Historical Image of the Day

The ruins of Charleston, South Carolina, epicenter of treason in defense of slavery, 1865

Historical Image of the Day

Freedmen voting, South Carolina, 1868

Treason in Defense of Slavery Day

150 years ago today, South Carolina declared treason to defend slavery, seceding from the Union in order to preserve its ability to own, sell, rape, and murder black people. 4 1/2 years later and 500,000 dead Americans later, this treason was crushed.

But of course, the South has contested the meanings of this event ever since they lost the war. Beginning in 1866, they reshaped the meanings of the war to be a noble cause in defense of an idealized agrarian past with contented slaves working in the fields and eating watermelon to the sound of banjos at the end of the day. The civil rights movement challenged that narrative, but hardly defeated it.

Doug Mataconis lays the hammer down on those who claim the Confederacy was about anything other than slavery. See, all you have to do in order to debunk these arguments in go to the sources and see what the architects of treason said about slavery. Here's Confederate Vice-President (and southern moderate) Alexander Stephens:

Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth. This truth has been slow in the process of its development, like all other truths in the various departments of science. It has been so even amongst us. Many who hear me, perhaps, can recollect well, that this truth was not generally admitted, even within their day. The errors of the past generation still clung to many as late as twenty years ago. Those at the North, who still cling to these errors, with a zeal above knowledge, we justly denominate fanatics. All fanaticism springs from an aberration of the mind from a defect in reasoning. It is a species of insanity. One of the most striking characteristics of insanity, in many instances, is forming correct conclusions from fancied or erroneous premises; so with the anti-slavery fanatics. Their conclusions are right if their premises were. They assume that the negro is equal, and hence conclude that he is entitled to equal privileges and rights with the white man. If their premises were correct, their conclusions would be logical and just but their premise being wrong, their whole argument fails. I recollect once of having heard a gentleman from one of the northern States, of great power and ability, announce in the House of Representatives, with imposing effect, that we of the South would be compelled, ultimately, to yield upon this subject of slavery, that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics, as it was in physics or mechanics. That the principle would ultimately prevail. That we, in maintaining slavery as it exists with us, were warring against a principle, a principle founded in nature, the principle of the equality of men. The reply I made to him was, that upon his own grounds, we should, ultimately, succeed, and that he and his associates, in this crusade against our institutions, would ultimately fail. The truth announced, that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics as it was in physics and mechanics, I admitted; but told him that it was he, and those acting with him, who were warring against a principle. They were attempting to make things equal which the Creator had made unequal.

Today, the racists are well-represented by Haley Barbour of Mississippi, a likely Republican presidential candidate and a man would have fit in very well as a segregationist Southern senator in the pre-civil rights days. Yglesias has been hounding Barbour all day. Linking to Andrew Ferguson's profile of Barbour, we see that Barbour has actually defended White Citizens' Councils as keeping the peace during the civil rights movement, a laughable statement if it weren't so politically dangerous today. But as Yglesias notes, White Citizens' Councils were active in Barbour's own home town of Yazoo City, Mississippi, which very much makes me wonder what young Haley was up to on those very day. 

Oh South Carolina....

Oh boy.

This was the scene at the National Federation of Republican Women meeting in Charleston recently. The guy in the middle--only South Carolina Senate President Glenn McConnell.

Nothing like remembering back to ye ol'antebellum days. Complete with slaves playing washboards and dancing oh so happily. And then emancipation came and everything went to hell....

Next time someone argues that the Republican Party isn't racist, I'm going to send them this picture.

Historical Image of the Day

This week's images will be of tourism in the South. This is actually a harder subject than it sounds because few people really conceive of image categories in this way.

I'm also starting to organize the week's images around a book I am reading during a given week. It makes it easier in my mind. It allows allows me to promote a few books. This week's images are inspired by Anthony J. Stanonis' edited collection, Dixie Emporium: Tourism, Foodways, and Consumer Culture in the American South, published by the University of Georgia Press in 2008. Like most edited collections, the essays are mixed, but some are quite fascinating. I read this book in preparation for future discussions of food history in my courses. The book provides relatively few of these and really the title is more than a little misleading on this. But it was interesting nonetheless. 

South of the Border, a notorious tourist trap along I-95 in South Carolina, just over the North Carolina border, circa 1970

Most Prominent Politicians From Each State (VIII): South Carolina

Oh South Carolina, have you ever elected decent politicians?

The top 10:

1. John C. Calhoun--the architect of secession. Only man to serve as Vice-President for two presidents of different political parties. Secretary of State under Tyler. One of the most evil men in American history.

2. Strom Thurmond--leader of the Dixiecrats in 1948. Arch-segregationist led the white southern charge from the Democrats to the Republicans when it became clear that the Democrats were willing to accept African-Americans as part of their coalition. Long-time senator and another of the most evil men in American history.

