STATUES: Pulling down common sense

We all want simple solutions to complex issues.

Case in point. The Civil War was only about slavery and so statues of confederate generals should be taken down.

Wrong!

1) The issue, for many, was states’ rights.

A. As early as 1827, South Carolina wanted to withdraw from a union that they had voluntarily joined.

B. Robert E. Lee was offered command of the Union Army. He declined, because his first loyalty was to his home state of Virginia.

2) Most Confederate soldiers were not slave owners. They fought for states’ rights.

3) Part of the problem was that New York City cotton merchants got a disproportionate share of cotton sales.

Who were those money grubbing cotton merchants?

Their descendants still control the garment industry in New York City.

If the Civil War had only been about slavery, it would have been unnecessary.

Slavery was abolished in Canada in 1837. By 1896, slavery had been abolished throughout the western hemisphere.

BOB RIDOUT

Coeur d’Alene