The South has Risen !

“Save your Confederate money. The South will rise again.” Everybody laughed. No one is laughing now.

The Confederate denominations are worth more than U S currency. At a Signature House auction a few years ago, a Confederate T-1 $1,000 note was sold for $15,000 – and it was a bargain at that.

Everything Southern and Confederate (there is a difference) are highly sought after. Flags, uniforms, guns, swords, even uniform buttons and belt buckles, will bring premium dollars in the collectibles market. A few auctions back there was an old moth-eaten frock coat and trousers which had belonged to a Mississippi colonel which brought $23,000.

In the autograph marketplace, the Confederates consistently bring premium prices. Of course, R. E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and J.E.B. Stuart are sought after. Even the obscure generals are prized. There are many collectors whose goal is to obtain all of the Confederate generals; while others seek the Northern generals. A noble endeavor for sure – the question is “Why?”

The answer is that the passion for the cause that started long before the war is still with us today.

When the thirteen original states joined together to fight for their independence from England, they signed a declaration of their independence in which certain passages had been stricken on which they could not agree. Hard fought compromises had been made. The issue of slavery was chief among these compromises. Then came the Constitution and the issue of a stronger federal government vs. individual states rights. Washington and Jefferson saw the future resting on strong state governments; while James Madison, the architect of the Constitution, saw how lose the federation of states really was. As President during the War of 1812, he was worried that all of New England was going to leave this new federation of states because of the trade that existed between the coastal Northern states and England. Madison was in fear of New England exercising their Constitutional rights and leaving the Union.

There also was an economical division between the Northern states and the Southern states in their development as an industrial society vs. the slavery-driven traditional dependence on agriculture, especially “king cotton.” In a competitive marketplace, tariffs were passed affecting Southern-grown products. Too, England and France were better markets for cotton.

As the country expanded and more states were added to the Union, the North pushed to abolish slavery. The South clung to the institution as its birthright and came to believe that the only way its culture was to survive lay in leaving the Union. Andrew Jackson, a Southerner by birth, would not allow the South to leave and, in fact, threatened to mobilize troops. Then came the years of compromise. Great leaders from both sides argued their cause. Jackson’s Vice President, John C. Calhoun, resigned to lead the South in its quest for independence. The North had the brilliant orator Daniel Webster who argued against the institution of slavery; and Henry Clay, “the great compromiser,” sought the middle ground. These great statesmen kept the country together, but nothing was really resolved. The North became more entrenched as fanatical abolitionists became more influential. The recalcitrant Southern planters steadfastly resisted any threat to their economy. While most historians agree that slavery would have become uneconomical in time, the industrial revolution relentlessly pushed its way South and fanaticism on both sides increased tremendously.

Neither the Whigs nor the Democrats would directly take on the uneasy question of slavery. Then in 1856, the Republican Party was founded principally to end slavery. Its first candidate was Western explorer John Charles Fremont, the “Pathfinder.” He did well but the country settled for a compromise candidate, James Buchanan. He attempted to keep the country together, but the pot was boiling. In the North, William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips and the former slave Frederick Douglass called for emancipation. In the South, extremist Edmund Ruffin editorialized for a second war of independence, together with Howell Cobb and Robert Tombs, legislators who openly called for the dissolution of the Union.

Then came the election of 1860. Vice President John Breckenridge of Kentucky was acceptable to the South as a compromise candidate. Stephen Douglas wanted each state to make its own decision regarding slavery, even new states entering the Union such as Kansas and Nebraska. He satisfied neither abolitionists nor slaveholders. From the West came a little known politician put forth by the new Republican Party, the prairie lawyer Abraham Lincoln who had previously achieved recognition in his debates with Douglas. “A house divided cannot stand, “ Lincoln said. “It shall be all one thing or all the other.” The Union could not continue to exist half slave and half free. And everyone knew he opposed slavery.

