Tuesday, February 04, 2014

TIH: The Hampton Roads Conference 1865

We are still in the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, by far the most costly war in American history. The costs and consequences were suffered for  decades later.  Unfortunately, there seems to be little public interest.  What a shame!  Here's a short clip from History.com about a little-known, but extremely significant event, the Hampton Roads Conference.

On February 3, 1865, President Lincoln  and Secretary of State Seward met with three Confederate officials, including Vice President Stephens ), to discuss the possibility of negotiating an end to the  Civil War.which had begun almost four years earlier in April 1861. The Hampton Roads Conference, which took place on a steamboat near Hampton, Virginia, was a failure, as Confederate negotiators were not authorized to accept any settlement other than Southern independence, which Lincoln refused to discuss.  It was delusional to think that, after 4 years of a horrible war, Lincoln and he Union would give the Confederacy what they wanted. The war continued for another two agonizing months. 

Although there are various interpretations of who was at fault for this failure, it was delusional for the Confederacy to think that at this point in the war they had any chance of victory.  Their failure led to the unnecessary loss of  lives and property and additional suffering.  A great moral wrong!

4 comments:

  1. The tragic truth is that both sides, politics and criminals aside, fought for their inheritance of liberty. The union saw their fight as preserving this cause. Southern states were as determined as the county's founding generation toward independence from an overreaching central power. All were Americans fighting for freedom.

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  2. 44: Thanks for the comment. Isn't it somewhat ironic that some were fighting for their freedom to keep other human beings in slavery. One of the core principles of libertarianism is that people should be free to do what they want as long as it does not infringe on the freedom of others. Next to murder, slavery is the ultimate infringement of the freedom of others. The South used and welcomed federal power to overrule the states with the Fugitive Slave Act, which many states opposed. IMHO, for the Confederates, federalism was just a talking point and make-weight rationalization to attempt to disguise what the real issue was. Unfortunately, too many politicians only hate federal power when it doesn't serve their interests. There was hypocrisy on both sides. In contrast to them, I think you believe in federalism no matter whose ox is being gored. I admire that and agree with that position as long as it is consistent with libertarian ideals. We both agree that the Constitution and Declaration of Independence recognize natural law rights. As stated before, other than murder there is no greater violation of natural law rights than slavery. That said, we should honor the dead on both sides--all were Americans.

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  3. Slavery was an American problem that southern states were slow to abolish, mainly due to their agrarian needs and profits. The Missouri Compromise demonstrates how entrenched this abominable institution was across the country. As the great-great grandson of a confederate naval veteran, I do believe the Civil War was unnecessarily started and driven by misguided and unrealistic southern passions. IMO, and the Union's legitimate enforcement of civil rights aside, federalism itself suffered as a result of the war. The central powers continue to use the conflict as rationalization for their aggressive and overreaching bureaucratic control over states' domestic affairs.

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  4. 44: Thanks for the comment. Yes, federalism did suffer. Unfortunately, disasters, and wars always results in increases in government power and public acceptance thereof. Too few complain to turn back the tide because Congress has bought their votes. What we need is a constitutional amendment to restore federalism.

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