"The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its history. Then have somebody write new books, manufacture a new culture, invent a new history"
-Milan Hubl, Czek communist
"It means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the War, will be impressed by all influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, our maimed veterans as fit objects for their derision."
-Major General Patrick Cleburne, C.S.A. Jan. 2, 1864
“To tar the sacrifices of the Confederate soldier as simple acts of racism, and reduce the battle flag under which he fought to nothing more than the symbol of a racist heritage, is one of the great blasphemies of our modern age”.
-James Webb-Secretary of Navy And Assistant Secretary of Defense
“The flags of the Confederate States of America were very important and a matter of great pride to those citizens living in the Confederacy. They are also a matter of great pride for their descendants as part of their heritage and history.”
-Winston Churchill
What is known as “the confederate battle flag” is just that, a flag of a confederate army who's solders the majority were non slave owning. In every major engagement the army was in, it had non slave owners fighting against slave owners in the federal army. Its purpose was to have a flag distinct from the union flag to avoid confusion in battle. It does not represent the government of the confederate states of America. That flag is often referred to as the stars and bars see below.
The flag today is only associated with racism because near the hundredth anniversary of the civil war the KKK started using the flag to gain members and give them a positive look. Before that the KKK used the “racist” american flag that had slavery during and after the civil war. Google in KKK and American flag for examples. Than type in KKK and confederate flag. You will notice the older pictures pre 1950's the KKK always used the american flag. Post 1950 the KKK started to use the confederate flag as well to give them a better image.
https://www.google.com/search?q=kkk...1_zVAhWl7IMKHVm4CvUQ_AUICigB&biw=10 24&bih=638
Its also hard to maintain its a flag of white supremacy when whites, blacks, native Americans, Asians, Mexicans and Jews all fought as soilders to defend the confederate flag.
What Drove the Soldiers under the Confederate Flag to Fight?
The confederate solder “Fought because he was provoked, intimidated, and ultimately invaded”
-James Webb Born Fighting a History of the Scoth-Irish in America
“I was fighting for my home, and he had no business being there”
-Virginia confederate Solider Frank Potts
The confederate solder “Fought because he was provoked, intimidated, and ultimately invaded”
-James Webb Born Fighting a History of the Scoth-Irish in America
“To tar the sacrifices of the Confederate soldier as simple acts of racism, and reduce the battle flag under which he fought to nothing more than the symbol of a racist heritage, is one of the great blasphemies of our modern age”.
-James Webb-Secretary of Navy And Assistant Secretary of Defense
The confederate flags mottos talked of liberty, justice, freedom, and god, not of slavery as reason to fight. Whites, Europeans immigrants, Chinese, blacks, Jews, native americans and Mexicans all fought and died for the confederate flag. To think the southern armies were full of non slave owning soldiers leaving their families and risking there lives so a few rich slave owners could keep there slaves is ridiculous. 80% of southern soldiers did not own slaves. In every major battle there were slave owning union soldiers fighting for the north, and non slave owning southern soldiers fighting for the south. In the book What They Fought For, 1861–1865 by James McPherson reported on his reading of hundreds of letters and diaries written by soldiers on both sides of the war on the question of what they believed they were fighting for. McPherson concluded that nearly all Confederate soldiers believed they “fought for liberty and independence from what they regarded as a tyrannical government.” As one Illinois officer explained, “We are fighting for the Union . . . a high and noble sentiment, but after all a sentiment. They are fighting for independence, and are animated by passion and hatred against invaders” “The letters and diaries of many Confederate soldiers bristled with the rhetoric of liberty and self-government and with expressions of a willingness to die for the cause.” An Alabamian solider wrote “When a Southerner homes is threatened the spirit of resistance is irresistible.”
“Southerners also fought for abstracts- state sovereignty, the right of secession, the constitution as they interpreted it, the concept of a southern nation different from the American nation whose values had been corrupted by Yankees”
-James McPherson Battle Cry of freedom
“The south was fighting for independence, the north to restore the union...young southerners rushed to arms to defend home and family while like their revolutionary grandfathers- seeking a new Independence ”
-James Robertson The Untold civil War Exploring The Human Side Of War National geographic
In The Confederate war by Gary W Gallagher he quotes multiple soldiers letters home as saying the reason they were fighting was because of what they saw as northern tyranny, oppression and northern invasion. In the book the common solider of the civil war, The average southern soldiers diaries and letters to home barley even mentioned slavery, much less as a reason for fighting. It was because they were defending their homes and families and country, a few said because of power of government. Thousands of Californians [non slave owning state] volunteered for the confederacy. New jersey supplied at least two confederate generals. The confederate soldiers flags mottos talked of liberty, justice, freedom, and god, not of slavery as reason to fight.
“Believe me no solider on either side gave a damn about slaves, they were fighting for other reasons entirely in their minds. Southerns thought they were fighting the second American revolution norther's thought they were fighting to hold the union together [With a few abolitionist and fire eaters on both sides].”
-Historian Shelby Foote
“I was fighting for my home, and he had no business being there”
-Virginia confederate Solider Frank Potts
“Few would have replied that it was their convictions about slavery, or their beliefs about state sovereignty....they would have told you...that they were fighting to repel the invaders, to drive the northern aggressors from their homeland”
-S.C Gwynne Rebel Yell The Violence, Passion and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson Simon and Schuster 2014
Why did the Confederacy Leave the Union?
We are told by the winners of the war that the south left the union to preserve slavery, therefore it is a flag of slavery. The truth is much different.
Causes of Southern Seccession- the Upper South
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...he-Upper-South
Causes of Southern Seccession- the Cotton States
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...-Cotton-States
Blacks in Support of the Confederate Flag
At the time of the civil war tens of thousands of blacks willingly supported the confederacy in various ways, a few thousand even fought under the confederate flag as soldiers. See the following
To Live And Die In Dixie - Black Confederate Soldiers, Black Support For the Confederacy
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...he-Confederacy
Today many proud southern blacks support the confederate flag, here are a few examples.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ppi-flag-supporter-dies-traffic-accident.html
http://blackconfederates.blogspot.com/
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2017/08/14/d...ate-monuments/
Why not the American Flag as a Flag of Racism and Slavery?
Why is not the american flag that had legal slavery up to and after the civil war not seen as a flag or racism or slavery? America had slavery for over 200 years the confederacy just a few. When america ended slavery by amendment both south and north voted for it and slavery was ended north and south at the same time. The slave trade was outlawed in the confederacy, yet under the American flag slave traders engaged in the trade for decades. Not once did a slave trading ship wave a confederate flag. Under the American flag great atrocities were committed against native Americans yet the confederacy was allied with most of the tribes and not once committed an atrocity against them. Many northern states would not even allow blacks into their states or rights to vote, marry whites, segregation etc.“Sirs, you have no reason to be ashamed of your Confederate dead; see to it they have no reason to be ashamed of you.”
-Robert Lewis Dabney, Chaplain for Stonewall Jackson
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Originally Posted by 1stvermont
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