sides

Careful, I agree with you, however the counter culture crowd can get you banned just like "The Marlboro man". He is not allowed to post anymore. First Admenment does not apply.

I must say thanks for writing, keep up the good work.

If you want to add to what you have written, the British govt sold Scottish rebels as slaves.

Some of the Scottish Clan chiefs disposed of surplus population on their lands by selling them into slavery in the USA.

It's not a black thing or a white thing, it's exploitation by big money.

I read that story and I don't remember ANY racism on your part. Dealing with a bad thing doesn't make you the bad thing.

Why is it that the issue of Negro slavery before 1865 still resonates so strongly in America today?

I am guessing that a large plurality or a majority of present day United States residents did not have any ancestors living in America during or before the American Civil War. They certainly, while acknowledging that it was a terrible institution, have no reason to be emotionally involved with the controversy. They, after all, did not suffer from it and had no part in the system that supported it. Yet many of them get sucked in to the debate on a very deep level. I have never understood why they should passionately care about an issue that has nothing whatever to do with them or their ancestors. Even if a person is descended wholly or in part from the oppressors they bear no responsibility for what happened over a hundred fifty years ago. Historical guilt is pure rubbish. Guilt belongs to the perpetrators alone.

It makes sense to talk about present day oppression and injustice but guilt tripping and bringing up the world historical saga of slavery thru the ages does not help solve current problems. If America's numerous social ills are to be addressed it is better to focus on the modern Robber Barons, mentioned by several commentators, and their enablers and supporters instead of historical figures that have long ago turned to dust in their graves.

Excellent! Call it like it was, not like they want it to be. Thank you.

Late to the party, but what i got was slavery was practiced everywhere so people shoudnt be upset. Live and let live.

The white southern fragility is strong here. You are right of course theres a terrible history of enslaving others everywhere. We also wiped out entire groups of indigenous peoples to found this country. We then built it on the backs of people who were brought here against their will.

Lets agree on that shall we? I know google is hard but many slaves were also captured in raids when their leaders refused ro sale them or simply because. People who were sold by leaders were not slaves in Africa and some of them were sold into slavery for punishment for things like debt. But sure, lets blame America's horrendous path with slavery on the victims. Those people must deserve it because some of their leaders betrayed them right? Sounds about whyte.

You want us to be flippant about slavery but you got butt hurt over a comment on a story on a porn site. I mean an entire race of people enslaved and treated horrendously vs your soft feelings being hurt. We dont want to offend your soft, I think youd call them snow flake or beta? Feelings about how this country came to be.

The arguments you proposed are ludicrous . At one point you reference the bible to point out slavery. The fact that you use that as a source, shows me your intelligence. Even biblical scholars dont hold it as a solid historical document. The way you say this seems like Black people should stop whining about their history, yet you seem pretty entrenched in your southern "heritage".

I wouldnt be so proud about the Lee thing. I know its hard to be on the wrong side of history but lets be real- you cant minimize slavery my friend. White people, including myself and yourself still benefit from it. This country is built on the blood of other people. No amount of trying to rationalize it is going to change that. Even if your relatives were poor farmers - you still are living in a country that used slave labor to come into existance.

Where would we be without slave labor? Honestly ask yourself that. Your family was still better off than people living as slaves. You thus are ahead right there.

I dont care how poor your relatives were. I dont care if you dont have a lot of wealth now. The reason people are still talking about it besides the atrocity, is systemic racism. No one is saying white people dont struggle. No one is saying you personally were responsible for it. What is true is you and I dont have to struggle the way black people do. We dont have to worry about being pulled over or shot for existing. We dont have to deal with people treating us poorly because of the color of our skin. We dont have the same barriers to job or education.

Check out the board on this site alone the amount of steroetyping alone just here. Black men are seem as thugs. Black neighborhoods are inherently dangerous. I could go on but im sure this is over your head. Education is important for this reason.

If you look up racism, the definition isnt just hate. Its also having unconscious or in your case conscious bias about another race. Its almost impossible to live in this country and not be racist. I know racism is a loaded word here, but it shouldnt be. We all have work to do. This little rant of yours proves this. You cant even acknowledge that people might be right in calling out slave owners because as you say over and over - other places had slaves why shouldnt we?

Empathy is almost as important as education. You appear to be lacking both. Our entire country needs fxing when people like you exist - refusing to do any self reflection or actual learning. Its sad how uneducated you sound. I would be embarrassed to live this long on the earth and still think this is a gotcha argument. The only people who agree with you are also very uneducated.

Your statement is pretty accurate, Slavery has been around since the beginning of time, The version that was here in the states was from the Africans capturing other tribes or getting rid of their troublemakers, then selling them to the Arabs or Portuguese traders whom then sold them to the whites. Slavery is still practiced by some of the Arab countries today. The problem is that now we have people stirring up the hate and division of the past for their own benefit, most people are too busy working to worry and deal with it unless it is continually being stirred up and brought up. We shouldn't forget history, and not repeat the mistakes of the past, but don't wallow in the past either, then you can't move forward.

