THE CORNERSTONE SPEECH

Washington DC

Description

On March 21, 1861, just weeks before the Civil War began, Alexander H. Stephens, the Vice President of the Confederate States, gave a speech in Savannah, Georgia to explain and justify the secession of the Confederate States and the coming war. This was known as the “Cornerstone Speech.” In this speech, he included the following: “The new constitution has put at rest, forever, all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institution—African slavery as it exists amongst us—the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone 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.” In the words of its vice President, slavery was the very cornerstone upon which the Confederacy was founded, and the reason the Southern states seceded. Blacks were subordinate to whites; this was a normal and natural condition and a great moral truth. .... Just in case you still think the Confederate flag doesn’t represent slavery. Read this and more at www.theintellectionist.com