I like this speech.......

[WILCO]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kdOKJXfTU4

[starmac]

It is funny reading the comments. Exactly what was that war fought over. HMMM

[shootingbuff]

Well,

From hand me down stories, to research, to what is taught in school, to the feel good/bad attitude. We were not there. It was not that long ago, but yet it was. Politics, religion, and tactics. Unless one has a dog in the fight, I would suggest not to get involved.

Some of those that made comments needed a good education from the books and from behind the shed.

One thing I learned early in life is if you don't know; shud the heck up - or something like that because before you open your mouth one can only suspect you of being a fool. Once you open your mouth they know you are a fool.

I like discussing the wars with those knowing, from the handful of comments I read I didn't need to comment.

Just had to vent a bit because this stuff is old, but the insanity of it still abounds.

[oldhickory]

Remember this though, the movie, "Gettysburg" was based on a novel, "The Killer Angles" not history.

[MtGun44]

While slavery was a huge issue at the time, it had been largely kicked well down the
road by the Missouri Compromise, certainly not solved. But, the IMMEDIATE issue was
that the southern states were being forced to buy overpriced northern manufactured goods
by high tarriffs added to make cheaper European manufactured goods uncompetitive. This was
done by Congress to assist the northern factory owners and workers. The southerners
resented this effective tax subsidy of the north by the south, plus they were in disagreement
about many other issues (slavery, cheif amoung them) so the financial angle just rubbed
salt in the wound. It was the straw that broke the camel's back.

It really started over taxes (tariffs) and late in the war Lincoln issued the Emancipation
Proclamation, and the story from then on was that it was all about slavery. Sounded
better than "kicking those tarriff dodging Reb's butts" did in the history books.

Check out when the EP was released and what the southerners said they were succeeding
over at the start. History is written by the victors, and usually colored and 'tuned' to make
them look good. It is a good bit more complicated than how it is often portrayed.

No supporter of slavery AT ALL, and I live in Kansas, but reading history in detail doesn't
get you the same understanding as the cleaned up, morally 'fortified' northern "cliff notes"
version often taught in TV, movies and many schools.

[76 WARLOCK]

The book Killer Angles was very much based on history.

[oldhickory]

The book Killer Angles was very much based on history.

It's based on historical events, but with all the literary "license" taken, I would hardly call it history. A main caracter, Sgt. Colerain was fictional. He never existed. The book has Gen. Ewell shot in his wooden leg-never happened, one of Ewell's staff officers had a saddle pomel hit, but that's as close to history as that event gets. There are enough fictional happenings in , "Killer Angles" for me to classify it along with Stephen King novels.

As a novel, it was good. As history, it leaves much to be desired.

[1Shirt]

It is a good book, and a well acted movie. Don't want to fight the "War between the States" again. Note that there were many names for it depending on which side of the Mason Dixon line you were on. Have spent hundreds of hours on the field at Gettysburg (was stationed not far from there). It is a place of honor for both sides of the war. Stand in the rocks at Devils Den, and visualize the shots made to the top of Little Round Top. Stand on top of Little Round Top and visualize Warrens ride there to asses the value of the high ground. Walk out to the spot beyond Seminary Ridge where Lee rode out after Pickets Charge, or stand at the Copse of Trees on Cematry Ridge, and feel the awe of the place. And after you have spent some time at Gettysburg, drive down to Sharpsburg (about an hour or so away) and stand on the confederat side of Burnsides bridge, or on a Sept morning stand in Bloody lane as I have many times. It is still possible to feel death in those location.

Yes, there was/is some fiction in both book and movie, but I think there is also some fiction in any book regarding the history of anything. Written after the fact documentation relies on memory, which is often filled with emotion, conjection, and possibly poor recollection of events seen from only a single perspective. Of all the books written regarding the war, I like those written by Shelby Foote. They are probably the closest to being the most accurate.

And as to the issue of slavery, it was on its way out due to the industrial revolution, and had the war not occured, it would have gone the way of buggy whips within a few decades without the loss of life. Like the way that MtGun44 expressed it!
Just my opinion!
1Shirt!