Not so much a timely issue...

So I watched Cold Mountain today and I couldn't help pondering the Civil War, especially after having read Gone With the Wind this summer. For my entire life I've gone to school in the north and have therefor never really looked at or been taught about the Civil War from a southern perspective and it's interesting to see it presented that way. 

Obviously I believe the North was correct in starting a war if that's what it took to end slavery. I don't really think anyone could argue against the end of slavery. Not anyone sane, anyway. But was the North innocent in this war, or really can any party in a war ever be innocent?

The North it seems, was truly ruthless in their treatment of the Southern people. They hurt not just the soldiers but the women and children as well. And there was certainly hypocrisy too. It's not like the North was free from racism. Not even close. Some were just as racist as Southerners. In fact, some of them more so, as they had never actually had any contact with a black person. 

When I read Gone With the Wind, which is probably my new favorite book, I almost found myself rooting for Scarlet, Rhett and Melanie which I have to say made me entirely uncomfortable as it mean siding with the South, a side which in my education was always presented as cruel. 

I think in the end, it was a dark time in our country's history. THe South was defending a practice that is arguably the worst and most degrading thing one person could due to another but the North was not much better. 

It's not even so much, the North's behavior during war but whether the Reconstruction period. A good end was achieved in a way that was overly cruel and unnecessary, and in that way the South is a victim.

These new perspectives facing me are making me rethink my conclusions on the history of our nation and I think there might be something to be said for that. 

Just some thoughts...