> > "damned Yankees" > l hate to tell you this Scott, but we have been debating the Civil War...you > have been "dragged" in, and most willingly at that. What do you think we have > been talking about? > Welcome back to the trenches.... No, I am saying I won't be dragged in and take your negative attitude. Sure my family suffered by both sides, but the war's over. Now it is time to study the history and effectively fight for that history. Your are studying only one side of that history. That's OK but it would make you much more capable of defending yourself if you knew the big picture. Case in point: One may say Lincoln Emancipation Proclamation freed no one. But historians automatically know this is not true and blow you off as some crackpot. If you knew something of the Union efforts in Missouri, you would know this was not true because the state was flooded with slave refugees that came out of Arkansas. The same about slavery. Making statements that say slavery had nothing to do with the war, as many do, automatically discredits oneself and once again the history establishment labels one as a "crackpot". I was in your situation. I served as the director of communications for the Missouri Division SCV. But I knew we were not making an effective argument because of flaws. I was in a constrained position. I felt like an ostrich with my head in the sand. I had to walk the talk or resign. So I resigned. Now I see the bigger picture and can freely speak the bigger picture. And by doing it I make a more effective argument for preserving Confederate history, and I am not discredited as a crackpot. Plus I am learning an appreciation for the Union soldiers and even abolitionists. When I speak of preserving heritage I mean preserving all our Civil War heritage, not one side. Don't get me wrong the SCV does have a place in preserving history, but they could be better at it. Regardless of the rhetoric, the cause of the SCV today is different than cause of the Confederate soldier of 1861-1865. It is a non-political organization by law. It does not advocate picking up a rifle and defend the right of secession in that manner. Most are proud they are United States citizens and never want to change that. You say "And what is our Cause today? The Causes are the same." I say no it is not. The war's over and the cause today has more to do with preserving Southern history than advocating political principles. I can defend against censorship of the Confederate story, its exclusion from textbooks. It is an important perspective. But I will also fight to make sure the Northern perspective is told. And to do that fairly, and to avoid the risk of being discredited, we must tell the good and the bad. We should not whitewash history to be one rosy picture. We have the advantage of time and immense amount of written history. Also with the passage of time, more and more people are of mixed North-South ancestry. Confederate, Yankee, Southern Unionist, and even slave. This represents nearly every race on earth, black, Hispanic, American Indian, European, ect. At the same time the U.S. is being inundated by people that had no connection to the Civil War. If we don't work together, we are in danger of the Civil War entirely being written out of our history. We must demonstrate the relevance of that war to the freedoms of today. That includes the horrors of martial law, order number 11, and slavery. (But it also includes being able to accept criticism over past military blunders, like the firing on Ft. Sumter.) Now is the time for cooperation and seeing the big picture. "Preserving Civil War Heritage" is the key. P.S. I am still a member of the SCV and they still use my material, like the piece I did on black Confederates--which is history that needs to be told and I have no regrets about writing. Some day they may see the wisdom of cooperation. I have hope as some are pursuing a different course. Scott K. Williams,