Americans owe Confederate history respect

Columbia Tribune ^ | June 10, 2003 | Chris Edwards

[stainlessbanner]

After attending the Confederate Memorial Day service on June 1 in Higginsville, I found myself believing our nation should be ashamed for not giving more respect and recognition to our ancestors.

I understand that some find the Confederate flag offensive because they feel it represents slavery and oppression. Well, here are the facts: The Confederate flag flew over the South from 1861 to 1865. That's a total of four years. The U.S. Constitution was ratified in April 1789, and that document protected and condoned the institution of slavery from 1789 to 1861. In other words, if we denigrate the Confederate flag for representing slavery for four years, shouldn't we also vilify the U.S. flag for representing slavery for 72 years? Unless we're hypocrites, it is clear that one flag is no less pure than the other.

A fascinating aspect of studying the Civil War is researching the issues that led to the confrontation. The more you read, the less black-and-white the issues become. President Abraham Lincoln said he would do anything to save the union, even if that meant preserving the institution of slavery. Lincoln's focus was obviously on the union, not slavery.

In another case, historians William McFeely and Gene Smith write that Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant threatened to "throw down his sword" if he thought he was fighting to end slavery.

Closer to home, in 1864, Col. William Switzler, one of the most respected Union men in Boone County, purchased a slave named Dick for $126. What makes this transaction interesting is not only the fact that Switzler was a Union man but that he bought the slave one year after the issuance of the Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Of course, history students know the proclamation did not include slaves living in the North or in border states such as Missouri.

So if this war was fought strictly over slavery, why were so many Unionists reluctant to act like that was the issue?

In reviewing the motives that led to the Civil War, one should read the letters soldiers wrote home to their loved ones. Historian John Perry, who studied the soldier's correspondence, says in his three years of research, he failed to find one letter that referred to slavery from Confederate or Union soldiers.

Perry says that Yankees tended to write about preserving the Union and Confederates wrote about protecting their rights from a too-powerful federal government. The numerous letters failed to specifically say soldiers were fighting either to destroy or protect the institution of slavery. Shelby Foote, in his three-volume Civil War history, recounts an incident in which a Union soldier asks a Confederate prisoner captured in Tennessee why he was fighting. The rebel responded, "Because you're down here."

History tends to overlook the South's efforts to resolve the issue of slavery. For example, in 1863, because of a shortage of manpower, Lincoln permitted the enlistment of black soldiers into the Union Army. Battlefield documents bear out the fact that these units were composed of some of the finest fighting men in the war. Unfortunately for these brave soldiers, the Union used them as cannon fodder, preferring to sacrifice black lives instead of whites.

These courageous black Union soldiers experienced a Pyrrhic victory for their right to engage in combat. However, history has little to say about the South's same effort in 1865. The Confederacy, its own troop strength depleted, offered slaves freedom if they volunteered for the army.

We know that between 75,000 and 100,000 blacks responded to this call, causing Frederick Douglass to bemoan the fact that blacks were joining the Confederacy. But the assimilation of black slaves into the Confederate army was short-lived as the war came to an end before the government's policy could be fully implemented.

It's tragic that Missouri does not do more to recognize the bravery of the men who fought in the Missouri Confederate brigades who fought valiantly in every battle they were engaged in. To many Confederate generals, the Missouri brigades were considered the best fighting units in the South.

The courage these boys from Missouri demonstrated at Port Gibson and Champion Hill, Miss., Franklin, Tenn., and Fort Blakely, Ala., represent just a few of the incredible sacrifices they withstood on the battlefield. Missouri should celebrate their struggles instead of damning them.

For the real story about the Missouri Confederate brigades, one should read Phil Gottschalk and Philip Tucker's excellent books about these units. The amount of blood spilled by these Missouri boys on the field of battle will make you cry.

Our Confederate ancestors deserve better from this nation. They fought for what they believed in and lost. Most important, we should remember that when they surrendered, they gave up the fight completely. Defeated Confederate soldiers did not resort to guerrilla warfare or form renegade bands that refused to surrender. These men simply laid down their arms, went home and lived peacefully under the U.S. flag. When these ex-Confederates died, they died Americans.

During the postwar period, ex-Confederates overwhelmingly supported the Democratic Party. This party, led in Missouri by Rep. Dick Gephardt and Gov. Bob Holden, has chosen to turn its back on its fallen sons.

The act of pulling down Confederate flags at two obscure Confederate cemeteries for the sake of promoting Gephardt's hopeless quest for the presidency was a cowardly decision. I pray these men will rethink their decision.

The reality is, when it comes to slavery, the Confederate and United States flags drip with an equal amount of blood.

[stainlessbanner]

good read

[Constitution Day]

Thanks for the post, SB. Good article!

