Joan Baez - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

The constitution grants ONLY specific rights to the federal government, ALL other rights are reserved to the individual states. Until 1861, the right of any individual state to secede was never questioned by anyone -- north or south. Lincoln's invasion of the south settled the issue by force of arms, not by constitutional right.
Unfortunately, since Lincoln's invasion, the constitution has been a dead document granting all rights to the fed government -- just ask Nancy Pelosi.

bluesilver 56 i hit spam next to your comment to me by accident.
I appologize if this causes any inconvenience to you.

You Said:
The south seceded, which was its constitutional right, and the north invaded.
I say:
Please point out to me where in the constitution the south or any part or state of the usa was allow to secede?
I think we are addressing this problem with the state of vermont; in present day.
thank you.

I never said northerners owned more slaves then southerners, although at the turn of the century there were more slaves in NYC than the whole state of Georgia.
My point was that when the war started, there were more slaves in the union (this included Virginia) than in the confederacy.
This is a direct refutation to anyone who thinks the war was about slavery -- it was not.
The south seceded, which was its constitutional right, and the north invaded. Over 600,000 deaths, totally unneccessary.

@ censor48, I agree Slavery is wrong, and I wish it never happen, but to make white people of this time and age, pay for something that they had (nothing) to do with, is Evil ! Black people of today are (not) Slaves, they do (not) deserve Reparations ! But if you, want to give them (Your money), that is OK with me !

The Danville Railroad (made famous by the song "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down") was literally the lifeline of the Rebel army defending Richmond and Petersburg, and cutting it might force Lee to give up his positions near Richmond and end the deadlocked trench warfare around that city. Sheridan, however, wanted no part of a move to Danville, and had been dragging his feet and resisting such orders all winter.

As of 1850 the percentage of Southern whites living in families that owned slaves was 43 percent in the lower South, 36 percent in the upper South and 22 percent in the border states that fought mostly for the Union.[40] 85 percent of slaveowners who owned 100 or more slaves lived in the lower South, as opposed to one percent in the border states.
YOU PATRICK HENRY I SAY LIKE TO MAKE UP EMPTY STATEMENTS SUCH AS NORTHERNERS OWNING MORE SLAVES THAN THE SOUTH

they were "HOUSE NIGGERS" UNCLE TOMS.  THE SOUTH WAS WRONG, THE SOUTH WERE TRAITORS WHO HELD PEOPLE IN BONAGE WHICH WAS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY.

Slave and free black confederate soldiers carried arms and recieved equal pay as white soldiers, unlike the union army.
At Gettysburg reunions, former black confederate soldiers would show up in groves all proudly wearing their gray uniforms -- do not dishonor them, please.
Many slaves did fight for the union, but this has a lot to do with being captured and conscripted, not volunteering. There is much literature on this subject which lays to rest the cartoon history sadly taught for years.

This version is horrible.

As for the south and some of the other comments: slavery was an issue for the whole of America, not just the south. Only it is the south which has been forced to carry the burden. Northern financiers are mainly responsible for slavery in this hemisphere, of which the south U.S. accounted for about 4 percent.
When shots were fired at Fort Sumter there were fewer slaves in the confederacy then in the union.
Don't trust the cartoon history books you've read.