Unusual
Wilson found this in a Confederate textbook. Context, anyone?Q. How do the Indians live?
A. By hunting and fishing.
Q. Where did they once live?
A. In all America.
Q. What has become of them?
A. The white people drove them away and took their lands.
Q. Are they all gone?
A. A few of them live in some places but do not seem much happy.
Q. Was it not wrong to drive them away and take their lands?
A. It was, and God will judge the white man for it.
Q. May not some of the wars we have had, have been such judgments?
A. Very likely.
posted by Nathanael @ 9:49 PM
1 Comments:
This is not surprising at all. Confederate policy in general towards Native Americans was more enlightened than the Union's. It is only current political correctness which casts the Confederacy as some sort of 19th century Nazi Germany that has obscured this fact. It was under the Union not the Confederate flag that the Native population of the western US was ethnically cleansed.
When Jefferson Davis found out about Gov. John Baylor's (Confederate Territory Arizona) extermination order for the Apaches he busted him down to private. The order never got far in implementation due to the limited resources of the CSA in southern Arizona and its short life. But, the fact that the Confederate president expressed horror at it and removed Baylor from any position of authority does say something.
In contrast the head of the Union soldiers from California that placed Arizona under martial law, General James Carleton issued and carried out an almost identitical order. Not only was the Union order actually carried out and approved by the Union government, but it was applied against the peaceful Navajo as well as the Apaches. The 1864 Long Walk of the Navajos was the worst atrocity to ever take place on Arizona soil. It was carried out by Union officers James Carleton and Kit Carson.
But, nobody can ever say anything good about the Confederacy in today's politically correct climate. So I am not surprised that you were not aware that they had a higher opinion of Native Americans than the Union. The same Union which during the Civil War engaged in genocide against the Navajos.
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