PatiBob: Northerners taxing the South to death as cause for a Southern split from the Union? Hmmmmmm....that's an interesting idea. Yup, I'd love to see some data on it. In my view slavery was the populist position that drove the Civil War, and both sides developed their propaganda positions accordingly. The North, obviously using the slavery vs freedom card. The South? Yankee "Imperialism" and the evils of Yankee industrialization.
The Civil War certainly presented some "firsts," and was basically fought by "amateurs." That is, basically farmers and civilians. This is probably one reason why the mortality rate was so horrific. It was also one of the first, if not the first, war that ushered in killing machine "participation" a la gatlin gun fashion. And this certainly helped in the horrific category (the irony here is Robert Gatlin thought the invention of a high rate of fire automatic gun would reduce the number of soldiers required to man the battlefield, reducing their exposure to disease and other hazards of war). It was the beginnings of industrialized warfare. So is it any wonder the North won? They had an industrial and economic base against which the South ultimately couldn't compete. And the rest became, as they say, history.
But speaking of machine guns. I think I favor this approach where weapons are concerned:
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Paint balls, anyone? ;-)
John~ |
