Varina Davis, the beautiful and sympathetic wife of the Confederate President, gave a vivid description of the Christmas of 1864 in Richmond.

Christmas 1864 Richmond. Christmas is traditionally a celebration of abundance and cheer, but as Dickens pointed out in his famous Yuletide tale, for many it can also be a time of want and need. The South had seceded to much jubilation and overweening confidence. They would lick the Yankees in a few months and then the Confederacy would be independent and everyone would live happily ever after – except the slaves, of course. Well, by Christmas of 1864, Confederate confidence had waned drastically, with Richmond under siege and Southern forces in retreat on all fronts.

The following memoir was written by Varina Davis, the wife of former Confederate president, Jefferson C. Davis. She contributed it to a newspaper in that hotbed of Secessionism, New York City, in 1896. While she had the advantage of hindsight, it is enlightening as to conditions in the Confederate capitol nonetheless. So be your Christmas happy or sad, may this serve as a reminder of how they managed in the last winter of the Civil War: Continue reading →

Great Seal of the Confederacy featuring George Washington, Father of the Confederate States of America

President George Washington warned that political parties should always be national and not sectional, so they could govern with the good of the entire country in mind. He warned that a political party representing only one section would destroy the country because it would allow that one section to dominate and tax the rest of the country for its own benefit.

But money and power are mighty enticements and the North’s population exploded in the 1850s. The new Republican Party realized that the North could outvote the rest of the country and rule for its own benefit, so the Republican Party became the first sectional party in American history: The party of the North. If they could just rally their votes they would have power, wealth, control. They were snarling and drooling like a pack of hungry wolves surrounding a lamb before tearing it to bits. Continue reading →

~ Prologue ~
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on July 9, 1868, and granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which included former slaves recently freed. In addition, it forbids states from denying any person “life, liberty or property, without due process of law” or to “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Continue reading →

After the Civil War, attempts were made to solve the political, social, and economic problems arising from the readmission to the Union of the eleven Confederate states that had seceded at or before the outbreak of war. President Abraham Lincoln planned to readmit states in which at least 10% of the voters had pledged loyalty to the Union. Continue reading →

Any math teachers out there… do yourself and a future generation a favor… use a tape measure to teach fractions… teach the kids HOW to read and use a tape measure!

I have not slept well this past night, and so chose to just get out of bed and do some desktop fishing. I began going through some old emails and decided to do something just a bit interesting this morning – post a major piece of work from a now deceased Southern Brother – a man who I came to know quite well over a number of years. As a writer – with one exception – he was known as, J.D. Longstreet. His real name was Bill Ghent. There are some of you who may have known him, or of him. Let me begin by sharing a brief biography of him… and THEN prepare yourself for over 200 pages of his love of the history of the Southland.

J. D. Longstreet was a conservative Southern American (A native sandlapper and an adopted Tar Heel) with a deep passion for the history, heritage, and culture of the southern states of America. At the same time he was a deeply loyal American believing strongly in “America First”. Continue reading →

Some people come from the “the land down under”. I come from the land where “old times are not forgotten”. As historians we must recommit to helping our youth understand our history and realize that without a commanding knowledge of our history, there is no future for a free United States of America.

After the Sale: Slaves Going South from Richmond

It is natural to fight for your place in the sun. God has even been known to assist people in that struggle; but it is diabolical to lie about your opponent. That is unforgivable. For this reason we must remove the perceived obligation to assign guilt, shame and victimhood upon historical individuals as we study the history of slavery in the United States of America. Continue reading →

~ Foreward ~
The American Revolution: When the Bankers Destroyed the Economy – History Repeating Itself?

With some forces wanting to erase American history these days, here is a history lesson from William Guy Carr’s 1950s classic, Pawns in the Game.

Carr documents the beginning of the secret society known as the Illuminati, and how the real enemies of all people, whether right or left, Democrat or Republicans, are the global bankers in this Satanic group.

This might be a different version of American history than what you are taught in school, especially if you were educated in a public school. (William Guy Carr was Canadian.) ~ Brian Shilhavy, Editor, Health Impact News

Benjamin Franklin, Painting by David Martin, displayed in the White House

In order to understand how men who obtained control of the Bank of England, and the British National Debt, also obtained control of the trade and commerce, and the monetary system of Britain’s American colonies, it will be sufficient if we pick up the threads of the story at the time Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) went over to England to represent the interests of the men who had been associated with him in building up the prosperity of the American Colonies.

