Thursday, August 3, 2023

America's Southeast Coast

This visit is to the states of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and, West Virginia.

Like Miami, Atlanta is the product of the railroad. When railroads were built across America, the end of the Appalachians was a natural place for a rail junction. That tradition of Atlanta as a transportation hub continued as it's airport, Atlanta-Hartsfield, became just about the busiest airport in the world.

America's southern states are known for their resistance to labor unions. But a thought occurred to me one day. The U.S. Civil War was between the Union and the Confederacy. The interesting thing, of course, is that, if we use a dictionary, a union and a confederacy means the same thing. So why not call it a labor confederacy? The Union was the enemy in the Civil War. Do not even use the word "union". Would you like to join our labor confederacy?

Jimmy Carter, the former U.S. president, was from Georgia. Political opponents have spun his presidency as the era of economic "stagflation", stagnation with inflation. But inflation occurs when an economy is growing. Inflation during stagnation does not make any sense, unless there are other factors involved. We saw in the posting, "Remembering Jimmy Carter" February 2023, that the real reason behind the notorious inflation of the late 1970s was the U.S. going off the Gold Standard before Carter took office.

We also saw Jimmy Carter in the posting " Another Plus For Jimmy Carter", March 2023, that former Texas governor John Connolly, by then a Republican, toured the Middle East before the 1980 election and suggested that the Iranians should keep the U.S. hostages until after the election. The reason was to ruin Carter's chances of winning reelection. Even the President of Iran at the time, Abolhassan Bani Sadr, said that this is true.

Atlanta is the home of CNN, the Cable News Network, known for it's "beauty contest" approach to the news.

https://markmeektravel.blogspot.com/2006/09/atlanta-and-cnn-headquarters-georgia.html?m=1

In the interest of health, I have long since given up anything that could possibly be considered as "junk food". I have been through so many New Year's resolutions that I don't have anything left to give up.

There is one exception. I decided against giving up my beloved Coca-Cola. I have adored Coca-Cola all my life. I don't even like any other soft drinks. I do drink Coke Zero, with no calories, and only drink a little bit at a time. It feels like the acid is beneficial to digestion.

Coca-Cola is based in Atlanta.

The following scenes of Atlanta begin at CNN Headquarters.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow. After clicking on the up arrow you can then hide previews of successive scenes, if you so wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7573908,-84.3942889,3a,75y,215h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sb1NKkbx3Ltzeb5NThV2Rig!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Db1NKkbx3Ltzeb5NThV2Rig%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D210.20372%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

Augusta is another major city in Georgia.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.4672008,-81.9528441,3a,75y,202.93h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sV8KLa3fppeNMKWvXiLczbw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DV8KLa3fppeNMKWvXiLczbw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D202.9302%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Columbia is the state capital of South Carolina. U.S. state capitals are usually near the geographic center of the state.

The city was destroyed in the U.S. Civil War by Union troops that were reportedly vengeful at the lead role of South Carolina in the Confederate secession. 

I do not agree with the destruction of the south by the advancing Union army. If Union president Abraham Lincoln had forbade it he might have saved his life. An actor, and Confederate sympathizer, named John Wilkes Booth killed Lincoln, just after the war ended, while he was watching a play. I believe that the assassin was enraged by the destruction in Georgia and South Carolina. With Richmond fallen, the original plan to kidnap Lincoln was no longer viable.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0046011,-81.0372254,3a,75y,200h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPNff2dautIFmAZ7aOKRsNA_sVivLqsXe5jrngN!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPNff2dautIFmAZ7aOKRsNA_sVivLqsXe5jrngN%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya345-ro-0-fo100!7i10892!8i5446

Fayetteville, in North Carolina, is named for the Lafayette that was prominent in America's Revolutionary War.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.0527123,-78.8851931,3a,75y,110t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNcWDzkpRIw9Kh5l_widBlRkVdrTGyvgm7Lp8X5!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNcWDzkpRIw9Kh5l_widBlRkVdrTGyvgm7Lp8X5%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-20-ya337.39145-ro-0-fo100!7i13312!8i6656

One of the greatest of ironies about slavery is that the mountains and ridges of the Appalachians were formed by a long-ago sliding tectonic collision between what was then Africa and North America. The two were later separated by seafloor spreading along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. But part of what had been Africa was left attached to North America. The irony is that the U.S., east of the Appalachians, actually once was part of Africa. Image from Google Earth.


