In Their Own Words
“There is a true glory and a true honor; the glory of duty done- the honor of integrity of principle.”
- General Robert E. Lee
- General Robert E. Lee
“ The Northern onslaught upon slavery was no more than a piece of specious humbug designed to conceal its desire for economic control of the Southern States.”
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
“The War Between the States established this principle that the Federal Government is through its courts, the final judge of its own powers.”
President Woodrow Wilson
President Woodrow Wilson
" If you bring these leaders to trial, it will condemn the North, for by the Constitution, secession is not a rebellion. His (Jefferson Davis) capture was a mistake. His trial will be a greater one. We cannot convict him of treason.”
Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, 1867
Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, 1867
“The sole object of this war is to restore the Union. Should I become convinced it has any other object, or that the government designs it’s soldiers to execute the wishes of the Abolitionists. I pledge you my honor as a man and a soldier, I would resign my commission, and my sword to the other side.”
General Usysses S. Grant, USA in a letter to the Chicago Tribune 1862
General Usysses S. Grant, USA in a letter to the Chicago Tribune 1862
“The contest is really for empire on the side of the North, and for independence on that of the South, and in this respect we recognize an exact analogy between the North and the Government of George III, and the South and the Thirteen Revolted Provinces. These opinions…are the general opinions of the English nation.”
London Times, November 7, 1861
London Times, November 7, 1861
"The flags of the Confederate States of America were very important and a matter of great pride to those citizens living in the Confederacy. They are also a matter of great pride for their descendants as part of their heritage and history.”
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
“The first white people in America, certainly the first in the South to exhibit their interest in the reaching of the Negro and saving his soul through the medium of the Sunday-school were Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.”
Booker T. Washington, famous African American educator, author, orator and leader.
Booker T. Washington, famous African American educator, author, orator and leader.
“I love the Union and the Constitution, but I would rather leave the Union with the constitution than remain in the Union without it,”
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
“Union means so many millions a year lost to the South: Secession means the loss of the same millions to the North. The love of money is the real root of this as of many other evils…The quarrel between the North and South is, as it stands, solely a fiscal quarrel.”
Charles Dickens, December 1861
Charles Dickens, December 1861
“Where, shall we find such heroic self-denial, such up bearing under every physical discomfort, such patience in poverty, in distress, in absolute want, as we find in the Southern Army? They fight better for a passion than you do for a sentiment. They fight well and bear up under trouble nobly, they suffer and never complain, they go in rags and never rebel, they are in earnest for their liberty, they believe in it and if they can they mean to get it.”
Henry Ward Beecher (Northern Abolitionist) to his congregation
Henry Ward Beecher (Northern Abolitionist) to his congregation
"What I would most desire would be the separation of the white and black races."
July 17, 1858
"I cannot make it better known than it already is, that I strongly favor colonization (that is, black deportation)."
December 1,1862
"My enemies pretend I am now carrying on this war for the sole purpose of abolition. So long as I am President, it shall be carried on for the sole purpose of restoring the Union."
August 5,1864
Abraham Lincoln
July 17, 1858
"I cannot make it better known than it already is, that I strongly favor colonization (that is, black deportation)."
December 1,1862
"My enemies pretend I am now carrying on this war for the sole purpose of abolition. So long as I am President, it shall be carried on for the sole purpose of restoring the Union."
August 5,1864
Abraham Lincoln