Letter to the Editor: Naming Commission

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Professor Williams’ argument (“Naming Commission Historian Rationalizes Name Changes in Campus Talk,” news, May 14) that the Confederate soldier is odious because he committed treason when killing Union soldiers collapses at its premise. He was not a traitor.

First, almost 300 officers left the Federal Army during the secession crisis and 270 joined the Confederacy. None were charged with treason.  

Second, the legality of secession, and the converse “right” to force seceded states back into the Union, were unsettled at the time. President James Buchanan concluded that no state had a unilateral right to secede but also decided that the Federal government had no power to force it to return.

Third, in 1860 no law, no word in the Constitution prohibited secession. Every power not given to the national government belonged to the states and to the people. The founders gave us a Federal system, not a national one.

Fourth, the Confederacy had no purpose to invade the District of Columbia and overthrow Lincoln’s government. In his first report to the Confederate Congress two weeks after the opening shots at Fort Sumter, Jefferson Davis said, “…all we ask is to be let alone.”

Fifth, Virginia and three other states of the upper South remained loyal to the Union until Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to coerce the seven cotton states back into the Union. The four had warned Lincoln that — like Buchanan — they believed coercion to be unconstitutional. Those states contributed half of the white population from which the eleven-state Confederacy drew its soldiers. 

Dr. Williams sets a reckless example by labeling the Confederate soldier a traitor. In truth, the Confederate warrior has been an inspiration to American soldiers in postbellum wars. Among such examples is Robert E. Lee. 

After Lincoln’s assassination, President Johnson wanted ex-Confederates to take a new loyalty oath to the Union. Lee was among those who complied as did the Captain son of former Virginia governor Henry Wise. 

When the Captain told his dad that he had taken the oath, the father barked: “You have disgraced the family!”

His son replied, “But General Lee told me to do it.”

“Oh,” said the father, “that alters the case. Whatever General Lee says is all right.”

Philip Leigh

Spring Hill, Florida

[The opinions expressed in this magazine are the author's own and do not reflect the official policy or position of The Spectator, or any students or other contributors associated with the magazine. It is the intention of The Spectator to promote student thought and civil discourse, and it is our hope to maintain that civility in all discussions.]