A Different Perspective on the American Civil War

[Universe Prince]

excerpted from "America’s Worst Anti-Jewish Action" by Lewis Regenstein:

December 17, 2006 is the 144th anniversary of the worst official act of anti-Semitism in American history. On that day in 1862, in the midst of the Civil War, Union general Ulysses S. Grant issued his infamous "General Order #11," expelling all Jews "as a class" from his conquered territories within 24 hours. Henry Halleck, the Union general-in-chief, wired Grant in support of his action, saying that neither he nor President Lincoln were opposed "to your expelling traitors and Jew peddlers." A few months earlier, on 11 August, General William Tecumseh Sherman had warned in a letter to the Adjutant General of the Union Army that "the country will swarm with dishonest Jews" if continued trade in cotton is encouraged. And Grant also issued orders in November 1862 banning travel in general, by "the Israelites especially," because they were "such an intolerable nuisance," and railroad conductors were told that "no Jews are to be permitted to travel on the railroad." As a result of Grant’s expulsion order, Jewish families were forced out of their homes in Paducah, Kentucky, Holly Springs and Oxford Mississippi, and a few were sent to prison. When some Jewish victims protested to President Lincoln, the Attorney General Edward Bates advised the President that he was indifferent to such objections. Nevertheless Lincoln rescinded Grant’s odious order, but not before Jewish families in the area had been humiliated, terrified, and jailed, and some stripped of their possessions. Captain Philip Trounstine of the Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, being unable in good conscience to round up and expel his fellow Jews, resigned his army commission, saying he could "no longer bear the Taunts and malice of his fellow officers… brought on by … that order." The officials responsible for the United States government’s most vicious anti-Jewish actions ever were never dismissed, admonished or, apparently, even officially criticized for the religious persecution they inflicted on innocent citizens.

The article is relatively long, but interesting. Or at least it was to me since I had not heard or read about Jews during the Civil War before. You can find the whole thing at the other end of this link. I'm sure it will be considered somewhat controversial, but my goal is not to argue about the root causes of the Civil War. I am hoping just to pass on info that you may not have seen before.

[Plane]

I had not heard of this before , the Civil War is complex enough that I will probably be learning new things about it the rest of my life .


This is a good article , it also mentions in passing that there were some atrocity's perpetrated on Indians during the Civil War, this is something I have heard of before and includes the record for mass hanging in the USA.


Whenever one gets smug and complacent considering the barbarity of foreigners as they misbehave in far lands , it is good to reflect that few extremes of bad behavior have no representation in our ancestry.

[Michael Tee]

Interesting article.  There was a book that came out a few years ago, "Confederates in the Attic" by Tony Horowitz, dealing in one chapter with the Jewish issue in the Civil War, also in another one, "The Last Living Confederate Widow" about a woman who had married a very elderly Confederate veteran when she was about 12 years old and was still living in the 1970's or maybe even 80s as the last Confederate widow.

I always knew there were Confederate Jews and always wondered - - just like the author of the article - - how those hypocritical bastards would have found the nerve to celebrate Passover when they have to say special prayers thanking God for freeing their ancestors from slavery in Egypt.  I guess there's no religion anywhere that has a monopoly on hypocrisy.

[Plane]

Why accuse them of Hipocracy?


Is there an edict against owning slaves in the Torah?


Would it be unfair to credit some of them with perceveing a better attitude twards them in the south?


The Passover was origionally celebrated by slave owning Jews , suppose you would call the slave owning King David a Hypocryte?

[Xavier_Onassis]

I would imagine that Gen. Grant was unconvinced that the Jews in question were "innocent", and perhaps they weren't. Perhaps they were a nuisance to the army as it tried to control the conquered territories, by selling cotton and sending the money to Confederates behind the lines.

Just because Hitler persecutred and executed many Jews that were entirely innocent of anything does not mean that all Jews were innocent of everything forever.

The Indians in Oklahoma fought a terribly bloody Civil War of their own, fought between the slaveholding Indians and the less prosperous Indians that did not hold slaves. The last Confederate general to surrender was a Cherokee named Stand Waitie.

It must be remembered that the Bible, which was everyone's unquestioned guide to morality in those times condones slavery. The bad thing about the Pharoah enslaving the Hebrews was not that slavery was immoral, it was making slaves of God's People that was against the will of God. Enslaving others was an okay thing. Some people in the Bible were said to deserve being enslaved. There were ample cases of Balck people believing that they were enslaved by God's will.

Most of those who enlisted in the Union Army were not abolitionists. They were outraged about the South firing on Ft Sumpter as well as having the audacity to secede in the first place. Slavery became a major cause of the Civil War AFTER the war was over for most Americans.

There were Black Confederate troops in several places.

[Amianthus]

Most of those who enlisted in the Union Army were not abolitionists. They were outraged about the South firing on Ft Sumpter as well as having the audacity to secede in the first place. Slavery became a major cause of the Civil War AFTER the war was over for most Americans.

There were Black Confederate troops in several places.

This is all correct. I would add that there were a number of black slave owners as well.

[Plane]

Most of those who enlisted in the Union Army were not abolitionists. They were outraged about the South firing on Ft Sumpter as well as having the audacity to secede in the first place. Slavery became a major cause of the Civil War AFTER the war was over for most Americans.

There were Black Confederate troops in several places.

This is all correct. I would add that there were a number of black slave owners as well.

Yes all true , but , Race was busily becomeing more and more the mark of slavery , even to the point that Slaves that had earned their own freedom haveing to worry about being re-enslaved. The origional American slavery in the early colonys was more even handed , the connection between race and slave status was growing worse with time.

[Brassmask]

Whenever one gets smug and complacent considering the barbarity of foreigners as they misbehave in far lands , it is good to reflect that few extremes of bad behavior have no representation in our ancestry.

America is only 200 years old.  I think we've held our own in the "bad behavior" category.

We effectively wiped out the native Americans.
We enshrined slavery for any number of years before we forced a good portion of our populace to bow to the will of law at the end of a gun to end it but then continued for many decades to treat the African-americans less than.
We are the only nation in the history of the planet to use a nuclear bomb in a war.  And if that wasn't bad enough, we used TWO.
We are, in effect, for many decades the bully of the planet.

How is it that you see America as so pure and innocent in comparison with say Germany or North Korea? 

I mean, we're a nation where 620,000 citizens died fighting EACH OTHER.
Not to mention, we're the most gluttonous society on earth.

[Plane]

Whenever one gets smug and complacent considering the barbarity of foreigners as they misbehave in far lands , it is good to reflect that few extremes of bad behavior have no representation in our ancestry.

America is only 200 years old.  I think we've held our own in the "bad behavior" category.

We effectively wiped out the native Americans.
We enshrined slavery for any number of years before we forced a good portion of our populace to bow to the will of law at the end of a gun to end it but then continued for many decades to treat the African-americans less than.
We are the only nation in the history of the planet to use a nuclear bomb in a war.  And if that wasn't bad enough, we used TWO.
We are, in effect, for many decades the bully of the planet.

How is it that you see America as so pure and innocent in comparison with say Germany or North Korea? 

I mean, we're a nation where 620,000 citizens died fighting EACH OTHER.
Not to mention, we're the most gluttonous society on earth.

"How is it that you see America as so pure and innocent"


I do not, I see the USA as being populated with the same fallen creature as every other land , we have a government system that allows us to make change peacefully and that is our best contribution to the world at large.


Now why indeed do you consider other nations less Gluttonous than ours?
Do you know of a nation that exports more food?

Imports less food in purportion?

Have you some idea how much other nations depend on ours to eat?