Ignorance And Our South - And Response (6)

  • Thursday, June 25, 2015
God bless you, Roy, for taking the time to research General Nathan Bedford Forrest and document the facts.  And, indeed, I am proud to certify through my own knowledge and research in all these books strewn out before me that they are facts.  Indeed he was a patriot and the Confederate flag was a battle flag for the Southern states and is part of our history.  We all know that Tennessee did not secede from the union and was neutral during the Civil War.  However, the Confederate soldiers drove the Union out of our city to preserve our valuable transportation routes since their states depended upon them for moving their goods.
 
There are more important facts pertinent to the frenzy created by the news media since the tragedy in Charleston last week.  If one wants to learn about ignorance, start with the instant onsite media from the major cable channels with their ready mic shoved up into the face of our innocent people suffering the most horrendous pain and being asked questions that only fools would ask under unbearable circumstances.  The media do not understand that true Southerners naturally are respectful and accommodating.  And older black Southerners, especially the ladies, are reserved, loving and caring people with a deep faith.  I speak as a Southerner and a lifelong Chattanooga native wiith an American heritage beginning before the United States was founded.  Some of my dearest friends through the years are just like me except my skin is white.
 
The younger generations in our black population in Chattanooga should be researching themselves to learn who they really are in history as opposed to the perpetual racism, inequality and terrorism rhetoric being thrown about.  I know that somewhere in all these books is a photograph and story about the first school started in this city .
. . by a black professor.  We were one people, primarily hard-working poor people, with a river and railroads as our greatest assets to transport our Southern-made and Southern-grown products for markets to the ends of the lines at points north, east, south, and west.  It could not have been done without all of us . . . the Cherokees, the black and white populations, and the influx of investors and businessmen who saw the value and beauty of this area and placed their fortunes in our land identified as Chattanooga by the Cherokees and subsequently located in the 16th state of the union called Tennessee in 1796.
 
Together, we built this city during our country's most painful, troubled, and disastrous times.  It is time for us to tamp down the rhetoric and assume a posture of protectionism and responsibility for our children, our elderly, our city, our country, and each other.  We can do that without the help from the media or from outsiders whose good will could not be farther from their mind.  Unfortunately we have danger among us as the government has warned that our threat level is the highest it has ever been.  Stay safe my friends. 
 
A valuable chronology of our city from 1540 to 1980 follows the Introduction in my favorite history book, "Chattanooga, An Illustrated History," by Dr. James W. Livingood.  Dr. Livingood was a well-respected author and popular professor at The University of Chattanooga.  Another favorite is "The St. Elmo Story" available from the St. Elmo Improvement League.  If you have not had the pleasure of reading Dr. Livingood's book, please make time to access it at one of the libraries and enjoy the wealth of knowledge you will find there.  You will not be disappointed.

PS

I want to thank you astute Civil War buffs for calling my attention to my post yesterday that Tennesse did not secede from the Union.  Of course I know better and should have proofed what I had written before I sent the message.   I do know that our illustrious State sat on the sidelines for six months during the war allowing the Union to overrun and occupy our area before seceding, was the last to secede, and was the first to rejoin the Union.  I also know that it was Hamilton County, as well as several others, that repeatedly voted to remain in the Union.  When and whether they changed their minds before the State acted on June 8, 1861, is not something I care to spend my time on today when Roy Exum is putting out facts that all of us can "take to the bank," and Senator Corker is trying to keep us safe from a nuclear Iran.
 
What I learned from this refresher exercise is:  (1) follow my rule never to post anything when I am so upset (the Charleston situation when I have two young relatives there within a few blocks of the church); and (2) nothing has changed in 154 years:  the City, County, and State still cannot agree on anything as long as the Feds are calling the shots.

Charlotte Parton
Chattanooga 

* * *  

I find it highly ironic that an article entitled “Ignorance and Our South” would contain such an egregious error as to say that Tennessee did not secede from the Union and stayed neutral during the Civil War.  The entire article must be discounted because the premise that is based on is so blatantly false. This way of thinking would be humorous if it wasn’t so deadly serious.    

The type of ignorance is what is holding our region back from the type of human developmental progress experienced by other regions in our country. 

Chad Danner 

* * *  

Of course Tennessee seceded from the Union and was very much a part of the Confederate States of America.  

Andrew Clark 

* * * 

To clear up the topic of Tennessee seceding from the Union, on Feb. 9, 1861 the people of Tennessee voted against secession by an 80 percent margin.  On April 15, 1861 Lincoln called for 75,000 troops and, since Tennessee had not seceded, it was required to provide its share.  So another vote was taken on May 6, 1861 and this time the people voted by a large majority to secede from the Union.  Thereby being the last state to join the Confederates. 

Tom Nickell

 * * * 

What a frightening inaccuracy, Mrs. Parton. Virginia and Tennessee both seceded following the surrender of Fort Sumter in 1861. Earlier in the same year Tennessee did vote down the idea to leave the Union.

Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, and Maryland were the four border states which either remained neutral or voted to not secede.  

Hutch Smith
Signal Mountain

* * *

I agree with the author that there is a great deal of ignorance with regards to our southern heritage and history.  However, publishing inaccurate information as historical fact does not help to alleviate misunderstandings.  Tennessee, in fact, did secede from the Union on June 8, 1861.  This was the result of a state-wide referendum on that date.  West Tennessee heavily supported secession while East Tennessee was firmly opposed to it.  The issue was decided when Middle Tennesseans voted 88% to secede.  By doing so, Tennessee became the last state to leave the union.  Following the war Tennessee was the first state to re-enter the Union.  This required re-writing the Tennessee Constitution and including a section guaranteeing a free public education for all its citizens.  This was done in an effort to eliminate ignorance.
 
In addition, Grant's army won the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 24, 1863, and the Battle of Lookout Mountain , also known as the "Battle Above the Clouds", on November 25, 1863.  Following these two battles, the Confederate army retreated to Dalton.  As of this date, the Union controlled the important transportation hub of Chattanooga, and this was the last time that the Confederacy held any important part of Tennessee. 
 
As one of our former presidents once said, "Facts are stubborn things.".
 
Kenneth Barker
Hixson  

* * * 

Thanks, Ken Barker, outstanding history teacher and outstanding principal for correcting misinformation which is often so common when people's emotions rule their argument. 

I will hasten to add. A vote for a state convention to consider secession was defeated in February, 1861 54 percent to 46 percent. If a convention had been held, pro-Union candidates would have dominated. But when President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to expand the tiny American Army to nearly 100,000, many Tennesseans saw this as leading to war and troops coming South. And as Mr. Barker correctly stated the June vote, a second vote went the other way and Tennessee seceded from the Union. 

Throughout the war, East Tennessee remained strongly Unionist in spite of the vote. In early 1862 Forts Henry and Donelson were captured by the Union Army. Clarksville and Nashville in Middle Tennessee were captured. After the battle of Shiloh the Confederate Army, badly shattered, retreated into Mississippi and much of West Tennessee came under their control for the rest of the war. And again as Mr. Barker stated in 1863 Chattanooga was lost and the Confederate Army in East Tennessee retreated to Dalton. 

Tennessee was so lost to the Confederacy that in March of 1862, Andrew Johnson, East Tennessee Democrat and Unionist was appointed Military Governor of Tennessee by President Lincoln. 

So in spite of a vote to secede from the Union in June, 1861, by April of 1862 large portions of Tennessee were under Union control with a military governor who would be elected the U.S. vice president in 1864 and president in April of 1865. And it was the first to be re admitted to the Union in July of 1866.

Ralph Miller

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