What follows is running commentary on what I believe to be intenetional misinformation in the movie Gods & Generals. The first scene I find historically repulsive and inconsistent takes place between Sgt. Thomas Chamberlain (C. Thomas Howell) and Lt. Col. Lawrence Chamberain (Jeff Daniels). I will interact with the script, offering, what I believe to be, the proper perspective. I will be in Bonnie Blue.
Sgt. Thomas Chamberlain: Morning, Lawrence.
Lt. Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain: Any mail?
Sgt. Thomas Chamberlain: No. But I did manage to get my hands
on a New York Tribune.
Lt. Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain : What are they saying about us now?
Sgt. Thomas Chamberlain: Well, not much about us. I mean, that is, this Army here in Stoneman’s Switch. Sure are kicking up a fuss about Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Says here that enlistments are down
and desertions are up.
Lt. Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain: Any grumbling among the men?
Sgt. Thomas Chamberlain: Well, not in our regiment. A few wonder out loud why they should be risking their lives for the darkies.
In this line we see a few things.
Lincoln has already ordered the Emancipation Proclamation. This scene was after Fredericksburg, which Lincoln’s EP was released only a few weeks after the Yankees’s were “beat down” at said battle. So then, Why would the men in question, Federal troops, only now be questioning whether or not they should have to fight for the “darkies.” Fredericksburg was fought a year and a half after the first shots at Sumter. Are we to believe that it takes a soldier that long to realize that they are fighting to save “darkies?” No! They knew full well that they were fighting to save the Union, and upon hearing about Lincoln’s EP, were probably feeling a bit mislead, which is understandable. Imagine….you enlist for what seems to be a noble cause (Saving the Union) only to find out a few years later you might be dying for a cause you don’t agree with, namely, reeing the darkies. The irony is they were, presumably, fighting to free the slaves in the South, all the while keeping theirs in bondage.
Lt. Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain: Well, Tom, you know my position. I signed up to preserve the Union. The president did the right thing. What’s the use of uniting the country by force and leaving slavery in place?
Of course you signed up to preserve the Union, that’s what everyone did, for the North anyway! As far as leaving slavery in place, at the time these words were spoken, fictitiously speaking, Slavery was still be practiced in Northern states. Notice, this was after Lincoln’s EP was released! Hypocrites!
Sgt. Thomas Chamberlain: It sure riled up those Johnny Rebs.
You got one thing right! Though you probably meant it in a “work force” sense, not in the sense of Johnny Rebs being worried about the possibility of the women and children being in danger.
Lt. Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain: They’ll think Lincoln incited the slaves
to rise against them.
Why else would he have done it? He said in his first Inaugural address: “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.” — Abraham Lincoln, 3/14/1861 First Inaugural Speech
Although, I will give him credit. It was a good idea, however, the slaves for the most part did not rebel against their owners. Which is also interesting considering how ”bad” they had it.
Sgt. Thomas Chamberlain: Why shouldn’t they?
Lt. Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain: Freeing the slaves wasn’t a war aim when this began, but war changes things. It sorts things out.
Well, they got two things right. I wonder, though, how exactly it sorts things out? Is it because they actually needed a reason to invade the South? Secession in the South was as Constitutional as the day is long! I guess he means that they knew they were unjustified in their invasion of the South. What better tactic than to say you are liberating a people group?
Doesn’t this sound all to familiar for us today? The U.S. goes on a hunt for Osama and somehow we end up in Iraq, liberating a persecuted people group. I guess we needed a little time for war to sort things out too!
Sgt. Thomas Chamberlain: Well, I don’t know, Lawerence. Not everybody feels the way we do
about the darkies. Especially when it comes to fighting and dying.
Lt. Col. Joshua Lawrence: Tom. Do me a fovor. Don’t call me Lawrence and don’t call Negroes “darkies. That’s a patronizing expression from which we must free ourselves. Come outside. I want to show you something. All these thousands of men. Many of them not much more than boys. Each one of them some mother’s son. Some sister’s brother. Some daughter’s father. Each one of them a whole person, loved and cherished in some home far from home. Many of them will never return. An army is power. Its entire purpose is to coerce others. Now, this kind of power cannot be used carelessly or recklessly. This kind of power can do great harm. We have seen more suffering than any man should ever see……and if there is going to be an end to it, it must be an end that justifies the cost.
Now, somewhere out there is the Confederate Army. They claim they are fighting for their independence, for their freedom. Now, I cannot question their integrity. I believe they are wrong, but I cannot question it. But I do question a system that defends its own freedom…while it denies it to others. To an entire race of men. I will admit it, Tom, war is a scourge. But so is slavery. It is the systematic coercion of one group of men over another. It has been around since the book of Genesis. It exists in every corner of the world. But that’s no excuse for us to tolerate it here…when we find it right before our very eyes, in our own country. As God is my witness, there is no one I hold in my heart dearer than you. But if your life or mine is part of the price
to end this curse and free the Negro…then let God’s will be done.
Wow! I suppose if you make a movie about this period in history, you have to say some stupid things or else every organization out there will be filing lawsuits. Anyway… I believe, ultimately, that the North was heavily influenced by Marxist/Evolutionary philosophy. The way this country has developed since 1865 is proof of this, I think. That said, let my demonstrate it to you with the last paragraph of dialogue in the script.
Jousha Lawerence says that he questions the motives of a group who fight for freedom, yet, leave an entire race in bondage. I think he has a poor understanding of history prior to the War, or he has been influenced by something else, namely Marxism. Class is now in session, so pay attention. In 1776, our founding fathers wrote a little document known as The Constitution of the United States of America, perhaps you have heard of it. At the time, these United States were comprised of 13 Colonies, formerly under British control. Now, in this Constitution, which was part of their fight for freedom, there are laws prohibiting the abolition of slavery. As an aside, the C.S.A Constitution banned the slave trade all together. That said, there was much debate at his time in history surrounding slavery, worldwide. My point is this, the founding fathers, who were slave owners, fought for freedom, liberty, self-government, etc., all the while suppressing another race. Lawerence, seems to forget this fact. I wonder if he is willing to question the motives of the founding fathers as well, being that the South and the Founding Fathers fought for the same thing, with the same baggage, which is slavery according to Lawerence. Basically, any argument taking the form of Lawerence’s, is an argument against the Founding Father’s as well.
But suppose he is willing to say the same of the Founding Fathers. What could he possibly use, by way of a rule, to level his assault against the South and the Founding Fathers? Not the Bible, which he mentions. The Bible does not dismiss slavey as “inherently evil”. Does anyone know of a particular philosopher who is writing at this time, that was also extremely interested in the War? That’s right, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles. And class, what is the major tenet of Marxism? That’s right, a class-”less” society. So perhaps Lawerences’ ideological assumptions are grounded in Marxist philosophy? This is just a guess, being that I am arguing with a movie character that can’t respond! If you watch the movie, though, you can see the word “evolution” written on the blackboard of the class, in which Lawerence is teaching. Granted, Evolution and Marxism were both still in their infancy at the time of Northern Invasion, but there is that possibility it had some influence on the Yankee agenda.
Deo Vindice
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