Once more upon the plains of Manassas have our armies been blessed by the Lord of Hosts with a triumph over our enemies. It is my privilege to invite you once more to His footstool, not now in the garb of fasting and sorrow, but with joy and gladness, to render thanks for the great mercies received at His hand. A few months since, and our enemies poured forth their invading legions upon our soil. They laid waste our fields, polluted our altars and violated the sanctity of our homes. Around our capital they gathered their forces, and with boastful threats, claimed it as already their prize. The brave troops which rallied to its defense have extinguished these vain hopes, and, under the guidance of the same almighty hand, have scattered our enemies and driven them back in dismay. Uniting these defeated forces and the various armies which had been ravaging our coasts with the army of invasion in Northern Virginia, our enemies have renewed their attempt to subjugate us at the very place where their first effort was defeated, and the vengeance of retributive justice has overtaken the entire host in a second and complete overthrow.
To this signal success accorded to our arms in the East has been graciously added another equally brilliant in the West. On the very day on which our forces were led to victory on the Plains of Manassas, in Virginia, the same Almighty arm assisted us to overcome our enemies at Richmond, in Kentucky. Thus, at one and the same time, have two great hostile armies been stricken down, and the wicked designs of their armies been set at naught.
In such circumstances, it is meet and right that, as a people, we should bow down in adoring thankfulness to that gracious God who has been our bulwark and defense, and to offer unto him the tribute of thanksgiving and praise. In his hand is the issue of all events, and to him should we, in an especial manner, ascribe the honor of this great deliverance.
Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, do issue this, my proclamation, setting apart Thursday, the 18th day of September inst., as a day of prayer and thanksgiving to Almighty God for the great mercies vouchsafed to our people, and more especially for the triumph of our arms at Richmond and Manassas; and I do hereby invite the people of the Confederate States to meet on that day at their respective places of public worship, and to unite in rendering thanks and praise to God for these great mercies, and to implore Him to conduct our country safely through the perils which surround us, to the final attainment of the blessings of peace and security.
Given under my hand and the seal of the Confederate States, at Richmond, this fourth day of September, A.D.1862.
JEFFERSON DAVIS
How dare he drag God into the bloodguilt of slavery. He is badly mistaken, having deluded himself.
Mary, when looking at History, if one really wishes to understand it, an ability to put oneself into the shoes of historical figures is essential. Davis was no monster. As slave masters went he was quite enlightened, with his slaves running his plantation and largely governing themselves. He believed that Christianity and education would one day end slavery. He and his wife during the War took in an orphaned black boy and had him freed from slavery. Davis was not a stick villain figure in an historical melodrama but a complicated man living in complicated times. I find slavery the ultimate betrayal of American ideals, hence my admiration for Lincoln and my great joy that the Union prevailed. However, that does not make me blind to the virtues of those who thought otherwise, and it does not prevent me from letting them have their say and stating their views in my posts on historical subjects.
“Davis was no monster. As slave masters went he was quite enlightened, with his slaves running his plantation and largely governing themselves. He believed that Christianity and education would one day end slavery. He and his wife during the War took in an orphaned black boy and had him freed from slavery. Davis was not a stick villain figure in an historical melodrama but a complicated man living in complicated times.”
Real life/people is/are rarely simply black or white.
Donald: I appreciate your understanding of Davis and his place in history. I learn much and enjoy your sharing your knowledge of history. I really do. So, it is with much grief that I must disagree with you.
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Davis called the North “enemies” and to me this means he had no love for our principles. Davis shortchanged himself and perhaps freeing a Negro boy made him feel the better. Most of our Founding Fathers treated their slaves as free men working in their manors. It is humanity.
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Davis’ problem is that he tried to perpetuate unjust laws. Calling upon God to validate his position showed to me his (Davis’) absence of Justice.
“He believed that Christianity and education would one day end slavery.”
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Davis calls upon almighty God, but nowhere do I read about Jesus Christ. The Civil War begot the Emancipation Proclamation, already inscribed in The Declaration of Independence, already proclaimed in the Gospels of Jesus Christ.
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Show to me where Davis invokes Jesus Christ and Christianity and I will grant to you the argument.
Jefferson Davis’s great error is encapsulated in the sentence “In such circumstances, it is meet and right that, as a people, we should bow down in adoring thankfulness to that gracious God who has been our bulwark and defense, and to offer unto him the tribute of thanksgiving and praise.“. As the events of 1865 would show, this was presumptuous. God ultimately was not the bulwark and defense of the Confederates. All of us, all the time, should remember this as we go about our daily lives and consider the wider events of our day, because without a proper moral formation we too can easily presume that God’s aid to us is God’s validation of us, sins and all.
The Emancipation Proclamation only freed the slaves in the South. Lincoln did it for political purposes. Slavery did not end until the 13th Amendment was ratified. General Grant did not free his slaves until 1866. Many free blacks fought willingly in the Confederate Army. The cult of Lincoln as savior must end. Check out the articles on http://www.southernheritage411.com. The website is run by H.K. Edgarton who is a former regional NAACP president. Here are a few articles.
http://www.southernheritage411.com/truehistory.php?th=011
http://www.southernheritage411.com/truehistory.php?th=003
http://www.southernheritage411.com/bc.php?nw=071
http://www.southernheritage411.com/truehistory.php?th=080
http://www.southernheritage411.com/truehistory.php?th=070
Lincoln made clear that he freed the slaves as a war act. He lacked the power to do so otherwise, hence the Emancipation Proclamation could only have applied to areas controlled by the Confederacy. He also made it clear that he did so in order to save the Union. However, to pretend that Lincoln did not also hate slavery and sought to have it abolished is ludicrous, as Lincoln’s pushing the Thirteenth Amendment through Congress indicates.
The handful of blacks who may have fought for the Confederacy are dwarfed by their 188,000 brothers who fought in the Union Army and Navy. The Confederacy did not get around to allowing blacks to fight in the Confederate Army until weeks before the Confederate surrender. The attempt to whitewash the history of the Confederacy to suit twenty-first century racial sensibilities is risible.
Thank you Donald McClarey for responding to this revisionist history denying to Abraham Lincoln his good will. Lincoln did everything in his power to free all men. Davis did all in his power to keep slavery a way of life. Refusing to give credit where credit is due is not history.
Mr. McClarey, let me reassure you that not everyone in the South ascribes anymore to the “Lost Cause” theory of history. The Civil War was probably a necessary war. We don’t care for John Wilkes Booth or his assassination of President Lincoln. We view the killing of 280,000 Confederate soldiers as a tragedy. They were fighting on the wrong side of history, but they’re still our boys.
I view them as just as much my boys Mico as the Union soldiers who died. I celebrate their courage against the odds:
https://almostchosenpeople.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/in-defense-of-those-who-wore-the-gray/