tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23810563684394136482023-12-12T09:54:33.012-06:00On The RoadThe everyday lifestyle of an over the road truck driver. Here you will see pics of daily life, hear my vents and frustrations, and travel this beautiful country of ours.Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-60997116676664919822015-04-19T19:20:00.001-05:002015-04-19T19:20:21.342-05:00Mistakes????It has been a very hard and frustrating week on the road. Mind you it did not start that way. Freight was planned with a trip home lined up. Made plans to see my sweet grand baby, maybe dinner with the kids, even a fishing trip because the moon was gonna be right for some warm spring afternoon fishing. So goes the life of an independent truck driver. You make plans and then one idiot ruins not just your day but your week, and leaves a little one disappointed.<br />
<br />
For most people what you call a mistake or an error has only the effect of doing a task over. You may have a pissed off boss breathing down your neck, but you go home with your other hood rats, cronies, bff's or whatever, have a drink and laugh about it. I am not afforded that luxury. I am ridiculed in the press and social circles when I make a mistake. I didn't make a correct entry on my logbook and then some asshole on her cellphone runs a light and I kill or maim her. She was clearly in the wrong, but my "mistake" well, that means I may have lied and should not have been there according to the lawyer so the wreck is my fault. Maybe I forget to check turn signals and someone hits me because I made a "mistake" and thought I saw a working light.<br />
<br />
That clerk and her barely English speaking dock foreman made a "mistake". To them it was no big deal, just a little extra work. But to me? I missed my little grand baby and now she is sad cause pawpaw said he was coming home and now he's not. I don't get to sit down tonight and have dinner with my family. I'll miss that really good day fishing. Oh, and I will not even get into the lost revenue that keeps my lights on and pantry filled. The people on the other end of the phone that I call to inform and vent my frustrations to, they don't give a rat's ass either. They are just desk clerks who need to get home and watch over paid sports figures run back and forth and throw a ball at each other.<br />
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Your little "mistakes" can have big impacts, much like a collision of a truck, it is time that cannot be gotten back, it is the development of ideas that someone says they will be there but you cannot trust them in the future.<br />
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On one more note, I am more than willing to share who the customer was that screwed me over this week. You see, this company prides itself on the fact that its products are "Made in The USA". That sounds really nice, and while they are physically located in the USA, the reason they are so inexpensive relates to the fact they hire mostly illegals to work there. Corsicana Bedding in Corsicana, TX. Sweatshop conditions, run down buildings, products that are not manufactured in a clean facility.Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-37873550069489884452015-04-12T20:06:00.002-05:002015-04-12T20:06:23.531-05:00I am back againIt has been way too long and I promise to keep this up this time. I have left the wonderful world of Power Only transportation with the best company in the world, Trailer Transit, Inc. You can find them at <a href="http://www.trailertransit.com/">www.trailertransit.com</a><br />
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I spent a couple of months at a bulk hauler, Oakley, out of North Little Rock, AR. They are an OK company if you like to speed, run overweight, and compete against other drivers to make money. I will not recommend them to anyone at anytime for any reason.<br />
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I now find myself as an owner operator leased on to the company that trained me and started my career in 1990. Schneider National Carriers based out of Green Bay, WI. While they do have their faults, I came back because I needed to be home more often. I have a little girl, my 4 year old granddaughter who absolutely loves her pawpaw and I am gonna be there for her. This current program allows me to choose my own freight and get home when I need to be there.<br />
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<br />Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-33859719922910394012014-08-31T10:49:00.000-05:002014-08-31T10:49:47.331-05:00Lincoln's War on Independent States<div class="MsoNormal">
The American Revolution and the Secession of Southern States
<o:p></o:p></div>
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The two events that did more than any other to shape the
course of American history are the struggle for American independence from
Great Britain that historians call the Revolutionary War and the struggle for
Southern independence that historians call the Civil War. So let’s look at some
similarities and differences between them. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When in 1776 thirteen British colonies in America set forth
on a quest for independence, it was looked upon by the British government as a
rebellion, and those who took part in it were called rebels and traitors. For
eight years the British attempted to crush the rebellion, and had they been
able to do so, those who took part in it would have been punished for treason. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In 1861, seventy-eight years after the signing of the Treaty
of Paris in which His Britanic Majesty recognized the thirteen "free,
sovereign, and independent States,” four of those now sovereign states, along
with several others that had subsequently been created, also declared their
independence. And just as the British had done in 1776, the United States
government called it a rebellion, and those who took part in it were called
rebels and traitors. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Because the united colonies were successful in their quest,
those who fought for independence are now called patriots. But because the
Southern states were not successful in their quest, those who fought for
independence have been called traitors. And though these two historical events
are said to be parallels with opposite outcomes, there is a significant difference
that most historians either do not see or choose not to explain. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the first case, the British government existed before the
thirteen American colonies, and those colonies were established by grants and
charters from that government. In the second case, the thirteen independent and
sovereign states existed before the United States government, and that
government was created by a constitution drafted and ratified by conventions of
the people in those states. And so, in the first case the British government
was the superior and the American colonies the inferior, while in the second
case the states and the citizens thereof were the superior and the United
States government the inferior. This is confirmed by the 9th and 10th
Amendments to the Constitution. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Article VII of the Constitution says: “The Ratification of
the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of
this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.” (Note the last
phrase which by exclusion makes it clear that any states not ratifying the
Constitution would not become a part of the new federation.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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Because it had been established that the Constitution of the
United States could not take effect until it had been ratified by no fewer than
nine states, had that number not ratified the Constitution, there would have
been no federal government and thus no United States of America. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As fortune would have it, eleven states ratified the
Constitution; the seats of Congress were filled; a president and vice-president
were elected; and the government began to function. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It is important to clarify here that as previously noted
regarding the status of states not ratifying the Constitution, as Rhode Island
and North Carolina had not yet ratified the Constitution, they could not take
part in the elections of 1788 and played no further role in the establishment
of the government at that time. And until they did ratify the Constitution,
they remained separate and independent sovereign states and could have remained
so indefinitely. Note also that Vermont, which was not one of the original
thirteen states but which had played a notable part in the struggle for
independence, did not unite with the other states in the formation of the
government under the Articles of Confederation and remained sovereign and
independent until March of 1791—three years after the Constitution had been
ratified. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Just as when in 1776 the thirteen American colonies wished
only to separate in peace and pursue their own destiny, in 1861 the seceded
Southern states wished only to “go in peace” and be “let alone.” And as in 1861
neither the Constitution nor any law of the United States prohibited the states
that had voluntarily entered into the compact of union from separating from
that compact, the secession of Southern states was not a rebellion, and those
who fought for independence from the United States were not traitors. (Had
there been a United States Military Academy at West Point in 1776 and Benedict
Arnold had graduated from that institution, his portrait would not be hanging
in the gallery there as are the portraits of Robert E. Lee and “Stonewall”
Jackson. And had Confederate Lieutenant General Joseph Wheeler been a traitor,
he certainly would not have been given command of United States cavalry forces
in Cuba during the war between the United States and Spain. The same might be
said of Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., the highest-rankking U.S. officer
to be killed during WW-II, for he was the son of Confederate general Simon
Bolivar Buckner.. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines
rebellion as 1. open, organized, and armed resistance to ones government or
ruler or 2. resistance to or defiance of any authority, control, or tradition. <o:p></o:p></div>
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If you begin with the second definition and follow with the
first, you will have the sequence that characterizes the struggle for American
independence from Great Britain. But the definition cannot fit the struggle for
Southern independence from the United States, for those states could not have
been in “open, organized, and armed resistance” to the government of a nation
of which they were no longer a part. To refute this, one must prove the
secession of Southern states to have been either un-Constitutional or illegal. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Remember these differences: <o:p></o:p></div>
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The American colonies came into existence by virtue of
grants or charters from theBritish government while the United States
government came into existence by virtue of a constitution drafted and ratified
by conventions in nine of thirteen sovereign states. And there is ample
evidence that in their doing so, they had no intention of surrendering their
sovereignty but rather of creating a government of specifically limited powers
for the purpose of making it possible to cooperate on such matters and in such
circumstances as affected their common interest. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Now note these further differences between the American
colonies that declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776 and the
Southern states that declared their independence from the United States in
1860-61: <o:p></o:p></div>
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The American colonies, having no warrant for separation
under British law, claimed their right to independence on the philosophy of
Thomas Jefferson and John Locke as expressed in the Declaration of
Independence—viz., “…the laws of nature and of nature’s God” and “…whenever any
Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the
People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its
foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to
them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” The seceding
Southern states, however, claimed their right to independence both on the
arguments set forth in the Declaration of Independence and also on the fact
that they had voluntarily acceded to a compact of union with other states from
which they could voluntarily secede as expressed by James Madison when he
wrote: "a breach of any one article by any one party, leaves all other parties
at liberty to consider the whole convention as dissolved.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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(Source: The Madison Papers (Philadelphia: 1840), 895, in H.
Newcomb Morse, "The Foundations and Meaning of Secession," Stetson
University College of Law, Stetson Law Review, Vol. XV, No. 2, 1986), 426.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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_____ <o:p></o:p></div>
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Note: Stetson University, located in DeLand, Florida, is my
alma mater. It was founded in 1883 and is Florida's first university. Stetson's
College of Law, located in St. Petersburg, was founded in 1900 and is Florida's
oldest law school. <o:p></o:p></div>
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_____ <o:p></o:p></div>
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It is important to note that whereas the Declaration of
Independence claims the right of any people “to alter or to abolish it [their
existing government], and to institute new Government…,” the Southern states
had no desire to alter or change the government of the United States but simply
to form one of their own, and in doing so, “laying its foundation on such
principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Surprising as it may seem to some, in 1847 when he was a
Congressional Representative from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln made a compelling
case for secession in a speech before the House of Representatives in reference
to the war with Mexico and the declaration of Independence of the Republic of
Texas: <o:p></o:p></div>
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"Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the
power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government and form
a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable, --a most sacred
right--a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world. Nor is
this right confined to cases in which the whole people of an existing
government, may choose to exercise it. Any portion of such people that can, may
revolutionize, and make their own, of so much of the territory as they inhabit.
More than this, a majority of any portion of such people may revolutionize,
putting down a minority, intermingled with , or near about them, who may oppose
their movement. Such minority, was precisely the case, of the Tories of our own
revolution." (Congressional Record, Jan. 12, 1847) <o:p></o:p></div>
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Ironically, and in contradiction to his previous statement,
just 13 years later Lincoln claimed that the Southern States did NOT have the
right to secede and that somehow the government came before the states formed
the union and its government by ratifying the Constitution. He argued in his
1861 Inaugural address that "Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in
the fundamental law of all national governments." This is hardly consistent
with his argument in 1847. <o:p></o:p></div>
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(It should also be noted that the Framers of the
Constitution specifically avoided the use of the words "national" and
"perpetual" and in every instance struck them from proposed
documents. James Madison made it clear that the people, their liberties, and
their "safety and happiness" were more important than any form of
government when he said, "The safety and happiness of society are the
objects at which all political institutions must be sacrificed." (It seems
to be quite a stretch of the purpose of preserving the “safety and happiness of
society” that the political institution known as the Confederate States of
America had to be sacrificed.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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It is important to note in this context that no state would
have ratified the Constitution if it had contained any language declaring the
Union to be indivisible. Moreover, three states—Virginia, New York, and Rhode
Island—explicitly reserved the right to sever the bonds of union as follows:
Virginia—"We the delegates of the people of Virginia, duly elected in
pursuance of a recommendation of the General Assembly and now met in
Convention, having fully and freely investigated and discussed the proceedings
of the Federal Convention and being prepared as well as the most mature deliberation
hath enabled us to decide thereon, do in the name and behalf of the People of
Virginia declare and make known that the powers granted under the Constitution,
being derived from the People of the United States, may be resumed by them
whensoever the same shall be perverted to their injury and oppression, and that
every power not granted thereby remains with them and at their will"; New
York--"That all power is naturally vested in, and consequently derived
from the people"; and Rhode Island—“that the powers of government may be
reassumed by the people whensover it shall become necessary to their
happiness." (From Part 2 of “The Right of a State to Secede from the
Union” in Constitutional History of Secession by John Remington Graham) <o:p></o:p></div>
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Also in the reference just cited, Graham points out that in
the Virginia Convention of 1788, John Marshall asserted: "We are
threatened with the loss of our liberties by possible abuse of power,
notwithstanding the maxim that those who give power may take it away. It is the
people who give power, and can take it back. Who shall restrain them. They are
the masters who give it, and of whom their servants hold it." <o:p></o:p></div>
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The fact that none of the other states that ratified the
Constitution offered any objection to the right to withdraw from the Union as
expressed by Virginia, New York, and Rhode Island (and that their doccumends of
ratification wer accepted as written) is strong evidence that all the states
viewed the right to withdraw from the compact as a fundamental right. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Southerners during the secession debate knew and understood
this argument. Senator Judah P. Benjamin of Louisiana, a brilliant legal mind
who was later Attorney General, Secretary of War and Secretary of State of the
Confederacy, in his farewell speech to the United States Senate on February 5,
1861, said: “The rights of Louisiana as a sovereign state are those of
Virginia; no more, no less. Let those who deny her right to resume delegated
powers, successfully refute the claim of Virginia to the same right, in spite
of her expressed reservation made and notified to her sister states when she
consented to enter the Union.” (Judah P. Benjamin, "Farewell Address to
the U. S. Senate," delivered February 5, 1861, in Edwin Anderson Alderman,
and Joel Chandler Harris, eds., Library of Southern Literature (Atlanta: The
Martin and Hoyt Company, 1907), Volume I, 318.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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And as some argue that the seceding Southern states acted
with reckless abandon, it should be noted that they held that any such
separation was not to be undertaken for trivial or insignificant reasons as was
expressed by James Madison in a letter to Nicholas P. Trist on February 15,
1830: <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Applying a like view of the subject to the case of the U.
