Thoughts on the Civil War

As I travel the American South it becomes more and more apparent to me that to many the war occurred yesterday. In one fell swoop an agrarian way of life, a genteel culture, and an indolent upper class were Gone With the Wind. As the war dragged on it became apparent that the armament industry and the minerals that fed it were all located in the North and Naval Blockades prevented smuggling. What resources existed lacked efficient rail transport because the much-vaunted states rights guaranteed that every state operated on an incompatible gauge. Resistance to central command didn’t help but as the war of attrition continued the South ran out of lambs to send to the slaughter and an entire generation of their brightest and best were wiped out. Even without emancipation and the war the hand-writing was on the wall. Slave labour may have been free but it was inefficient compared to the mechanization of the Industrial Revolution and the Factory Farm. Even today Labour Laws in many Southern States would make Dickens cringe all over again. Unless you work in a White Union Shop you are not guaranteed a minimum wage, workers compensation, regular work hours, a five day week, overtime, or even payment of your wages. Breaks and drinking water in high heat conditions are not guaranteed. In most cases slaves were better treated. With the assassination of Lincoln a punitive reconstruction and system of reparations the likes of which led directly to WW#2 in Europe were instituted one manifestation of which were the despised carpet baggers.