The South feared Lincoln. His election would ignite the powder keg of unresolved frustration. However, he did not get a majority of votes. The South was divided between Breckenridge and Douglass. Lincoln became President much to everyone’s surprise for many had supposed Breckenridge would win. Thus fearing of the new President, the South began to mobilize its state militias. South Carolina and several other states declared their intention of leaving the Union. The taking of Federal garrisons would seem to be standard in the wake of such a declaration. If in fact you were leaving the Union, you would not want its forts to remain occupied by Federals. The fortifications would certainly no longer be garrisoned for Southern protection. I have read the hand-written declaration of war from Governor Pinckney of South Carolina presented to the Confederate Congress in Mobile. Participants believed they had done everything possible to comply with the North. They had pleaded, negotiated and even threatened – all to no avail. They interpreted the Federal reinforcement of Ft. Sumter as a hostile act and their only recourse was to fire upon it and drive the Federals out from a state owned fort. This action lit the fuse that ignited the conflagration pitting state against state.

At the time, there were only seven minor states exercising their right to leave the Union. Where were they going? What would they do as the industrial revolution overtook them? Many believe they would have eventually rejoined the Union and that Lincoln should have held back Northern mobilization.

On the other hand, the capital city would be surrounded if Maryland, a border state, seceded as well. The President called for 75,000 troops. This act brought the rest of the South into the confederation including North Carolina and the key state of Virginia. Now there were eleven states in the new Confederacy. All the years of fiery passions on both sides unresolved since the Revolutionary War erupted into the War Between the States.

The firing upon Ft. Sumter incensed Northern firebrands. Southern sympathizer, former Secretary of War John Floyd was called a traitor when he shipped large numbers of weapons to Southern forts now in Rebel hands. Garrison and Wendell Phillips scolded Lincoln for not freeing all the slaves. Frederick Douglass was exhorting the slaves to take up arms against their masters as had John Brown before him in 1859.

The South was busy forming a new government. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was elected President and Alexander Stephens of Georgia became the Vice President. To me, the toughest job given to any man was to Stephan Mallory of Florida, appointed the first secretary of the navy. He had no men, no ships and no money to buy them. But the new Confederacy announced it would fight if attacked -- and fight it did.

Both sides underestimated each other. The large, populous North had many more men, more factories, more guns, more ships – more, more and more. President Lincoln asked only for a 90-day enlistment.

The South with its resolve and chivalrous belief that right makes might had no doubt it would prevail. To the rugged, outdoor farming men of the South, guns, horses and the elements posed no obstacles. And each side believed God was with them. Abolitionist preachers in the North exhorted against the evils of slavery. Immigrants from Ireland, Germany and the rest of Europe thought their new country was the Promised Land and freedom worth the fight. As for the blacks, both free and slave, Lincoln initially hesitated to use these men as troops, but as the Union ranks were reduced by the long war, black regiments were formed and many bravely fought and died for their freedom.

The Old South was fighting for its way of life and wanted to be left alone. But their homeland was being invaded. Even Southerners who did not believe in slavery, when asked what they were fighting for said, “Because you are down here.” The invasion by the North would surely loose God’s wrath. Their national anthem was not “Dixie” but “God Save the South.” Episcopalian Bishop Leonides Polk, a West Point graduate, became a Confederate lieutenant general and along with devout Christians R. E. Lee and T. J. Jackson intended to lead this new Christian nation. Their battle cry, “Down with the eagle; up with the cross” resounded throughout the Confederacy.

The North with more resources and the firm resolve of President Lincoln won the bitterly fought war. The South, under its great leaders R. E. Lee, “Stonewall” Jackson, and J.E.B. Stuart, gave a good account of itself and was cheered on by much of Europe. Gallant in war and gracious in surrender, what would have happened if the CSA had won the war? How would Lincoln have been treated? It is well to remember that it is the victorious who write the history texts. Never have the conquered been treated so gallantly or so romanticized by scholars. This no doubt has contributed to the popularity of Confederate collectibles.