3. Ben Tillman--Originally a leading Populist, Tillman quickly turned to race-baiting white supremacy of the most virulent form to advance his political career. Governor of South Carolina from 1890-94 and then senator from 1894-1918. Censured by the Senate in 1902 for physically assaulting the other senator from South Carolina.

4. James Byrnes--Leading Democrat of the early and mid-20th century. Senator, governor, Supreme Court justice, and, most famously, Secretary of State from 1945-47. One of the most powerful men in American foreign policy for much of his career. Considered himself a moderate on racial issues, but still actively supported segregation while governor in the 1950s.

5. Robert Barnwell Rhett--only a senator from 1850-52, but one of the most important people in South Carolina political history because of his leadership for secession. A fireeater of the worst kind, Rhett actually resigned his Senate seat in 1852 because a South Carolina secessionist statement was not worded strongly enough for his tastes. To the right of John C. Calhoun on secession, he actively supported South Carolina secession in 1860, but found himself marginalized within the Confederate government, leading him to resign from the Confederate Congress and become an active critic of Jefferson Davis.

6. Wade Hampton--Confederate general and Redemption politician. Redemption was a term white Southerners used for those who "redeemed" them from the supposed tyranny of northern occupation and black politicians. Used massive violence and voter fraud to win the 1876 governor's election. Later a senator.

7. Jesse Jackson--We don't usually think of Jesse Jackson as from South Carolina, and of course, he could never get elected to office from that state. But in fact, Jackson grew up in South Carolina before becoming a civil rights leader and 2 time candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

8. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney--2 time Federalist presidential nominee (1804 and 1808).

9. Ernest Hollings--senator from South Carolina from 1966-2005. Although a man of limited achievements in the Senate, he remained a popular figure, running for the Democratic nomination in 1984. He even endorsed Jesse Jackson for the presidency in 1988.

10. Preston Brooks. It's not that Preston Brooks had any real achievements as a politician. He served in Congress from 1853-57. But he became a hero to the South and helped spur on the nation's collapse by walking into the Senate chamber in 1856 and beating abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts to within an inch of his life with his cane. People from around the South sent Brooks new canes to replace his broken one (he used a cane after being shot in the hip during a duel in the 1840s). Didn't do him much good though, because Brooks died from the croup in 1857. All around great guy...

Next: New Hampshire

Historical Image of the Day

Charleston, South Carolina after its well-deserved destruction, 1865

The Big Time

Make sure you check out our own Sarah J's first article (I think) for The American Prospect. It's a good one too, profiling a very promising South Carolina progressive.

I've been interested over the years how this blog has served as a bit of a farm system for the progressive major leagues. Of course, it's all about the hard work of Sarah (and Matt before) rather than the blog itself. I've been happy to host some really great new voices in the progressive movement.

To expand the baseball metaphor, any connections between myself and Crash Davis will be left to the reader.

An Idea So Crazy I Can't Believe Rick Perry Didn't Think Of It First, Vol, 2

Dave Noon points out South Carolina Republican state legislator Mike Pitts has proposed a bill which reaches new level of lunacy:

South Carolina will no longer recognize U.S. currency as legal tender, if State Rep. Mike Pitts has his way.

Pitts, a fourth-term Republican from Laurens, introduced legislation earlier this month that would ban what he calls “the unconstitutional substitution of Federal Reserve Notes for silver and gold coin” in South Carolina.

If the bill were to become law, South Carolina would no longer accept or use anything other than silver and gold coins as a form of payment for any debt, meaning paper money would be out in the Palmetto State.

Pitts said the intent of the bill is to give South Carolina the ability to “function through gold and silver coinage” and give the state a “base of currency” in the event of a complete implosion of the U.S. economic system.

OK, obviously this is both totally insane and unconstitutional.  But like I pointed out the other day in discussing Utah's proposal to eliminate the mandatory 12th grade, you have to take these proposals seriously. Pitts represents a real strain of anti-government, hard-currency belief within the loony right wing of the Republican Party. By bringing these ideas up, Pitts gains credibility for himself and his ideas. And his last big idea, a gun tax holiday, was enacted, so it's not like in the feces-tossing atmosphere of the South Carolina legislature he's an isolated figure.

Obama's Speech, Hecklers, and Reverse Fundraising

I wrote a piece for Global Comment tonight on Obama's speech, so I'll post a link when that goes up. For now, though, the thing I wanted to share is way, way cooler.

So Congressman Joe Wilson, of South Carolina's 2nd district, was the one who shouted "Liar!" at Obama during his speech. Always classy, since the good old days of taking handouts from Jack Abramoff, that Wilson. I've been bitching about him since I lived in SC, but no one really cares about South Carolina politicians until they screw up on a national scale. People still buy into the red state/blue state divide and just assume that South Carolina republicans are untouchable.

But Joe Wilson pissed off a lot of people. And petitions started circulating on Twitter as soon as people found out who had been the heckler. But some people (me being one of them) decided that a better way to punish Wilson would be to donate to his opponent, a nice guy named Rob Miller who ran and lost in 2008 but forced a more competitive race than Wilson has faced in my memory.