"White people, including myself and yourself still benefit from it. "

'Anonymous' of 15 days ago - I totally agree that Slavery is appalling and should never have happened!

Let me ask a question though.

Of all the African-Americans around, where would they be if slavery had not taken place?

In the 1850s, within walking distance of my home (as in less than ten miles), there were pit villages built for ironstone miners. Some cottages are still there. The men were paid in tokens, only redeemable in the mine-owner's store. If a married man died in the pit, his wife had a day to grieve and another day to find a new husband to share her home/bed/body or she was evicted, along with her children. These folk had no options, no power. Not quite slaves but almost.

People can be jerks. A lot of rich people got rich by being bigger jerks than everyone else. Slavery was shit. Exploiting the weak for profit is shit, no matter who does it or what excuse they hide behind. Denying it happened or excusing it or trivialising it is shit too. Is that who we are?

My parents met during WWII. Should I be grateful to Hitler for invading Poland? What a fucking stupid suggestion. You can't use the present to justify historical wrongs unless you can prove, with certainty, that rhe alternatives would have been worse.: And you can't. The world would have been different, but can you use the current state of humanity to excuse the death and suffering of hundreds of thousands of innocents? Purely to make rich people richer?

Talk about slavery by all means, but for pity's sake, don't excuse it.

I agree with you that you are not a racist. However some of your information is onesided, Slavery existed before americans got involved. A spanish bishop in Latin America appalled at the atrocities inflicted on native american, recommended to the king of Spain and his church people that Africans be used instead of the indians. The rest then became economics,

Amen brother. Nuff said. This isn’t about slavery anymore, it’s about what can be used to claim victim status so less effort is needed and their anger is justified. Anarchy is another name. The ultimate hilarity is that they have no clue that the real powermongers don’t give a shit about them and are just using them for their own ulterior goals and they will then become dispensable. Race, sexual orientation, etc. all the same.

I mostly agree with what you wrote except for, "So, while the South gets belittled, they were ultimately only the end users in a long chain of misery."

I would agree with this sentence if you hadn't added the word "only." Only, completely changes the context of the sentence and implies that they were just a mere small, part of a disgusting line of brutality. When in fact, they inflicted a lot of brutality on slaves, breaking up their families by selling their wives, husbands and/or children, by beating and berating, etc., as they continued to inflict brutality on them day after day. There were not "only" or rather merely, the end in that line of brutal cruelty, but a rather large part of that line. For if there was no end of the line to send men, women, and children to, there would have been no slaves.

The southern states’ stalwart support of Trump and his often hateful racist, misogynistic and grossly insensitive treatment of immigrant families suggests to me that the south should be on its knees praying that a just God will not punish them for blind disgusting ignorance.

I appreciate your point of view, but it is a bit false. You see, slavery is almost as old as mankind. So is murder, rape and theft. That it has been around for a long time doesn’t make it right. When your great great grandfather picked up a gun to defend slavery, he may have been a pawn in the game but one willing to lay down his life for it. You see, your great great grandfather was an insurrectionist and a traitor to democracy. Just think if your dad decided to fight for Tojo or Hiller in WWII. What would you call him? A patriot or someone defending his “way of life?” That being said, you don’t have to live with the bad decisions of your ancestors or defend them. I had lunch on Friday with a client whose grandfather fought for Germany in WWII. She was somewhat apologetic but became horrified when I told her I lost relatives in Auschwitz. I said no need. It was her life to live and she didn’t need to apologize for the sins of her fathers. Slavery is something that probably would have died on its own, but is still a stain on our republic. If you are a loyal citizen of this republic, you will acknowledge that slavery was a historic mistake made by a ruling elite that never should have happened. Hopefully we learn from our mistakes. Trying to justify them is something of a fool’s errand.

A sad truth: Today, world wide, there are more human beings enslaved than ever before in history.

Good try. Every family tree has slaves and kings. My ancestors were part of the Second Germana Colony, indentured to the Lt. Gov. of the VA Colony. This Colony is well documented. I enjoy you stories. I hope you continue, thanks.

My great great grandmother owned slaves. When the yankes came through she treated the wounded of both sides. One of the slaves sat on the front porch of the house with a rifle to protect the women. After the war, her new husband ran off with one of the former slaves to the Carolinas. This is history, well documented. Every family has its own stories.

