Originally posted by: Bobat
Besides slavery what do you guys think was the most important legacy of the Civil War?
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
When you fight yourself you're guaranteed to lose.
Originally posted by: SirStev0
Slavery was hardly half of what the civil war was about.
The civil war's legacy is that we are a country run by a federal government. If you, your town, your county, or your state doesn't like the rules or regulations the government sets up, there is nothing you can do except hope that the federal government changes it's mind.
It has taken a while, but we are slowly getting to an absolute point. The federal government makes it that the state still can make decisions, but those decisions have to be what the federal government wants them to be. Look at alcohol, speed limits, education, law enforcement and so on. They are all "decided" at the state level, but if they aren't what the federal government wants them to be, the state loses funding from the government. That is why Montana had to get a speed limit and why every state has a law that 21 is the legal age.
Originally posted by: SirStev0
Slavery was hardly half of what the civil war was about.
The civil war's legacy is that we are a country run by a federal government. If you, your town, your county, or your state doesn't like the rules or regulations the government sets up, there is nothing you can do except hope that the federal government changes it's mind.
It has taken a while, but we are slowly getting to an absolute point. The federal government makes it that the state still can make decisions, but those decisions have to be what the federal government wants them to be. Look at alcohol, speed limits, education, law enforcement and so on. They are all "decided" at the state level, but if they aren't what the federal government wants them to be, the state loses funding from the government. That is why Montana had to get a speed limit and why every state has a law that 21 is the legal age.
Originally posted by: xeemzor
The death of state's rights and the formation of a powerful federal government.
Originally posted by: AMCRambler
Mel Gibson in The Patriot! Waaaaaaaa I'm a half crazed maniac covered in blood that will kill you with Tomahawks for killing my children! AIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!
Originally posted by: jjones
Originally posted by: xeemzor
The death of state's rights and the formation of a powerful federal government.
The birth of the nanny state.
Originally posted by: AMCRambler
Mel Gibson in The Patriot! Waaaaaaaa I'm a half crazed maniac covered in blood that will kill you with Tomahawks for killing my children! AIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!
I didn't say it was a full grown nanny state, just the birthdate. The civil war was, for all intents and purposes and just as you earlier pointed out, the death of state's rights and the firm establishment of an overarching federal government. What we have today is a direct, and I would say inevitable, result of that. FDR and the New Deal could never have happened otherwise. The severe social injustices during the late 1800s and early 1900s only enabled it, but there was no reason those problems couldn't have been addressed and handled at a state level - they wouldn't have been uniformly addessed, but that's the whole purpose of state's rights anyway: self-determination. Anyway, just my view on the matter.Originally posted by: xeemzor
Originally posted by: jjones
Originally posted by: xeemzor
The death of state's rights and the formation of a powerful federal government.
The birth of the nanny state.
IMO, that really didn't happen until 70-odd years later with FDR and his "New Deal". It would be a stretch to say the civil war caused a nanny state to form, especially in light of the average life of the industrial workers during the early 1900s.
Originally posted by: 3cho
just to echo some of the sentiments already voiced in this thread. the civil war was not about freeing slaves, it was about preserving the union (see lincoln's "a house divided" speech)
and please dont bring up the proclamation, it was just a bunch of crap.
Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery-- the greatest material interest of the world.