We’re gonna’ make those darn Yankees1 pay!
By the end of this, they’ll be sorry for electing
that Lincoln and taking all of our sweet,
precious freedom from us.
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was
five days before Christmas last year in 1860.
When the people of my proud state, South
Carolina, had found out that those worthless
Yanks2 had elected that freedom-stealer
Abraham Lincoln to be president, we decided
a Confederate soldier
that it was enough. We had to do something
to stop the North from taking slavery away
from us. Our state lawmakers met in Columbia, our state capitol, to
decide what to do. They decided the only thing we could do was
secede3 from the United States and start our own country. And so on
that glorious day, December 20, 1860, we said goodbye to the United
States and declared ourselves our own independent nation!
1
Yankee: a slang term for somebody from the North. People from the South called people from the North Yankees.
Also the name of a terrible baseball team.
2
Yanks: short for Yankees
3
secede: leave
During the next six weeks, we
were followed by six other
states in the South that
decided they didn’t want to be
a part of the United States
either. Each of the states that
left the U.S. met in
Montgomery, Alabama, and
there they decided to form a
the flag of the Confederate States of America
new country: The Confederate States
of America. In our great, new country,
people are free to own slaves, and the
states have more power than the
national government. We even
elected our own president: the noble
Jefferson Davis. We have invited any
other state that is sick of the U.S. to
join us. And just let those Yankees in
the North try to stop us!
I hear that the North wants to try to
bring us back into the United States,
and that there is going to be a war.
That’s fine with me! We’ll whip those
Yankees bad, and then they’ll never
Jefferson Davis, the president of the
mess with the Confederate States of
Confederate States of America
America again! When we heard that
there might be a war with the North, people ran out of their houses to
sign up for the army. I remember when my brother told me that there
was going to be a war, and that the army was taking recruits 4, him and I
ran like lightning to enlist5.
I know that there are more people who live in the North, and I know
that they will have a bigger army, but we have many advantages as
well; advantages that I think are much more important. First, we are
fighting this war on our own home turf. If the North wants us back so
bad, they’ll have to come and get us. We only want to be left alone.
And if we’re fighting here in the South, that means that we know the
land better, and we can use that to our advantage. Second, we have the
best generals in the world to lead our armies, including Robert E. Lee,
one of the most brilliant generals in history. The Yankees haven’t got a
chance against him! Third, and most importantly, we have a reason to
fight. We are fighting for freedom. The North is only fighting to keep
the United States together. Which would you rather fight for: freedom
or keeping the country together?
The point is, we’re going to whip those Yankees quick, and then they’ll
be embarrassed and sorry that they didn’t just leave us alone in the
first place.
I’m just glad that this war won’t last long. I’m looking forward to killing
a few Yanks and then going home a free man.
1. How did people in the South feel about the upcoming war?
2. What advantages did the South have over the North?
3. What did the South think was going to happen in the upcoming war?
4
5
recruits: new soldiers
enlist: sign up for the army