gwynhefar | (no subject)

So in part because of the book I read yesterday, I've been thinking a lot lately about the dichotomy of being a Northerner who has now spent more of my life in the South than I have in the North. I whine and complain about the heat, and the conservatism. But you can't live down here this long and not have some of the culture and mindset rub off on you.

The thing is, there's a reverance for history and heritage and the past down here that I fully admire. And truth be told, I *understand* the Confederate position, and why it's still such a touchy subject down here.

In school up North you learn that the Civil War was about slavery -- the South wanted to keep it and the North were the good guys wanting to free everyone. But that's a vast oversimplication. The Confderates weren't fighting because they loved slavery. They were fighting to protect their homes and families from people they saw as invaders who wanted to destroy their way of life -- a way of life that just happened to be supported by slavery. Without slavery, the South had no hope of competing with the industrialised Northern states.

So yeah, not quite so black and white. It's hard to hate people who were just defending their homes and families. And it's pretty easy to sympathise with those today who feel that those ancestors who fought are worth remembering and honouring.

Welcome to the world of grey. Gods I hate no-win situations.

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I understand that y'all have some view of the War of 1812 that makes y'all the heroes, and not the heartless bastards who were invading Canada to rescue us from our chosen government.

Interestingly enough, lotsa the American Invaders were from guess which (relevant to your post) section of the U.S.?

Louisiana? I know a lot of Canadians relocated here around the same time. Apparently that's where the word "Cajun" comes from.

Truth be told, they didn't teach much about the War of 1812 at my school. I'll have to look into it.

Not Louisiana specifically, but your general south. Unlike, say, the Pennsylvanians and Upstate New Yorkers, many of whom had ties across the border, the southerners were . . . I can't think of the right term just now. More dangerous, maybe?

Your Cajuns come from Les Acadiens (the Acadians), about whom some info here. And some info about the dispersal here.

One of the main roads in Baton Rouge is Acadian Hwy. I was wondering where that name came from. Now I know :)