Southern Independence. Why War?
Charles Pace Shotwell Publishing, 2015
The so-called Civil War has been given many names through the years, depending on what side of the Mason-Dixon you live on, or what kind of education you have had. Civil War, War of the Rebellion, The War Between the States, the War of the Yankee Aggression, and the list goes on and on. Dr. Charles Pace, in his book, Southern Independence. Why War? very accurately points out the war is most accurately described as “The War to End Southern Independence.” Sure wish I would have thought to use the term in some of my discussions with the Northern folks I come into contact with.
Dr Pace’s writing style is very easy to read, which appealed to a broad range of people in my family – preteen to adult. Each of the chapters deals with a particular subject regarding the war and, by the author’s own admission, the reader can skip around since each chapter does stand alone.
From the beginning, he pulls from his own experiences as a doctor in North Carolina and although I’m from a different generation than the author I enjoyed reading about his memories of a simpler time, for example, when, “the patient was there because he wanted to get well, not because he wanted disability.” Life has sure changed. These changes are due to big government. As the book brings out, the founders republic was killed by Lincoln and his party and turned into an empire.
The aim of the book is to discover historical truth, and this the author does by taking and covering many political, constitutional, religious and historical topics – some of which will be familiar with the student of Southern history. But he does so in a fresh style and ties it all in with the founders as well as current events.
To quote from the book, “History says he [Lincoln] made war in pursuit of ‘Union,’ a supposedly good thing, a word that is not required to mean anything – an end to itself. Later on, the false claim was added that he fought to eradicate slavery. Union, at the point of a gun, is slavery… The war was fought for one reason, and that gives it its only correct name: ‘The War To Prevent Southern Independence.’”
I did feel, as I was reading the book, that while the Dr. Pace had a lot of facts and historical truth, it would have been nice to include footnotes for his sources. I enjoy the truth as well as facts and always like to go back to the source of any author I read. He does include a chapter at the end of the book that includes his sources which is good, but I didn’t know about it until I was finished.
Southern Independence. Why War? was a great addition to my library and would be great for any serious student of the War to End Southern Independence, slavery, Abraham Lincoln, or the United States for that matter.
