Thanks for the link Suzanne still no Texas though, David, "Why you think they fought the war. What if the South had won? Would we be a better Nation? How? Betty this is not to be graded like a school grade. They had two very different views back then and we probably still do?" Would we be better off if the south had won, yes? The South had the independent nature of our first Americans. They did not look for entitlements, or favors from the government for their existence or their gain. The northern "Robber Barons" were in reality using the government to extort wealth from the south & west. Without the government, the extortion would not have been possible. "Monopoly is only possible through government interference", and has never occurred without some form of totalitarian instigation. I will admit the expediency of the northern expropriations of land and wealth probably did accelerate the growth & westward expansion. However at what price to our Constitutional freedoms. The decline of rights, and the disregard for the law by those in charge of the law can be traced to the Northern Governments control of our nation. This abuse continues today in the form of Executive Orders & Judicial Reversals without the consent of the governed. It is common knowledge that the "slave question" had been discussed since the founding of the country. Incase anyone missed it, we inherited the slave system from the BRITISH GOVERNMENT; there was much talk about disbanding the system from the founding of the country http://web-cr05.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/rb_index_hd.html. Much of this was discussed by the 5 Presidents under the Articles of Confederation before George Washington, and all of the Presidents after. It is also known that Lincoln never mentioned freeing the slaves until the last year of the war. The "Slave State" issue was simply a way of describing the south as a voting block, which was more likely at that time to vote free trade, and less government control. Control is what this war was fought over; Northern Tariffs & Controls were economically strangling the South. Very few of the thousands who fought actually owned slaves. Incidentally, black people rounded up their brothers in African and sold them into slavery, a fact rarely mentioned in our politically correct media. They continue the practice today. In the tumult of 1865, the original Thirteenth Amendment was removed from our Constitution. In a Congressional Resolve to amend dated December 5, 1864, another 13th Amendment (which prohibited slavery in Sect. 1, and ended states' rights in Sect. 2) was proposed. When, on January 13, 1865, a two-thirds vote was taken in the House of Representatives for proposing the currently presented 13th Amendment "in honor of the immortal and sublime event" the House adjourned. It was presented to the States on February 1, 1865 for ratification. On April 9, 1865 the Civil War ended with General Lee's surrender. On April 14, President Lincoln (who, in 1861, had signed the proposed Amendment that would have allowed slavery and states rights) was assassinated, dying on April 15th. On December 18, 1865, the "new" 13th Amendment loudly prohibiting slavery (and quietly surrendering states rights to the federal government) was proclaimed adopted by Secretary of State Seward, replacing and effectively erasing the original Thirteenth Amendment that had prohibited "titles of nobility" and "honors". Source; http://mu.clarityconnect.net/~bhuston/government/orig13th.html#description The dilemma of would we be better of if the south had won, is very dependent of the acceptance of the Constitution by the south. The old saying "Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely" applies to a Southern Gentleman as much as it applies to anyone around the world, and especially Yankees ;^) All of the atrocities on earth can be traced directly to those with too much power. The only prevention is empowering our children through intelligent education so they might see through the lies of totalitarian lust. Bob - K The American flag flew over slavery longer than any confederate flag. It could also be considered offensive to the Indians and British :o) After such a dissertation, you all should note Alan Keyes is more inline with my views than any other candidate. . -----Original Message----- From: suzanne golladay [mailto:zana-vg@worldnet.att.net] Sent: February 06, 2000 19:45 To: VICK-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [VICK-L] LAND PATENT url Off todays topic but found this url mentioned on the Arkansas Genealogy e-mail and thought might interest many. The Bureau of Land Management http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ suzanne g