Well, as of a few minutes ago, Rob Miller's campaign was $40,000 richer. Just on the ActBlue page, at press time (since it keeps changing) he's raised $29,312. His home page was down the last time I tried it from traffic.

Twitter activism might fade out quickly, but perhaps fundraising/reverse fundraising is the best use of that flickering moment when thousands of people are all good and pissed off. The people who donate to Miller tonight may not remember him in 2010 (unless they live in SC's 2nd) but their dollars will go a long way toward making the race competitive.

Jim DeMint--Irresponsible Even for a Republican Senator!

DeMint comes out for the Honduran coup.

“I am hopeful that as President Obama grows in office, he will eventually turn
away from despots like Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, and Zelaya, and give the
United States’ full-throated support to the people of any country who are
fighting for the same values we cherish and defend in America,” the South
Carolina lawmaker said. “President Obama’s call for the reinstatement of Zelaya
is a slap in the face to the people of Honduras…The rule of law is working in
Honduras. President Obama should not undermine the democratic institutions that
guarantee freedom by forcing an illegitimate President back into power.”

Wishing it was 1982 and the US could explore some covert ops I see.

Historical Image of the Day

Child labor, South Carolina textile mill, 1909

Historical Image of the Day

Slaves' religious service, South Carolina, 1863

America's Somalia

Grover Norquist's desire to shrink government to the point that you can drown it in a bathtub seems to be coming as close as possible to fruition in South Carolina, arguably the craziest state in the country.

Of course, we've seen what a country without a government looks like. It's called Somalia, where there has been no functioning government for 2 decades and which has fallen into complete anarchy.

Like the fundamentalist Islamic ideology that comes as close as anything to ruling Somalia, fundamentalist free-market ideology rules South Carolina in the name of Governor Mark Sanford. Rather than accept stimulus money for education, which would be communist or something, Sanford instead is redirecting it to pay down the state's debt, cutting $700 million from the state's education fund, potentially throwing 7500 teachers out of work. What happens to the kids? Who knows. Sanford clearly doesn't care.

Meanwhile, South Carolina, under the fine leadership of Gov. Sanford, has the nation's highest unemployment rate. The state debt is Sanford's fault in the first place because he slashed tax rates to such an extent that the state can't pay for anything. And of course, being South Carolina, the burden of these cuts will fall on poor black people.

The interesting question is this: at what point does enough South Carolina voters turn their back on this insanity and elect responsible leaders? After the 2004 election, I wondered how bad things would have to get for Americans to realize the folly of modern radical Republicanism? We found out in 2008. But for a state like South Carolina (or other hard right states like Idaho, Utah, and Oklahoma), you have to figure that things would have to far, far worse for those voters to realize these ideas lead to disaster. So we'll see whether some combination of Democrats and less crazy (I hate to use the term moderate) Republicans come to some understanding and vote in some new people.

The other question is what right does Sanford have to redirect stimulus money to whatever he wants? Shouldn't this money come with strict instructions on how to spend it?

Finally, Sanford is comparing Obama's stimulus to Robert Mugabe's policies in Zimbabwe. This is borderline racist first of all, a clear but slightly veiled reference to the two being crazy black presidents. Second, there is no inflation in the United States, so Sanford's comparions makes no sense. Third, if he thinks this kind of talk is going to lift him into the presidency, which is what he clearly wants, he is totally insane.

The Bankruptcy (Moral and Literal) of Conservatism

The future of the Republican Party sure looks bright, eh?

Just hours before the unemployment benefits fund was to run out in South Carolina, the state with the nation’s third-highest jobless rate, Gov. Mark Sanford relented Wednesday and agreed to apply for $146 million in federal funds to top it up, after weeks of refusing to do so.

The governor’s position had drawn rebukes even from fellow Republicans in the legislature, one of whom denounced him as “heartless.” Newspaper editorial pages in South Carolina questioned why he was adding to the anxiety of the state’s 77,000 unemployed residents. Legislators here said they could recall no governor ever refusing to ask for unemployment funds.

Leadership the nation can believe in! The Republicans are sure tuned in to the needs of the nation.

It's also interesting to know just how reprehensible a South Carolina politician can be before turning the collective stomach of arguably our least progressive state.

Historical Image of the Day

Slave auction, Charleston, South Carolina, 1856

Historical Image of the Day

Wade Hampton III, South Carolina senator after Reconstruction. Hampton was known as "The Savior of South Carolina" for his opposition to Reconstruction, which should tell you all you need to know about this guy.

Hampton also provides a superb example of Gilded Age facial hair.

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George Washington Murray, South Carolina congressman during the 1890s, author of Race Ideals: Effects, Cause, and Remedy for the Afro-American Race Troubles, 1914.

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Penn School for Black Children, St. Helena, South Carolina, late 1860s. This was a Quaker school set up to teach black children during Reconstruction.

Historical Image of the Day

Scene from Orangeburg Massacre, 1968