Catholics supporting the Confederacy

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Hi Everyone,

First of all I apologize if this is in the wrong category.

Here’s my dilemma: I know that there were Catholics in the Confederacy and those who supported the Confederacy, but is there an official position regarding the Confederacy now? I have a friend (who is an extremely right-wing political Catholic) who claims that joining the Confederacy would have been the morally correct, Catholic thing to do.

Just to clarify, neither he nor I dissent from any Church teachings. I only call him right-wing based on his political beliefs surrounding things such as immigration, race issues, etc. He and I both oppose abortion, gay marriage, etc, so I don’t want people to thing I am accusing faithful Catholics of being “right-wing”

Thanks so much!
 
It was a terrible war and it did very little to change the situation for slaves in the south. I feel it was waged for economic reasons and to subjugate the south.
Like any war, the real reasoning and motives are murky. I wouldn’t chastise Southerners or Northerners for fighting.
The common folks had little choice but to protect their land.

Somehow, Jefferson Davis was spared the death penalty… He most certainly had friends in the North. 🤔
 
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I guess it depends on the reasoning for supporting the Confederacy. If one believes that each state has its own rights apart from the federal government, that would be a valid reason. Or, if someone was born in the south and would like to support their home state, that would also be justifiable. But, if someone were to support the Confederacy because it would give someone the opportunity to own a slave, I suppose that would be an an immoral reason for a Catholic.
 
“Our new government is founded upon exactly [this] idea; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery – subordination to the superior race – is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.”

-Alexander Stephans, Vice-President of the CSA, 21 March, 1861

So. How does that square with Catholicism?
 
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Having been born in the south (VA) and lived there for much of my adult life, I’ll offer you this. The civil war is sometimes (often actually in some parts) simply called "The War of Northern Aggression. Most of the men who fought for the Confederacy were simply fighting for their own homes, to protect their wives and children and hold on to what they had. Only a minority thought it was a war to foster and continue slavery.
As someone has posted above, if the reason a man fought was to protect the custom of slavery, then I could see it being a moral issue/question. If a man takes up arms to simply protect his family and home, no problem there.
 
Yeah, I’m not gonna sit around virtue signaling about how great I am. I wasn’t around back then and probably couldn’t have done much had I been there.

It all boils down to evil politicians vying for money and land. The reasons they feed “us” for waging war are 98% lies. Sometimes if war is inevitable, you just gotta leave. Otherwise, you’re stuck making unsavory decisions or becoming a pawn in the Elites sick games.
 
I don’t think Mr. Douglas’ (edit: Mr. Stephans, rather) religion weighs into it. The question wasn’t does Mr. Douglas square with Catholicism, but the country. Mr. Douglas (Stephens) is the second most important government official in the CSA telling everyone throughout time what the ‘cornerstone’ of the country is. I take the Vice-President at his word, a word that means something for the country.
 
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Rhubarb said:
I don’t think Mr. Douglas’ religion weighs into it. The question wasn’t does Mr. Douglas square with Catholicism, but the country. Mr. Douglas is the second most important government official in the CSA telling everyone throughout time what the ‘cornerstone’ of the country is. I take the Vice-President at his word, a word that means something for the country.
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True but the import of the OP’s question is the moral ramifications of Catholics supporting the Confederacy vis-à-vis the Church teaching on slavery. In light of that, Mr. Douglas’s religion is of some significance if his statement is to be used in the argument.
 
Rhubarb said:
-Stephan Douglas, Vice-President of the CSA, 21 March, 1861
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The VP of the Confederacy was Alexander Stephens from Georgia.

Stephen Douglas was an Illinois senator who ran against Lincoln on the Democratic ticket in 1860 and lost.
 
Oh, you’re right. Derp. Dyslexia on my part.

But! The Cornerstone Speech was delivered by Alexander Stephens (Cornerstone Speech - Wikipedia) , not Stephen Douglas. So I can edit that real fast and the point still stands.
 
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If you were living in the South at that time, say Arkansas or Louisiana, and you are a hillbilly farming and have no idea what’s going on, you didn’t have much choice about what side you were on. Yankees were coming down and invading your land. You either fought them back, or your land was going to be taken. Not much of a choice there. You’d wave the Bonny Blue Flag and join the Cause. You could care less about the few plantation owners.
 
Rhubarb said:
The Cornerstone Speech was delivered by Alexander Stephens
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That is quite true.

He tried recanting that when the South lost, and lost, lol.

No one said the point didn’t stand. But you should get the speaker correct to make the point.
 
Entwhistler said:
If you were living in the South at that time, say Arkansas or Louisiana, and you are a hillbilly farming and have no idea what’s going on, you didn’t have much choice about what side you were on. Yankees were coming down and invading your land. You either fought them back, or your land was going to be taken. Not much of a choice there. You’d wave the Bonny Blue Flag and join the Cause. You could care less about the few plantation owners.
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You just described the overwhelming majority of Southern farmers, to a point. The stereotype of wealthy planters isn’t quite what history has made it out to be.
 
Entwhistler said:
If you were living in the South at that time, say Arkansas or Louisiana, and you are a hillbilly farming and have no idea what’s going on, you didn’t have much choice about what side you were on.
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You’re saying that southerners didn’t know what the Civil War was about? That’s sort of condescending.
 
I’m sure there were quite a few Southerners who had no idea why there was a war going on. Especially up in the hills. It was fight or die for them.
 
Are you kidding? People today are still debating what that debacle was about…
 
What on earth are you talking about? They had to fight or die? No one knew what was happening? Sure, whatever.
 
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