S. it results, that the compact being among individuals as embodied into
States, no State can at pleasure release itself therefrom, and set up for
itself. The compact can only be dissolved by the consent of the other parties,
or by usurpations or abuses of power justly having that effect." <o:p></o:p></div>
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President James Buchanan said in his inaugural address that
the founding fathers rejected the idea of allowing the federal government to
use force to compel the obedience of a state: <o:p></o:p></div>
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“The question fairly stated is, Has the Constitution
delegated to Congress the power to coerce a State into submission which is
attempting to withdraw or has actually withdrawn from the Confederacy? If
answered in the affirmative, it must be on the principle that the power has
been conferred upon Congress to declare and to make war against a State. But no
such power has been delegated to Congress or to any other department of the
Federal Government. It is manifest upon an inspection of the Constitution that
this is not among the specific and enumerated powers granted to Congress, and
it is equally apparent that its exercise is not ‘necessary and proper for
carrying into execution’ any one of these powers. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“So far from this power having been delegated to Congress,
it was expressly refused by the Convention which framed the Constitution. It is
clear from the proceedings of that body that on the 31st May, 1787, the clause
‘authorizing an exertion of the force of the whole against a delinquent State’
came up for consideration. Mr. Madison opposed it in a brief but powerful
speech, from which I shall extract but a single sentence. He observed: ‘The use
of force against a State would look more like a declaration of war than an
infliction of punishment, and would probably be considered by the party
attacked as a dissolution of all previous compacts by which it might be bound.’
<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Upon his motion the clause was unanimously postponed, and
was never, I believe, again presented. Soon afterwards, on the 8th June, 1787,
when incidentally adverting to the subject, he said: ‘Any government for the
United States formed on the supposed practicability of using force against the
unconstitutional proceedings of the States would prove as visionary and
fallacious as the government of Congress,’ evidently meaning the then existing
Congress of the old Confederation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Without descending to particulars, it may be safely
asserted that the power to make war against a State is at variance with the
whole spirit and intent of the Constitution.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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American legal giant William Rawle, whose book, A View of
the Constitution of the United States, was a standard text at West Point up
until the War Between the States (and used by the deligates to the Hartford
Convention), said that Article IV:4 does not provide any authority for the
federal government to use force against a state that has left the Union: <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Hence, the term guarantee, indicates that the United States
are authorized to oppose, and if possible, prevent every state in the Union
from relinquishing the republican form of government, and as auxiliary means,
they are expressly authorized and required to employ their force on the
application of the constituted authorities of each state, "to repress
domestic violence." If a faction should attempt to subvert the government
of a state for the purpose of destroying its republican form, the paternal
power of the Union could thus be called forth to subdue it. Yet it is not to be
understood, that its interposition would be justifiable, if the people of a
state should determine to retire from the Union, whether they adopted another
or retained the same form of government, or if they should, with the express
intention of seceding, expunge the representative system from their code, and
thereby incapacitate themselves from concurring according to the mode now
prescribed, in the choice of certain public officers of the United States. The
principle of representation, although certainly the wisest and best, is not
essential to the being of a republic, but to continue a member of the Union, it
must be preserved, and therefore the guarantee must be so construed. It depends
on the state itself to retain or abolish the principle of representation,
because it depends on itself whether it will continue a member of the Union. To
deny this right would be inconsistent with the principle on which all our political
systems are founded, which is, that the people have in all cases, a right to
determine how they will be governed. This right must be considered as an
ingredient in the original composition of the general government, which, though
not expressed, was mutually understood, and the doctrine heretofore presented
to the reader in regard to the indefeasible nature of personal allegiance, is
so far qualified in respect to allegiance to the United States. It was
observed, that it was competent for a state to make a compact with its
citizens, that the reciprocal obligations of protection and allegiance might
cease on certain events; and it was further observed, that allegiance would
necessarily cease on the dissolution of the society to which it was due.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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(Rawle, William, A View of the Constitution of the United
States, 2nd Edition, 1829, pp. 295-304, 305-307) <o:p></o:p></div>
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(Most people think that in 1860 thirteen Southern states
were chafeing at the bit to break away from the Union. However, the truth is
that it took just ten days short of a year for thirteen states to make this
move—six of them deciding to break away only after Lincoln had declared war on
the first seven.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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A less drastic but equally important right claimed by
virtually all of the founders of the Consttitution was that of nullification as
explained by John Remington Graham in the following paragraphs from “The right
of a State to Secede from the Union” in his book Constitutional History of
Secession: <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Tied to the right of secession was the twin right of
nullification, which was a cautious and gradual kind of secession actually
understood at the time of the formation of the United States Constitution as an
extraordinary mode of redress against unconstitutional acts within or of the
Union in a case of unusual magnitude where, due to the passions of the day, or
the very nature of the question, normal modes of redress by petition or
litigation could not be effective and beneficial. It was a process known to
have three distinct stages: <o:p></o:p></div>
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“First, there might be an act of interposition,- i.e., a
resolution of formal protest adopted by the legislature of an offended State,
promulgating a solemn declaration identifying the offensive acts of the
government of the Union or of sister States as unconstitutional and injurious,
and concluding with an appropriate demand for redress, lest further measures
become necessary; <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Second, if interposition should fail to induce justice, the
legislature of the offended State might then issue a summons for the election
and assembly of the People in Convention, which could then meet, and, by
command of supreme and irresistible authority, adopt an ordinance of
nullification, declaring the unconstitutional acts null and void, and
authorizing or directing the government of the State to proceed with concrete
measures to obstruct any further implementation of the wrongful acts within her
territory; <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Third, if the ordinance of nullification should fail to
restore proper balance between the Union and the State, the People in
Convention could then, by act of sovereign power, as the means of enforcing the
nullification, adopt an ordinance of secession, lawfully withdrawing the State
from the Union. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Interposition as a precursor to nullification was well
illustrated by the resolutions of the Virginia House of Burgesses on May 30,
1765, denouncing the unconstitutionality of the Stamp Act. Due to the wisdom
and eloquence of William Pitt, the crisis passed, and interposition did not
mature by stages into secession from the British Empire. Secession occurred
only a decade later on another occasion, upon fresh and aggravated wrongs,
inducing Rhode Island, Virginia, and other colonies of England in North America
to withdraw from the British Empire. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Interposition was also mentioned by James Madison in the
First Congress under the United States Constitution where he said, ‘The state
legislatures will jealously and closely watch the operations of this
government, and will be able to resist with more effect every assumption of power.’
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“The formal use of nullification by the ultimate legal
powers of the several States was foreseen in the Virginia Convention of 1788
where George Nicholas noted worry over abuse of the power of Congress [and]
then asked, ‘Who is to determine the extent of such powers? I say, the same
power which, in all well-regulated communities, determines the extent of
legislative powers. If they exceeded these powers, the judiciary will declare
it void, or else the people will have the right to declare it void.’” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Considering the present-day unfettered usurpations of power
by the U.S. president and Congress, what Madison and Nicholas foresaw cannot
seem anything less than alarmingly prophetic.) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
[John Remington Graham has degrees in philosophy and law
from the University of Minnesota. A former law professor and experienced trial
lawyer, he has devoted much time to the study of British, American, and
Canadian constitutional law and history.] <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is no shortage in today’s media of allegations of
usurpation and abuse of power at the highest levels of government, but in fact
such excesses have been with us almost from the beginning, and some of them
(actual or presumed) have led to Constitutional crises that could have resulted
in the separation of one state or another from the Union. (Massachusetts, for
example, threatened to secede four times—in the early days on the adjustment of
state debts, on the Louisiana Purchase by Jefferson, during the War of 1812,
and on the annexation of Texas. One chamber of the Massachusetts legislature
actually passed a resolution of secession.) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In 1798 during the John Adams administration, the
Federalists, sensing their power draining away because of immigration and
territorial expansion, put through Congress three laws intended to check the
growth of the rising Democratic Party. Because newly naturalized citizens were
generally voting for that party, the Naturalization Act increased the waiting
time for naturalized citizenship from five to fourteen years. The Alien Act
allowed the President, at his discretion, to deport any foreigner without due
process of law. The Sedition Act broadly criminalized libel against federal
officials, even allowing the fine and imprisonment of two or more people who
gathered in political protest. (Under this law Congressman Matthew Lyon of
Vermont was imprisoned for writing a letter to a newspaper criticizing a
federal judge. He was re-elected to Congress while still in prison.) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Outraged over these abuses of the Constitution, Thomas
Jefferson, then vice-president of the United States, and James Madison,
recently retired from Congress, evoked the principle of “nullification”—the
refusal of a state to enforce a federal law it deems to be un-Constitutional.
This resulted in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of November and December
of 1798. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For the state of Kentucky, Jefferson wrote: "Resolved,
That the several States composing the United States of America are not united
on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government; but that,
by compact, under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States,
and of amendments thereto, they constituted a government for special purposes,
delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserving each State to
itself the residuary mass of right to their own self-government; and that,
whensoever the general government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are
unauthoritative, void, and of no force; that to this compact each state acceded
as a State, and is an integral party; that the government created by their
compact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the powers delegated to
itself, since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constituent, the
measure of its powers; but that, as in cases of compact among powers having no
common judge each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well as of
infractions as of the mode of redress." <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For the state of Virginia, Madison wrote: "Resolved,
That the General Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare that it
views the powers of the federal government as resulting from a compact to which
the States are parties, as limited by the plain sense and intention of the
instrument constituting that compact, and as no further valid than they are
authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact; and that, in case of a
deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other powers not granted by the
said compact, the States, who are parties thereto, have the right, and are in
duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and
maintaining within the respective limits the authorities, rights and liberties
appertaining to them.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In a letter to Madison in 1799, Jefferson went further to
say that if the abuses of the Constitution did not cease, Kentucky and Virginia
should "sever ourselves from that union we so much value, rather than give
up the rights of self government which we have reserved, and in which alone we
see liberty, safety and happiness.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The crisis ended with the expiration of the Alien and Sedition
Acts, but the principle of nullification remained. Vermont and Massachusetts
nullified the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793. At least ten Northern states passed
“Personal Liberty” laws that nullified the Fugitive Slave Law of the Compromise
of 1850 as well as Article IV of the U.S. Constitution. Two of John Brown’s
sons, wanted in Virginia for insurrection and murder, were harbored in Ohio and
Iowa, also in violation of Article IV. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ironically, the New England Federalists, who had stood so
firm against the doctrine of nullification in Kentucky and Virginia, were quick
to embrace it during the War of 1812. Massachusetts and Connecticut, angered
over the federal government’s institution of a draft and an embargo against
trade with Great Britain, withdrew their militias. In Vermont there was talk of
Secession. In December 1814, deligates from these states along with others from
New Hampshire and Rhode Island met in Hartford, Connecticut, to consider what
drastic measures they might take to protect their states from the abuses of
federal power—including the possibility of seceding from the Union. By
selecting a military leader for that eventuality, they took a giant step beyond
Jefferson’s earlier suggestion that Kentucky and Virginia might secede from the
Union. This meeting has become known as the Hartford Convention. A delegation
was sent to present their demands to the federal government at its temporary
capital at Philadelphia, but by the time they arrived the war had ended. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The most serious test of the principle of nullification came
during the early 1830s over what some refer to as the Tariffs of Abomination.
As it is not easily dealt with in a few words, I have included it as an addendum
entitled “Tariff Laws and the War Between the States." <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Random House dictionary also defines a civil war as “a
war between political factions or regions within the same country.” And so
unless the secession of Southern states and the formation of the Confederate
States of America can be proven to have been illegal or un-Constitutional, the
War Between the States (so named by a resolution of Congress in 1927) cannot
rightly be called a civil war even though most historians do so. (Even Robert
E. Lee and other Confederates incorrectly referred to it as such.) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
During the 1876 Centennial, former Governor Benjamin F.
Perry of South Carolina saw an opportunity to drive home to the country the
similarity of principles of the event that has become known as the Revolution
and the event that has been referred to by many as the “Lost Cause.” “This
Centennial glorification of the rebels of ’76,” Perry noted, “cannot fail to
teach the Northern mind to look with more leniency on Confederate rebels who
only attempted to do in the late civil war what the ancestors of the Northern
people did do in the American revolution…It shows a want of sense as well as a
want of principle, and a want of truth, to call the rebels of 1776 patriots and
heroes and the rebels of 1861 traitors.” (The South During Reconstruction,
1865-1877, E. Merton Coulter, LSU Press, 1947, pp. 389-390) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the Southern persuasion might be expected to have
such thoughts, but similar sentiments were not uncommon in the North. One
example is an editorial that appeared in Horace Greely’s New York Daily Tribune
on December 17, 1860, the same day South Carolina’s secession convention began.
It read: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We have repeatedly asked those who dissent from our view of
this matter to tell us frankly whether they do or do not assent to Mr.
