American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

Here's something that affects this forum, its name. It seems the Mason-Dixon Line had nothing to do with the Civil War. It was the line established between the states of Pennsylvania and Maryland and Delaware. The line between slave states and free states was 36 degrees,30 minutes latitude established in the Missouri Compromise Act. I know I was taught this in high school but I never realized that the two lines have been confused. Perhaps this forum should be named "Compromise Tavern".

Maj.Gen. Drex Ringbloom,
AotS Chief-of -Staff,
2nd Division Cmdr, "Corcoran's Legion", VIII Corps
Army of the Shenandoah

Oh hell. Way to open up a can of worms! The 36'30" Line established the boundary west of Missouri in the territories and actually never was a line in the United States proper. Not only that we all know how well the 36'30" line worked (see the Kansas-Nebraska Act). To the best of my knowledge there was never any polticially named "line" separating the free and slave states. The Mason-Dixon Line was hardly such a line as Delaware was a slave state right up through the Civil War.

I like the name as is. Then again, the Supreme Court may rule any such line unconstitutional and order us to change the name (see the Dred Scott Decision). If that occurs I suggest we be ready with a backup name. Something like, "The Robert E. Lee Tavern." [:D]

Col. Blake L. Strickler
Army of the Mississippi
Chief of Staff
6th Bd/4th Div/IV Corps

According to Wikipedia

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">The Missouri Compromise of 1820 created the political conditions which made the Mason–Dixon Line important to the history of slavery. It was during the Congressional debates leading up to the compromise that the term "Mason-Dixon line" was first used to designate the entire boundary between free states and slave states.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

So it's an incorrect term used by a bunch of drunken politicians in a debate that lead to a disaster of a compromise. Therefore, very appropriate for our joint Tavern.

Interesting side note: One historic site thought that the name for the South, "Dixie", may have come from the word "Dixon".

General Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
2/3/IV AoM (CSA)

Hmmmmmm......I like the ring of that....The "Robert E Lee Tavern"!!!!......But wait, some of our Northern mambers might object.....Since Lee was more than the match for so many of the Northern Generals, we could be completely fair by including several of them in the name with General Lee. How's this sound?

"The Great Robert E Lee and Various Evil Union War Criminals Tavern"

That should honor them more fairly and properly!!!!!!

[:D]




BG Hank Smith
Army of Georgia
Smith's Corp Commanding

How about the "Gen. Robert E. Appomattox", that should make both sides happy.

Lt. Gen. D. Groce
Commander
V Corps AotP
"beyond our ideas of right and wrong there is a field, I will meet you there"

Or we could do what sports teams do, "The Robert E. Lee and a Yankee General to be Named Later Tavern" [:o)]

Col. Blake L. Strickler
Army of the Mississippi
Chief of Staff
6th Bd/4th Div/IV Corps

I'm not sure I would call the Missouri Compromise a "disaster". It certainly was a means of putting off the resolution of an issue that would have to be resolved, but to fault the authors of that act would be also to fault the framers of the Constitution, who also punted on the issue. While it lasted, however, the United States remained whole and grew substantially. It's not at all clear that a resolution of the slavery question was achievable in 1820.

The Compromise held for a generation, until 1850, when it began to unravel over California, and was shredded by the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, authored by Stephen Douglas, and based on the concept of Popular Sovereignty, in which elections would determine whether a state would be admitted to the Union as slave or free. The Act, and Douglas' role in getting it through Congress, became a centerpiece of the Lincoln-Douglas debates during their 1858 contest for the Senate.

Under Popular Sovereignty, Kansas became "Bloody Kansas" as forces for and against the extension of slavery organized nationally to get as many of their own adherents as possible into the territory, and armed each side. Low-intensity warfare became the order of the day, and agreement on what constituted a fair election proved impossible in this context. The conflict in Kansas presaged the wider conflict, and key players like John Brown and William Quantrill became involved.

BTW, Delaware is in fact nearly entirely south of where the Mason-Dixon line would be if extended east from the MD/PA border.

Gen. Matt Perrenod
<i>The Blue Ghost</i>
Superintendent, Union Military Academy
1st Brigade, 2nd Division, VIII Corps, Army of the Shenandoah
UMA Class of '01

I should add that the 36/30 "line" was established in the first Missouri Compromise of 1820 and not in the second Missouri Compromise of 1821 or the third in 1850. As far as the name goes, Appomattox Tavern has a nice sound to it.[:p]

Maj.Gen. Drex Ringbloom,
AotS Chief-of -Staff,
2nd Division Cmdr, "Corcoran's Legion", VIII Corps
Army of the Shenandoah

I think the Tavern name denotes the North/South split. I think MOST people consider that line a dividing line.

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands, General
4th Brigade, Cavalry Division, XIV Corps,
Army of Cumberland, USA


ACWGC Records Site Administrator
</b></font id="gold">

When driving up hwy 81, at the state line of MD and PA is a big sign stating Mason / Dixon line [:D]

Respectfully,
Lt. Gen. Gery Bastiani
2/2/IV AotM CSA



"If there is a shell or bullet over there destined for us, it will find us" - General James Longstreet

I found the Mason Dixon Line:



[:D][:D][:D]

General Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
2/3/IV AoM (CSA)

I love it! But Yosemite Sam a Reb? say it ain't so!

Maj.Gen. Drex Ringbloom,
AotS Chief-of -Staff,
2nd Division Cmdr, "Corcoran's Legion", VIII Corps
Army of the Shenandoah

I believe it, he never did hit anything he shot at.<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Drex</i>
<br />I love it! But Yosemite Sam a Reb? say it ain't so!

Maj.Gen. Drex Ringbloom,
AotS Chief-of -Staff,
2nd Division Cmdr, "Corcoran's Legion", VIII Corps
Army of the Shenandoah




<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Lt. Gen. D. Groce
Commander
V Corps AotP
"beyond our ideas of right and wrong there is a field, I will meet you there"