A Case for Confederates

Written By: Alex Koeppel  |  Posted: Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

            Very rarely does one hear a good word for the Confederates of the Civil War. At least in the North, Confederate sympathy is nearly extinct. When students learn about the Civil War, they take it for granted that the Union were the "good guys" and the Confederates were the "bad guys". I was no exception; I grew up equating Confederacy with slavery and rebellion and the Union with freedom and patriotism. My perspective has recently changed, however, as I learned more about history, government, and liberty.

            The first and foremost question of debate is this: Do states have a right to secede? The Constitution does not address the issue, but it is nevertheless one that the founding fathers were concerned about. The right to break away from a government is a fundamental and necessary power for those subjected to it. This principle was the essential truth behind the American Revolution. If states have no right to secede from the union, then the colonies had no right to seek independence from the British Empire.

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