Sotheby's to auction major artifacts of the War Between the States

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee characterized Virginias Civil War secession as a revolution and President Abraham Lincoln uncharacteristically scolded a couple for their lack of loyalty to the Union cause in letters scheduled to be sold at auction.

The letters, along with a trove of Civil War treasures that includes the opera glasses Lincoln carried into Fords Theatre the night of his assassination, will be up for bidding Friday at Sothebys, the New York auction house.

The opera glasses could fetch up to $700,000. The Lincoln letter, which was never mailed, is notable for its fiery tone and Lees because it lays bare the gravity of his decision to stand by his beloved Virginia as it bolted from the North.

Lee and Lincoln were among the defining personalities of the Civil War, which is being recalled during 150th anniversary commemorations.




This image provided by Sotheby's shows a rare Second National Confederate Flag from the CSS Alabama, held by family tradition to be the flag struck during the June 19, 1864 battle with the USS Kearsarge. it is among several items that will be up for bidding Friday, June 17, 2011 at Sotheby's in New York, along with a trove of  Civil War artifacts. (AP Photo/Sotheby's)

 



This image provided by Sotheby's shows a pair of German opera glasses carried by President Lincoln at the April, 14, 1865 performance of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre - the evening he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. The glasses, which have a pre-sale estimate of up to $700,000, will go up for bidding Friday, June 17, 2011 at Sotheby's in New York, along with a trove of Civil War artifacts. (AP Photo/Sotheby's)


Hmmm....can't resist impulse....trying, trying,....oh heck:

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

Lincoln and the Growth of Statism in America

"The Lincoln regime destroyed the system of federalism, or states' rights, that was established by the founding fathers. After the war, the union was no longer voluntary, and all states, North and South, became mere appendages of Washington, DC. Lincoln illegally suspended the writ of habeas corpus and imprisoned tens of thousands of political dissenters without due process; waged total war with the bombing, plundering, and mass murder of some 50,000 of his own citizens; signed ten tariff-raising bills; imposed heavy "sin taxes" on alcohol and tobacco; introduced the first federal income-tax and military-conscription laws; introduced an internal-revenue bureaucracy for the first time; executed thousands of accused deserters from the army; shut down hundreds of opposition newspapers in the Northern states; went off the gold standard and nationalized the money supply; introduced massive corporate-welfare schemes; deported an opposition member of Congress; and exploded the public debt, among other sins. By "targeting and butchering [Southern] civilians," Murray Rothbard wrote in his essay, "America's Two Just Wars: 1775 and 1861" (in John Denson, ed., The Costs of War), "Lincoln and Grant and Sherman paved the way for all the genocidal horrors of the monstrous 20th century." They "opened the Pandora's Box of genocide and the extermination of civilians …""

...But other than that, he was a great president...;-)

Thomas DiLorenzo is offering an online course at the Mises institute in January.