Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Trivial tidbits, week six

I proceed with today's trivial tidbits with trepidation, especially since one of my followers is more loyal to Missouri than almost everything else in the world, but after attending Braden's first Boy Scout meeting, during which the Den leader inaccurately taught the Cub Scouts about Missouri history, I feel it's my duty to forge ahead.

A universally alarming experience of my encounters with residents of Georgia, and other Southern states, during my decade away from this Missouri life was their lack knowledge about their state--its history, its geography, its resources--everything.  Unless the fact related to football or the Confederacy, most Georgians seemed to know very little about their state's role in America's foundation.  And if something happened north of the Mason-Dixon line, it never actually happened.  This is not to imply that people in the South are unintelligent; in actuality, many of the smartest people I have the pleasure of knowing are Southerners.  However, on the whole, they lack depth in their knowledge of state and American history.  In light of this, I bring to you (Missourians, Georgians, and Americans alike), a bit of Missouri history trivia.


Was Missouri a member of the Confederacy or the Union during the Civil War?

The winner of today's trivia challenge wins a postcard of the St. Louis Arch.  Good luck!

4 comments:

Bybee said...

I didn't move to Missouri until I was an adult, so missed that MO History class, but for some reason, I'm under the impression that they vacillated, had a lot of in-fighting then at last joined the Union.

Unknown said...

Hey Bybee! Thanks for visiting Saucy Wench's Words. How did you hear about my blog? (Or was it just happenstance?) I hope you enjoyed it enough to visit again sometime. Thanks!

Unknown said...

This answer came from Missouri's biggest fan, my brother:

Well this is a difficult question. Callaway County is still technically not a member of the second federation...thus the moniker "The Kingdom of Callaway." And, the Confederate flag boasts 13 stars, recognizing Kentucky and Missouri as members, when in actuality...and according to CSA congressional meetings, there were only 11 states in the Confederacy. However, Missouri was never technically a documented successionist state. Most young Missourians, specifically farmers fought against the blue coats, rallying around guerilla leaders such as Quantril. They saw the spread of the federal government as an intrusion and a violation of sovereignty. Such mindsets are deep seeded in Missourians and can still be seen on our state seal (the knights helmet is a symbol of state sovereignty over national sovereignty). The truth is, Missourians (specifically cowboys and outlaws in the 1850-70) believed they were subjects of no government outside the great rivers...not the CSA...not the USA.


In layman's terms, Missouri is what people often refer to (whether an accurate term or not) as a border state. Braden's den leader claimed Missouri a Union state, the assertion which led to the question in the first place.

Bybee said...

I found a link to your blog through C.B. When I saw that you're a Missourian, I was hooked. I lived in Sedalia before I moved to Korea.

Followers