The CSA is Born

SHELBY FOOTE: Before the war, it was said "the United States are." Grammatically, it was spoken that way and thought of as a collection of independent states. And after the war, it was always "the United States is," as we say to day without being self-conscious at all. And that's sums up what the war accomplished. It made us an "is."

After the federal elections of 1860 and a month prior to Abraham Lincoln's inauguration, representatives of seven southern states met on February 4, 1861 in Montgomery Alabama to plan their state's secession from the United States, forming the Provisional Confederate States Congress, charged with drafting a new constitution, creating a flag and electing Jefferson Davis as provisional president. On February 8, 1861 representatives of the provisional congress ratified the new constitution and the Confederate States of America came into being. And the rest is history.

If you are interested in Civil War history, you may enjoy  The Fall of The House of Dixie by Bruce Levine.  Dr. Levine approaches the war not battle by battle, but instead offers an explanation of how the southern cause collapsed from the inside. An approach I had hardly considered.

Also, on another February 8, this time 1820, a child was born, one who would later become one of the principal military destroyers of the Confederate States of America, William T. Sherman.

He and his family now lie buried up the street from mine.

And finally: did anyone notice that the city of Memphis, Tennessee getting a jump before state laws prevented it, on Wednesday, formally renamed 3 city parks that formerly honored Confederate Civil War heroes?

Toad