Jefferson's statement in the Declaration of Independence that governments
‘derive their just powers from the consent of the governed; and that, whenever
any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of
the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government,"
&c., &c.’ We do heartily accept this doctrine, believing it
intrinsically sound, beneficent, and one that, universally accepted, is
calculated to prevent the shedding of seas of human blood. And, if it justified
the secession from the British Empire of Three Millions of colonists in 1776,
we do not see why it would not justify the secession of Five Millions of
Southrons from the Federal Union in 1861. If we are mistaken on this point, why
does not some one attempt to show wherein and why? …we could not stand up for
coercion, for subjugation, for we do not think it would be just. We hold the
right of Self-government sacred, even when invoked in behalf of those who deny
it to others... if ever 'seven or eight States' send agents to Washington to
say 'We want to get out of the Union,' we shall feel constrained by our
devotion to Human Liberty to say, Let Them Go! And we do not see how we could
take the other side without coming in direct conflict with those Rights of Man
which we hold paramount to all political arrangements, however convenient and
advantageous.” (Howard Cecil Perkins, ed., Northern Editorials on Secession,
199-201) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Note: Greely chose the exact words as used in South Carolina's
Declaration of Immediate Causes, which were taken from the Declaration of
Independence. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And going back nearly half a century, we find the Hartford
Convention declaring: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Whenever it shall appear that these causes are radical and
permanent, a separation by equitable arrangement, will be preferable to an
alliance by constraint, among nominal friends, but real enemies, inflamed by
mutual hatred and jealousy, and inviting by intestine division, contempt and
aggression from abroad.” (Journal of the Hartford Convention, as quoted in
George M. Curtis, III, and James J. Thompson, Jr., eds., The Southern Essays of
Richard M. Weaver, Indianapolis: LibertyPress, 1987), 153) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In his article in the Stetson Law Review, H. Newcomb Morse
went on to point out that discussions and legislation proposed by Congress
during the period of secession indicate that Congress believed the right of
secession existed. One proposed bill was introduced to deal with the
disposition of federal property within a seceding state and that state's
assumption of its share of the national debt. Another bill would have allowed
secession only if approved by two-thirds of the members of both Houses of
Congress, the president, and all the states. So those who argue that the
deligates from the several states gave no thought to the idea of secession have
no basis for their argument, and their claiming such betrays their ignorance. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is important to note that while a delegation from the
seceded states was in Washington to negotiate their states’ share of the
national debt as well as payment for any federal property lying within their
borders, Lincoln was preparing a fleet to “provision” the federal garrison at
Ft. Sumter—this provisioning including arms and ammunition that would have made
it possible for the fort to control the entire harbor as well as pose a threat
to the city of Charleston. (See addendum 2.) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Morse also notes that thirty-six years earlier, Chief
Justice John Marshall, in Gibbons v. Ogden, had said that "limitations of
a power furnish a strong argument in favor of the existence of that power….”
Morse summed up with: “What would have been the point of the foregoing proposed
amendments to the Constitution of the United States prohibiting or limiting the
right of secession if under the Constitution the unfettered right of secession
did not already exist? Why would Congress have even considered proposed
amendments to the Constitution forbidding or restricting the right of secession
if any such right was already prohibited, limited or non-existent under the
Constitution?” (Morse, op. cit. p. 438) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Taking the issue beyond the war to the Reconstruction
period, Morse adds: "the Northern occupational armies were removed from
Arkansas, North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Virginia
only after those former Confederate States had incorporated in their
constitutions a clause surrendering the right to secede." He concludes
that by compelling the former Confederate States to surrender their right to
secede, the United States government implicitly admitted that those states
originally had that right, for they could not surrender a right they did not
already have. (Morse, op. cit. p. 433) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The argument most used against the right of a state to
secede from the Union is based on the words "We the people" in the
preamble to the Constitution. It is claimed that the Constitution is not a
compact but rather a national document and that "We the People" means
all of the American people in one body and not in their sovereign states. This
argument is made in virtually every speech, book, pamphlet, and discussion by
every opponent of the right of secession. Daniel Webster used it in his debate
with John C. Calhoun in 1833 when he argued that if the Constitution was
written as a document for all of the American people in one body, then
individual states had no right to withdraw from it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But Webster’s argument fails when we compare it with the
words of Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania who chaired the committee on style
at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. In reference to the words “We the
people,” Morris said, “The Constitution was a compact not between individuals,
but between political societies, the people, not of America, but of the United
States, each enjoying sovereign power and of course equal rights.” (Gouverneur
Morris, Life and Writings, vol. iii., p. 193) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Morris believed in the right of secession and supported the
New England states who threatened to do it during the War of 1812. (Bledsoe,
Albert Taylor, Is Davis a Traitor; or Was Secession a Constitutional Right
Previous to the War of 1861? Pp. 64-65) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the work just cited, Bledsoe quotes The Madison Papers,
referring to some 900 pages of the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention
on which are recorded the debate over the method of ratification. Bledsoe
points out that nowhere in that vast record is there a discussion of the
"people" as meaning the entire American people outside of their
states. Instead, the major debate was over whether the Constitution should be
ratified by the legislatures of the various states or by the people of each
state in special convention. (This is how the Articles of Confederation were
ratified and how each state withdrew from it.) They decided that since a later
legislature might rescind the ratification of an earlier legislature, it would
be a more sound foundation to have the people of each state ratify the
Constitution in special conventions called for the purpose of ratification.
(Bledsoe, op. cit. pp. 66-73) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The use of the People in Convention in each of the several
States, as required by Article VII, is explained by James Madison in the 39th
Federalist where he says: "It appears, on the one hand, that the [United
States] Constitution is to be founded on the assent and ratification of the
people of America, given by deputies elected for a special purpose; but on the
other, that this assent and ratification is to be given by the people, not as
individuals composing the entire nation, but as composing the distinct and
independent States to which they respectively belong. It is to be the assent
and ratification of the several States, deprived from the supreme authority in
each State—the authority of the people themselves." <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Answering critics of the proposed constitution in the
Virginia ratification Convention of 1788, Madison argued the right of secession
by saying: "If we be dissatisfied with the national government, if we
choose to renounce it, this is an additional safeguard to our defense." (3
Elliot’s Debates 414-415 (June 14, 1788 as found in “The Right of a State to
Secede from the Union,” Part 2, by John Remington Graham) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In that same Virginia Convention, John Marshall added:
"We are threatened with the loss of our liberties by possible abuse of
power, notwithstanding the maxim that those who give power may take it away. It
is the people who give power, and can take it back. Who shall restrain them.
They are the masters who give it, and of whom their servants hold it."
(Graham, op. cit.) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is exactly how the Southern states went about declaring
their independence—by conventions called for the single purpose of deciding the
issue of secession. And as Morse said in the Stetson Law Review, "not one
state was remiss in discharging this legal obligation."* <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
_____ <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*Notes on the secession of Southern states: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Morse (as do many historians) was referring to eleven
Southern states, excluding Missouri and Kentucky. Governor Claiborne F. Jackson
of Missouri declared his state to be independent on August 5, 1861, and the
Missouri legislature passed an act of secession on October 31st—neither act
being in accord with the “convention” principle—this in all probability due to
the fact that that state was already in great turmoil and any convention of the
people might have put them in great danger. And though Kentucky’s legislature
voted to remain in the Union, on November 20, 1861, a convention of the people
denied the legislature’s right to make the decision and voted for secession. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In Virginia, the convention first voted overwhelmingly to
remain in the Union. But on April 17, 1861—after Lincoln’s call on April 15th
for 75,000 volunteers to make war on the seceded Deep South states—they
reversed themselves and voted overwhelmingly in favor of secession. Arkansas,
North Carolina, and Tennessee—each of which had also previously voted not to
leave the Union—soon followed in like manner to declare their independence. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Note that each state that seceded after the formation of
the Confederate States of America by the initial six Deep South states had to
apply for admittance into the new federation and—just as with each of the first
thirteen United States—first had to ratify the constitution.) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And as it illustrates both the sentiments of the people as
well as the procedure required for the act of secession, I will include here
North Carolina’s declaration of secession: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
An Ordinance to dissolve the union between the State of
North Carolina and the other States united with her, under the compact of
government entitled "The Constitution of the United States: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We, the people of the State of North Carolina in convention
assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, That
the ordinance adopted by the State of North Carolina in the convention of 1789,
whereby the Constitution of the United States was ratified and adopted, and
also all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly ratifying and adopting
amendments to the said Constitution, are hereby repealed, rescinded, and
abrogated. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We do further declare and ordain, That the union now
subsisting between the State of North Carolina and the other States, under the
title of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved, and that the State
of North Carolina is in full possession and exercise of all those rights of
sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Done in convention at the city of Raleigh, this the 20th day
of May, in the year of our Lord 1861, and in the eighty-fifth year of the
independence of said State. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
_____ <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rather than carry this further at this time, I will simply
point out another similarity between the secession of Southern states and the
American revolution. In his excellent book Radicalism of the American
Revolution, Gordon S. Wood notes that one- third of the American colonists
remained loyal to the crown, one third supported the revolution, and one third
took neither side in the conflict. And though the numbers are not the same,
there were individuals and sections in the South that remained loyal to the
Union and individuals and sections in the North that supported the Confederacy.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Perhaps the following quote from Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal
Anderson Early best expresses the feeling of most of the Southern leaders who,
like their colonial ancestors, with heavy hearts for what they believed was the
failure of the national government to protect their rights, chose the path of
independence: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“WHEN the question of practical secession from the United
States arose, as a citizen of the State of Virginia, and a member of the
Convention called by the authority of the Legislature of that State, I opposed
secession with all the ability I possessed, with the hope that the horrors of
civil war might be averted and that a returning sense of justice on the part of
the masses of the Northern States would induce them to respect the rights of
the people of the South. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“While some Northern politicians and editors were openly and
sedulously justifying and encouraging secession, I was laboring honestly and
earnestly to preserve the Union. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“As a member of the Virginia Convention, I voted against the
ordinance of secession on its passage by that body, with the hope that even
then, the collision of arms might be avoided and some satisfactory adjustment
arrived at. The adoption of that ordinance wrung from me bitter tears of grief;
but I at once recognized my duty to abide the decision of my native State, and
to defend her soil against invasion. Any scruples which I may have entertained
as to the right of secession were soon dispelled by the unconstitutional
measures of the authorities at Washington and the frenzied clamor of the people
of the North for war upon their former brethren of the South. I recognized the
right of resistance and revolution as exercised by our fathers in 1776 and
without cavil as to the name by which it was called, I entered the military service
of my State, willingly, cheerfully, and zealously. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“When the State of Virginia became one of the Confederate
States and her troops were turned over to the Confederate Government, I
embraced the cause of the whole Confederacy with equal ardor, and continued in
the service, with the determination to devote all the energy and talent I
possessed to the common defence. I fought through the entire war, without once
regretting the course I pursued, with an abiding faith in the justice of our
cause. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Lieutenant General Jubal Anderson Early, CSA:
Autobiographical Sketch and Narrative of the War Between the States, Electronic
Edition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1999) <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
__________ <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Addendum 1: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tariff laws and the War Between the States <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most Americans believe that slavery was the principal cause
for the “Civil War.” But they have been miseducated. The means and timing of
handling the slavery question were at issue, although not in the overly
simplified moral sense that predominates in classrooms today. But had it not
been for high protective tariffs, and particularly the Morrill Tariff of 1860,
there might not have been a war. The conflict that cost the lives of no less
than 620,000 Americans and perhaps as many as 50,000 Southern civilians, left
thousands of homes and whole <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
towns and cities in ruin, and impoverished many millions for
generations afterward might never have happened. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Problems resulting from unjust taxation that was exploiting
the agricultural South and enriching Northern manufacturing states were fanned
to a furious blaze in 1860 by the passing of the Morrill Tariff. It stirred the
smoldering embers of regional mistrust and ignited the fires of Secession in
the South. This precipitated a Northern reaction and call to arms that would
engulf the nation in the flames of war. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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In 1860 there was no U. S. income tax. Considerably more
than 90% of U. S. government revenue was raised by tariffs on imports. Tariffs
are not only to raise revenue but also to protect domestic industry from
foreign competition. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Because the nature and products of regional economies can
vary widely, high tariffs are sometimes good for one section of a country but
not for another. Thus it was in the early United States when high protective
tariff laws created economic advantages for Northern manufacturing and railroad
interests with corresponding disadvantages for Southern agricultural interests.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Prior to 1824 the average tariff level in the U. S. had been
in the 15 to 20 % range. This was thought to be sufficient to meet federal
revenue needs and not excessively burdensome to any section of the country. The
increase of the tariff to a 20% average in 1816 was ostensibly to help pay for
the War of 1812. It also represented a 26% net profit increase to Northern
manufacturers. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In 1824 Northern manufacturing states and the Whig Party
under the leadership of Henry Clay began to push for high protective tariffs.
These were strongly opposed by the South, whose economy was based primarily on
agriculture, the export of these products to European countries, and the import
of manufactured goods from those countries. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For example, in the 1850s, the South accounted for 72 to 82%
of U. S. exports. At the same time, they were largely dependent on Europe or
the North for the manufactured goods for both agricultural production and
consumer needs. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It is important to understand at this point that the
population of the U.S. in 1860 was about 31 million and that 22 million lived
in the North while about 9 million lived in the South. There were 33 states, 18
in the North and 15 in the South (That is, eighteen so-called “free states” and
fifteen so-called “slave states.”) Because the Senate (upper house of Congress)
is comprised of two senators from each state, the Northern states held a
six-vote advantage in the Senate. And because the House of Representatives (the
lower house of Congress) is apportioned according to the population of each
state, the North held a more than two-times vote advantage over the South.
