Secesh (@Secesh)

"...I tried all in my power to avert this war. I saw it coming, and for twelve years I worked night and day to prevent it, but I could not. The North was mad and blind; it would not let us govern ourselves; and so the war came, and now it must go on till the last man of this generation falls in his tracks, and his children seize his musket and fight his battle, unless you acknowledge our right to self-government. WE ARE NOT FIGHTING FOR SLAVERY. WE ARE FIGHTING FOR INDEPENDENCE,—and that, or extermination, we will have." -- President Jefferson Davis, In interview by journalist James R. Gilmore accompanied by Colonel James Jaquess of the Seventy-third Illinois, 07/17/1864. This article appeared in the September 1864 issue of The Atlantic Monthly #sec002 #jeffersondavis #slavery #independence #civilwar #slavery #govern #war #extermination