One State Takes a New Look at Causes of War (NYT)

[struggle4progress]

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
Published: November 29, 2010

... During the centennial of the Civil War starting in 1960, Georgia celebrated the Confederacy and the view that the state had seceded in a valiant act of defending states’ rights against Northern aggressors.

This time around, state historians are taking a different approach, declaring that Georgia seceded to defend the institution of slavery.

On Jan. 19, the date in 1861 when the state seceded, the Georgia Historical Society and others plan to dedicate a historical marker at the old statehouse in Milledgeville. The marker, citing Georgia’s secession ordinance, will say that the state seceded in response to the election of Abraham Lincoln, who was “anti-slavery.”

This may be one of the first official recognitions in the state, at least in modern times, that slavery was the overarching reason for secession, said Todd Groce, president of the historical society. While some pro-Confederate groups may disagree with this conclusion, he said, mainstream historians do not ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/us/30confedside.html?_r=1

[Drale]

1. Why do they need a historic marker to remind people of slavery?

Many in the south call the Civil War, the War of Northern Aggression, which is bullshit since the south fired the first official shots. But I guess its just more right wing hypocrisy.

[struggle4progress]

2. Um .. it's a historical marker for Georgia's secession ordinance, almost exactly 150 years

after the secession. The good news is that mainstream Georgians today aren't lying, to themselves and the rest of us, about the real reasons for the secession -- secession was all about preserving slavery

[yellowcanine]

3. Because many Confederacy Apologists have insisted for years that the Civil War wasn't about slavery.

Even though it was central to the secession vote discussions.