September 17, 1862. Antietam tea party gets a wee bit out of hand.

On this date in 1862, a group of concerned citizens organized a "tea party" near Antietam Creek, Maryland to express their support for a limited federal government.

A very limited federal government. A limited enough to be technically non-existent federal government.

The group, who called themselves "The Confederacy," was worried that the government was infringing upon their individual liberties -- specifically, the individual liberty to decide that black people didn't really qualify for individual liberties. They were also concerned that the Lincoln administration's healthcare reform plan amounted to a federal takeover of the leach industry.

Nearly all of the activists, or "Confederates," were avid supporters of the second amendment, and came to the pep rally armed. At the time, a Confederate spokesman downplayed the significance of this, calling it a symbolic affirmation of personal freedom.

The federal government, it turned out, thought this was a fabulous idea as well, and sent thousands of its own armed representatives to attend.

Unfortunately, somebody had to talk shit, and one thing led to another, and somebody shot somebody, and somebody else shot that guy and 23,000 people died.

And everyone involved felt pretty silly about it in the morning.