# I pit Fox News' Andrew Napolitano for his really stupid statement on the Civil War and slavery **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 25, 2014, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251 "2014-02-25T20:16:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/41 "2014-02-26T10:22:14Z")
Will this cost Fox News it’s valued Black viewer demographic? ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/42 "2014-02-26T10:35:15Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Will this cost Fox News it’s valued Black viewer demographic? I’m pretty sure he was in the can during that segment, so they’re good. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/43 "2014-02-26T10:36:33Z")
And when you say “valued”… ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/44 "2014-02-26T11:21:50Z")
> [@Askthepizzaguy](#): > > I’m pretty sure he was in the can during that segment, so they’re good. And if **OMG** does read this he’ll probably just call Lincoln a “libtard” anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/45 "2014-02-26T12:51:25Z")
Finally standing up to the slave power took a lot of [balls](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini%C3%A9_ball). Also some canister. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/46 "2014-02-26T13:56:56Z")
It’s slavery all the way down. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The problem with a moderate solution was that the southerners weren’t interested in one. They rejected the idea that slavery was a problem that needed to solved. They felt the only problem was that the federal government wasn’t doing all it was supposed to to support the institution of slavery. One thing that struck me when reading Doris Kern Goodwin’s [Team of Rivals: the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_of_Rivals:_The_Political_Genius_of_Abraham_Lincoln) (a must-read, by the way), was how there seemed to be no room for compromise with the South, even before Lincoln. There was no moderate faction. And I couldn’t help but get an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach comparing it to today, which seems to be a shadowy reflection of that time. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/47 "2014-02-26T14:10:32Z")
As I recall, there was even an effort to create colonies of former slaves. They were supposed to get them well set-up with schools and hospitals. Shockingly, it turns out that some private concern hired to do the job of government took the money and did the least they could possibly get away with. They dumped the former slaves on an island with some hatchets and told them to fend for themselves. Lincoln gave up this plan after that. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/48 "2014-02-26T14:17:28Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > As I recall, there was even an effort to create colonies of former slaves. They were supposed to get them well set-up with schools and hospitals. Shockingly, it turns out that some private concern hired to do the job of government took the money and did the least they could possibly get away with. They dumped the former slaves on an island with some hatchets and told them to fend for themselves. Lincoln gave up this plan after that. Liberia was founded in such a way, was it not? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/49 "2014-02-26T14:45:51Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Umm… **MaxTheVool** …You do remember that it is a Comedy show, not actual reasoned political debate, right? Fox News? Yes, I suppose so. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/50 "2014-02-26T14:46:58Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? :smack: No, no, that was the **Jews!** How obvious did they have to make it – they kept shouting, “Torah! Torah! Torah!” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/51 "2014-02-26T14:49:29Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > :smack: No, no, that was the **Jews!** How obvious did they have to make it – they kept shouting, “Torah! Torah! Torah!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/52 "2014-02-26T15:02:15Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > They couldn’t free them in 1776 because the colonies were still English. > They didn’t insist on freeing them in the US constitution, so slave owners were somewhat annoyed at slavery possibly becoming illegal, denying them their livelihood, being ordained in the constitution when they joined up, and all. > I particularly wonder about Texas, having so recently left being an independent country and becoming a state. “Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea, fellows. We will just opt out.” > It must have been like joining a club, and finding that it had something you found repugnant, but they threaten you with violence if you try to leave. > 🙂 Yeah, those poor slave states. They were practically… wait for it… _enslaved_ by the North. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/53 "2014-02-26T15:03:10Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > …and _immediately_ after they were defeated military they bullshitted us all by claiming it was all about state rights, notwithstanding the articles of secession of Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Georgia. (Admittedly, I’m not clear about the other ones). All eleven of them are identical in that regard. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/54 "2014-02-26T15:53:17Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > …and _immediately_ after they were defeated military they bullshitted us all by claiming it was all about state rights, notwithstanding the articles of secession of Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Georgia. That reminded of a famous quote from the civil war: After the Battles for Chattanooga one place that saw the worst action was selected as a new cemetery for the fallen. When a chaplain asked the victorious Union General Thomas if the dead should be separated and buried by state, Thomas replied: “Mix ‘em up. I’m tired of states’ rights.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/55 "2014-02-26T16:09:44Z")
> [@Falchion](#): > > The situation at Fort Sumter was fairly complicated. Well yes, it was _obviously_ a major provocation for the U.S. to try to reprovision its garrison at Fort Sumter. After that failed, there was no choice left for the South but to bombard and occupy the fort and also to take over other federal installations. Lincoln should’ve just paid off the southern leaders in order to keep conducting business as usual, then there would have been no war. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/56 "2014-02-26T16:16:09Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > One thing that struck me when reading Doris Kern Goodwin’s [Team of Rivals: the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_of_Rivals:_The_Political_Genius_of_Abraham_Lincoln) (a must-read, by the way), was how there seemed to be no room for compromise with the South, even before Lincoln. There was no moderate faction. And I couldn’t help but get an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach comparing it to today, which seems to be a shadowy reflection of that time. Or _Year of Meteors: Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and the Election that Brought on the Civil War_ by Douglas R. Egerton. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/57 "2014-02-26T16:22:58Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > As I recall, there was even an effort to create colonies of former slaves. They were supposed to get them well set-up with schools and hospitals. Shockingly, it turns out that some private concern hired to do the job of government took the money and did the least they could possibly get away with. They dumped the former slaves on an island with some hatchets and told them to fend for themselves. Lincoln gave up this plan after that. Also, Lincoln had General McClellan study the colonization idea. McClellan reported that all the naval and merchant shipping of the U.S. drafted for the purpose could not deport blacks from America “one-half so fast as negro children will be born here.” You can read the story in [_What Lincoln Believed,_](http://www.amazon.com/What-Lincoln-Believed-Convictions-President/dp/1400030730) by Michael Lind. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/58 "2014-02-26T16:23:34Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > They didn’t insist on freeing them in the US constitution, so slave owners were somewhat annoyed at slavery possibly becoming illegal, denying them their livelihood, being ordained in the constitution when they joined up, and all. Except this wasn’t true. Everyone, including Lincoln, said that they had no intention of ending slavery nationwide. (The abolitionists even ran a candidate against Lincoln because he was “soft” on slavery.) The Republicans said they had no intention of ending slavery in states where it was already legal. They even offered to enact a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the ongoing legality of slavery so no future law could abolish it. But this wasn’t enough for the southern fire-eaters. They didn’t want to just protect slavery in their own states; they insisted the federal government had to protect it throughout the country - even in states that didn’t want slavery. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/59 "2014-02-26T16:27:03Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > McClellan reported that all the naval and merchant shipping of the U.S. drafted for the purpose could not deport blacks from America “one-half so fast as negro children will be born here.” Free families with pregnant women first. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251/60 "2014-02-26T16:34:27Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Well, always nice to hear the voice of moderation… > > The problem with what happened was that the devastation of the South led to long-lasting resentment. It would have been easier to bring them forward to a more civilized outlook if they weren’t poisonously bitter. It’s a pity the non-slave-owning Southerners who fought & then came home to an impoverished South were not encouraged to put the blame on the slave masters who started the catastrophe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fox-news-andrew-napolitano-for-his-really-stupid-statement-on-the-civil-war-and-slavery/682251.md?page=4)