Charlotte, in North Carolina, is America's banking center.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.2265077,-80.8440365,3a,75y,40h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM7HM_xhtnuM57sfij1cwvu8-eVMvaAaFV2WQeX!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM7HM_xhtnuM57sfij1cwvu8-eVMvaAaFV2WQeX%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya194.87886-ro-0-fo100!7i10000!8i5000

Winston-Salem, in North Carolina, is America's tobacco center. I don't suppose it to be a coincidence that two of America's most popular cigarettes have been Winston and Salem. The major tobacco company is R.J. Reynolds. The Reynolds Building was the architectural predecessor of the Empire State Building.

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.0976349,-80.2439784,3a,75y,180h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMIHRmcFAKp6huvweDEs1TbUpsOFUKb8Hd-X2D-!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMIHRmcFAKp6huvweDEs1TbUpsOFUKb8Hd-X2D-%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya276.1021-ro-0-fo100!7i5500!8i2750

Richmond, in Virginia, was the capital city of the Confederacy, moved from the initial capital at Montgomery in Alabama. It was also the most important industrial center of the Confederacy. If there is a place to celebrate the Confederate side of the Civil War it is probably Richmond. Many Confederate heroes are buried there.

Richmond was destroyed in the Civil War but the retreating Confederates torched it themselves. So much will never be known about the Confederacy because it's archives were destroyed.

Does anyone remember the song from the Rock Music era about the Fall of Richmond? When I was ten years old I was given a record player for Christmas. One of the first records that I got was "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", by Joan Baez. It was about the Fall of Richmond in 1865.

The Confederacy never actually surrendered. Individual generals surrendered their armies, and Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured, but there was no official surrender of the Confederacy.

I live not too far from a main road called Sheridan Drive. If there was one single move that could have been said to have ended the U.S. Civil War it was the maneuver by Union general Philip Sheridan that cut off the retreat of Robert E. Lee, leaving him no choice but to surrender.

The surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse is often depicted as the end of the Civil War. But the signing did not take place in a courthouse. Appomattox Courthouse was actually the name of the town. The surrender signing took place in a home. And Robert E. Lee was a general that was only surrendering his own army, not the Confederacy as a whole.

Had he not been captured by Union troops, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was apparently hoping to set up a government-in-exile in Liverpool.

Some people in the former Confederate states left for places like Honduras and Brazil.

Here is Richmond starting at the statue of the famed Confederate general, Robert E. Lee.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.5536488,-77.4598053,3a,75y,309.76h,96.97t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s_ySeSN-8LWWpJIlwcygiNw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D_ySeSN-8LWWpJIlwcygiNw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D83.91064%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

Newport News, along with Hampton and Norfolk, are more of Virginia's cities. To avoid being in any state, America's capital of Washington is in the District of Columbia, between Virginia and Maryland.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.0862857,-76.4725966,3a,75y,280h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMm8_HerJl9LWK4yXkuQZFfwQ5WDLHZ1LAkPX9X!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMm8_HerJl9LWK4yXkuQZFfwQ5WDLHZ1LAkPX9X%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya271.12976-ro-0-fo100!7i13312!8i6656

Charleston is the state capital of West Virginia. During the Civil War, the westernmost part of Virginia, separated from the rest of the state by the Appalachians, decided against joining the rest of the state in seceding. President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it a new state. Here is it's capital of Charleston. This area is especially known for coal mining.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.3501156,-81.6329675,3a,75y,315h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sb5L7B2P-wfegJups05p3Hg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Db5L7B2P-wfegJups05p3Hg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D314.998%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Huntington is West Virginia's center of heavy industry, more accessible by rail in the mountainous state because it is in the Ohio River Valley.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.414471,-82.4617432,3a,75y,163.47h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s6JrGiJsYot9CFbXoXb5kiQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D6JrGiJsYot9CFbXoXb5kiQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D163.47061%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

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