Hi, I'm a friend of Jess' and I rolled over here from her journal and saw this and felt I needed to comment. I'm wondering exactly if you mean this weird woman who belittles the profession I am in by her accusations of Firefly as being post-Confederate when any southern historian would tell you it is most definitely not, or historians in general. I agree completely that Firefly is a western, what with a frontier and an entirely western vibe. If it was southern, Inara, Zoe, and Kaylee wouldn't exist on the ship in the roles they do because even post-war, southern society had strict gender roles that women adherred to (mostly, and if they did break them than it was because they were poor or brave. As for the Civil War, it was both states rights and slavery - states rights from the day the Southern states entered the union, and slavery because southern society rested on fears of mixed races and the corruption of white womanhood and racism that permeated it all. David Blight's right, though I'm not really sure why the ridiculous woman is quoting him. And I'm sorry for this diabtribe - I'm studying to be a southern historian and I love Firefly so the topic is something I like.
Well, you are more than welcome to add me to your friends list... although, I'll admit mine tends to be more soap-box than Jess's... and more vulgar at times.
Now that that's done... let's discuss.
I do agree with David Blight's thought; however, I disagree with you on the point that the Civil War was over BOTH slavery and state rights.
The reason the South left the Union was due to the fact that those states feared the North using its larger voting block to amend the Constitution and outlaw slavery. Slavery was one of the issues that was not discussed during the writing the document because it was very polarized (granted, you already know this).
The right to choose to be a 'slave' state or not was the right that ignited the Civil War, but I still feel it was over a state's right to make choices. Granted, that's also splitting hairs.
But yeah... this woman is just trying to get her 15 minutes of fame by attempting to trash a show with a very CULT following.
You know, I should have friended you a long time ago, considering I was at your wedding ;)
As for the South leaving the Union purely because of states rights, I personally disagree. I think it was for both reasons - because they wanted to govern themselves, and because they didn't want a biracial society. But you're right, this is splitting hairs. The Civil War is a huge source of conflict within academy, but so much of what the South is today came from the Civil War - specifically, things fostered in the late 1890s when Democrats struggling for power used racial fears to gain white supremacy, thoughts that (unfortunately) linger to do this day.
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Now that that's done... let's discuss.
I do agree with David Blight's thought; however, I disagree with you on the point that the Civil War was over BOTH slavery and state rights.
The reason the South left the Union was due to the fact that those states feared the North using its larger voting block to amend the Constitution and outlaw slavery. Slavery was one of the issues that was not discussed during the writing the document because it was very polarized (granted, you already know this).
The right to choose to be a 'slave' state or not was the right that ignited the Civil War, but I still feel it was over a state's right to make choices. Granted, that's also splitting hairs.
But yeah... this woman is just trying to get her 15 minutes of fame by attempting to trash a show with a very CULT following.
Reply
As for the South leaving the Union purely because of states rights, I personally disagree. I think it was for both reasons - because they wanted to govern themselves, and because they didn't want a biracial society. But you're right, this is splitting hairs. The Civil War is a huge source of conflict within academy, but so much of what the South is today came from the Civil War - specifically, things fostered in the late 1890s when Democrats struggling for power used racial fears to gain white supremacy, thoughts that (unfortunately) linger to do this day.
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