Which confirms my point that slavery was not his primary motivation in fighting the war. by the time the war happened, his slaves were already free so he wasn't fighting to preserve his ownership of them... it was out of his sense of duty to the state of Virginia. Like the protagonist of Hell on Wheels was also not fighting for slavery.
Hell on Wheels casting
- Thread starter Temis the Vorta
- Start date
Yeah, good character. Except I kept flashing back to the character from Heartbreak Ridge every time someone said "The Swede".
How cute. You actually think you have to own a slave to believe in slavery.
I flashed to The Wire when he said am "I'm not even a Swede"
Yeah, good character. Except I kept flashing back to the character from Heartbreak Ridge every time someone said "The Swede".
He didn't say Lee didn't believe in slavery. He said that wasn't Lee's motivation for joining the Confederacy's side.
and Lee's letters from the period reflect that. Slavery was not a motivation for Lee to fight. There is no evidence that it was. was it a motivation for others? of course it was but not for all and not being motivated by slavery is not "out of character" for an ex-confederate as was argued earlier in this thread.
Except Lee was clearly hostile to abolitionism as a political movement. He viewed it as an "unlawful", "evil course" that was a direct attack on the "domestic institutions of the South". I kid you not, Lee literally equated slavery to "spiritual liberty" that abolitionists were "most intolerant of".
Many abolitionists were "unlawful" John Brown was a murderous terrorist, and was a threat to domestic peace. Lee also called slavery a "Moral Evil" and believed it would eventually be ended, but the agressive attitudes of many abolitionists were dangerous. And Lee himself said on many occasions that it was his Duty to Virginia that led him to the confederacy. He was offered by Lincoln to take command of the Union Army, but like many men of the era, his loyalty was to his home state not the federal government and where Virginia went so went Lee. he didn't fight because of slavery, but because of "patriotism"
If you think John Brown started Bleeding Kansas and was representative of the abolitionist movement as a whole you have some serious blinders on.
Yes, it was from the same letter I quoted. I'm guessing you didn't read it because it was pro-slavery.
I think someone should start making individual episode posts, the usual "What rating do you give this?" stuff...
But anyways, tonight was a good episode giving more focus on Colm Meaney's Railroad Baron character. Fleshed him out a bit, some humor with the spilling whiskey/scotch/whatever that was, the verbal match with the urbane french servant, the "foot in puddle" and the conversation with the Irish brothers. Liked the ending with the opposing Bible quotes as well.
I will admit the ending surprised me. I figured they were going to have the main character get the bounty money (which he was unaware of) and earn the resentment of the "Cultured" Indian. Instead he just lets her go and doesn't give a damn about any bounty.
But anyways, tonight was a good episode giving more focus on Colm Meaney's Railroad Baron character. Fleshed him out a bit, some humor with the spilling whiskey/scotch/whatever that was, the verbal match with the urbane french servant, the "foot in puddle" and the conversation with the Irish brothers. Liked the ending with the opposing Bible quotes as well.
I will admit the ending surprised me. I figured they were going to have the main character get the bounty money (which he was unaware of) and earn the resentment of the "Cultured" Indian. Instead he just lets her go and doesn't give a damn about any bounty.
I am really enjoying this show, such a great double shot with Walking Dead! I really like Colm Meaney as Mister Durant. he plays him with such believablity, Like he was playing a historical figure! I hope this show sticks around!
Bohannon did know about the bounty. At the beginning of the episode, the Swede enlisted several men from Bohannon's work crews to aid in the search for Mrs. Bell, and mentioned Durant's bounty in doing so.
^ That'd be Joseph Black Moon.
I've just finished Amanda Foreman's World on Fire (about Brits serving on both sides in the Civil War), and she does a very good job of showing that you could in fact be anti-slavery and still fight for the South. Many British recruits were under the impression that slavery would end naturally in a free Confederacy, and there were all kinds of other issues at play. So Bohannen doesn't seem that odd to me.
Great show, by the way.
Great show, by the way.
Indeed. Setting aside the argument from the South that they were mainly fighting for principles of self-determination, some British observers actually thought a Confederate victory would ultimately speed up the abandonment of slavery, because the Confederacy would be surrounded by countries which did not have slavery and would have little to no room to expand the practice, short of another war or concession from a neighbor. Which was rather unlikely even if they'd beaten the North. How realistic or unrealistic that perception was is a matter for another thread. 
Faster than the North winning the war?
I'm guessing a lot of people have given up on Hell On Wheels given there's almost no discussion of it anywhere. I can definitely see why given the latest episode.
Every damn week Elam can't seem to stop himself from doing something that would have gotten him lynched. When questioned why in god's name he would fight Bohanan when losing defeats the point he was trying to make and winning means getting murdered by a crazed white mob (both excellent points in my book) Elam pulled out the "people have been telling me what to do and who I am my whole life!" card which seems to make him immune to all the truly horrible decisions he makes.
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