re: #108 jamesfirecat

Hell in a borderish state like Virginia there would even be soliders there who fought for the Union, I know that my home state (Maryland) had people who fought both ways, there’s even a famous statue at Antietam (I think) of a wounded confederate solider and a wounded union solider helping one another…

You might find this interesting:

Happy Confederate History Month, people!

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proclamation declaring April Confederate History Month notes that in April 1861, “the people of Virginia joined the Confederate States of America.” I guess it depends on what you mean by “the people.”

The 1860 Census counted about 1.6 million people in Virginia. Of these, 58,000 or so were “free persons of color,” and roughly 433,000 were enslaved African Americans. I think it’s safe to say that this 31 percent of “the people” did not support a rebellion spearheaded by slaveholders. In fact, thousands of black Virginians flocked to Union military bases at the first opportunity.

And support for secession was hardly unanimous among the white 69 percent of the state. A state convention delayed and debated for months in early 1861 before approving a secession ordinance rather than honor President Lincoln’s request for troops following the firing on Fort Sumter. But even after that, about 22 percent of eligible white males voted “no” on a secession referendum. The vote took place in May 1861, when rebel sentiment was at a high and voting for the Union was both practically futile and personally risky.

Anti-secession sentiment was concentrated in present-day West Virginia, which was still a part of the Old Dominion in 1861. Most whites in this part of the state did not own slaves or depend on the slave-based economy. Accordingly, they had little interest in supporting a pro-slavery rebellion.

To be sure, some white West Virginians backed the rebellion, and the vast majority of white “eastern” Virginians were, indeed, in favor of it after Fort Sumter. I suppose you could argue that this means the “people” — at least the white people — of what is now Virginia wanted to secede.

But if you take the 15 percent of the total population who voted “no” in the secession referendum as a rough estimate of statewide pro-Union sentiment among whites, and add to it the 31 percent of Virginians who were black, you get 46 percent — i.e., nearly half of “the people” within the boundaries of the state as they existed at the time.

McDonnell’s proclamation has been called an affront to the state’s African-American population, past and present, which it is. But it’s also an insult to the not-insignificant minority of white Virginians who remained loyal to their country and their flag.