House Republicans want to prevent the Pentagon from removing a Confederate memorial from “America’s most sacred shrine,” Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia led a group of more than 40 GOP colleagues in calling for the Department of Defense to halt the planned removal of the Reconciliation Monument, also known as the Confederate Memorial, “until Congress completes the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 appropriations process.”
In a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the GOP lawmakers said the monument’s removal “does not align with the original intent of Congress.”
Lincoln wasn’t threatening to free the slaves prior to seceesion, and the Escaped Slaves Act was federal law. Southern states had the majority in Congress, but individual states like Wisconsin and Vermont were freeing slaves that reached their borders, and Lincoln was not going to use force to override states rights. The articles of secession were written because the southern states didn’t think the Union was doing enough to enforce slavery, which was, at least on paper, mandatory.
New territories were just a part of the equation, but I’ll quote the articles of secession from South Carolina:
Seems like you’re trying to bring in accuracy, but a bunch of people arent really reading it and somehow walking away with “oh, this guy is defending the South! He supports slavery!”. Etc
Yeah, I try to bring this up anytime state’s rights are brought up by Confederate supporters, because I think we concede too quickly on that point. But I understand the confusion, because online, there’s a lot of “well, aktshually slaves learned trades” bullshit, especially right now. I could probably help myself by whittling down the argument to a shorter, clearer purpose statement. Something like “Confederates were even bigger shitheels than you think!” It’s a nuanced issue that doesn’t make a practical difference for most people, though.