They wanted to overthrow the powers the Federal Government had over them. Revolution.
Why is it bad to rename things…
- Thread starter Jarod
- Start date
signalmankenneth
Verified User
And it will always be, not to just Alaskans either?!! These names will be changed again, once Trump leaves office, it's also The Gulf of Mexico too!!!
T. A. Gardner
Thread Killer
They weren't traitors, they were revolutionaries. Benedict Arnold was a traitor. As an American General in the service of the colonies, he betrayed his position giving West Point to the British crown for pay.
The Confederate generals and such were revolutionaries. They tossed aside their citizenship and affiliation with the United States.
McVeigh was a terrorist and revolutionary but did not commit treason. He did not sell out to a foreign power but revolted against his own government.
Words have meaning and unless you are Humpty Dumpty, or I suppose Kamala Harris, you use them with the proper meaning.
Dutch Uncle
* Tertia Optio * Defend the Constitution
If you study history, you'd know they had that right. Again, the United States before the Civil War was like the EU today; a loose confederation of independent states. Historian Shelby Foote’s observation puts the difference very succinctly:
"Before the war, it was said ‘the United States are’—grammatically it was spoken that way and thought of as a collection of independent states. And after the war it was always ‘the United States is,’ as we say today without being self-conscious at all. And that sums up what the war accomplished. It made us an ‘is.’"
FWIW, General Robert E. Lee thought secession was a bad idea, but believed it was his duty to serve his country. His "country" being Virginia because, as Foote alluded in the quote, people in those days thought of themselves as Virginians, New Yorkers, Ohioans, etc, not as members of the United States.
I don't know your age, but I'm 69. Even in the 1960s, as an Army brat living across many of the States, many people still thought in terms of "I'm a Missourian" or "I'm a New Yorker" as opposed to simply believing "I'm an American" are more people do now.
Something else to consider is, 160 years later, discussions of the American Civil War are still heated and acrimonious. Only the fucking morons are arguing that slavery was anything less than an abomination. The argument generally centers around State's Rights vs. an all-powerful Federal government. With Trump in the WH, it appears you've won, Jarod: We, the People, are now getting an all-powerful Federal government. Congrats! LOL
They pledged allegiance to the British Empire and to the King. They broke that pledge of allegiance. Had they failed, and had to rejoin the British Empire, they would have been either found guilty of treason, or pardoned.
Revolution is a form of treason, especially if it fails.
Arnold committed treason against the British Empire, and then got a pardon from the British Empire and committed treason against the USA. By the end, he was just a traitor against everyone.
He made war against his country, which is the definition of treason.
Treason: the crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government.
Again, his intent was to overthrow the government. That makes him guilty of treason, and means he should not be honored by the US Government.