In the Beginning
In the beginning
when the white man first came to this land, the many colonies were each
quickly inhabited by different cultures of these strange new people. (Some
were more strange than others!)
Most came because they were not wanted
in their native lands. They were considered either anti-social deviants
or criminals. No matter why they came though, they each sought out their
own kind. Some managed to obtain charters from the British crown to create
colonies, each to their own fashion, so long as they remained loyal, but
conviently distant, to Great Britain. This time period was the birth
of "Manifest Destiny"; a destiny self evident only to the arrogant, the greedy,
or the foolish, which the white man used to justify all manner of inhumanity
towards his fellow man. It proved so useful that it has been used many
times since those colonial days when it was either expedient, or when no
other justification could be found. And the practice is growing as the
arrogance of the Radicals grows ever bolder. These early colonies developed
along the coast and then slowly expanded inland as the coast was pacified
and filled.
The people
who settled in the north found agriculture too hard and fruitless in the
barren soil and harsh winters. They were barely able to feed themselves,
so many of them packed themselves into claustrophobic towns and cities
and made their living by trade, fishing and whaling. The merchants of the
north plied the seas to and from Europe and the various colonies. They
brought goods from Britain, Europe, Asia and from Africa. Anything that
would turn a profit found its way here in the holds of Yankee ships.
The Southern
colonies found the land and climate more suitable to agriculture so the
great plantations were born along with countless smaller family farms.
The land was fertile and productive and the People grew to love the land,
and the land rewarded their love with its bounty. Although mostly self
sufficient, there were some items imported from abroad, and of course,
the abundance of the farms and plantations had to be exported. Although
the South had many beautiful port cities, most of this trade was with the
North or through the North. These farms were creating wealth and the People
were eager to display it. The commerce was creating wealth in the North
also, and they were insatiably hungry for it. (Ego and Greed, two of the
worse motivators. Contempt, Hate and Spite usually follow close behind,
as we will soon see.)
The Southern
People noted this appetite of the North but, even with the constant barrage of taxes and duties attempted by them, the intensity of their avarice
was grossly underestimated. The gentle and sociable but proud Southerners
could not know the poison in the souls of the tightly packed and ill tempered
"sardines" of the North. The South could not realize what lengths the folks
of the North would go to in their jealousy of the bounty of the Southland.
They would soon learn the terrible value of the Yankee dollar and the price
of Yankee spite.
When the
northern colonies saw that the taxes paid to Britain was cutting too deeply
into their profits they chose to throw off their British rulers. The Southern
colonies desired the autonomy that independence would bring. To be strong
enough to win freedom they had to cast their lot with the Yankee rebellion.
They traded a harsh master for an uncertain future.
Their dependence
on the French Navy in the rebellion and the problems with the Barbary Pirates
later caused the Yankees to build a strong navy to protect their merchant
fleet. The War of 1812 was this navys' trial by fire and, the navy at least
came out of these trials strong and feared by the nations of the world.
The South,
being farmers and not seafarers, left the seas to the Yankee merchants
and Navy.
With such great expanses of land
the natural militay tendencies of the South were to develop soldiers and cavalry
instead of sailors, until it was obvious that the North was determined
to war with them over their exercising the right of secession, and by then
of course, it was too late to catch up. Although there were a few exceptionally
dedicated and adept Southern sailors, they were too few, too late. With a proper Navy, the South would have won their independence, instead of being starved and battered into
submission.