A very prescient essay, some 10 years on! But I would point out one thing about today's Resurrected South. It WAS defined by slavery- aka God ordained human property- in the 19th century. Note today that the rise of the Southern White Protestant "Religious Right" and regional derivatives of them started in the mid-1990s again for a reason. Simple observation provides the answer. All those "Black people" who went North in the 1920s-1940s began a reverse mass migration back to the South about then. What do we see within a short time after, rising again? Klan, reborn Redeemers, and Cracker Pride. Same old folk. Same old ethnic enemy. The author's right that that Old South didn't invent slavery. Indeed most were not even slave owners. But they though it was all God ordained and opposed the question of conscience. The similarity between that 19th century attitude towards slavery and today's abortion debate is a remarkable analog. We can only hope the resulting Butcher's Bill over the defacto 'War Between the States" this time around won't be as terrible this time. The author is right speaking of "Glass Houses" as it were. I know this history, because like the author I had family that lived through it and wrote personal memoirs after. They were Pennsylvania Quakers who became abolitionists, were 'read out' of their meetings, and finally fought with for the Union out of conscience. Now we are old Unitarians. History goes on rhyming it seems.

Thought provoking piece. Slavery is awful it's abuse and should be deplored. The same as religious intolerance or sex discrimination and all the other intolerances we permit in our society. We as a race have a history of awful behaviour to each other which is still currently going on. We cannot change the past nor the present we can only attempt to change the future. Should we acknowledge the suffering and pain? Of course we should, all of us should. Then examine ourselves and try our best to do the right thing because it is the right thing to do morally and for no other reason. Until we all do that this world is doomed to keep repeating the same awful intolerant bigoted selfish behaviour. One can but hope one day we will find a way to be better, all of us. Thank you for publishing this and making some people think. BardnotBard

Very well said, But what you left out is that it is also a part of our history. History, like all things is a learning tool. Some of it is good and some not so good, but we learn from it. It should never be forgotten or swept under the rug and hidden from all to see. We learn from history and make changes to the facts going forward. We learn from our mistakes and make things better for all.

There is still slavery going on today in our country, we just hide and disguise it better today so no one knows and we also pay it a minimum wage in some cases. Think about it, crop harvesting, construction workers, maids service, etc. Yes it is a part of life in every country throughout the world.............():\

So you're against slavery? Where was your phone and your computer made? If they were made in China, every chance they were made under slavery or quasi slavery.

Clothes and shoes made in an Asian sweatshop? Quasi slavery.

Asian workers who laboured on the World Cup stadia in Qatar, they were all but slaves. Many not paid, unbelievable injury and death rates. Those who did live through it and were paid, were paid a pittance.

Asian workers in the gulf states are all but slaves.

Who is capable of changing this when the world is run by an oligarchy of a few of the 1% of the 1%.

Not an American, so I don't have a dog in either of the both the same party camps, but:

Someone, one of the anonymous, cited anti-abortion law. Honestly, I've thought about this but don't know what side I fall on. My body, my choice, sounded like a compelling argument. Right until I saw how many of this self same group espousing MBMC wanted compulsory vaccinations. This of a vaccine(sic) that turned out not to stop you getting nor transmitting the virus, but did mess an awful lot of the vaccine up. It now seems to need more repeats than Friends or I Love Lucy.

Which wing of the both the same party was behind the KKK?

Another anonymous uses the term misogynistic. Even given the amount of BTB stories on Loving Wives, I'd love to be able to do a word count of all the times derivatives of misogynist are used as against misandrist on Literotica. Yet surely both occur?

Finally, someone's ancestor is castigated for supporting a war to keep slaves. The American Civil War was even less about freeing slaves than WWII was about saving Jews, and the Jews in WWII weren't really a consideration at all.

Don't mind me, just fashioning a tin foil hat for the aptly-named PrincessNutNut.

One of my pet peeves currently is watching America rewrite its history in real-time. It boggles my mind to see history being changed just because bad things happened. Bad things are always happening.

I agree with you on this subject. On the story that set this off you should have set it in Lawrence County that's where the Dixie Mafia is. I am setting in Limestone Co. Right now.

I live one state west of you and I Believe that both sides were fed a crock of shit during the Civil War. The South said the "They are trying to change our way of life". Not they are trying to take away our free labor.

In the North they said "We are fighting to free oppressed people". Not them SOB's can't take keep most of our natural resources and food.

There is also Gov. Spotswood of Virginia. He conspired with ships' captains to conscript passengers who paid their passage so the king would give him land grants. Spotswood's daughter was the first lady of the Confederacy. Several of my ancestors on my mother's side were sold into servitude. "In every family line there are kings and slaves." Crisler, Carpenter, Blankenburger, Souther and other lines who fled famine and disease. I enjoy your stories, I do not always agree; but, I do enjoy your point of view. Thank you.

Great commentary.

Interesting. You have made a comment that very few people will admit too. That every single black person sent from Africa was actually sold by a black person in the first place. Good for you. And yes, slavery is disgusting and unsupportable.