Robert L. Owen, former chairman, Committee on Banking and Currency, United States Senate, explains the matter on page 98 of Senate Document No. 23. He states that when associates of the Rothschild’s asked Franklin how he accounted for the prosperous conditions prevailing in the colonies, he replied :

“That is simple — In the Colonies we issue our own money. It is called Colonial Script — We issue it in proper proportion to the demands of trade and industry.”
Continue reading →

In Washington, D.C., while serving as Secretary of War in the 1850s, Jefferson Davis met Ambrose Dudley Mann, a native of Virginia who was the Assistant Secretary of State (and the first man to hold that office). The two men were drawn to each other immediately and became fast friends for the rest of their lives. In her biography of her husband, Varina Davis wrote that Mann had “every Christian virtue” and that “Mr. Davis and he gravitated toward each other at once, and loved like David and Jonathan until extreme old age.” [1]

After the formation of the Confederate States of America, Davis appointed Mann, an experienced diplomat, as a commissioner to Europe. Mann left his country in March 1861, and would never return. After the war, fiercely unwilling to live under Yankee domination, he spent the rest of his life in France, hosting numerous Confederate expatriates at his home, and continuing to correspond with Jefferson Davis, who visited him in Paris in the winter of 1868-1869. Continue reading →

Officials in both the USA and CSA were remarkably successful in finding sufficient financial resources to support their armies in the field for the better part of four long, bloody years.

~ Introduction ~
By the time of Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration as President of the United States (USA) in March 1861, seven seceding Southern states had already formed the Confederate States of America (CSA). Political leaders throughout that territory, as well as most of their counterparts in the Northern and Border states, believed that any period of fighting to establish the legitimacy of the new Confederate nation would be rather short. Neither of the newly appointed Secretaries of the Treasury in the USA (Salmon Portland Chase) or the CSA (Christopher Gustavus Memminger) expected to have to raise several billion dollars to prosecute a four-year-long war. As they approached the task of financially supporting even a short war, both men understood that nations had traditionally used three major sources to finance their wars: borrowing money, printing money, and raising money through taxation. From 1861 to 1865, both the USA and the CSA used each of these mechanisms, although in different and varying proportions. Historical sources differ a bit on the exact percentages of their wartime expenses those territories raised from various sources. However, the following table incorporates several estimates from scholars using different assumptions about inflation, currency values, and definitions.

In many ways, describing these financing activities reveals a tale of two countries. ~ M.A.M.
Continue reading →

‘Government By Organized Money’

“On the eve of a national election, it is well for us to stop for a moment and analyze calmly and without prejudice the effect on our Nation of a victory by either of the major political parties.

The problem of the electorate is far deeper, far more vital than the continuance in the Presidency of any individual. For the greater issue goes beyond units of humanity–it goes to humanity itself.

In 1932 the issue was the restoration of American democracy; and the American people were in a mood to win. They did win. In 1936 the issue is the preservation of their victory. Again they are in a mood to win. Again they will win. Continue reading →

The National Archives Southeast Region presents stories from survivors of the Great Depression overlaid with powerful pictures from era.

Johannes Adam Simon Oertel Pulling Down the Statue of King George III, N.Y.C. ca. 1859

Journalistic propaganda is a powerful instrument of indoctrination. Without evidence, foul ideas can easily penetrate mainstream discourse. For instance, recently it has become fashionable to posit that slavery is America’s original sin. To sensible people, this is a risible claim, because there is nothing particularly American about slavery. But revisiting the history of slavery in non-Western societies in Asia and Africa would do little to change the minds of America’s critics. A more appropriate strategy would be to contrast the opinions of the Founding Fathers on slavery with those of leaders in other countries. Only after undertaking this task will we be able to judge America. Continue reading →

Centralized sovereignty is a necessary first step in controlling the people. It is the fundamental platform for tyranny. Thomas Jefferson in all his wisdom pushed America toward a decentralized States Rights doctrine. He knew that government most directly accountable to the people was at State level. That doctrine prevailed in America until 1865 when by force of bayonets it was destroyed, which is why Karl Marx wrote Lincoln a letter of applause for his denial of States Rights. Marx believed that centralized power was an essential first step in herding the people toward his communist utopia. Continue reading →

NOTE: Due to the age of the following post, some of the embedded links may no longer be active. We do apologize. ~ Ed.

When war broke out in 1861, the federal government was without its own money machine, though that would soon change. As expenses from the war mounted, the U.S. government once again issued Treasury Notes to help finance it. The Act of July 17, 1861 authorized Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase to issue notes at 7.30%, a rate chosen to make interest calculation so easy they would circulate as money — a $50 note accrued interest at a penny a day, for example. Though the seven-thirties, as they were called, didn’t circulate, the same Act provided for the issuance of Demand Notes that did circulate. As their name implies, Demand Notes were redeemable in specie, but that promise was broken by December, 1861 when the government suspended specie payment. Continue reading →

Courteous Reader,

I have heard that nothing gives an author so great pleasure, as to find his works respectfully quoted by other learned authors. This pleasure I have seldom enjoyed; for tho’ I have been, if I may say it without vanity, an eminent author of almanacs annually now a full quarter of a century, my brother authors in the same way, for what reason I know not, have ever been very sparing in their applauses; and no other author has taken the least notice of me, so that did not my writings produce me some solid pudding, the great deficiency of praise would have quite discouraged me.

I concluded at length, that the people were the best judges of my merit; for they buy my works; and besides, in my rambles, where I am not personally known, I have frequently heard one or other of my adages repeated, with, as Poor Richard says, at the end won’t; this gave me some satisfaction, as it showed not only that my instructions were regarded, but discovered likewise some respect for my authority; and I own, that to encourage the practice of remembering and repeating those wise sentences, I have sometimes quoted myself with great gravity. Continue reading →