30 Jun 2022 5:51 pm
FOS » 30 Jun 2022, 5:00 pm » wrote: ↑ If you really want to get to the essence of what the Civil War was...I would say the core was a Norman vs Saxon conflict.
The normans invaded England in 1066. as a people they had a culture that was greatly equestrian, agrarian, elitist, and centered around war and adventure.
They basically were the innovators of the medieval knight, Lance and all.
It is very easy to see parallels with the us southern culture. And that is no accident. Because many of the cavaliers, who supported king Charles in the English Civil War, fled to the us south when they lost the war and Oliver Cromwell took over England.
Saxons, on the other hand, were known to prefer fighting on foot and with the axe. They were egalitarian, they preferred isolation to adventure, and they preferred being practical over idealism and romance.
And they were the population who inhabited the north...such as the puritans. The average Norman in England at the time was far too wealthy to consider relocating to New England. And the way the north developed was clearly a Saxon style of culture rather than a Norman style.
So I would argue that this is what caused the north vs south culture clash. And although the north had more money overall than the south...the individual aristocratic plantation owners in the south...of Norman ancestry..also scoffed at democracy and also scoffed at the idea that population or railroads can win a war. Typical Norman attitude.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hatfields-and-McCoys