THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE: GENIUS AND TRAGEDY IN THE WOODS OF VIRGINIA

by Empire & Revolution

Because war is by its very nature an extremely messy business, there are not that many truly classic battles in history. The number of true masterpieces, like Hannibal’s triumph at Cannae or Napoleon’s at Austerlitz, is far surpassed by the number of flawed masterpieces, while that number is itself outstripped by the number of confused, chaotic, and wasteful battles.

AMERICA: THE EMPIRE BUILT ON FAT AND SHIT

Matthew Calbraith Perry, American Imperialist

by Empire & Revolution

The end, as the philosophers often say, is in the beginning. This may or may not be true, but if it is, it is particularly interesting to consider the beginning of the American Empire.

Some would say that America hardly needs an Empire, as it is a vast continent-sized nation with enough of the resources and none of the inherent costs that come with being an empire. Isolationism has always been the default common-sense position for this impressive amalgamation of natural resources and human capital. However, instead of making the most of what they have, Americans have embroiled themselves—often at great cost in terms of blood, finance, and internal corruption—in the affairs of the World. It does not seem to be a project that will have a happy end.

WHY ARE WE STILL WAITING FOR THE WAR AIMS OF THE UNION TO BE REALIZED?

Honour Abe's Commitment to Repatriation

by Daniel Barge

With the recent attacks on Southern identity, which some have likened to cultural genocide, there has been a lot of talk recently about Southern pride, history, and honour. Those who are attacking the South in the guise of the Confederate flag and other monuments of the Civil War claim that the Confederacy was all about slavery, and therefore an evil entity, not unlike Nazi Germany.

To back this up they refer to the famous "Cornerstone Speech" by the Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens, delivered at the Athenaeum in Savannah, Georgia, on March 21, 1861. In this speech Stephens pointed out something that, to his contemporaries, must have seemed rather obvious:

“Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man...”

Among those contemporaries, we must include Abraham Lincoln, and we can also include many people from our own era; White Liberals, for example, who continue to attest to the unequal nature of the Black man by continuing to avoid him, his neighborhoods, schools, and social life.

THE SELF-INFLICTED MISERY OF "LES MISERABLES"

Jean Valjean: drowning in Liberal tears?

by General Beardcastle

You’ll have heard by now of “dindus” and the “gentle giant” who wishes to “turn his life around.” Although now almost always Black, the origin of this archetypal object of liberal leftist sympathies was the character of Jean Valjean in Victor Hugo’s famous novel, Les Misérables, which has also been made into one of the longest-running musicals of all time as well as a movie or two.

Valjean is described as a stout, hardy man of great muscular strength, whom we are made to feel has been unjustly imprisoned for merely stealing a loaf of bread and then only because he was starving. Our hearts are supposed to bleed for him and then burn with a sense of outrage at the terrible injustices of the world.

But, just how true is any of this?