Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 40.djvu/319

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"The Southern States proclaimed the right of nationalities, demanded their independence and proved their earnestness and their unanimity by arguments that were far more unequivocal than any doubtful plebiscite. For four years they defended their cause on the battlefield with heroic courage against overwhelming odds and at the sacrifice of everything that men most desire. American and indeed European writers are accustomed to speak of the heroism of the American colonies in repudiating imperial taxation and asserting and achieving their independence against all the force of Great Britain. But no one who looks carefully into the history of the American Revolution, who observes the languor, the profound divisions, the frequent pusilanimity, the absence of all strong and unselfish enthusiasm that were displayed in great portions of the revolted colonies and their entire dependence for success on foreign assistance, will doubt that the Southern States in the war of secession exhibited an incomparably higher level of courage, tenacity and self-sacrifice. No nation in the nineteenth century has maintained its nationhood with more courage and unanimity. But it was encountered with an equal tenacity and with far greater resources, and after a sacrifice of life unequaled in any war since the fall of Napoleon, the North succeeded in crushing the revolt and establishing its authority over the vanquished South."