Free Republic

“Why doesn't the Confederacy just fade away?” The answer is simple—because many Southerners continue to teach our children and our grandchildren what our fathers and mothers and grandparents have taught us and passed down for generations . . .

Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell's recent proclamation of Confederate History Month provoked a firestorm of criticism, with many accusing him and those who commemorate their Southern ancestors' bravery of ignoring or even defending slavery. But the cruel and evil institution of slavery was not the sole or even primary reason for the South's secession from the Union, nor was it a significant motivating factor for individual Confederate soldiers. Yet many of us in the South, including those descended from old Jewish families of the Confederacy, still struggle to expose the truth about why Southern soldiers fought, the courage they showed...

July 3rd, 1863 Pickett leads his infamous charge at Gettysburg Troops under Confederate General George Pickett begin a massive attack against the center of the Union lines at Gettysburg on the climactic third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest engagement of the war. General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia encountered George Meade's Army of the Potomac in Pennsylvania and battered the Yankees for two days. The day before Pickett's charge, the Confederates had hammered each flank of the Union line but could not break through. Now, on July 3, Lee decided to attack the Union center,...

A feature article from a Chinese magazine was struck from the Internet after news spread that it stated that the Korean War was started by North Korea’s invasion of the South. The lengthy feature in Xinhua’s International Herald Leader, timed for the 60th anniversary of the start of the war, had a time line that stated: “The North Korean military crossed the parallel on June 25th, 1950 and Seoul was taken in four days.” The article was widely distributed among Chinese news portals and agencies. After news of the story spread in Korean yesterday, the original article was found to...

The Sons of Confederate Veterans (S.C.V.) is a fraternal organization composed of male descendents of the men who served in the Confederate Armed Forces during the War for Southern Independence. Their emblems include the controversial Confederate battle flag. Their core responsibility is articulated in a charge given to them by Lt. General Stephen D. Lee which calls on them to defend the heritage, honor, and reputation of the Confederate soldier and the Cause they fought for. The Cause they fought for was individual liberty, state's rights, the original Constitution and the right to secede. In essence, Confederates fought an aggressive...

Here are excerpts from 27 Southern and 12 Northern and Border state newspaper editorials published in the first few days after Lincoln’s first inaugural speech. They give some flavor of how sharply divided people were at that time. Many of the Southern newspapers called the inaugural speech a declaration of war against the South, while Northern newspapers were split largely along Democrat/Republican lines. Southern newspapers The Alexandria (VA) Gazette (Union): The inaugural will not satisfy disaffected persons in the South. The Alexandria (VA) Sentinel (secession): The inaugural address is a declaration of war. The Athens (AL) Herald: Mr. Lincoln’s inaugural,...

What I think about secession basically is that it is a consummation devoutly to be wished, but a dangerous pursuit to advocate publicly. Janet Napolitano and the alphabet soup guys do not take kindly to the notion of freedom in any way, and for the precise reason that Abraham Lincoln did not. When asked why he didn’t just let the South go, Lincoln exploded in a rage, “Let the South go? LET THE SOUTH GO? How, then, should I fill my coffers?” Documented historical fact. Look it up for yourselves. Winners write history and the North/Leftists have had nearly 160...

Salve for the slavery woundKnowledge, it has been said, will set you free. It is a true statement, and should not be dismissed out of hand. Knowledge will also go a long way toward bringing American blacks and whites together as fellow countrymen, having full appreciation for what they have in common . . . as brothers, if you will. “What can be the content of this knowledge that would bring about this miracle?” you might ask. Answer: A broad knowledge of two topics:1. worldwide history of Black slaves, and 2. the images and ideas that are gained from a...

Civil War Generals, c. 1865 Generally regarded as the world's first commercially successful photojournalist, Matthew Brady was also one of the medium's most accomplished manipulators. In this group portrait of William Tecumseh Sherman and his top officers, he added one figure. For the record, the men are, standing, from left: Oliver Otis Howard, William Babcock Hazen, Jefferson Columbus Davis and Joseph Anthony Mower; seated, from left: John Alexander Logan, Sherman, Henry Warner Slocum and Francis P. Blair. The Original Image: Brady added Blair at the far right. One of Sherman's corps commanders in the critical final offensive in Georgia, Blair...

