Civil War, Slavery, and Firefly
http://www.common-place.org/vol-03/no-02/talk/
This website annoys me. It is once again another website that keeps forgetting that the Civil War was not about slavery; it was about a state's right to seceed from the Union. Here's a website providing a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation:
http://www.emancipationproclamation.com/
Take a read. The only slaves released from slavery during the civil war were those in states that had left the Union. If you were in a northern state where slavery was legal, your legal right to slaves was not touched. Slavery ended in the United States when the 13th Amendment was ratified into law: December 6th, 1865. The last battle of the Civil War was May 26, 1865. That's 7 months after the 'end' of the Civil War.
I will admit that the Civil War basically put the final nail in the coffin in terms of slavery in the United States (a good thing); but, people (especially historians) need to get their facts correct. The Civil War was not directly about slavery. It was about a state's right to leave the United States of America. Granted, the big reason that the 'Southern States' left the Union was due to the fact that the 'Northern States' were pushing to remove slavery from the United States; but, the reason those states left the Union was due to the fact that they felt the 'Northern States' shouldn't be telling the 'Southern States' how to live their lives.
I'm not condoning slavery. I find the thought of the practice of slavery is be revolting. I just want people to get the facts straight... especially when they drag Firefly into their beliefs. Yeah, I have no claim over Firefly as I'm not Joss Whedon. However, to drag Firefly into the whole 'race politics' is incredibly lowbrow. I'm guess the person who wrote this little essay did not watch the entire series. Slaves were mentioned in one episode and shown in another. They were mentioned in Shindig, but it was mentioned that these 'slaves' were taken at random. The 'slavers' basically grabbed a bunch of people and gave them to a corperation to use as cheap labor. Slaves were shown in Jaynestown in the form of indentured servants, and most (if not all) were white. And their condition as slaves had nothing to do with race, it was economics.
Yes, the Battle of Serenity Valley was developed from the Battle of Gettesburg. A horrible fight that ended with the winning side wondering if they had really 'won' that day. So many deaths on both sides of the battle left the North (and in Firefly's case, the Alliance) with a victory that changed the tide of the civil war; but, the only real winner in the battle being Death. Yes, the 'Browncoats' in Firefly were fighting against the establishment. They believed that some far off government shouldn't be telling a man how to live his life. That's the end of the similarities.
But Firefly's frontier is more Southern than Western, more Jefferson Davis than John Wayne.
Anyone want to tell me how stupid that quote from that essay is? Because Jill Lepore needs to look at the big picture... and learn her history...
This website annoys me. It is once again another website that keeps forgetting that the Civil War was not about slavery; it was about a state's right to seceed from the Union. Here's a website providing a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation:
http://www.emancipationproclamation.com/
Take a read. The only slaves released from slavery during the civil war were those in states that had left the Union. If you were in a northern state where slavery was legal, your legal right to slaves was not touched. Slavery ended in the United States when the 13th Amendment was ratified into law: December 6th, 1865. The last battle of the Civil War was May 26, 1865. That's 7 months after the 'end' of the Civil War.
I will admit that the Civil War basically put the final nail in the coffin in terms of slavery in the United States (a good thing); but, people (especially historians) need to get their facts correct. The Civil War was not directly about slavery. It was about a state's right to leave the United States of America. Granted, the big reason that the 'Southern States' left the Union was due to the fact that the 'Northern States' were pushing to remove slavery from the United States; but, the reason those states left the Union was due to the fact that they felt the 'Northern States' shouldn't be telling the 'Southern States' how to live their lives.
I'm not condoning slavery. I find the thought of the practice of slavery is be revolting. I just want people to get the facts straight... especially when they drag Firefly into their beliefs. Yeah, I have no claim over Firefly as I'm not Joss Whedon. However, to drag Firefly into the whole 'race politics' is incredibly lowbrow. I'm guess the person who wrote this little essay did not watch the entire series. Slaves were mentioned in one episode and shown in another. They were mentioned in Shindig, but it was mentioned that these 'slaves' were taken at random. The 'slavers' basically grabbed a bunch of people and gave them to a corperation to use as cheap labor. Slaves were shown in Jaynestown in the form of indentured servants, and most (if not all) were white. And their condition as slaves had nothing to do with race, it was economics.
Yes, the Battle of Serenity Valley was developed from the Battle of Gettesburg. A horrible fight that ended with the winning side wondering if they had really 'won' that day. So many deaths on both sides of the battle left the North (and in Firefly's case, the Alliance) with a victory that changed the tide of the civil war; but, the only real winner in the battle being Death. Yes, the 'Browncoats' in Firefly were fighting against the establishment. They believed that some far off government shouldn't be telling a man how to live his life. That's the end of the similarities.
But Firefly's frontier is more Southern than Western, more Jefferson Davis than John Wayne.
Anyone want to tell me how stupid that quote from that essay is? Because Jill Lepore needs to look at the big picture... and learn her history...