After the recent uproar surrounding Robert E Lee and his statues across America, I did
the first thing that came to mind, go to wikipedia to do some research naturally, but while I
was looking through the page, I couldn't help notice the similarities between Robert E Lee
and a less, well, significant person when it comes to real life.
You probably guessed it by the title of this video; it's Count Dooku.
If you haven't figured it out yet, SPOILER ALERT I will be talking about the plot in
the Star Wars Prequels.
You have been warned.
Now, at first this might seem like a silly comparison, but the similarities go further
than what you might think, you'll see in a bit what I'm talking about.
Let's start with the obvious; they both look very similar, and they both have similar backgrounds
and motives.
Lee served in the US military before becoming a significant figure with the Confederates,
and Dooku served as a Jedi Knight before becoming a significant figure with the Separatists.
They are both the second highest portrayed figure in their respective regimes, Dooku
behind Darth Sidious, and Lee behind Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederates.
Davis and Sidious, aka Palpatine both share something in common too, they were both involved
in the politics of both sides of their respective conflicts at one point or another.
It was at this point where I realized that the similarities went way beyond Dooku and
Lee.
I realized that the Clone Wars is based on the American Civil War.
It becomes extremely obvious when you look at the names of both of these rebellions.
The Confederates were officially called the Confederate States of America, and the Separatists
in Star Wars were known as the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
Just by looking at those names, it is clear that the Separatist regime is based off of
the Confederacy of the Civil War.
Yoda is somewhat of a Lincoln figure, considering they were both the head of their respective
groups, Lincoln of the United States, and Yoda of the Jedi Order, and the fact that
they are both considered to be very wise, and that they have some pretty good quotes.
Obi Wan and Anakin together make up the equivalent of Ulysses S Grant, the General of the Union
Army.
Grant's forces overwhelmed Lee's forces in the siege of Petersburg, leading to Lee and
the Confederate's surrender, which is a parallel to Obi Wan and Anakin duelling and defeating
Count Dooku, even though Dooku dies but Lee does not.
The battle of Geonosis, the first battle of the Clone Wars, is a parallel to the Battle
of fort Sumter, the kickoff of the Civil War, although the scenario is quite different,
in terms of who started what and why, because if it were the same, it would be too obvious
that it was a reference to the American Civil War and it would be unoriginal, and we can't
have unoriginal plot lines in Star Wars! *cough* In the Phantom Menace, all the politics being
discussed about trade disputes, taxation of trade routes, and motions of no confidence
yada yada yada, which you probably don't even remember because everybody's eyeballs and
eardrums were sore from jar jar, and because, well what kid doesn't love listening to trade
squabbles and the impeachment of a corrupt bureaucrat, because we all know that every
parent has that problem where their kid watches too much C-SPAN.
"Johnny, turn the TV off, it's time for bed!"
"5 more minutes mom, I need to see the latest news on the softwood lumber dispute!"
Anyways, all of the politics in the Phantom Menace, are the equivalent to the Kansas-Nebraska
Act, which allowed the territories of, you guessed it; Kansas and Nebraska, to decide
for themselves, whether or not to allow slavery in their respective territories.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act caused chaos in Kansas as pro-slavery supporters caused violence
in the territory, which was coined "Bleeding Kansas", and it was a prelude to the Civil
War, and fuelled a political crisis in the capital.
Its parallel in Star Wars is the Trade Federation invading Naboo, fuelling a political crisis
in the capital.
Both of the scenarios in Star Wars, and in real life, resulted in a new leader somewhere
down the line, with Lincoln and Palpatine, with a fresh ideology with a different view
on the current situation, which inevitably ended in conflict.
I know I said before that Yoda was somewhat of a Lincoln figure, but before Palpatine
was revealed as the Dark Lord of the Sith, he was the Lincoln who claimed to want the
Republic to stay together as one.
Now, I know what you might be thinking; in Star Wars, the war ended in a sinister Empire,
while the American Civil War resulted in freedom!
I get that argument, however, there are a lot of similarities there too.
In the American Civil War, habeas corpus was suspended.
In other words, the right to be brought before a judge if you are charged with a crime was
suspended.
That's actually quite dangerous, and along with other factors, it can cause corruption
and the very thing that the United States sought to replace.
President James Madison once said "If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will
be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
Now the Union did not recognize the self-proclaimed Confederate States of America, as a country,
therefore excluding it from being considered foreign, but the context is still there.
With the wrong people with too much power during a time of war, making a reference to
our friend from Star Wars over here, corruption could become an even greater threat to a way
of life than whoever is being fought on the battlefield.
I am obviously making a parallel to the end of the Clone Wars, where the Separatists were
defeated by the Republic, but the Republic became an evil empire which was worse than
the Separatists.
That concludes our video.
Feel free to discuss this in the comments below.
Whether you agree or disagree with me, I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas.
Thanks for watching.
Bye for now.