Huckleberries Online

Adam: Confederacy For Dummies

March 25, 2009 12:12 p.m. • 9 comments

Now, Rep. Harwood’s usage of confederacy may not be in line with the understanding of modern political scientists, or with people whose political correctness leads them to go racist hunting. But Rep. Harwood’s use of the term confederacy is backed up by the Founding Fathers, and as he described the United States as a confederacy in the context of a bill reaffirming Idaho’s rights under the Tenth Amendment, which was written in the 18th Century, Harwood’s use was totally appropriate/Adam’s Blog. More here.

Question: Does Adam have a good point re: confederacy? Or has the meaning changed so much in the ensuing years that it still is a term that should be avoided?

Nine comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Aliasjax on March 25 at 1:09 p.m.
I made the exact same point in a post on this topic yesterday when I wrote:

“America has a long history of confederation, i.e. The Articles of Confederation. Confederation and confederacy are synonomous in context.

“Confederacy” can also specifically refer to the Civil War and the Confederate States/Army. It’s all about context.

I tend to agree with Cabbage, Harwood likely meant the former, not the latter; however, given the pejorative connotation that is so easily arrived at by the use of the word “confederacy” all in favor of this stupid proposal should use the word “confederation” or “republic” or “Federalism.”
Fishwife on March 25 at 2:58 p.m.
The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not contain the word “confederacy” or “confederate.” The word does not exist in either the U.S. or Idaho Constitutions. Whether Harwood subscribes to the New Constitution of the Confederate States of America (9/25/2005) remains to be seen.
http://www.newconfederacy.com/confedcn.htm
Don’t stop there, Harwood. Set the example. Show your commitment to soverignty by asking the Governor to forfeit depressed Benewah County’s share of the stimulus package.
tjh on March 25 at 4:23 p.m.
No, Adam does not have a point. He’s wrong on the facts, he’s wrong on the law, and he’s wrong in rationalizing Harwood’s stupidity.
cantyoureadthesigns on March 26 at 12:59 a.m.
Very well said, tjh.

Appears that Adam doesn’t even understand the basics of Federalists, and their foes, who won, in the case of the adoption of the The Constitution.
Arch_Druid on March 26 at 9:48 a.m.
The Articles of the Confederation is not an example that Adam should use to try to back up Harwood’s claim. The fact that there was a confederation before the U.S. Constitution was adopted, history also shows that it failed miserably. It was essentially an issue of a strong central gvt v a weak or basically non-existent gvt. Which the confederation post the Revolutionary war was. The fact that it failed was exactly why the U.S. Constitution was also drafted and then passed into law. To continue, James Madison did not want the federal gvt to have too much control and thus drafted what has since become known as the Bill of Rights. The 9th and 10th amendments do cede certain rights to the states. But under no circumstances, as was noted by other commenters, do they grant a “confederacy,” in accordance with the post Revolutionary war initial attempt at governance. That becomes an argument that there can not be and should not be a federal authority. Given how quickly the last attempt failed, does Harwood really think that he can repeat historical mistakes and somehow expect better results? If the U.S. Constitution wanted a “confederacy,” then a “confederacy” in some form would have appeared in its language. Harwood speaks secessionist language, pure and simple. Note that this is the UNITED STATES of America not the CONFEDERATE states of America.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.