Forgotten History: The free state of Jones

[seamusTX]

Jones County, Mississippi, in the south-central part of of the state, has always been and remains a sparsely settled area. For some time before the War Between the States, it had no organized government and didn't want one.

During the war, the residents of Jones County symbolically and practically separated themselves from the state of Mississippi. They harbored fugitive slaves, Confederate deserters, and Union agents.

A new book has been published about this era, The State of Jones. The authors are on a book tour. Expect this story to arrive soon at a media buzz outlet near you.

I was reminded by hearing one of these interviews how secession divided the Union, divided counties from their states, divided friends, brothers, fathers, and sons.

Jones County is the best-documented example, but there were many others.

- Jim

[joe817]

Sounds like a fascinating book. I'll be looking for it when it comes out. Thanks for posting.

It's interesting to me to note, that "The War Between The States" goes by several names. That one is the most common used in the Southern States from what I'm told. The "Civil War" was the wide spread term used mainly in the North.

But to me, and I remember vividly, as my grandmother referred to it( as taught by her mother who fled from Atlanta during the burning of Atlanta to their new home in Clay County), as "The War Of Northern Aggression".

'Nuff said.

[seamusTX]

You're welcome.

The book is available for delivery on the next business day. I don't know if I will order a copy. Probably not. I'm more interested in the general outlines of history than the minute details.

I have never accepted the term Civil War. There is no such thing, unless it is fought with the rules of rock-paper-scissors, or maybe marbles.

So-called civil wars are the most inhumane, bloody, brutal conflicts that this fallen world has ever seen.

The War Between the States is at least factually correct, with no built-in bias. One could also say "the recent unpleasantness," but that has pretty much lost its cultural context -- and 144 years in not so recent.

- Jim

[joe817]

[boomerang]

But to me, and I remember vividly, as my grandmother referred to it( as taught by her mother who fled from Atlanta during the burning of Atlanta to their new home in Clay County), as "The War Of Northern Aggression".

'Nuff said.

I've also heard the phrase "The Second American Revolution" more than a few times.

[seamusTX]

The founders expected revolutions at short intervals, maybe once a generation. This idea is recorded in Thomas Jefferson's famous letter:

God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ... And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

Ponder, ye faithful, ever single word and the whole of this quotation.

By 1860, the pressure had built up to a degree that could no longer be contained. Millons died, American cities were burned to the ground. and the result was disastrous for all involved. The economic gains of almost a century were wasted, and the South did not recover for another century.

Those of you who are historically inclined may include Lyndon Baines Johnson and Samuel Rayburn in your responses.

- Jim

[jimlongley]

Sounds like a fascinating book. I'll be looking for it when it comes out. Thanks for posting.

It's interesting to me to note, that "The War Between The States" goes by several names. That one is the most common used in the Southern States from what I'm told. The "Civil War" was the wide spread term used mainly in the North.

But to me, and I remember vividly, as my grandmother referred to it( as taught by her mother who fled from Atlanta during the burning of Atlanta to their new home in Clay County), as "The War Of Northern Aggression".

'Nuff said.

My maternal grandpappy, a Brigadier General in the US Army, refused to call it the "Civil War" and felt that "War Between the States" was understating it, and let me know that when I was taught "Civil War" in school. Of course his middle name was Forrest, as is mine, named after his ancestor Nathan Bedford.

My paternal grandmother, an Army Brat daughter of a Union officer, also did not use "Civil War" in favor of "The Rebellion."

It's the victors that get to write the histories, and that's why ours changed so much as we became displaced in time from he actual events. And that holds true still.