“The best mind in the South was the highly successful and widely cultured Judah P. Benjamin, of Louisiana, who was personally unpopular. This was partly because he was an alien type (a West Indian Jew) of sybaritic tastes and mellowed, disenchanted realism, and partly because of jealously for the ease with which he did so many things and never lost his smile. [Jefferson] Davis’ history with Benjamin had the usual episode of a sharp exchange, nearly a duel, but usually the dissimilar men gained mutual respect and became friends. Wanting Benjamin, and knowing high office for him would antagonize the people, Davis made him Attorney General.”
Clifford Dowdey: The History of the Confederacy 1832-1856, Barnes & Noble, (1992), Page 80
Karl Marx wrote for a number of Northern US newspapers – as a European Correspondant. These newspapers were exclusively headquartered in New York and so Marx crafted his viewpoints to suit the audience he was paid to write for. During the 1850s and 1860s, Marx aligned himself with the anti-slavery narrative that the Northern abolitionists were using to illicit political and cultural changes in the South. As the North industrialised and moved away from a direct alliance upon agrarian capitalism, it discovered that European-style commerce was very lucrative, and that its factories could be filled with “White” migrants (the impoverished of Europe) – so that African slaves were no longer required. The irony is that many rich land-owners in the North hedged their bets as to which system would eventually prevail – purposefully maintaining cotton plantations in South – as well as active shares in Northern factories. Meanwhile, slavery was definitely declining in the South as crops failed and plantations were forced to move into newly acquired territories to accommodate the steady stream of European migrants looking to steal free land from the Native Americans. By the time the American Civil War occurred in 1861 – trouble between the North and South had long been brewing since at least 1832.
White US migrants had entered Mexican territory in the 1820s and 1830s – only to take up arms and resort to acts of terrorism at Mexican-owned places such as the Alamo. What were these White terrorists fighting for? Well, Mexico had abolished slavery in 1829 – making it illegal to own – or trade slaves. The White US migrants were of the opinion that this political act of humanism and morality had violated their “freedom” by denying them a living. Motivated by a mixture of right-wing political despotism, racism, and Protestant self-righteousness, these Christian versions of the Taliban attempted to enforce their own type of extremist Sharia-law upon the (non-White) Mexican people in an armed stand-off in 1936 – a stand-off which saw a magnificent Mexican Field Army march into Texas – and thoroughly destroy this attempted insurrection. Seeing this abolition of slavery as an affront to the US (White) European dominance of North America, the US invaded Mexico between 1846-1848 – defeating the Mexicans and stealing around one-half of the landmass that had been East Mexico.
The US increased by a massive one-third – annexing Texas and various other areas. Indeed, many States that seceded in 1861 to the South had not been in existence in 1776 – dating from around 1849! The US government administered from Washington, had no problem using African slave-labour to enrich the nation providing the individual States showed deference to the federal government. The South was only portrayed as “separate” and “alien” in Northern propaganda when Southern ideologues pointed-out that the Union (according to the 1776 Constitution) was in fact a “Confederation” (a collection of individual provinces acting together in a voluntary union) – and not a “Federation” (a number of subordinate provinces acting involuntarily under the demanded authority of a central power-base). The slow importation into the Northern States of the European despotism (the 13 colonies in the Americas had overthrown in 1776) – meant that the Southern States perceived themselves as the true Americans attempting to defend the original 1776 Constitution. As the North eventually prevailed in this conflict, the South is now falsely portrayed as being both “foreign” and “evil”. Even the institution of slavery the Europeans had introduced all over the Americas – was reduced to an evil practice only found in the South (only 3% of Southerners owned slaves).
Slavery was made an issue by Northern propaganda – due to Northern ideologues having to find a way to justify the spread of industrialisation (and the international commerce it attracted). The real issue was one of remaining true to the 1776 Constitution and the question of “authority” throughout the individual States (which were “countries” in their own right – and not “counties” subordinate to a central authority). The industrialists of the North wanted to end this US system and drive through a European model – ignoring the need for American self-determination. This is why many in the South saw the Civil War as a continuation of the 1776 “Revolution” – and in no way a rebellion against legitimate authority. There were Americans who thought nothing of owning African slaves throughout North America – including in the Northern States. It is a myth that suggests only Southerners believed in slave-ownership. In reality there were just as many abolitionists in the South as there in the North – and many of these donned the grey uniform and stood in-line not to enslave Africans – but to defend their right to freedom. Of course, not to paint a too fine a point regarding this matter – it is also true that some Southern people supported the Confederacy for “freedom” and “slave-ownership”.
One such person who believed in States’ Rights – and the ownership of slaves – was “Judah P. Benjamin”. He was of (colonial) British birth – but his family was of Jewish ethnicity. His parents had been married in London but had later moved to the British West Indies – where Judah was born. Following this, Judah’s family relocated to the Southern United States. Although a lawyer by profession, Judah purchased and farmed a sugar plantation – using 140 slaves to carry-out the labour. Interestingly, in a famous court case, Judah had argued in court that revolting slaves should be allowed to go free as the owners of a slave ship had deliberately overpacked the ship and brought the rebellion upon themselves. Many who knew Judah, however, have stated that his legal arguments and his personal views were two different things. In reality, Judah, his family, and his broader community in the South were generally in favour of slave-ownership. He believed that slaves were “property” and that a government had no right to interfere in the ownership of property. Particularly a “property” guaranteed in the 1776 Constitution. He thought that freeing slaves was impractical because this population had no idea of how to survive as free-functioning individuals. Such a transition, if it could happen at all, would take a very long time involving preparation (involving prolonged education and cultural support). For those who supported slavery, these attitudes were common amongst the “White” community. Another justifying argument involved the idea that Biblical texts justified the enslavement of Africans – with slavery being a product of god’s will (ironically, slave-ownership is discussed at length in the Old Testament – but generally rejected in the New Testament). In 1862, Judah P. Benjamin was appointed Confederate Secretary of State, and he pursued the foreign policy of attempting to pursued Great Britain and France to recognise the Confederacy (as both countries were near to doing). In 1864, Confederate General Patrick Cleburne (of the Army of Tennessee) suggested that all the slaves in the South should be freed and immediately armed – to form “Black” Regiments in the Confederate Army (to supplement those Black, Chinese, and Native American Indian Confederate soldiers already serving). Jefferson Davis vetoed this idea (even though Judah P. Benjamin had been discussing this since 1863). As the Confederacy collapsed during 1865 – Judah P. Benjamin was offered political asylum in England – an offer he gratefully accepted.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 