(Because of the “Three-fifts Compromise” during the Constitutional convention,
only three of every five slaves were counted for the purpose of apportioning
seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, so increasing the vote advantage of
the Northern states.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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Late in 1824 Northern political dominance enabled Henry Clay
and his allies in Congress to pass a tariff averaging 35%. This resulted in an
economic boom in the North but much hardship and political agitation in the
South. South Carolina was especially hard hit, the State’s exports falling 25%
over the next two years. In 1828 the Northern dominated Congress raised the
average tariff level to 50%. Despite strong Southern agitation for lower
tariffs, the Tariff of 1832 only nominally reduced the effective tariff rate
and brought little relief to the South. These last two tariffs are often
referred to as the Tariffs of Abomination. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This led to the Nullification Crisis of 1832 when South
Carolina called a state convention and “nullified” the 1828 and 1832 tariffs as
unjust and unconstitutional. The resulting crisis came very near provoking
armed conflict when President Andrew Jackson threatened to use the military to
enforce the tariff laws. But through the efforts of John C. Calhoun, former
Vice President and Senator from South Carolina, a compromise was effected in
1833 which over a few years reduced the tariff back to its former rate of about
15%. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Though Henry Clay and the Whigs were not happy to have been
forced into a compromise by Calhoun and South Carolina’s Nullification threat,
the tariff remained at a level near 15% until 1860. A lesson in economics,
regional sensitivities, and simple fairness should have been learned from this
confrontation, but if it was learned, it was ignored by ambitious political and
business factions in the late 1850s. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The high protective tariff policies of the oldd Whig Party
were adopted by the new Republican Party. And then a recession beginning around
1857 gave the cause of protectionism an additional political boost in the
Northern industrial states. This led the Congress in May of 1860 to pass the
Morrill Tariff Bill (named for Republican Congressman and steel manufacturer,
Justin S. Morrill of Vermont), which raised the average tariff from about 15%
to 37% with increases to 47% within three years. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Although this was remarkably reminiscent of the Tariffs of
Abomination which had led in 1832 to a constitutional crisis and threats of
secession and armed force, the House of Representatives passed the Bill 105 to
64. Out of 40 Southern Congressmen, only one Tennessee Congressman voted for
it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Tariff revenues already fell disproportionately on the
South, accounting for upwards of 85 to 87% of the U.S. total. While the tariff
protected Northern industrial interests, it substantially increased the cost of
living and commerce in the South. It also reduced the trade value of Southern
agricultural exports to Europe. These forces combined to place a severe
economic hardship on most of the Southern states, especially those of the Deep
South. Even more galling was that, because of the Northern states’ <o:p></o:p></div>
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control of the vote, 80% or more of these tax revenues were
being expended on Northern public works and industrial subsidies, thus further
enriching the North at the expense of the South. (One might compare the more
extensive and more technically advanced system of railroads in the North that
were receiving generous government subsidies with those in the South that were
not so lavishly subsidized. This less advanced system of transportation played
a great part in the defeat of Confederate forces during the War Between the
States.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the 1860 election, Abraham Lincoln, a former Whig and
great admirer of Henry Clay, campaigned for the high protective tariff
provisions of the Morrill Tariff, which was incorporated into the Republican
Party Platform. Prior to his election, Lincoln boasted that he was "an old
Henry Clay tariff Whig" and that he "made more speeches on that
subject than any other." <o:p></o:p></div>
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Loyola economics professor Thomas DiLorenzo summarizes,
"As soon as the new Republican Party gained power, the average tariff rate
was quickly raised from a nominal 15 percent to 47 percent and higher and
remained at such levels for decades after the war. Calhoun's free-trade
arguments, as eloquent and advanced as they were, were no match for the federal
military arsenal." (A more detailed treatice on the subject is made in
Tariffs, Blockades, and Inflation by Auburn University professors Mark Thornton
and Robert Ekelund.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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On December 10, 1860, just a month after Lincoln’s election,
the following appeared in the Daily Chicago Times: <o:p></o:p></div>
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"The South has furnished near three-fourths of the
entire exports of the country. Last year she furnished seventy-two percent of
the whole...we have a tariff that protects our manufacturers from thirty to fifty
percent, and enables us to consume large quantities of Southern cotton, and to
compete in our whole home market with the skilled labor of Europe. This
operates to compel the South to pay an indirect bounty to our skilled labor, of
millions annually." <o:p></o:p></div>
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On December 20, South Carolina proclaimed its independence
from the United States, followed early in 1861 by six more lower South states.
In spite of this, in his inaugural address on March 4, 1861, Lincoln pledged to
enforce the tariff and signed it into law a few days after taking office. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Ohio Sen. John Sherman (brother of Union Gen. William
Tecumseh Sherman) explained Lincoln's 1860 election when he said, "Those
who elected Mr. Lincoln expect him to secure to free labor its just right to
the territories, to protect by wise revenue laws, the labor of our
people." (By “free labor,” Sherman meant white labor—as evidenced by
numerous “Black Laws” that existed in most Northern states, particularly those
of what is now the Midwest, and which severely restricted the activities of
black people.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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NOTE: In reading the ordinances of secession of the first
seven Confederate states, you'll find primarily economic issues—tariffs ,
protectionism, federal subsidies to Northern industrial interests, and strict
interpretation of the Constitution—which are in stark contrast to the 1860 GOP
(hence Lincoln) agenda. In fact the documents of only four of the thirteen
seceding states mention slavery as a cause of their departure. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Early Northern public opinion, as reflected in newspapers of
both parties, recognized the right of the Southern States to secede and favored
peaceful separation. A November 21, 1860, editorial in the Cincinnati Daily
Press said this: <o:p></o:p></div>
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“We believe that the right of any member of this Confederacy
to dissolve its political relations with the others and assume an independent
position is absolute.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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And on March 21, 1861, less than three weeks after Lincoln’s
inauguration, the New York Times summarized the majority of editorial opinion
in the North: <o:p></o:p></div>
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“There is a growing sentiment throughout the North in favor
of letting the Gulf States go.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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But two events in April of 1861 led to war. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Northern industrialists became nervous, realizing that a
tariff dependent North would be competing against a free-trade South. They
feared not only loss of tax revenue but considerable loss of trade. Soon
newspaper editorials began to reflect this nervousness. <o:p></o:p></div>
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(Though the newer western—now mid-western—states were less
dependent on manufacturing for their livelihood, they were greatly dependent
upon the Ohio-Missouri-Mississippi river system for their commercial interests.
They were thus less fearful of the South’s free-trade policy as they were of
the possibility of having to pay tolls to pass through the Confederacy via the
Mississippi.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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On April 15, 1861, three days after manipulating the South
into firing on the tariff collection facility of Fort Sumter in Charleston
harbor, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the “Southern
rebellion.” This, not slavery, led in late April and May to the secession of
the Upper SouthStates of Arkansas, Virginia, Tennessee, and North
Carolina—states that had previously voted to remain in the Union. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Lincoln believed that the threat of force backed by a now
more unified Northern public opinion would quickly (within 90 days) put down
secession. His gambit, however, failed and led to a terrible and costly war. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Increased agitation to “free the slaves” as a noble cause to
justify what was really a dispute over unfair taxation and States Rights was
exacerbated by the lack of success by the Federal army early in the war, the
need to keep England from declaring her support of the South, and the need to
appease the radical abolitionists. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Writing in a London weekly publication in December of 1861,
the famous English author, Charles Dickens, a strong opponent of slavery, said
these things about the war going on in America: <o:p></o:p></div>
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“The Northern onslaught upon slavery is no more than a piece
of specious humbug disguised to conceal its desire for economic control of the
United States.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Karl Marx, like most European socialists of the time,
favored the North. But in an 1861 article published in England, he articulated
very well what the major British newspapers—the Times, the Economist, and
Saturday Review—had been saying: <o:p></o:p></div>
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“The war between the North and South is a tariff war. The
war, is further, not for any principle, does not touch the question of slavery,
and in fact turns on the Northern lust for power.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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The Tariff question and the States Rights question were
therefore strongly linked, and both are linked to the broader issue of
Constitutionally limited government. Because the Morrill Tariff would have dealt
the South great economic hardship, it made Secession a compelling alternative
to an exploited and unequal union with the North. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Though there was growing tension between North and South
over the issue of slavery, that alone was not sufficient to plunge the nation
into war. And the notion that a virtuous North invaded the evil South to free
the slaves is ludicrous and not supported by historical evidence. (In an August
22, 1862 letter to New York Tribune editor, Horace Greeley, Abraham Lincoln
wrote: “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not
either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing
any slave I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving
others alone I would also do that.”) <o:p></o:p></div>
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Five years after the end of the War, prominent Northern
abolitionist, attorney and legal scholar, Lysander Spooner, put it this way: <o:p></o:p></div>
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“All these cries of having ‘abolished slavery,’ of having
‘saved the country,’ of having ‘preserved the Union,’ of establishing a
‘government of consent,’ and of ‘maintaining the national honor’ are all gross,
shameless, transparent cheats—so transparent that they ought to deceive no
one.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Convinced that union with the North had and would continue
to jeopardize their liberties and economic well-being, the Southern states—just
as the American Colonies had done in 1776—sought to withdraw from the Union and
establish their independence. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As already noted, many in the North felt that the Southern
states had the right to separate from the Union. Many even submitted proposed
flag designs to the provisional Confederate Congress’s Committee on Flag and
Seal. But Northern industrialists—particularly the New England textile
manufacturers —saw this as an economic disaster. (Pressure from this section of
the country during the election year of 1864 when three of every four New
England textile mills were shut down because of a shortage of cotton led Lincoln
to authorize the trading of military supplies to the South for cotton. For a
more complete discussion of the vigorous trade for cotton that went on between
North and South during the war, see The Red River Campaign: Politics and Cotton
During the Civil War by Ludwell H. Johnson.) No longer would the North have a
tariff-free domestic supply of cotton and other Southern agricultural products
such as rice, sugar, tobacco, indigo, and naval stores. In other words, the
very import tariff laws that had enriched their coffers now threatened them
with economic ruin. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In addition to the immeasurable loss of life and leadership
and devastation to property, livestock, and crops during the war, The abuses of
“Reconstruction” and “carpetbagger” state governments further exploited and
impoverished the South, considerably retarding economic recovery. High tariffs
and discriminatory railroad shipping rates continued to favor Northern economic
interests, and it is only in recent times that the political and economic fortunes
of the South have begun to rise. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As the Scriptures tell us, the love of money is an all-evil
root, and the Morrill Tariff was an evil root, which like the proverbial straw
that broke the camel’s back, became the final straw that resulted in the secession
of seven Southern states. The subsequent declaration of war against those
states then led to the breaking away of four more states. Late in 1861 Missouri
and Kentucky, though their were serious divisions within these states, were
admitted into the Southern confederation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Unfortunately, as outrageous and unjust as the Morrill
Tariff was, because It does not fit the politically correct images and myths of
popular American history, its importance has been largely ignored and obscured.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here are some interesting quotes:</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Stripped of all its covering, the naked question is,
whether ours is a federal or consolidated government; a constitutional or
absolute one; a government resting solidly on the basis of the sovereignty of
the States, or on the unrestrained will of a majority; a form of government, as
in all other unlimited ones, in which injustice, violence, and force must
ultimately prevail.” -- John C. Calhoun, 1831 <o:p></o:p></div>
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"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that
unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result
of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high
places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong
its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is
aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.” —Abraham Lincoln
" (From Democracy at Risk: Rescuing Main Street from Wall Street a
Populist Vision for the Twenty-First Century. Jeff Gates - author. Perseus
Books, Cambridge, MA.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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We have all heard it said that might makes right, and for as
long as I have offered the challenge to prove that the secession of Southern
states was either un-Constitutional or illegal, the one answer that never fails
to be offered is that the war settled the issue for all time. That is, whether
an issue be right or wrong, moral or immoral, legal or illegal, Constitutional
or un-Constitutional, the final court of justice is war. I believe this editorial
from Harper's Weekly Journal Of Civilization, November 25, 1865, sums it up
quite well: "The country has decided by the most prolonged and fearful
war, by the successful operations of vast armies and navies, by an incalculable
sacrifice of precious life, and an enormous expenditure of money, that, whether
lawful or unlawful, constitutional or unconstitutional, there shall be no
secession of states from the Union. The doctrine of State sovereignty, which
was the only plea of the rebellion, has been judged in the battle-field and
overthrown by arms." <o:p></o:p></div>
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This, and sadly so, is the only argument against secession
that stands. <o:p></o:p></div>
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_____ <o:p></o:p></div>
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Addendum 2: Ft. Sumter <o:p></o:p></div>
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Even though as noted earlier President Buchanan had said
that the federal government did not have the right to coerce any seceded state
back into the Union, he nevertheless in January of 1861 just a month after Ft.
Sumter had been occupied by Federal troops, he sent the ship Star of the West
with provisions for the garrison. But as the Star of the West attempted to
enter Charleston harbor, a battery on Morris Island manned by Citadel cadets
fired warning shots across her bow, and she turned back. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Then, shortly after his election, Lincoln submitted the
following request in writing to each member of his Cabinet: <o:p></o:p></div>
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Block quote <o:p></o:p></div>
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"My Dear Sir, Assuming it to be possible to now
provision Fort Sumter, under all the circumstances is it wise to attempt it?
