tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008771832557942253.post8360452557334552596..comments2023-10-24T00:39:42.665-07:00Comments on Thoughts from Thomas T. Thomas: The Great American TragedyThomas T. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05301172062574925121noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008771832557942253.post-47162370446320868182019-05-18T20:36:18.881-07:002019-05-18T20:36:18.881-07:00I would argue that few Confederates really made a ...I would argue that few Confederates really made a conscious decision about States rights or slavery so much as the only economic system they knew which was the one they were born into. From my many other comments about the role of sugar, I have read as much as is published on the topic. A recent book that parallels this discussion is James Walvin's "Sugar: The World Corrupted: From Slavery to Obesity" which shows clearly that post-medieval slavery was a product of western Europe's sugar production and the enormous need for labor. The explosion of both sugar and cotton production in the US simply used an economic system that was already in place albeit a barbaric one at that. I make that point not in defense of slavery in any way or form, but simply that the southern US employed a labor system already entrenched in the New World, chiefly the Caribbean islands. So do we go about tearing down all vestiges of slavery? We cannot rewrite history. Suppose in 100 years the concept of labor unions is deemed inappropriate....do we tear down all the Union halls. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11023419027808717322noreply@blogger.com