April 20, 1861
Savannah gentlemen have gathered together to determine a course of action.
Eight days ago, General Beauregard ordered the bombardment of Ft. Sumter.
Seven days ago, the United States Army surrendered the fort.
Five days ago, Lincoln has made his famous request for 75,000 troops “to put down these unlawful combinations too large to be suppressed by ordinary means...”
And just yesterday, he ordered a blockade of all Southern ports.
This is the atmosphere of deliberation: tense, arrogant, excited, brash, anxious.
Gentleman 1
The storm is coming.
Gentleman 2
But surely it will be clear to the whole world who is in the right!
Gentleman 3
No, it won’t at all be clear.
Lincoln is using Sumter as a pretext to initiate an aggressive invasion and Conquest.
When they overwhelm us with force, they will then bribe the Africans and try to say that the whole thing was done in the name of freedom.
Gentleman 1
This signals the death of the old Republic.
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He pours a drink.
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Gentleman 3
The decline of Western Civilization.
Gentleman 4
We have no Industry! We have no Navy! We have no Machine!
We can’t defend ourselves unless we can turn that cotton into
manufactured war materials.
Gentleman 1
The Serpent has been loosed to tighten around our throats.
Gentleman 2
But those people cannot hold the field like we can.
He pulls a gun.
Gentleman 3
Nor can they ride.
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He smiles but with a degree of resignation.
These merits only seem consolatory.
One gentleman turns to the window, which looks out into a garden with a fountain.
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Gentleman 5
All we really have, gentlemen, is the will to fight.
The will to resist.
Gentleman 1
And the will to remember.
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They all raise their glasses.
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