January 6, 1861

... the seizure of U. S. Arsenal at Apalachicola.

CHATTAHOOCHEE, January 6, 1861.

The arsenal has been taken possession of by the State this morning, 7 o’clock. My forces too weak to defend it. I have refused keys of magazine and armory. Answer, with instructions.

E. POWELL, U. S. Arsenal.

http://www.simmonsgames.com/research/authors/USWarDept/ORA/OR-S1-V01-C004R.html#r1

of the beginning of the civil war 150 years ago? Just asking. Fine by me, if you want to keep it up.

I think

The Republicans seem to have swept the old confederacy again: it is ironic, considering what the GOP once represented, and the irony is heightened by the continuing secessionist rhetoric from some members of the GOP in recent years

There is reason to think the GOP is overrun with racists, and some Republicans definitely want an excuse to modify the 14th amendment

Moreover, throughout the 150th of the war, we will again be bombarded with the usual nonsense about how it was about states rights -- and though the record shows clearly that is false, it is a dispute we may expect to play out in textbook fights and such, where it may be useful to have some tools to discredit the troglodytes

Finally, the country remains badly divided since Vietnam, and it may be useful to remember how such a situation wandered into disaster in the past

I do really appreciate the work that must go into putting a day by day recall of the events of the civil war. Haha, it will be quite difficult to keep it up for five years, but a once weekly or once monthly installment perhaps would ease the work load. At any rate this is way cool and I do quite enjoy it. It gives an another level of intellectual credence to this board.

:hi:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicentennial_Minutes

"Bicentennial Minutes was the name of a series of short educational American television segments commemorating the bicentennial of the American Revolution. The segments were produced by the CBS Television Network and broadcast nightly from July 4, 1974, until December 31, 1976. (The series was originally slated to end on July 4, 1976, but was extended to the end of the year.)"

-snip-

"The videotaped segments were one minute long and were broadcast each night during prime time hours, generally at approximately 8:57 P.M. Eastern time. The format of the segments did not change, although each segment featured a different narrator, often a CBS network television star. The narrator, after introducing himself or herself, would state "This is a Bicentennial Minute," followed by the phrase "Two hundred years ago today..." and a description a historical event or personage prominent on that particular date two hundred years ago during the American Revolution. The segment would close with the narrator saying, "I'm (his/her name), and that's the way it was."

"The Bicentennial Minute on July 3, 1976 was narrated by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. The Bicentennial Minute on July 4, 1976 was narrated by First Lady Betty Ford. The final Bicentennial Minute, broadcast on December 31, 1976, was narrated by President Gerald Ford. (This was also the longest Bicentennial minute.) After the series ended, the time slot of the Bicentennial Minute came to be occupied by a brief synopsis of news headlines ("Newsbreak") read by a CBS anchor."

-snip-

"The Bicentennial Minute achieved a high cultural profile during its run and was widely referenced and parodied. For example, in the All in the Family episode "Mike's Move" (originally broadcast on February 2, 1976), the character Mike Stivic responded to a typical monologue by his father-in-law Archie Bunker about the history of American immigration and the meaning of the Statue of Liberty with the sarcastic comment: "I think we just heard Archie Bunker's Bicentennial Minute." Another Norman Lear-produced sitcom, Sanford and Son, featured series star Redd Foxx paroding the Bicentennial Minute."

-snip-

was pretty much occupied with other distractions. ;)

To the Honorable the Common Council:

GENTLEMEN: ... It would seem that a dissolution of the Federal Union is inevitable ... With our aggrieved brethren of the Slave States, we have friendly relations and a common sympathy ... The Legislature, in which the present partizan majority has the power, has become the instrument by which we are plundered to enrich their speculators, lobby agents, and Abolition politicians ... Amid the gloom which the present and prospective condition of things must cast over the country, New York, as a Free City, may shed the only light and hope of a future reconstruction of our once blessed Confederacy ...

http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=435

... In January 1861 he delivered an address expressing his belief in the right of states to secede, and on January 6, 1861, he was one of fourteen senators who recommended the immediate withdrawal of the southern states. On February 4, 1861, the Secession Convention elected him one of seven Texas delegates to the convention of Southern states in Montgomery, Alabama, which became the Provisional Confederate Congress. He was subsequently expelled from the United States Senate by resolution on July 11, 1861 ...

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fhe13

A Discourse Preached in the First Presbyterian Church, Augusta, Georgia, on Sabbath Morning, Jan. 6, 1861

... I am sure that you will bear with me while I take another step in this great argument, and show how completely the Bible brings human slavery underneath the sanction of divine authority, upon other and stronger ground ...

http://docsouth.unc.edu/imls/wilson/wilson.html

... On January 6, 1861, sentries at Fort Barrancas, an important post protecting Pensacola Bay and the Pensacola Navy Yard, observed shadowy figures approaching the main gate of the fort through the darkness. Barrancas was then the only one of the harbor fortifications at Pensacola occupied by the U.S. Army in any strength at all. The nearby posts of Fort Pickens and Fort McRee were held only by caretakers and the Advanced Redoubt, a subsidiary work to Fort Barrancas, was not occupied at all ...

As they saw the unknown men walking onto the drawbridge on January 6th, they reacted quickly. After the mysterious figures did not respond to their calls, the sentries opened fire. The figures disappeared, but the first hostile shots of the Civil War had been fired. Deciding to move his command to the more secure Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island, Lieutenant Slemmer began preparing to evacuate Fort Barrancas the next day.

It was later disclosed that the figures on the drawbridge had been volunteer soldiers from Alabama who approached the fort after hearing a rumor that it had been evacuated by the Federals ...

http://southernhistory.blogspot.com/2010/04/fort-barrancas-florida-first-hostile.html

Converting solids to gas is the only way to be sure.

regarding the ability of certain southern states to leave or be forced to stay in the Union based on the constitution was not settled in early 1861. Lincoln's reasons for intervention was to "quell potential civil unrest" but mainly to protect federal property. And as we all know, the most famous piece of federal property was an unfinished fortification in Charleston Harbor. The military action taken by the State of South Carolina against the United States Army was intended to keep the garrison at Fort Sumter from being re-supplied with the necessities of life such as food and drinking water.

One of my ancestors was Lincoln's envoy to the SC Legislature tasked with the mission to craft an agreement that would allow the fort to be supplied. His last ditch effort was unsuccessful in it's primary mission, the lead and iron started flying soon thereafter. It is however my personal opinion that Lincoln wanted the mission to be a success.

After armed insurrection against the federal government in Charleston SC, the US forces surrendered to the SC troops and the property seized by the state. This gave the Lincoln administration the legal authority to move against those states in succession with the federal government.

There already is a site doing this - bringing the American Civil War back to the life - through daily reporting by "historical journalists" of events and developments of exactly 150 years ago. See www.7score10yearsago.com. And yes, the issues then are the same as now. States did not want the Federal government telling them how to grow cotton. Did not matter that they did not pay the minimum wage or provided public education or enabled their workers to travel freely. No, they did not have to deal with a mandate that each citizen buy health insurance but that was because most people were not too crazy about having their blood sucked by leeches. You get the point - juxtapose Rick Perry's words against those of Jefferson Davis and, voila, you get quite a match! Deja vu all over again?