So far, most of the political portion of the Jefferson Davis biography I have been reading (Jefferson Davis, American by William J. Cooper, Jr), Jefferson Davis has been a 'States Rights' man.
After the author mentioned this for the 1000th time, I thought about what that meant then, and what that means today. Then as now it means that the Federal government should stay out of the states way with a strict reading of the Constitution - however what it really meant then was letting the issue of slavery alone.
While no one today calls themselves a 'States Right' man today, plenty of Republicans have been using the same arguments today as their Democratic forebears used before and up to the Civil War. A strict construction of the Constitution and keeping the Federal Government small - specifically as it relates to the Affordable Care Act.
I have wondered when our 2 political parties basically swapped ideals considering that the first Republicans were vehemently against slavery and thus, against a strict construction of the Constitution, and Democrats - The party of Davis, Jackson, and many other slave owners dominant in the south - I guess I will find out as I read each new biography.
It also appears that the same intransigence and fighting that is happening now, happened right before the Civil War. The Democratic Party split along sectional lines, and even within each section there were separate and distinct parties - the secessionist fire eaters calling for a break of the Constitution remind me of the Tea Party in the Republican party today.
Will we have a repeat of the Civil War? I can't imagine we will - It seems almost preposterous. But some of the similarities are striking.
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