Tyrant Lincoln

I like a lot of what Dr Paul says about the economy and taxes, but on Lincoln he is all wet.

First of all, the slaves weren't for sale. In fact, Lincoln offered compensation REPEATEDLY to end slavery, and was turned down.

Seondly Lincoln didn't start the war for any reason. If the South wanted to secede, as they clearly did, they could have gone into Court to dissolve the Union, or passed a bill in Congress to disband it.

Or if they didnt want to do that - they coudl have just set up their own government and let the North alone. Any of those three options were smarter, and legal. Attacking the US troops and threatening more attacks backfired. And rightly so I think.

Lincoln offered compensation in famous speeches which still exist, and lesser known, he brought the subject up in Hampton Road Conference in the middle of the war, with Confederate leaders -- where he talked about 400 million dollars compensation because, Lincoln said - the North was as guilty as the South in starting slavery. Thats what LINCOLN said.

Lincoln should have ended slavery like England did? He would have loved to. The fact is, it was impossible to end slavery that way. The South was infuriated that Lincoln was even against the spread of slavery to new states.

The Confederate states started to secede before Lincoln was ever sworn in. Just his election alone infuriated the South. So it wasn't anything Lincoln did anyway that caused them to secede.

Lincoln didnt set out to end slavery anyway - that was never his goal. He hated slavery but didnt see any way to end it where it already existed. He ran for president on the basis of stopping the SPREAD of slavery,.

Secondly, Dr Paul seems to ignore the fact that the Confederacy was literally based on enslaving blacks. .Slavery was not some minor thing to the South. Oh, yes, its played that way now. But not then.

Read the "Cornerstone" speech by Vice President Stephens -- slavery, he said "is the great moral truth - the very foundation, the cornerstone" of the Confederacy.

Or read the Declarations of secession by the Confederate States -- they said slavery was the will of Almighty God. Anyone who even spoke out against slavery drove them bananas. In fact, several of the "Delarations of Causes mention how people in the North "said slavery was a sin". The Confederacy was based on their view that Divine law meant whites shoudl enslave blacks - and that feeling was repeated many times in the Southern Delcarations of Secession. Very much, it was a religious war.

Slavery was not a religious issue in other countries that ended slavery. Nor did any other nation have 4 million slaves and have half the country totally based on the economics and religious foundation of slavery.

Now - maybe the South was right - maybe they had every right to secede and have slaves. That's not what Dr Paul was saying. He was blaming Lincoln for the war and said he should have used another way to end slavery like England did.

Well, England had 30,000 slaves, not 4 million. England didn't say God almighty ordained slavery - the Confederacy did.

The Confederacy turned DOWN any and all offers to be compensated for slavery. And the Confederacy lost the election of 1860 -- and immediately after losing the election, threatened the US troops who were lawfully doing their jobs. And eventually they fired on US troops.

No nation on earth - before or since - has had an election,where one side loses, as the slave owners did, and then just give in to illegal demands and threats.

The Confederates could have gone into Court and sued to disband the the Union. Or they could have passed a bill in Congress to disband it. But instead, they just attacked US troops and threatened to attack more.

But that's really another topic -- the right to secession. That's not what Paul was talking about re Lincoln.

I dont think its legal to have an election, then lose, and because you lose, you attack the government and threaten to attack more. If you want to secede -- do it legally.

Those who think they know what they are talking about re Civil War and Secession -- go read the South's own declarations of Secession, and go read Jeff Davis book "Short History of Confederacy" and go read speeches that were given at the time, by Confederates themselves.

Things the SOUTH said at the time -- the Declarations of Secession, the speeches, throw a whole different light on things than Dr. Paul may realize. Forget what the North says, forget what historians say - go look at what the SOUTH said at the time, in their own documents and speeches.

Ron Paul has a lot to offer -- but he should learn more about the facts of the matter in relation to slavery and the Civil War.