Please give your opinion in writing on this question." <o:p></o:p></div>
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Secretary Cameron wrote that he would advise such an attempt
if he "did not believe the attempt to carry it into effect would initiate
a bloody and protracted conflict." <o:p></o:p></div>
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Secretary Welles wrote: "By sending or attempting to
send provisions into Fort Sumter, will not war be precipitated? It may well be
impossible to escape it under any course of policy that may be pursued, but I
am not prepared to advise a course that would provoke hostilities...I do not,
therefore, under all the circumstances, think it wise to provision Fort
Sumter." <o:p></o:p></div>
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Secretary Smith wrote: "The commencement of civil war
would be a calamity greatly to be deplored and should be avoided if the just
authority of the Government may be maintained without it. If such a conflict
should become inevitable, it is much better that it should commence by the
resistance of the authorities or people of South Carolina to the legal action
of the Government in enforcing the laws of the United States....in my opinion
it would not be wise, under all the circumstances, to attempt to provision Fort
Sumter." <o:p></o:p></div>
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Attorney General Bates wrote: "I am unwilling, under
all circumstances...to do any act which may have the semblance before the world
of beginning a civil war, the terrible consequences of which would, I think,
find no parallel in modern times...upon the whole I do not think it wise now to
provision Fort Sumter." <o:p></o:p></div>
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Postmaster-General Blair and Secretary Chase united in the
opinion that it would be wise to make the effort to provision Fort Sumter.
(Secretary Chase) then proceeded to declare that, if such a step would produce
civil war, he could not advise in its favor, but that, in his opinion, such a
result was highly improbable, especially if accompanied by a proclamation from
the President, reiterating the sentiments of his inaugural address. "I,
therefore," concluded Secretary Chase, "return an affirmative answer
to the question submitted to me." <o:p></o:p></div>
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It will be seen...that five of the seven members of the
Cabinet concurred in the opinion that no attempt should be made to provision or
reinforce Fort Sumter, and that such an attempt would in all probability
precipitate civil war. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As Mr. Seward expressed it, "We will have inaugurated a
civil war by our own act without an adequate object"; or, in the language
of Secretary Welles, "By sending or attempting to send provisions into
Fort Sumter, will not war be precipitated?"...I am not prepared to advise
a course that would provoke hostilities." <o:p></o:p></div>
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If such were the opinions of leading members of President
Lincoln's Cabinet, expressed in confidential communications to their chief, as
to the character of the proposed action, can it be deemed unreasonable that the
people of Virginia held similar views? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Fourteen days later, the President made a verbal request to
his Cabinet for an additional expression of their views on the same subject.
Seward and Smith adhered to their former opinions. Chase and Blair were joined
by Welles. Bates was noncommittal, and no reply was made by Cameron, so far as
records show. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the light of the facts and arguments presented by the
members of the President's Cabinet, men, not a few, will conclude that, if the
explosion occurred at Fort Sumter, the mine was laid at Washington. <o:p></o:p></div>
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End block quote <o:p></o:p></div>
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(Source: Virginia's Attitude Toward Secession, Beverley B.
Munford, L.H. Jenkins, Richmond Virginia, 1909, pp. 285-289) <o:p></o:p></div>
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Also, it is presumed by all but the most informed students
of history that Ft. Sumter was an established and operating military
instillation in 1860, but this is not so. A federal garrison had been at Ft.
Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island prior to the secession of South Carolina from the
Union, and six days later (December 26, 1860) that garrison abandoned Ft.
Moultrie and moved out to the yet incomplete installation at Ft. Sumter. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Ft. Sumter is clearly within the territorial limits of the
State of South Carolina, so to prove that South Carolina provoked war by firing
on that fort, it must be proved that South Carolina did not have the right to
declare its independence, for no sovereign state anywhere in the world would
permit any other sovereign state to maintain an armed fort right in the middle
of its principal harbor. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Moreover, the following excerpt seems to show that, even if
South Carolina had not seceded from the Union, the United States government had
no legal right to occupy Ft. Sumter: <o:p></o:p></div>
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South Carolina in 1805 (Statutes at Large, Volume V, p. 501)
provided as follows in regard to the cessions in Charleston Harbor: <o:p></o:p></div>
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That, if the United States shall not, within three years
from the passing of this act, and notification thereof by the governor of this
State to the Executive of the United States, repair the fortifications now
existing thereon, or build such other forts or fortifications as may be deemed
most expedient by the Executive of the United States on the same, and keep a
garrison or garrisons therein, in such case this grant or cession shall be void
and of no effect. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Paul Graham of Columbia, South Carolina, reminds us…that
“Fort Sumter not only was not completed within the three-year limit stipulated
in the contract, but was not completed in 1860 when Major Anderson transferred
his garrison from Fort Moultrie. Moreover, it had never been garrisoned until
he occupied it. So that, having neither been completed nor garrisoned according
to the contract, either within the three years specified time, or, for that
matter, by 1861, Major Anderson occupied a piece of property that the United
States had not the vestige of a right to occupy, and which was under the
ownership, jurisdiction, and sovereignty of the State of South Carolina
exclusively. In other words, he invaded the State of South Carolina with his
troops---unwittingly, it is true, and on orders, but in fact, at any rate.
Adverse possession even could not lie here in behalf of the United States,
since the United States had not garrisoned it.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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(Source: Confederate Veteran, September 1926, page 325.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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_____ <o:p></o:p></div>
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Addendum 3: Treason <o:p></o:p></div>
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Though it touches on a lengthy argument that goes beyond the
scope of this document, I will add that when the great contest of arms was
over, the further exploitation of the South—that of black people as well as
white—under the guise of so-called “Reconstruction” led to the awful and shameful
backlash that resulted in segregation and racial discrimination throughout the
South that has only recently begun to pass away. And having said that, I will
also say that similar phenomena—usually ignored or defined in more gentle
terms—existed at the same time in the North as it did in the South. And it can
be argued that there was generally a more paternalistic attitude in the South
on the part of white people toward black people; though I would not go to war
to defend that hill. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As for the question of treason, those who so tenaciously
hang onto that weak thread as sufficient evidence to justify the war that
caused such terrible loss of life and destruction of property have neither
Constitutional nor legal warrant for it. The radical Republicans who came to
power in 1860 at no time showed the slightest evidence of any intention other
than that of punishing the South in every way possible for what they claimed to
have been treason, but not a single Southerner was ever brought to trial on
that charge. (Some historians argue that it may have been Lincoln’s softening
on the matter of “punishing the rebels” as inferred from his second inaugural
address that led to his assassination.) The idea that the pardoning of Southern
leaders was an act of mercy on the part of Northern leaders collapses when
compared with the merciless manner in which they carried out “unlimited
warfare” against the South. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court and
former Secretary of the Treasury in Lincoln’s cabinet, said in 1867: "If
you bring these leaders to trial, it will condemn the North, for by the
Constitution, secession is not a rebellion. His capture was a mistake. His
trial will be a greater one. We cannot convict him of treason." <o:p></o:p></div>
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Civil War historian Clint Johnson elaborates further on the
subject: <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Chase made a deal with Davis's attorneys in order to free
Davis from ever having to face trial on the question of secession. In short,
Chase suggested that Davis’s attorneys argue in front of him in a two-judge
panel in Nov. 1868 that Davis had suffered enough punishment under the 14th
Amendment, which bans people who have rebelled against the federal government
from holding future offices. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Davis's attorneys argued just that, and Chase voted to free
Davis. In effect, Chase, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, met with the
attorneys of only one side that would be arguing a case before him. He told
them the strategy to use; they did; and Davis's case would have been kicked up
to the full U.S. Supreme Court as the other federal judge voted against that
argument. Tied 1-1, the Supreme Court would have gotten the case. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“The U.S. Attorney General, realizing that the Chief Justice
had already expressed his opinion and had signaled that he would vote with Davis,
made a deal for Davis's attorneys to drop all efforts to bring the case to the
Supreme Court. In short, the Federal government finally freed Davis because
they were afraid that the U.S. Supreme Court would declare that the War was the
fault of the North and not the South.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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This is discussed in greater detail in Johnson’s latest
book, Pursuit: The Chase, Capture, Persecution and Surprising Release of
Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Citadel Press, June 2008. This is a very
scholarly work that is well worth reading by all serious students of the War
Between the States. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Davis was never brought to trial, a nolle prosequi being
entered by the government in his case in December, 1868, and he was also
included in the general amnesty of that month. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Gene H. Kizer, Jr., in a lengthy article entitled “The Right
of Secession,” summarizes the U.S. government’s position regarding the
prosecution of Southern leaders for treason: “It is a virtual certainty that if
the North's case had been strong, they would have taken it to trial and
vindicated their war against the South once and for all. That the Federal
government did not go to court against the Confederate president after keeping
him in jail for two years, charged with treason, is more strong evidence that
there was indeed a legal right of secession and that the South had exercised it
properly. There were no other treason trials against former Confederates,
because any one trial would likely prove the legal right of secession, and
imminently practical Northerners were not about to lose in a court of law what
they had won on the battlefield.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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I can think of no better words for summary than those
expressed by H. Newcomb Morse in the Stetson Law Review when he wrote that the
War Between the States did not prove that secession was illegal because many
incidents both preceding and following the War support the proposition that the
Southern States did have the right to secede from the Union. Instances of
nullification prior to the War Between the States, contingencies under which
certain states acceded to the Union, and the fact that the Southern States were
made to surrender the right to secession, all affirm the existence of a right
to secede. He adds that the Constitution's "failure to forbid
secession" and amendments dealing with secession that were proposed in
Congress as Southern states were seceding strengthened his argument that
"the Southern States had an absolute right to secede from the Union prior
to the War Between the States." (Morse, op. cit. Vol. XV, No. 2, 1986, p.
420) <o:p></o:p></div>
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My sentiments are with Irish-born Maj. Gen. Patrick R.