Why collect autographs, mementos and relics of the War Between the States? First, let us say that it was not a Civil War, i.e. two factions fighting for one government. Indeed, the US Congress determined it was to be called the War Between the States, as Southern historian Jim Hayes, rightfully insists.

The passion of the war and its remembrance remain to this day. Signature House participates in most of the large Civil War shows, and regionalism abounds. In Gettysburg people ask for Pennsylvania Bucktails. In Mansfield they ask for collectibles from Ohio regiments. In Nashville, you might hear such comments as, “My grandfather rode with Nathan Bedford Forrest…” In Charleston we are asked for the South Carolina Palmettos. In Richmond we heard the story of a young man whose great grandfather saw Robert E. Lee ride by him on his famous horse Traveler.

We have seen people collect everything pertaining to the war; naturally autographs, documents and letters, but also CDVs - signed or unsigned - can bring high dollars. A signed CDV of R. E. Lee, quite common, can bring $4,000 - $5,000 depending on condition, the presence of a backstamp and when it was signed.

From the modestly priced tax document to the highly prized Charleston slave tag, slave relics are highly sought after by collectors. A document passed through our hands from Richmond regarding the sale of a slave March 30, 1865 in that city. Less than a week later on April 4, the Confederate capital fell and Lincoln walked through its streets. Most probably this was the last slave sold -- which conjures all kinds of curious questions. Did the buyer get a bargain price or have to pay premium? What kind of money was used in the transaction since Confederate money was all but worthless? What was the agent’s sales pitch: Get the last one before the Yankees get here?

For me, the strongest and most ironic document was an 1859 petition to the Charleston legislature by a free black man requesting to relinquish his freedom and become a slave. His reasoning was that his father and brother were slaves and were living better than he. It was hard for him to find work; and every time something was amiss in his community, he would be blamed. He had no protection. The only way the slave-owning family would take him was for him to give up his freedom. He must have been granted his petition. After 1860, this man was not listed on the rolls of South Carolina free men.

The ironies of the war are numerous. John Mosby’s raiders plundered the Union Army in the Shenandoah Valley. Yet after the war he worked for the Department of Justice. John Gilmore, who rode with J.E.B. Stuart, made raids around Baltimore, robbing banks, stealing cattle and with a reputation as being a real rogue with the ladies. A bank check passed through our hands made payable to him as Baltimore Police Commissioner. And there are those who think nothing has changed. The rogues are still in power and politics.

One of the more heated controversies springs from the origin of the sobriquet “Stonewall” connected with T. J. Jackson. Did Bernard Bee intend it as a compliment as most suppose? “There is Jackson with his Virginians standing like a stone wall.” Or was he deprecating this great Southern hero? While his troops were being decimated and flanked by a superior Yankee army at First Bull Run, Bee made this comment to his adjutant as he observed Jackson sitting astride his horse on Henry House Hill. “While we are being fired on and enfiladed, there is Jackson and his Virginians standing like a stone wall.”

And of course, Robert E. Lee himself, the most revered Confederate general, had been offered the command of the Union Army. Though he had great love for his country and flag, he could not fight against his neighbors and his kin. He felt compelled to offer his service to Virginia, his home state.

This is why people collect the War Between the States. Repercussions are felt to this day. States rights are still being argued. The residue of slavery still haunts our society. The passions of our ancestors still resonate. Ken Burns’ lengthy documentary and the provocative film “Gettysburg” contribute to our collective history.

Do not look for prices of Civil War collectibles to diminish. Shows are more popular than ever. Growing ranks of reenactors help us relive the old battles. And perhaps it is well we don’t forget.

My advice to those who collect this exciting category: know the seller with whom you are dealing, whether it is autographs, weapons, flags, uniforms, etc. There are many forgeries and counterfeits in the marketplace. A certificate of authenticity is nice, but know the person from whom it was obtained. Be suspicious if the price is too undervalued. It may not be the deal you supposed after all. I truly believe collecting the North and South during the period of 1860 – 1865 is an exciting and a great investment for the future. One is truly purchasing a unique piece of history.

Happy hunting!