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History from those that lived it.
5 years ago
In 1947, still living civil war veteran from the Confederate side, Corporal Julius Franklin Howell (1846 - 1948) was interviewed and recorded telling about his time as a youth in the south with black slaves and then when the war broke out and when he had joined all the way to the end and the day Lincoln had died. He will tell you the TRUTH of the times and why many to all the states had at the time succeeded from the Union. Many believe and are told it was all about slavery, when it was always about states rights first and foremost.
The reason we need to learn history is so we can understand it, know it, and not be blinded by lies and misconceptions, all so we can learn from our past and make the changes to keep from repeating those mistakes. Our history is our legacy. It is what tells us of our origins, our struggles, of our failings and triumphs. it shows what we were and how we have become better and overcame what we saw as wrong. It also teaches the way of the world of the time, how we must understand that we can not judge the past on the basis of the presents morals and social norms. This is why we have statues of both Union and Confederate people of importance. This is why we have the statues of those who have struggled to overcome what was truly difficult. this is why we dedicate memorials to those that rose up and made a mark on history, so we will remember and never forget.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."--George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905.
The reason we need to learn history is so we can understand it, know it, and not be blinded by lies and misconceptions, all so we can learn from our past and make the changes to keep from repeating those mistakes. Our history is our legacy. It is what tells us of our origins, our struggles, of our failings and triumphs. it shows what we were and how we have become better and overcame what we saw as wrong. It also teaches the way of the world of the time, how we must understand that we can not judge the past on the basis of the presents morals and social norms. This is why we have statues of both Union and Confederate people of importance. This is why we have the statues of those who have struggled to overcome what was truly difficult. this is why we dedicate memorials to those that rose up and made a mark on history, so we will remember and never forget.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."--George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905.
Who I'm with or part of: 
I hate to speak ill of the dead, however, Corporal Howard was participating in the "Lost Cause" mythology; a bit of mental gymnastics, cognitive dissonance, and retconning of history that the people of the former Confederate states engaged in to try and deal with the defeat of the Confederacy and the elevation of their "property" to personhood.
I would have thought the plantation owners would have LOVED to get industrialization; one machine could do the job of 10-100 slaves, and if they were concerned about all these "idle slaves," they could have just put them on boats and sent them back to Africa, no Return Merchandise Authorization required.