Cleburne, who, on January 1864, wrote: "Every man should endeavor to
understand the meaning of subjugation before it is too late... It means the
history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth
will be trained by Northern schoolteachers; will learn from Northern school
books their version of the war; will be impressed by the influences of history
and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, and our maimed veterans
as fit objects for derision... It is said slavery is all we are fighting for,
and if we give it up we give up all. Even if this were true, which we deny,
slavery is not all our enemies are fighting for. It is merely the pretense to
establish sectional superiority and a more centralized form of government, and
to deprive us of our rights and liberties."<o:p></o:p></div>
Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-81106195972502563472013-09-12T05:24:00.004-05:002013-09-12T05:24:55.681-05:00MY THOUGHTS ON 9/11<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>September 11, 2001</i></b></span> marked the first time that the American Homeland had ever been attacked. It was a day that brought about great change in America and in its people. Since that day the greatest of American Treasure, our sons and daughters have fought, been wounded, traumatized, and killed in an effort to bring about retribution on those who would do us harm. Do not be fooled, we are no safer today than we were then.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>T</i></b></span>oday, on September 12, 2013 I want to make a couple of simple observations. Notihng too deep or complicated. Nothing political or what I would really consider controversial. I just want to bring forth two ideas and ask for your feedback on these ideas.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>F</i></b></span>irst has to do with the display of our National Flag, our stars and stripes. I know that the norm now is to fly the flag at half mast for the day to commemorate the loss of that frightful day. I would propose a couple of alternatives, each of which would require possible revisions to the flag code. I think this day deserves more than a remembrance of the loss that day. I think this day deserves a recognition of the greatness of the United States of America and her people. I would like to see a modification of the flag code to allow the flag to be flown at full mast with a gold streamer. The gold streamer would represent the loss of the day but the flag remaining at full staff as a symbol of strength and determination that we will not be brought down. The other possible alternative being to fly the flag at half mast until noon and then raised to the top. This would allow us in the beginning of the day to mourn and remember what was taken from us, but then would allow us to display our courage in the face of great evil.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>S</i></b></span>econdly is the "National Day of Service". This has gotten completely out of control and has become nothing but another government program. It was originally started as a non-profit and should have stayed that way. It was begun in 2002 by volunteers, however that soon changed. In 2009 Congress got involved and charged the government entity created by Bill Clinton, the CNCS(Corporation for National Community Service), to lead the efforts and provide money to people to serve. I do not believe service should be about the government providing tax dollars to give to people to make them volunteer. I am all for a Congressional edict declaring a national day of service, but I do not think it needs its own government department. Once again, this was a great idea started by well meaning people that has become a monster. Service should be from the heart and only the results seen. A program designed to recognize the server and not the served is an injustice.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>OK</i></b></span> so I got a little political with the last paragraph, sue me. I just hate to see a good thing watered down. Take care my friends and please email me at knilsen63@gmail.com or send me a tweet @knilsen63<br />
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Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-72616672889391067972013-08-25T13:05:00.001-05:002013-08-25T13:05:41.070-05:00They Were Doing What?<i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">Y</i>eah, I saw that...I think.<br />
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<i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">I </i>always get the same question. What is the craziest/wildest thing you have seen while driving? Where to start? Well, I'll give a few examples of what I have seen out here. This is things going on behind the wheel of a car, truck, or on a motorcycle.<br />
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<i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">F</i>or those of you that drive cars on the highway, let me give you an educational tip. I sit much higher than you and can see down in your car. Yes, the view is good most of the time, but, there are the times when what I see causes me to hit the brakes cause I want to be no where near you. I have seen it all, I think. I have seen it in the broad daylight in the middle of rush hour and in the middle of the night when no one else is on the highway but you and me.<br />
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<i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">I</i>t ranges from the mundane to the insane. OK, what we have all seen, big truck or not. She is putting on her makeup using the rearview mirror, or the mirror in the visor. He is using his electric razor headed into work or pick up his girlfriend that the wife does not know about he thinks. Yep, brushing teeth happens now. Talking on the cell phone, not just the bluetooth type. There is the fun ones that hold the phone to their left ear with their right hand because they have been talking so long with their left hand it is too tired to hold the phone and now must hold the steering wheel. Oh, and the dude on the motorcycle texting, are you stupid? There is eating the big mac and fries, that's ok, but please, do you have to cut up your food on a plate sitting on the seat next to you and drive with your knees?<br />
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<i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">H</i>ey top of your class at Harvard Business School, do you really need to have the newspaper open and be typing on your laptop at 60 mph on the way to the office? Oh and the other one is so busy he has phone glued to his left shoulder, holding papers in his left hand on the steering wheel and right hand typing on the laptop.<br />
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<i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">H</i>ey mom!! I know your desire to have that craft completed before the fair is important, but do you really need to be doing plastic canvas at 65 mph in the left lane on a Monday morning with your kid in the car with you? I know it is windy out and no one should see your hair like that, but roll the window up and you wouldn't have to keep looking in the mirror and brushing your hair.<br />
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<i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">B</i>ig city philanthropist on your way to the big event. I know there is not much time, but do you and your significant other really have to change clothes in Chicago rush hour? I know the car next to you cannot see you but I can. Just because you lay down in the backseat, undress, then put on your on your formal doesn't mean no one saw you. Oh and traffic is stop and go, when you stop use the doors to go between front and back, you look silly climbing over the seat in a tux.<br />
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<i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">N</i>ewlyweds, yes you, young and old. I can see that you really love each other, but, an orgasm can cause wrecks. Wait till you get to the hotel, it's easier to do it there. The drunk friends in the backseat makin whoopie, I saw you too. It is the middle of the night, but those high tech dash lights are pretty bright, I can see you have no clothes on.<br />
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<i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">Y</i>ep, I've seen it all!!! But wait, there's more!! No this is not an infomercial but you have got to hear this. I was traveling I-75 south of Knoxville, TN a while back and I saw, it, well I thought I did so I had to speed up and get a second look. It was an SUV, and as they approached I noticed the passenger reaching all the way across to the driver's side. When they got up next to me, the passenger was steering, the driver was playing a guitar. He was doing what?! Let me pull up there and look again, Yep! he was in fact playing the guitar while his wife steered from the passenger side.<br />
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<i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">B</i>e careful out there folks. Remember, you do not know what the idiot in front of you is thinking or doing. While you are driving you need to be fully aware of your surroundings and be ready to react.Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-83899415047888948232013-08-25T10:34:00.002-05:002013-08-25T10:34:27.909-05:00A Lesson Driving Around Trucks<i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">I </i>have really been thinking about this for a few weeks. There are several things that I would like to address for those of you that just commute everyday in your cars or whatever mode of transportation you find yourself using. There have been several instances in the past few weeks that have made me really think that a lot of drivers really have no clue what is going on in the truck in front of them. This is in no way to be critical of anyone's driving skills, but rather some supplemental information that hopefully will allow you to be more patient when driving around large trucks.<br />
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<i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">T</i>he first item I want to cover is a slow truck on city streets. I am sure you have all gotten behind a big truck on city streets and wished he would just hurry up and get where he is going to, after all, you are so important that you must be first in line at starbucks for your morning coffee. There are a number of reasons this truck could be moving at what you consider a snails pace. First of all, if I make a wrong turn I cannot just swing into a fast food joint and turn around. It is important to also know that unless it is a local delivery truck running the same route everyday that it could be the first time that driver has been there. While GPS is somewhat accurate it is not always perfect. My normal practice is as soon as I am on the correct street I look for address numbers on buildings, mailboxes, etc. This will describe which side of the street the business is on and tell me how many blocks to go before I arrive. When on a two lane street this also means that I may need to swing into the oncoming lane in order to make a safe right turn. If on a two lane road and it appears that the entrances to businesses are narrow, I'll put on my 4-ways. If the business is on the right, I signal a right turn, if you are behind me beware! In swinging wide I may open up just enough room for you to squeeze in, DO NOT DO THIS, I'm doing it to make a safe right turn.<br />
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<i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">S</i>econdly there is the issue of a heavy truck entering the interstate or entering the flow of traffic in town. You cannot always tell just by looking if a truck is heavy or overweight, but, there are times clues are provided. Most tractors have a steer axle and two drive axles. In the case of heavy haul the tractor may have a drop axle, or a third fixed drive axle. Also if the trailer has 3 or more axles then it is likely heavy. Unlike your car, which is built for speed, my truck is built for torque and power. In the past few weeks I have pulled several heavy or overweight loads. I have even had another truck driver get pissed at me because I did not enter a road fast enough. In this case I was at approximately 100,000 pounds. I go from 0 to 60 in just over a mile and a half. I have to make more shifts than normal, and even though my truck is designed to handle it, shifting too quickly and trying to be a speed demon can twist the driveshaft out of the truck. Please be patient when you see a truck pulling out slowly into a street or onto the interstate. Also if you live in an area where there are grades to be climbed, or in the case of the south, tall bridges, my truck will likely go from 60-35 rather quickly until I crest the bridge. On the downhill side I may be just as slow for safety sake. Just as hard as it is to get 100,000 pounds rolling, it is even harder to stop. The final factor can be a load permit. In the case of a permitted load that exceeds the normal weights, the state may require that the load only be driven at 55 mph or 10-15 mph below posted speed limits.<br />
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<i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">T</i>hird is the issue of on and off ramps. Everyone sees the yellow speed signs when coming to a ramp. Those signs are based on the safe speed for a car to get around the ramp on a dry road. For trucks a safe speed is 10-15 mph below the posted ramp speed. The other factor being that I need to be at that speed before entering the curve. There are several issues for driving ramps. For tankers it is the movement of the liquid in the tank, they must approach at speed that is safe for the load. For me in the case of pulling a generator is the fact that I have a very high center of gravity. For normal loads it is the factor of the load shifting in the turn. If a driver hits the curve too fast and then brakes hard, it can cause the load to shift and now the freight is driving the truck, and it doesn't end well.<br />
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<i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">I </i>hope this has given you some insight to what you do not always see from the comfort of your car. In a truck we are subject to different laws, both those of the written kind and of those in the physics realm. Be patient with us please. We are bringing the diapers for your baby, the food for your family, the parts for your cars, the electricity after the storms, and the entertainment at the coliseum. Take care out there, be safe, and I'll see you on the other side!!Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-3904534266304530922013-05-24T20:53:00.002-05:002013-05-24T20:53:52.724-05:00My Memorial Day Prayer<b style="font-size: x-large;">D</b>ear <b style="font-size: x-large;">G</b>od in <b style="font-size: x-large;">H</b>eaven,<br />
<br />
As I enter this weekend help me to remember,<br />
Remember that you gave us an example of sacrifice by exchanging your son for our souls.<br />
You wanted us to know we were worthy of your love.<br />
Since then many more have been raised up for sacrifice,<br />
They do not have the title of Lord,<br />
But we call them warrior.<br />
They fought and died on the cold nights in Pennsylvania under General Washington.<br />
We called them rebels and yankees.<br />
They fought and died next to their brothers.<br />
In WW1 we called them Doughboy.<br />
They fought and died on the fields of France.<br />
In WWII they were affectionately known as Yanks.<br />
They fought and died at Normandy on the beach.<br />
In Korea and Vietnam we began to criticize them and call them baby killers.<br />
They fought and died in farmers fields.<br />
In Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan we again began calling them Warriors.<br />
They fought and died in the "sandbox".<br />
God you raised up parents who taught their children...<br />
Sacrifice...<br />
Bravery...<br />
Courage.<br />
You instilled in them selflessness.<br />
You gave them love for their country and its citizens.<br />
A love that would give all.<br />
We recognize them this weekend by the flag at their headstone.<br />
<br />
As I lay down tonight I have but one request,<br />
I pray tonight that I am worthy of their sacrifice.<br />
<br />
Amen<br />
<br />
<br />Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-88541620193827994332013-04-26T22:06:00.004-05:002013-04-26T22:06:46.550-05:00A Few Thoughts to End the Week on<b style="font-size: x-large;">I</b>t has been a whirlwind day today. It started in Kingman, AZ and has finally ended in Amarillo, TX<b>, </b>just a mere 743 miles. It has been a day that started with sunshine and had a raincloud of bad news of the passing of Mr. George Jones, The Possum. It has been wonderful to have Sirius/XM radio and get to hear all the interviews with some of the greats in country music tell their stories of the man they loved.<div>
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">I</b> am not by nature an environmentalist by any stretch. I actually consider myself more of a conservationist and am growing into that mold more and more each day. traveling East of Flagstaff AZ though there is a disturbing scene taking place. Like most guys, I love to be behind a nice pair of jeans, especially if they fit well. One of the popular styles is the stone washed jeans, as they fit and feel nice. If you are wondering how do they get that look and feel, well, I'll share it with you. The stone in stone washed is actually pumice stone. It can be found in abundance in volcanic fields. I was disturbed a little as I drove by on I-40 and have really been noticing a hill disappearing, literally. It is strip mined, or in this case it is surface mined and they are removing an entire series of hills to provide the product.</div>
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As you can see from this photo an entire hill is being stripped away just for a fashion statement. There is no reclamation possible here. In the case of a lot of surface mining for coal, reclamation takes place on a daily basis. I'm just providing this information for some of my environmental friends as they protest in parks wearing their stonewashed jeans.</div>
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">O</b>n another note, I did say yesterday that I would share a photo of the trailer I am pulling from Burbank, CA to Laval Quebec Canada. So here you go!</div>
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Enough for today, see you on the other side!!</div>
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Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-55326955675751692142013-04-25T20:38:00.002-05:002013-04-25T20:38:10.037-05:00Total Thursday<span style="font-size: large;"><b>T</b></span>oday has been a day, a full one for sure. I started some fifteen and a half hours ago and am winding it down. I started in Barstow, CA early to make it to my delivery before the L.A. rush hour. It is always a challenge in a big city to know just the right time to leave to slide in before traffic but not so early that you arrive at a destination and have no where to park. I was able to get in, get business taken care of there and then move on to the next load.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>I</b></span>t was a short jaunt up to Burbank, just 21 miles or so. I was early and got the good news, your trailer is not gonna be ready today but if you want to run illegally we have one for you now. No thanks, I'll wait for a better offer. Sure enough they offer me another trailer that is sitting there ready to go, and once everything is cleared with management I am on my way to Laval Quebec. I have a nice light trailer and it even has a pretty mural or wrap on the sides. I'll post a picture tomorrow.<br />
