Monday, November 15, 2010

Culture Honor and the Civil War

I have a essay due on Wednesday. Anything from chapters 7-9 of my history book, which covers the years up to the Civil War, and the Civil War. I've chosen to do my paper on why the south decided to fight.

You may say the reason for fighting was slavery, and I agree in part, but I think there's a lot more to it than that. Sure, the south wanted to keep its slaves, but I don't think that was the root issue or why most southerners fought.

"Why are you fighting this war?" Union troops asked a captured southern soldier.
"Because you're down here," the soldier replied
.

I believe that most southern soldiers fought not to keep their slaves, but out of loyalty, out of cultural honor. Someone challenges you, invades your land and threatens your way of life. If you are a southerner, what do you do?

Fight, obviously.

I'm against slavery. I hope everyone reading this knows that! It's unchristian, unfair and wrong. But if I had been a boy during the time of the Civil War? I would have fought for the Confederacy, no doubt.

It's difficult to explain my feelings, but I think a lot of my southern friends can understand. There's something that runs deep, really deep in southerners; something that makes us fight for our family and friends; something that rears up when someone attacks our character; something that will not stand by and let our land be taken.

Whatever "that" is, I think, was a bigger reason for fighting than slavery. But what is "it"?

That's what I've decided to write my paper on.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Southerners Are...
121. Extremely competitive
122. Naturally rebellious
123. Intensely patriotic
124. Fiercely independent
125. Passionately loyal
126. Steadfastly honorable
127. Impressively good shots
128. Unfailingly polite
129. Proudly territorial
130. Always charming ;)

Strange/Crazy Things I've Done (thanks, Izori!)
131. Ride cross-legged on the top of a pickup truck.
132. Wear two kinds of eyeliner at once
133. Go out in public in my Wacky Tacky Day attire (It was for school, and I decided not to change so I could see all the weird looks it would get me.)
134. Wink at a random guy at the fair (He ran into a prize tent >.> My bad.).
135. Go up to a random guy and ask if he tried to figure girls out.
136. Ask the man who works the counter at the bowling alley if he could please blow up my ball, I thought it was flat.
137. Challenge a friend to a heated debate at a Christmas party
138. Feed the dog in the snow without shoes on
139. Fall off a cliff in the dark
140. Be a boot for Halloween.

Things I Stand For

141. God
142. Freedom
143. The right to speak freely
144. Equality
145. The right to bear arms
146. Justice
147. The right to challenge the government
148. Individuality
149. My country
150. And, of course, southern honor XD

~Kendra

"I'm southern and proud of it. I think all southerners are. I mean, if you're not proud of it, you're not really southern."

5 comments:

Shelley said...

Interesting essay topic! :) I bet you'll get an A+! Awesome lists! Have you actually fallen off a cliff in the dark? I really like the list of things you stand for! I agree with many of those! Great post! :)

Bethany said...

YAY SOUTHERNERS!! :D
A few years ago I read a quite-liberal history book....its standard take on the Civil War actually had the opposite effect of that intended: I wound up very pro-southern ;)

Izori said...

Hehe...I'm a southernor! I get blasted for it weekly.

Great post!

Kendra Logan said...

Shelley: Thanks! I hope so :D I finished the paper today and I'm feeling pretty good about it.

I actually have fallen off a cliff in the dark, haha :) We had just gotten to the beach for my sixteenth birthday, and it was about 9 o'clock. I was excited to get to the ocean, so I took off running towards the water. Of course, it was pitch black, but I assumed I'd have a straight shot to the ocean.

Out of nowhere, the next thing I know, I'm falling. It's exactly the way you dream it. All the sudden, there's no ground and your stomach drops. You forget which way is up, and all you know is that air is passing you by with a whooshing sound.

I hit the sand on my side, completely disoriented. I felt the sand under me, and kind of turned myself back to my feet.

I had fallen off a sand cliff. Not a sand dune, those things slope up and then slope back down. This was an honest-to-goodness cliff, albeit a small one. It was only about 6 feet.

Still. It was sort of scary. But EXTREMELY awesome. It's one of my favorite things ever, actually XD Who knew you could dream something so correctly without ever having done it?

Bethany: YESSSSS :D Haha, yeah, the book we're reading for history is amazing, but definitely has a Yankee bias XD

Izori: YAY! But O.O You get picked on about that?

Beat them up.

Just kidding... :3

~Kendra

Achieve1dream said...

Oh yeah time for a good old rebel yell!!!!!! I'm also a southerner and proud of it. :)

I think that is a fantastic essay topic. Very original and creative. Let us know how you do on it.