Monthly Archives: October 2012
The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation is a much misunderstood document. For starters, there were two Emancipation Proclamations. The first, the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, was issued on September 22, 1862. It had its own purpose, which was to warn the confederates that unless they laid down their arms and accepted the Union their slaves would be freed. The […]
Clown College
Just when you think the neoconfederates couldn’t get any sillier, this pops up [hat tip to Andy Hall for finding it]. The so-called confederate war college would be much funnier if the people behind it weren’t serious. Or are they? [or should I say the person behind it, and is he, since only one article […]
Stalag Confederacy
Neoconfederates like to claim that the confederates seceded to avoid a strong central government. They like to point to Abraham Lincoln as a great centralizer of government, yet anyone familiar with the work of Emory Thomas knows that this view is nothing more than complete baloney. This article draws on Thomas’ work and draws attention to […]
Dedication Day 2012
Dedication Day commemorates the day Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg. Each year there is a guest speaker. Last year it was Stephen Lang, the actor who has portrayed both George Pickett and Stonewall Jackson, and the year before it was Sam Donaldson. […]
An Update on Spielberg’s Lincoln
Here is a terrific article from Smithsonian. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
The Lincoln Forum
One of the benefits of living where I live is the proximity to Gettysburg and the opportunity to attend various events in Gettysburg. One of these is the annual Lincoln Forum Symposium. I really enjoy it, and this year will be my third year attending. Here’s the schedule for this year’s symposium. Along with the regulars, Professor […]
More on the Hood Papers
Civil War News has a couple of stories regarding the cache of Hood papers recently found. See here and here. Sam, if you’re still here, I’m still skeptical, but open-minded. You’re really promising a lot with the papers. Maybe they’ll live up to the promise, but I’ve seen a few things that didn’t in the […]
Wayne Hsieh on West Pointers and the Civil War
Wayne Hsieh postulates a major reason the war lasted so long was what he calls an “equilibrium of competence.” In other words, he claims, for example, that Lee couldn’t follow up his Chancellorsville victory and destroy the Army of the Potomac because the two armies were so similarly built and similarly competent. At this point, I […]
Spielberg Does Lincoln
For the few of you who haven’t seen the 60 Minutes piece on Steven Spielberg, enjoy. ?id=50133579n Now, notice he says the movie is about speaking the truth, and he strove for historical accuracy. Yet, he changed the names of the senators who were against the Thirteenth Amendment. What do you make of that? Did he […]
When Heritage Is More Important Than History
On Brooks Simpson’s blog, a poster asked for evidence that in 1860 of the South’s intention to end slavery, as asserted by a member of the Southern Heritage Preservation Group, a Facebook group Brooks refers to as “The Gift That Keeps on Giving.” That SPHG member then said, “See the US 1850 & 1860 census […]
Student of the American Civil War 
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