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See ya'll on the flip side!Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-18599671310115638022013-04-24T20:17:00.000-05:002013-04-24T20:17:01.565-05:00A Hard Day and an Easy Day<b><span style="font-size: large;">W</span></b>ell, like most things in trucking, just wait till tomorrow. Yesterday and today were two completely different days and that is one of the things that I like about this lifestyle and also what I dislike about it.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">T</span></b>uesday actually started Monday evening. It was a typical spring night in Oklahoma City, 70 degrees at 9 pm and a comfortable breeze when I went to bed. At midnight I was wide awake! HAIL!!! Well that all calmed down and I went back to my restful state. At 5 AM I awoke to freezing temperatures, high winds, and blowing sort of freezing precipitation. I dealt with the strong cold northerly winds the entire day. The only good part was that by the time I reached Santa Rosa, NM the clouds were gone, but it was still very windy and cold. I settled in at a truckstop in Gallup, NM, made some soup and went to bed.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">T</span></b>oday when I woke up it was a cool 16 degrees, clear skies, and no wind. It was a chilly walk to go in and get my coffee and a shower, that hot water is a miracle worker. I traveled today all the way from Gallup, NM to Barstow, CA. Sunny skies, a light breeze, and good roads. A day when I traveled some 537 miles and ended the day feeling refreshed and not beat up.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">T</span></b>omorrow is another story again. I deliver in Pico Rivera, CA, then run just up the road to Burbank to pick up a show load going some 3000 miles to Laval, Quebec, Canada. I'll see you on the flip side!!Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-75741952570106357932013-04-22T18:22:00.002-05:002013-04-22T18:22:42.653-05:00I am Back Again!Well, after many technical problems I am back to my blog, I am going to endeavor to make at least a short entry here everyday. First I would like to thank Jessica from Godaddy.com for helping get my domain back and operational. This is probably my most pleasant experience I have ever had with any technical support ever! She was friendly, addressed the issue, and made me a very happy customer. Now if the workers at Taco Bell could just get the sour cream all the way across the taco instead of just one end, well better not push the individual exceptionalism here.<br />
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I am back on the road after a couple of weeks off due to illness and a short fishing trip. Well I was for a few days till the old truck broke down and set me back $3000, ugh, so goes life in trucking. I am back at it and here in OKC tonight headed out to L.A.(for my MS friends that is NOT Lower Alabama!). I have a stack of chassis' going to Pico Rivera.<br />
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Well enough for today, see ya'll tomorrow!!Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-847773036262692302012-11-23T16:04:00.001-06:002012-11-23T17:16:22.238-06:00Long Road Home<b><span style="font-size: large;">A</span></b>s I was rolling down that long black ribbon through the early morning darkness Tuesday morning, I heard another one of those songs on the radio. You know, the ones that talk about going home, or the long road home, or going back to the way things were at home. It got me to thinking about the roads I've traveled and got me wondering about where I am going. Where have I been? Where am I going? What roads do I need to take to get there? What will I find when I get there?<br />
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<b>I </b>have traveled all of the interstate system in the continental United States with the exception of about 150 miles. My career has allowed me to travel the entire width and breadth of our grant land and grow to appreciate every part and what it means to the tapestry of the USA. I have seen the sun rise majestically on the Atlantic coast, driven into the gales of a storm on the great Gulf coast, braved the harsh winter winds of our northern border and watched the sun quietly set serenely into the Pacific Ocean. Do you know what it really means to see the "spacious skies" of Montana, the "amber waves of grain" in Kansas, "the purple mountain majesties" of Colorado, and "the fruited plain" of California? Niagara Falls has destructive yet beautiful power, yet a high mountain river has the unique ability to calm and comfort. A dry desert wind can sting the skin and a blizzard can destroy your sight but when they stop the landscape is changed and brings about a new beauty.<br />
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<b>H</b>ome, where is it? For the purpose of this narrative it is where I grew up, where I was raised, the place I am going back to someday. Home is great friends, my old fishing buddy Steve, my sweet neighbor Twila, my renewed friends thanks to technology. It is the place of my birth, the place where I spent time with my family both blood and extended. It is a place where I drank coffee with Uncle Odell and Aunt Ann, where I fished in the bays with My Uncle Martin and my cousins, where I climbed the fire tower with my Uncle Herman. It is that place that formed my soul and my being. It is the old elementary school, the Baptist church, The Old Place, the marinas and fish camps. It is where I would walk out on the railroad bridge by the old creosote plant, where I fished at the foot of the highway 90 bridge. It is "The Singing River", Mary Walker Bayou, the Mississippi Sound, the salt water that courses through my veins. It is a place that existed before there was a "Salt Life".<br />
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The West Pascagoula Creosote Works</div>
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<b>T</b>he day is coming when I will return, the day when I will rest, the day that I know I have arrived "Home". I will sit upon the beach that I played on as a child, a beach that I have introduced to my children. I want to float those back waters again. I want the peace of knowing the familiar. I get glimpses of home each time I pass through on my way to another place. It is breakfast with a friend, a gathering of family, fun times with high school pals. It is remembering the fun, the struggles, the enjoyment of all that was growing up in our own small town. I remember when going to a big city was all about Biloxi, Mobile, or that grandest of all big cities when I was growing up, New Orleans. All roads lead you somewhere and I have traveled a lot of them. But for me, the destination is home, it is the Mississippi gulf coast. All these ribbons of asphalt and concrete will bring me there someday. A day that cannot get here soon enough.</div>
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Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-52393207435782716612012-03-18T21:05:00.000-05:002012-03-18T21:05:48.096-05:00Just a Truck Driver?I would like to vent today. I rarely come across people who are so full of themselves that I must speak out against what they are. I cannot say with any certainty that it is who they are as I am not familiar with them on a personal basis. What can be said is that people allow there station in life to make up for what they are not. I ran across this in the last 2 days and must share.<br />
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I had the rare opportunity to find myself unable to locate a specific delivery point yesterday. I had done my due diligence in the days leading up to delivery but with little success. In most cases the way my situation works is that I am given contact information, I initiate that contact and make all necessary arrangements for safe and on time delivery. When I arrived in the area of my delivery, that exact address was not found. I safely parked my truck at a local business, notified the proprietor of my intentions to not be there long, then proceeded to follow standard procedure when things go wrong on a delivery. I called my company contact, I then called my contact who originated the load and was able to acquire the contact that was supposed to have made the proper arrangements. At first this person in a "management" position was very professional and helpful. I followed his instructions to call back at a specified time and that is when I heard out of his rude mouth the words I despise, "you're just a truck driver".<br />
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Maybe it was the fact that I was cold and soaked, a little fatigued from driving in rain, traffic and limited visibility, or the fact that he was just dead wrong. At that moment it all came together and I realized that after giving him the benefit of the doubt, I was wrong about what he was. He was neither professional, nor personable. His desire was not to assist me, but, rather to get me off of his phone so he could manage someone he actually held sway over.<br />
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You see sir, I am not "just a truck driver". Just a truck driver would have sat warm and dry at a truck stop 100 miles away and waited for management to get their stuff together. Just a truck driver may have still been over 1200 miles away because he was waiting on you to organize yourself and get everything taken care of in a timely manner. Just a truck driver would not make compromises in his route to take care of the customer when you failed to give correct data. Just a truck driver would not take a week without seeing a paycheck in the bank in order to wait on the prize at the end of the line. Just a truck driver would not have shown up at your public show with a clean and polished truck so that you sir are represented well. Just a truck driver does not have any desire to represent your product on the road.<br />
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While my common title is truck driver, I am not "just a truck driver". I arrived at your show clean, with hours to run, and a maintained piece of equipment ready for your multi-stop, long mileage load. I made sure that all preventive maintenance and necessary inspections were completed prior to my arrival at your venue. I arrived with a plan in place for routing, fueling, meal stops, and anticipated arrival times. Even when you failed to give me information at the time I was leaving with your equipment, I moved forward as if I had a solid plan in place. I manage a $138,000 piece of capital equipment. I maintain records for the equipment, I maintain records for myself, the driver, I maintain records for the business. I was delayed once by weather, had to push and work hard to beat the possible closing of mountain passes by weather. I made phone calls, I made arrangements with customers, I went out of my way to see that a customer was accommodated, when you gave me incorrect information. <br />
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On my final stop, which was on a narrow two lane road, was where I needed accurate data for safe and legal delivery. But because of what you are, you know, someone with more job title than "just a truck driver". You felt it necessary to use your position and title to degrade the very person that had safely, with alacrity, delivered all stops up until that point, and had even with a lack of information made the attempt at delivery. Something I am sure, "just a truck driver", would not have done. <br />
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Sir, based on the example you have given, you would not even begin to be able to handle a business such as mine. I have to be able to anticipate what a driver in another vehicle is going to do. I have to be able to comprehend weather and road reports and make adjustments on the go when those are wrong or change. I have to put the customers needs ahead of mine. I have to deal with the shortcomings and errors of management and still make safe and on time delivery. My failure in accuracy can lead to death. My inability to properly do my job causes you to miss an opening curtain. Your failure in leadership and accurate management of data, well, blame it on "just a truck driver".Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0Ontario, CA, USA34.06450795531601 -117.5565222675476234.005709455316008 -117.63617726754762 34.123306455316012 -117.47686726754762tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-75708031850815790932012-02-24T17:42:00.000-06:002012-02-24T17:42:35.880-06:00All About PeopleIt is important to remember all those that touch us from time to time. When you are out here on the road, the person you touch you may only see for a few minutes. I get the wonderful opportunity to meet folks from all walks of life. In the past couple of weeks I have learned a lot just from sitting down and listening to what someone has to say. It is an education that no college, tech school, or motivational speaker can give you. It is the education about what makes our great country great. <br />
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Last week it was the chance to meet farmers, truckers, auctioneers, tractor salesmen, carpenters, and family men. Yes, it was great to sit there and talk to those two men. Sitting down for breakfast before starting my day with a couple of men in small town Nebraska. In all the talk of things going wrong, never did these two men say they were waiting on a government handout, help from another state, or wondering what someone else was gonna do for them. No, these two men talked about what had to be done that day, and what they were going to do to get it all accomplished. There was talk of the cattle auction the day before, how many loads of grain were gonna get loaded, who was buying a new tractor, and work on the barn that had to be done.<br />
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I have also had the chance to meet new people in the last weeks. Last night I spent an hour or two talking to a new driver about some of the ins and outs of this lifestyle. I also got to meet a new friend who shares a sporting interest. It is always good to meet new folks. I also want to say a word for my friend, Dustin Thomas, Lawyer and Talk Radio Host. You can hear him at <a href="http://www.talkradio1580.com/" target="_blank">Talk Radio 1580</a> in Pascagoula, MS.<br />
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Keep it between the lines my friends!Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-81760257237880311972011-11-16T19:02:00.000-06:002011-11-16T19:02:31.981-06:00The Drawbacks to this JobThis has been one of those weeks that truckers dread, especially those of us who own our own trucks. It is a week that we do not like and that we wish could have a do over. When you have the normal 9-5 job or at least the home everyday kind it is easier to deal with some situations.<br />
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One of the hardest things to adapt to in this lifestyle is having to handle stressful situations on the home front. Even with the technology of web cams and cell phones, it is still hard to interact electronically when the best option is face to face in person. It is important to remember this is a lifestyle and not a job. Even after all the years spent out here, these times seem to get harder and not easier. We are alone for hours each day and friends are few and far between. So when things go wrong in your personal life with either friends or family, dealing with it gets tough.<br />
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You can then add in another factor, mechanical. What makes this so hard is when it is out of your control. When you have that perfect dispatch, going right where you want to go, the opportunity to actually see someone you know and enjoy a little time away from the trucking world. The other hard part of the mechanical is the sheer cost. When you think of a major repair on your car being 3 digits, think 4 on a truck. What I am facing this week is just that scenario. We are going into the holidays and I had that dream cross country run that pays well and would allow me time with friends to blow off some steam. Then at the last minute things go wrong with the truck costing more than a weeks pay and the loss of the good paying load with benefits. I am now left with a large bill, a lonely hotel room, and no positive options for income in the short term. Now comes the hard part of knowing that there will be no Thanksgiving for me, because, i am now required to work to pay the bills and times at home just get more tense when I am not there.<br />
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So, when you are headed out to your dinner at Grandma's house, watching the parades on TV, or headed to the mall for Black Friday, and you see that truck rolling down the highway, give a wave and a little more room to the person making your holiday a little nicer.Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0Country Inn and Suites28.009212198091284 -82.30324566364288327.920220198091283 -82.372981163642876 28.098204198091285 -82.23351016364289tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-41077358454812656302011-10-09T21:09:00.000-05:002011-10-09T21:09:02.884-05:00A busy week and a look forwardThis last couple of weeks has been busy for me, which is of course, a good thing. I have traveled from South Texas to the Midwest, to the Northeast back to the Midwest, into western Canada and now find myself back in South Texas. I have seen beautiful fall colors, blue skies, rain, snow, storms, high winds, and that was just one day! I have marveled at the color of leaves and God's artistry in the sunsets.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This photo was taken in Central WI a little over a week ago. I had awesome blue skies and wonderful colors along my path.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div>This was taken while crossing west on TCH 1 in Saskatchewan Canada, needless to say, Texas isn't the only place where they do it BIGGER!<br />
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In the last 2 weeks I have carried the elephant house for the Ringling Bros Circus, a new generator, and a trailer for Cirque Du Soleil, OVO.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7EVZeRiJYM/TopNB_Yu31I/AAAAAAAABBQ/WsiF8P3tOP0/s1600/KLN_7388adjust.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7EVZeRiJYM/TopNB_Yu31I/AAAAAAAABBQ/WsiF8P3tOP0/s320/KLN_7388adjust.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>After I drop my Cirque Trailer in the morning here in Laredo, TX, I will pick up a new tank trailer and go to Port Allen, LA. From there it will be time to go home for a short vacation. I hope to share with you pictures from a fishing trip my son and I are taking to Empire, LA for a fishing tourney. It is also that time to renew my license and all the fun that brings. Until next time, enjoy my view, and know that safety brings us all home.Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0Travel Centers Of America, Laredo, TX 78045, USA27.687670518758217 -99.46394957849122427.685462518758218 -99.46663057849122 27.689878518758217 -99.461268578491229tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-44765553183787881302011-09-18T15:48:00.000-05:002011-09-18T15:48:33.315-05:00A couple of wonderful weeks!Since my last post so much has happened. There was the 30 year class reunion, time with my son, and the opportunity to pull another interesting setup.<br />
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The 30 year reunion was a blast! It is great that the folks I grew up with and have not seen in 30 years can get together and have fun. I mean lot's of fun. While there we had a tropical storm that hung around for the whole weekend, but we were not deterred. There were multiple opportunities for classmates to gather, discuss old times, share a drink or twelve, eat some great food, and just let the cares of the world take care of themselves. I am thankful for the people I grew up with, the people I knew for a few short years, and the ones that are no longer with us. We enjoyed all the "remember whens", and created some unforgettables. We smiled, laughed, cried, and enjoyed ourselves.<br />
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That same weekend was time spent with my son and that is always special. It is great to take him where I grew up, meet my friends, make new friends, and have fun despite the weather. We set ourselves up for a Murphy's Law attack and we were not let down. We took our kayaks with us and packed no rain gear or umbrellas. Needless to say, from about 8 AM the morning we arrived until we left, it stormed.<br />
