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I have been fascinated with the Civil War Society since I read Margaret Murray's "Gone with the Wind" the Summer I spent lounging at the side of the pool between 8th and 9th Grade. I hadn't discovered the thrill of making out in the back seat of a parked car yet; boys were still my adversaries, my opponents and my fiercest competitors.

It's interesting to read historical fiction through the eyes of Society Women, rather than from the POV of the Political Scientist. Let's face it, to the victors do the spoils of war go, and one of those spoils is the control of History. Women, however, have Family Histories, and for them, it doesn't matter who signed what treaty, what matters is what happened to their family and how.

I am a huge Tori Amos fan, and her Album concept, "Scarlet's Walk" takes you through the US through the eyes of a woman. All of the fascination with society in the Pre-Civil War era came flooding back. This website of the maps has only compounded it. I began looking at society after the war.

The Summer I spent between 11th and 12th grades working at an Amusement Park, fooling around with the cute boyfriend at the Pool house, whose mother was Iroquois and one of the most amazing women from my childhood, I became fascinated with the Pre Indian Wars Society.

I realized many years ago the subtle connection between the two post-war Societies and was amazed. In each situation, the United States was expanding it’s territories. The other similarity I saw was the idea that the Underground Slave Trains assisting Runaway Slaves in Pre-Civil War Society, were very close to or in some rare cases actually follow the same paths used by the US Government to march the First Nation Tribes onto Reservations.

My first thought when I saw the maps was “Freedom for me but not for You.”

My second thought was “This is what Iraq will look like in 50 years”.

Am I supposed to feel lucky that I live in California? A Blue State?

But then we can’t forget the Mexican-American War. That time the US let the Catholic Church fight the battle, after all the US had already spent millions “relocating” the First Nations, this business of conquering was getting expensive. And let’s face it, the Catholics did those Missions up right. Besides, the Gold Rush was well underway in California and there was enough to share with the Catholics for “housing” those pesky Mexicans, the Tongas and any other “Savages” left roaming the Golden foothills of California.

The US has never dealt well with it's conquests, and examining the Post War Societies in the US after the Indian Wars, the Mexican War and the Civil War the History of the US appears violent, hostile and oppressive.

I said in my last essay that I was disappointed and saddened that I am considered a Radical Liberal simply because I believe in the philosophies of a Democracy. These maps and looking at the collective Histories of each of the Red States, I am even more shocked.

It's been nearly 160 years since a cease fire was declared in the Mexican War, and despite holding nearly 46% of the demographic population in the Southwest, Mexican Americans are continuing to live in Poverty.

It's been nearly 140 years since end of the Civil War, and African Americans continue to fight for their Voice in the American Democracy. Racial Profiling against Black Americans is probably the most overt act of oppression the US Government perpetrates against any one race within its citizenry.

It's been nearly 115 years since the last Indian War was fought, and the vanquished First Nations are still suffering. No amount of Tribal Contracts or Gaming Casinos can reverse the decimation of language, arts, culture and spirituality of the Native Society.

The common thread here? None of the above people's mentioned are White.
"Freedom for Me but not for You"

The ideals behind the histories of the “Red” states are certainly not democratic. They deal in oppression and tyranny and violence against another human being. The maps have made me take a close look at where I stand in society, and reflect on how my “Moral Values” compare with the “Red” States.

Can I find a compromise between their values and mine? Maybe, in some cases. However, when the issues are placed in a cauldron and rendered down, I keep coming back to God, Guns and Gays. And I can only find a compromise in one: Guns.

If I am labeled a Radical Liberal for my “Moral Values”, then I would have to turn the mirror around and label my Peers in the Red States Radical Conservatives. I believe that history has proven throughout the millennia that when it comes to Democracy & Freedom, a Radical Liberal is preferable to a Society driven by Fear and Oppression.


Reference Links:

US-Indian Wars Named Campaigns:
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/reference/iwcmp.htm

Trail of Tears Map with named States:
http://ngeorgia.com/history/trailoftearsmap.html

See pictures and compare!! (Thanks to Yunique over at African American Wiccans http://groups.yahoo.com/group/African-American_Wiccans/ for the Map links)
http://www.learner.org/biographyofamerica/prog10/maps/
http://election.cbsnews.com/election2004/
To compare the maps next to each other see this link:
http://sensoryoverload.typepad.com/sensory_overload/2004/11/free_states_vs_.html

Indian Wars
1790 – 1891

Us-Mexican War
1846-1848

California Gold Rush
1848-1853

Civil War
1861-1865