On Wed, 19 Jun 2002 01:57:29 -0400 Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu>
writes:
> Ian says:
>
> > > >All wars are crimes against humanity.
> >> >
> >> >Ian
> >>
> >> Including the American Civil War, for instance? Slaves and free
> >> blacks would have disagreed with you!
> >===================
> >
> >The US' un-Civil War was not fought to free the slaves:
> >
> >"Congress tried to make the railroad surveys a scientific solution
> to
> >what was essentially a political problem. The real issue was
> whether the
> >North or South would be the terminus of the transcontinental
> railroad.
> >Congress deadlocked [oh, metaphor!], and so public officials looked
> to
> >scientists to consult nature for the best route. In charge of the
> >organization of the expeditions was Jefferson Davis, then US
> secretary
> >of war and within a decade to be president of the Confederacy.
> Davis,
> >like most southerners, had already decided upon the best route -
> the
> >32nd parallel route to San Diego- before the railroad expeditions
> even
> >departed. He was willing to allow other routes to be surveyed, but
> he
> >had decided in advance that none of them was likely to be feasible.
> >Nature, Davis believed, favored the South." [Richard White, "It's
> Your
> >Misfortune and None of My Own" 1991 Univ of Oklahoma Press, p. 125]
>
> You mean the real issue _in the minds of some US public officials_
> wasn't slavery. What of slaves and free blacks? What was the real
> issue _for them_? Whether "the North or South would be the terminus
>
> of the transcontinental railroad"? I don't think so. The Civil War
>
> ended chattel slavery in the USA (regardless of ulterior motives of
> the Northern white elite), and that's what makes it a just war for
> the Union.
Which was the main reason that Karl Marx for instance supported the Union side, and attempted to rally the European workers movement on the side of the Union, despite the fact that in England, many textile workers were thrown out of work by the embargo that Lincoln was able to impose on Southern shipping of cotton for export.
Marx of course would have been the first person to admit that the liberation of the slaves in the South was not necessarily the first thing on the minds of Northern political and economic elites. But he also knew that a Northern victory would necessarily lead to the liberation of the slaves, just the same, since that was the only way that power of the planters could be destroyed. And Marx also expected that a Northern victory would lead to a more rapid industrialization of the United States, and thus to the growth in both size and strength of the American proletariat.
In other words, Marx attempted to approach this issue from a class perspective. He likewise supported the Irish and Polish struggles for independence, because both struggles were directed against Britain and Russia respectively, the two main pillars of reaction in 19th century Europe. He also declined from supporting the national struggles of the Slavic peoples in the Balkans because he was skeptical of their ability to create viable nation-states there, and because he believed that such struggles would enhance the power of Russia. Marx supported the Prussian side in the Franco-Prussian War because he anticipated that a Prussian victory would lead to the overthrow of Louis Napoleon, which would open the door for a workers uprising in France, and a Prussian victory would ensure the success of Otto von Bismarck's efforts at unifying Germany. And for Marx that was an outcome to be welcome since a united Germany would consitute a check on the power of both Britain and Russia in Europe.
Jim F.
> Yoshie
>
> * Calendar of Events in Columbus:
> <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>
> * Anti-War Activist Resources:
> <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html>
> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/>
> * Committee for Justice in Palestine:
> <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>
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