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This past week I had another opportunity to do something new in my job. I got to pull a mock-up of the new Gulfstream G-280 corporate jet. It was a great opportunity to do something different and have the chance to learn even more about what goes on around me.<br />
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</div>Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-50639402647762822042011-08-19T19:02:00.001-05:002011-08-21T12:39:10.816-05:00Another Good Week<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">I</span></b> want to start this entry with the "move of the Week". As I am traveling south on I-17 in Southern Arizona, I had the opportunity to witness more of the driving proficiency of the motoring public. A driver enters the interstate, crosses out to the fast lane(on a three lane interstate), and then immediately exits at the next exit across three lanes of traffic. All of this in less than a 1/4 mile. I really hope the.25 second gain my getting in the fast lane kept her from being late.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">After leaving Marana, AZ on Wednesday, I headed over to Scottsdale, AZ to pick up a portable stage. This is not just any portable stage. It has been used in the MLB All-Star Game, the Super Bowl, and other big events. The company that designed and patented it has a very unique product. It is carried in a 53 foot moving van style trailer, is on wheels, and is steerable. Once it is removed from the truck, it is unfolded, the "train carts" are set down and assembled, and the sound and band equipment is placed on it in the parking lot, it can then be rolled in to the stadium at half time or at the end of a game, and reset and ready to perform in 70 seconds. It truly is unique in its functionality and versatility. It will be used this Saturday night at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, CA. The Band will be Mercy Me, a contemporary Christian music group.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">While I am waiting things out here in Ontario, CA, there are more mundane tasks to be completed. The one I dread the most of course is laundry. This time it is 2 loads and $8. I have already washed the truck this week and scrubbed the floors. Certainly everything I do is not that exciting. On top of the daily grind of doing paperwork, keeping the glass clean, making regular maintenance checks, I still have to squeeze in 11 hours of driving and 10 hours of required off duty time.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">On Monday I will be connecting to an overweight generator that is going to Tinker AFB, in Oklahoma City. So far I only have one of the permits needed to make the trip and will receive the rest on Monday. While doing over-dimensional or overweight loads pays well, there is a certain amount of headache as well. One of the things with permits is thje requirement ot enter every scale house along your route and present your paperwork. It is most important that you check your permits thoroughly for errors and special instructions. Different states have different requirements.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Everyone please have a wonderful and safe day out there wherever you are.</span>Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com1Ontario, CA, USA34.065432981571 -117.5563613350067334.006634481571 -117.63601633500673 34.124231481571 -117.47670633500672tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-21461332797816836202011-08-13T23:19:00.006-05:002011-08-21T12:40:17.731-05:00Been Away too Long<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">L</span></b>et me first apologize for not keeping up. I really need to make this a daily or at least every 2 or 3 days entry. It has been a busy summer already and am looking forward to some breaks this fall. I am not complaining, in this time when so many are out of work I am blessed to be overworked. the bulk of my money this summer has come from pulling stage sets for the U2 tour. I do not care for them as people, but I will take their money.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">I have posted new pictures and new videos, please click on the links to the right and enjoy what I have to offer. there are more coming in the near future, so check back often.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Tonight finds me in Ogden, UT, pulling a new Travis Dump trailer to Kuna, ID. I am going to Darling International, a rendering plant. On Tuesday I will pick up an Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer(AVCATT). There are 2 of these units that go together and we are going to the training center at Marana, AZ, in Pinal Air Park. Well this is all for tonight and will make sure that more pictures get posted over the next several days.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Oh, and please do not forget to click on the AMSOIL links to get your vehicles converted over to the best synthetic oil on the market today.</span>Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0West Haven, UT, USA41.2307767742585 -112.0073281404724541.1972102742585 -112.06022814047245 41.2643432742585 -111.95442814047246tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-3656109665729617922011-02-24T15:59:00.002-06:002011-08-21T12:40:53.535-05:004 QUESTIONS<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">I want this blog to not only be a look into the everyday life of a truckdriver but also a chance for you to learn something new hopefully. I have for you today 4 questions that I think everyone would have a positive answer to. There are links on my page for those that want to go further and look at this.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">1. </span><span class="Apple-style-span">Would you like your car, truck, equipment to run more trouble-free and last longer? Did I hear you say yes? I think I did! Today with ever increasing repair costs and the tough times we are all facing. People are making the decision not to buy that new car and just keep the old one running. Some people are making the decision to buy and saying this will be the one that lasts me a long time.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">2. </span>Would you like to have better fuel economy? With gas headed for $4 again of course you would! If you could put a lubricant in your vehicle or equipment that would save you money on fuel would you do it? Yes!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Let me give you some answers to these first two questions. There is a product that has been on the market for 39 years that will give you these advantages. AMSOIL is a pure synthetic motor oil that will help your vehicle or equipment last longer and be more fuel efficient. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">With AMSOIL products, vehicles and equipment. . .</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">• last longer</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">• need fewer repairs</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">• perform better – more responsive, more power</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">• get better fuel economy (more miles to the gallon)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">• emit cleaner exhaust</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Finally, AMSOIL synthetic lubricants last longer than other</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">lubricants, which reduces lubricant costs and the amount</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">of used oil sent through the disposal system.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">As you use AMSOIL products, you will soon notice that your</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">vehicles and equipment perform more powerfully and use</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">fuel more efficiently than before. Over time, you will</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">appreciate that your vehicles and equipment spend less</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">time in the repair shop, costing less for maintenance. The</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">product features that keep the car out of the repair shop</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">also help it last longer.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">You will notice, too, that your vehicle or equipment runs</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">cleaner, which reduces the air pollution associated with</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">vehicles and equipment. When you use AMSOIL synthetic</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">motor oils for the recommended 25,000-mile or one-year</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">drain intervals, you will produce less used oil destined for</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">disposal than you did with your previous, shorter-drain oil.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Used oil, even when recycled, affects the environment.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">For more information, please click on the banners on the right side and the bottom of this blog.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Tune in tomorrow for 2 more important questions!!!!</span>Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-42774333186782305522011-02-02T12:30:00.001-06:002011-08-21T12:41:22.732-05:00Sitting and Waiting<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">I do not sit well. This is one of those weeks that over the road drivers are just resigned to accept. This major storm has impacted most of the country by the time I write this. I have been sitting since yesterday. I picked up a new tank trailer in Laredo, TX going to Plattsmouth, NE. The snowstorm that impacted north TX, all of OK, and parts of KS and NE, has delayed my trip by several days. The state of OK has very little clearing equipment and chemicals. This causes really long delays in clearing roads and rendering them safe. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Are you a driver of a vehicle that just refuses to watch the weather or feel you are so important and well skilled that you can drive in 3 inch per hour snow and 40 mph winds? It really is amazing that people are so foolish and then the National Guard has to come out and rescue you off the interstate that is now closed. There are a large number of vehicles, cars, trucks, and big trucks that are stuck on the turnpikes in OK today. I will allow the auto drivers to be stupid. However, I give no sympathy to the truck driver that allows himself to be caught in a storm like this. There are multiple options available for drivers to get weather and road info. Please do not tell me your dispatcher said you have to do it or you will be fired. If a dispatcher tells you that, then go to the nearest bus station, clean out your truck, go home and find a job with a safe company. No one should work for a company that operates unsafely. There is absolutely NOTHING in or on a trailer that is worth your life. If there is an emergency and it really needs to get there, then airplanes and helicopters work very well. I firmly believe that if you voluntarily went into the weather and had to be rescued, then you should be required to pay for your rescue.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Well, at least I have my laptop, books, Sirius radio, and can go inside and watch TV. While I have these diversions, sitting is still no fun. I am much better off when I can get out, take a walk, go find something to do, When it is this cold, we are having sub zero windchills at night, it is really tough even to get out and walk to the building to go to the restroom. I would be happy if the sun would come out for a while. Well, I guess it is back to reading and playing games. Enjoy your day and be safe wherever you are.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">This is one of the things I hate about trucking. Due to no fault of my own, ok well maybe some, the loads I chose took me to a dead end for 2-3 days. I took what at the time seemed to be the most profitable and would land me in a good spot to roll the weekend. It did not work out that way, so I will sit for 2-3 days. Interesting part about trucking is, if the wheels ain't turnin, you ain't makin no money. If you work at a normal job and there is nothing to do but busy work, at least you still get paid. I don't get paid for sittin, and it costs me money to sit. Just to shower is $10 per day.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The good. I reconnected with an old friend today, someone who can cheer you up just by saying hello. That is always a good thing. I also got to stop and eat at a favorite place today. That is a big positive about my lifestyle is the ability to find and enjoy new places. Today's stop was in Rayne, LA, at a place called the Frog City Travel Plaza. On the menu is some really good cajun food and I make it a point to have gumbo there whenever I can. By now you are wondering, "Frog City"? There is indeed history and a story behind the name. Click here to learn </span><a href="http://www.exploratorium.edu/frogs/rayne/index.html">http://www.exploratorium.edu/frogs/rayne/index.html</a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">The other good. I got a text from my daughter in El Paso, TX today. She sent me another cute pic of my grandbaby. So I will share.</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZVJAKInrswM/TTouMFxOsdI/AAAAAAAAAco/f_UYU6nORqE/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZVJAKInrswM/TTouMFxOsdI/AAAAAAAAAco/f_UYU6nORqE/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-53704647209794980152011-01-20T19:46:00.001-06:002011-08-21T12:42:15.823-05:00Courtesy<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">In this day and age, when it is all bout me and right now, courtesy has gotten lost. And it is not the men in this case. I hold the door for lots of folks. Twice today I held the door for female truckers, neither of them said thank you. What? Is there an expectation that I should and do not deserve a response? If I say good morning to you, can you at least respond? Tell me to go to hell, I don't care, but try to be friendly if possible. Here is a little tip to make some people feel human, if they are wearing a name tag, call them by name. Instead of just saying thanks when the waitress brings the coffee, take the time to look at her nametag and call her by her name. It almost always gets a smile because you noticed. I have really started practicing this and it makes a difference, whether it be a waitress at a truckstop or the worker at The Home Depot. Instead of just passing by someone and keep on walking, try a good morning or good day, maybe that little bit of attention will make their day because someone they are thinking about is not thinking about them. Courtesy requires very little effort but pays great rewards.</span></span>Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-24405996659816463702011-01-19T20:34:00.001-06:002011-08-21T12:42:41.033-05:00Clean Air Tax<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><b>I </b>had the occasion today to pay some more of my clean air tax. What is that you say? You have never heard of it? Well let me share my story with you. You see there are really evil polluters out there that bring you your groceries, your gasoline, your clothes, and anything else you own. Yes we are the evil truckdrivers and we must be made to pay for that privilege. As of the year of 2007 there were some new standards enacted for diesel vehicles, the first was a change in fuel formulation and then the addition of devices to the trucks that would reduce pollution. Here is the cool part, you will pay more for the new fuel, oh and it requires new oils and additives for the engines, oh and there are two new filters that are on the trucks. This first tax amounts to a one time payment in the vicinity of $10k. Then there is the added lifetime tax on the fuel of nearly $100k per truck based on an average lifespan of the truck being 10 years. Oh wait there's more. You see the wonderful Diesel Particulate Filter that is added to the truck also requires maintenance, as it must be cleaned approximately every 2 years, at a minimum cost of $600. But wait, there's more, for only another $450 a year you get to burn 150 gallons of diesel in this DPF, to turn the soot to ash, so that every 2 years you can clean it. Well you say, you deserve to be treated that way since you are such an evil polluter. The thing is we have not seen a raise in the last 3 years since all this was introduced, no one wants to pay more for what they have, but they want to stop global <s>warming</s>, I mean global <s>cooling,</s>, oh hell climate change. This is all for the better they say. But in the mean time, I will spend less, not buy as many big macs, and hold off on that new car purchase. To hell with the economy, we must support the polar bears, the sandhill crane, and Al "looney bin" Gore. I'm just sayin.....</span>Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381056368439413648.post-85716387756650860272011-01-18T18:11:00.000-06:002011-01-18T18:11:51.978-06:00Some Simple Rules<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><b>T</b>he week has begun. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span></span>It is good to be back on the road. Having been off for a month I am again becoming re-acquainted with those that either know traffic laws and choose to avoid them, or are so wrapped up in themselves that they really do not care. A couple of simple things to follow here.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><b>1. </b>Turn Signals. I know these are antiquated devices and serve no real purpose, but lets look at this wonderful invention and how it should be used. When you are on the entrance ramp to the interstate highway, it is the law, that you must use your turn signal. While it is understood that you are entering the interstate, this is also a courtesy that says, "I see you", here I come. If you are using your turn signal, and it is safe for me to move over, I will give you room. On the other hand, if your phone is glued to your ear and you are holding it with your signal hand, and you just come charging out and expect me to move over, then forget it. It is your job to safely and legally merge with traffic. This means set the phone down, or put down the fat pill that you must eat while driving and use your turn signal. As far as I am concerned it is your desire to drive on the shoulder of the road. Also, it takes me a little while to make a turn, when you see my signal on as you approach me head on, and we are both making left turns, then please use your signal so I may begin my turn instead of having to assume that you are going straight. Again, I know, you are on a most important phone call with Publisher's Clearing House, but please use your turn signals!!!!</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><b>2. </b>Directions. With all of the technology out there today, there is no excuse for last minute lane changes to catch an exit ramp. I know that I drive slower than you do, however, you can wait the extra 5-7 seconds behind me until it is time for you to safely and <b>LEGALLY</b> exit the highway. It really makes me angry when I see you behind me, you jet out to my left side, then pull a Dale Earnhardt and cut me off not knowing that you are 3 seconds from death. You do not know what is in front of me or what the condition or traffic flow is on the ramp. If you hit your brakes in front of me like that, understand, you have just written your obituary, because I cannot stop 80,000 pounds in 50 feet. If you see that you have missed your ramp, continue forward on the interstate and take the next one and come back. Trust me, unless you are at the end of the highway, there is another ramp ahead.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: black;"><span></span>I am a courteous driver, I expect you to do the same.</span></span>Ken Nilsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923815983492725550noreply@blogger.com0