Monument to Confederate Defenders of Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina
St. George Tucker’s The Southern Cross appeared in the Southern Literary Messenger in March 1861:
Oh, say can you see, through the gloom and the storm
More bright for the darkness, that pure constellation?
Like the symbol of love and redemption in its form,
As it points to the haven of hope for the nation.
How radiant each star! As they beacon afar,
Giving promise of peace, or assurance in war;
‘Tis the Cross of the South, which shall ever remain
To light us to Freedom and Glory again.
How peaceful and blest was America’s soil,
‘Till betrayed by the guile of the Puritan demon,
Which lurks under Virtue, and springs from its coil,
To fasten its fangs in the life-blood of freemen.
Then loudly appeal to each heart that can feel,
And crush the foul viper ‘neath Liberty’s heel;
And the Cross of the South shall forever remain
To light us to Freedom and Glory again.
‘Tis the emblem of peace, ’tis the day star of hope;
Like the sacred Labarum, which guided the Roman,
From the shores of the Gulf to the Delaware’s slope,
‘Tis the trust of the free and the terror of foemen –
Fling its folds to the air, while we boldly declare,
The rights we demand, or deeds that we dare;
And the Cross of the South shall forever remain
To light us to Freedom and Glory again.
But, if peace should be hopeless and justice denied,
And war’s bloody vulture should flap his bloody pinions,
Then, gladly to arms! while we hurt in our pride,
Defiance to tyrants, and death to their minions,
With our front to the field, swearing never to yield,
Our return like the Spartan in death on our shield;
And the Cross of the South shall triumphantly wave
As the flag of the free or the pall of the brave.
Very stirring and heart-felt…sincerely.
Never read that before.
Thank you.
I do believe most anti-Puritan sentiment confuses Puritans with Unitarians. Two widely, and contrary ideologies. Yes, the Unis DID come from the New England area- but it was the adoption of the ‘Halfway covenant’ that steered the earlier calvinists from their vision- not some bloodlust against the South.
Just sayin’….
I’m fully aware of this.
We’re going to explore this in detail when we start to peel away layers of New England’s culture and history in the same way that I have done with the South.