April 29, 1861 (Monday)

"...all we ask is to be let alone."
                                              -- Jefferson Davis

The narrative for the day -- Civil War Daily Gazette, Davis -- 'All we Ask Is To Be Let Alone' -- Maryland in, but Not of the Union, Confederates Try to Secure Western Virginia.

"...We feel that our cause is just and holy; we protest solemnly in the face of mankind that we desire peace at any sacrifice save that of honor and independence; we seek no conquest, no aggrandizement, no concession of any kind from the States with which we were lately confederated; all we ask is to be let alone; that those who never held power over us shall not now attempt our subjugation by arms. This we will, this we must, resist to the direst extremity. The moment that this pretension is abandoned the sword will drop from our grasp, and we shall be ready to enter into treaties of amity and commerce that cannot but be mutually beneficial. So long as this pretension is maintained, with a firm reliance on that Divine Power which covers with its protection the just cause, we will continue to struggle for our inherent right to freedom, independence, and self-government."      
                                                                   --President Jefferson Davis

New computer-assisted tools and techniques evaluate patterns of language and emphasis, especially in the debates that took place in Virginia.  Some say "States Rights" was the reason for the Civil War and others claim it was "Slavery."  This article takes a look at the causes of the Civil War through a new lenses.   "The Causes of the Civil War, 2.0" by Edward L. Ayers, Disunion--New York Times, April 28, 2011.

Diary of a Rebel War Clerk-- Daily Observations from the Civil War, April 29, 1861:

"At fifty-one, I can hardly follow the pursuit of arms; but I will write and preserve a DIARY of the revolution. I never held or sought office in my life; but now President Tyler and Gov. Wise say I will find employment at Montgomery. The latter will prepare a letter to President Davis, and the former says he will draw up a paper in my behalf, and take it through the Convention himself for signatures. I shall be sufficiently credentialed, at all events — provided old partisan considerations are banished from the new confederacy. To make my DIARY full and complete as possible, is now my business. And,

“When the hurly-burly’s done,

When the battle’s lost and won,”

if the South wins it, I shall be content to retire to my farm, provided it falls on the Southern side of the line, and enjoy sweet repose “under my own vine and fig-tree.”