The “natural rights” referred to by Paine were first expressed by John . A government of our own is our natural right: And when a man seriously reflects on the precariousness of human affairs, he will become convinced, that it is infinitely wiser and safer, to form a constitution of our own in a cool deliberate manner, while we have it in our power, than to trust such an interesting event to time and chance . . . Ye that oppose independence now, ye know not what ye do; ye are opening a door to eternal tyranny, by keeping vacant the seat of government. There are thousands, and tens of thousands, who would think it glorious to expel from the continent, that barbarous and hellish power.

"august 19th (1864)- how they quarreled and wrangled among themselves- alabama and mississippi, all were loud for joe johnston, save and except the long-haired, one-armed hero, who cried at the top of his voice: "oh! you all want to be kept in trenches and to go on retreating, eh? " "oh, if we had had a leader, such as stonewall (jackson), this war would have been over long ago! what we want is a leader! " shouted a (wounded man). they were awfully smashed-up, objects of misery, wounded, maimed, diseased. i was really upset, and came home ill. this kind of thing unnerves me quite." mary chestnut, a diary from dixie this entry from the diary of mary chestnut illustrates a) the lack of medical technology possessed by the confederacy. b) the military superiority of southern troops in the civil war. c) the effects of the emancipation proclamation on the southern economy and society. d) the loss of morale and confidence by the confederacy towards the end of the civil war.