Does the Confederate Flag offend you? http://www.sodahead.com/question/537677/does-the-confederate-flag-offend-you/ I came across this question asked at SodaHead.com that has produced a lively discussion with over 2500 comments. I thought I would post it here at Free Republic and see if it gets a similiar response.

ELLISVILLE, Miss. — Newton Knight still haunts the Piney Woods and swamps of southern Mississippi, 140 years after the Civil War. Knight, subject of the new book "The State of Jones" by journalist Sally Jenkins and Harvard University historian John Stauffer, remains an obscure Civil War figure. To the authors and some in Jones County, where Knight led a campaign against the Confederacy, he's an American hero.

Grandma’s Common Sense By Norma Zager “Common Sense is Common Sense” according to Your Grandma. “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.” Buddha An interesting sidelight to penning a controversial point of view is the strange conglomeration of followers one recruits along the way. An ideal, universally proposed, that is simply every day common sense seems to transcend nationality, ethnicity, religion or gender. I have been happily surprised that so many corners of our world read...

Should the U.S. keep a closer watch on white supremacists? Yes No Poll is in reference to an article about flying the Confederate Flag at taxpayer-funded events.

No one can deny the importance of slavery to the feud that split the United States, or that the CSA states made protection of slavery one of their central purposes. But the Southern confederacy -- that is, the national government of the CSA -- was no more built on slavery than was the Northern Union . . .

One of the greatest misconceptions of American history is that the Civil War was fought over slavery. Those who subscribe to this belief see President Abraham Lincoln as the benevolent leader who made unimaginable sacrifices in human blood to wipe out America’s greatest sin. While the human sacrifice is indisputable and the sin was monumental, the war’s purpose was not to free blacks from the shackles of bondage. Rather, the Civil War was fought with one purpose in mind: To preserve the Union at all costs. And, to put it in Lincoln’s terms, with no ifs, ands, or buts. You’d...

Maryland lawmakers are thinking maybe it's time to find a way to scrub "Northern scum" — and a few other sensitive pre-Civil War phrases — from the official state song. "Maryland, My Maryland," set to the traditional seasonal tune of "O, Tannenbaum," was written in 1861 and adopted as the state song in 1939. But now some lawmakers are pushing for a change to the warlike language in what was originally a poem that doubled as a call to arms. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller wants a new commission to examine the song and consider changing some stanzas to...

Washington, DC—Today the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), America’s Voice, Center for New Community, and the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) launched a print ad denouncing known hate group, FAIR (the Federation for American Immigration Reform), for poisoning the immigration debate with bigoted, xenophobic hate speech. In support of the ad, SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina issued the following statement: “It’s time that everyone learns who FAIR’s founders, leaders and followers truly are. They are not reformers, but a group of extremists whose leaders are fostering a bigoted, anti-immigrant, anti-American agenda that we must stop.” “We will not allow...

BENTONVILLE, Ark., September 10, 2008 – Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer and a leading private employer of Hispanics, will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, September 1 – October 15, by providing its customers and the Hispanic community with valuable information and resources for the pursuit of higher education. Wal-Mart’s commitment to supporting education initiatives will be featured in a national campaign that will coincide with the launch of a Spanish-language website, AhorraMasViveMejor.com, aimed at facilitating and empowering moms and kids to access information on higher education and school funding.

With the nomination of Barack Obama as the Democratic presidential candidate clinched, large sections of the white supremacist movement are adopting a surprising attitude: Electing America’s first black president would be a very good thing. It’s not that the assortment of neo-Nazis, Klansmen, anti-Semites and others who make up this country’s radical right have suddenly discovered that a man should be judged based on the content of his character, not his skin. On the contrary. A growing number of white supremacists, and even some of those who pass for intellectual leaders of their movement, think that a black man in...

...A pair of web sites, including something called Stormfront.org, on Monday ran an endorsement of Barr by Buchanan: “A vote for Bob Barr would at least send a message to the Republican Party that conservatives and Whites won’t sit still as they are stuck with a liberal presidential candidate like McCain.”... ...Thirdpartywatch.com reports Barr campaign manager Russ Verney is having none of it. He immediately issued this statement: ”The Barr campaign is not going to be a vehicle for every fringe and hate group to promote itself. “We do not want and will not accept the support of haters. Tell...