Civil War and rights

Thank you for printing Don Wright’s powerful July 4 column, “What the war was about.” As a native North Carolinian weaned on Lost Cause mythology, I understand the desire to believe that one’s ancestors fought for the right side. But that desire shouldn’t triumph over truth.

Anyone who doubts whether slavery was the major cause of the Civil War should read the “Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina From the Federal Union,” which was adopted in 1860 and clearly establishes that the Confederacy was a response to the threat against what was perceived as their right to own slaves and the failed obligation of other states to return fugitive slaves. Texas’ “Declaration of Causes” also states that the protection of the institution of slavery was the primary cause of secession.

If we want to honor Southern heroes of the war, we need look no further than the 1st Alabama Calvary, which had the courage to stand with the Union against their own state; Sam Houston, who refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederacy; and the 200,000 freed and escaped slaves who risked recapture and worse as they entered the South to fight against their former owners.

I’m sure my ancestors merely saw themselves as defenders of their own homes. But they could have known better, just as many others did at the time. With the 20/20 hindsight of history, we can see that a war designed to preserve the right to own other human beings was — and always will be — wrong.

Jennifer Black

Waco

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I found Don Wright’s column to be well-thought and succinct. His position is so eloquently stated that I cannot understand how thoughtful, educated readers could have any different opinions without those opinions being driven by anything other than racism.

Trying to say that we should celebrate and respect the actions of the soldiers who fought in the Civil War as being separate and distinct from the reasons the war was fought is, indeed, no different than saying we should celebrate the 9/11 bombers as “warriors” fighting for their cause.

I’m at a loss to identify what states’ rights, other than the right to profit by enslaving other men, the Southern states could have been fighting for. Wright correctly and eloquently challenges us to see the issues from the other point of view. Sadly, I suspect too few of us will do that.

Patrick McMahan

Whitney

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In reference to Don Wright’s column, the Civil War was about states’ rights. Slavery is and was a bad policy. It sounds like Wright would like to just forget about the war and the reasons for it.

But if we forget the bad things, then we are destined to repeat them. We should always remember and cherish this horrible war as we should remember and cherish all our history. Remain ever vigilant not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Also realize that blacks are not the only people who have been enslaved. The Hebrews, Greeks and Irish have all been enslaved, too.

John Baxter

Waco

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• Don Wright, guest columnist: The Confederacy fought for states' rights, but that included the right to own slaves