[Hodar]

Most important, we should remember that when they surrendered, they gave up the fight completely. Defeated Confederate soldiers did not resort to guerrilla warfare or form renegade bands that refused to surrender. These men simply laid down their arms, went home and lived peacefully under the U.S. flag. When these ex-Confederates died, they died Americans.

And that says it all. They may have disagreed, but they were men of honor. They surrendered, they gave their word not to bring up arms again, against the US; and they kept their word.

Now don't forget .... all cultures are equal < /sarcasm>

[Puppage]

the Confederate flag offensive because they feel it represents slavery and oppression

They FEEL, well then, let's not let FACTS get in the way. I'm OFFENDED that they pay no mind to all the people that died to FREE THEM!

This is America...you have the RIGHT to pursue happiness.....

You do NOT have the right NOT TO BE OFFENDED

[Budge]

Very good read, Stainless.

Do you have your asbestos suit on?

I'm certain we of the South will be 'fired upon' again today! :)

[Non-Sequitur]

However, history has little to say about the South's same effort in 1865. The Confederacy, its own troop strength depleted, offered slaves freedom if they volunteered for the army.

No they didn't.

[sam_paine]

Interesting point. I suppose if the rebs had taken to "suicide bombing" against the Republican Lincoln's "New World Order," then the libs today would be celebrating the South like they do the poor old Palistinians.

[donmeaker]

The difference is.

1. The Constitution did not recognize slavery, except by omission. The Southern States, and Connecticut did recognize human servitude, but that was not put in place by the Federal Government.
2. Lincoln and the Republican position was that human servitude was a moral ill, but its practice within the states was not within the control of the Federal government. The Republican position was to ban slavery from the territories, as had been done with the Northwest Ordinance.
3. While Lincoln was required by oath to preserve the Union, the south was not required by oath to break it. The southern rebels began the war to preserve and extend the practice of slavery. Lincoln's emancipation proclamation only applied to slaves in areas in active rebellion, as a measure to reduce the ability of the rebels to struggle against the elected, legitimate government.

[Graewoulf]

We look at history,
But not at ourselves.
We see what we want
Ourselves should be.

The lie begins:
"If I were living
Way back then --- ."

And so we continue
To look, but not to see.

[Blood of Tyrants]

The Confederacy, its own troop strength depleted, offered slaves freedom if they volunteered for the army. We know that between 75,000 and 100,000 blacks responded to this call,

But we KNOW from the liberal history books that the ENTIRE war was about slavery. (/disgusted sarcasm)

Pretend for a minute that it was the year 2103 and the War of Northern Conquest had been fought in 1991-95 instead of 1861-65 for the same reasons (state and individual rights vs. preserving the union) and with the same outcome. The liberal history books would undoubtedly claim that the war was fought because bigoted Christian Southerners wanted to jail homosexuals, turn women into slave baby factories, and form a theocracy on the nation and only through the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of northern heroes was the socialistic paradise unmatched since the fall of the Soviet Union that everyone currently lived in possible. Praise Karl Marx! (/sarcasm)

[Blood of Tyrants]

Oooooo! Snappy come back.

[CJ Wolf]

I agree that the slavery association tied to the confederate flag is a red herring used for race baiting. However, that said...the confederate flag is unwanted and a disgrace simply because it represents a bunch of losers. People don't go waving the nazi flag around in Germany or the Baath Iraqi flag in Iraq any more. Many more examples can be found in flag trashcan of history. But if you want to wave around a loser flag and somehow feel proud of it, go ahead.

[LiteKeeper]

SITREP

[sharktrager]

The issue in my mind has alot less to do with what the war was about, because no war is ever as balck and white (excuse the pun) as advertised.

For me the issue comes down to the motives of those who want to fly the flag today.

Some truly are very proud of their southern heritage, and this is one of the few symbols that they can use to represent that pride.

Some see the good things that were part of the south prior to the war, and realize that this was a time that simply can never exist again (and I do not mean slavery). There is a desire to focus on the gentile society that defines the south for many. The flag represents the last gasp of this era.

Some simply like the flag because they are told it is offensive, and don't like being told what to think. While not my favorite reason, I also don't much care for forced compliance with the prevailing opinion, even if it's an opinion I share.

The problem is that the fourth group has co-opted the flag, perverting it. This group has an irrational hatred of anyone different from them. They love the flag for what conventional wisdom says it stood for: opression. They are not proud of southern heritage. In fact, they don't even understand southern heritage. They are not the sons of the south. They are more like the opportunistic carpet baggers who pillaged the south for their own gain. They believe they have a right to exert control over others simply because they are different.

Unfortunately, of the four groups, the one that seeks and receives the most attention is the fourth, and, frankly, with good reason. They are the group that represents a potential danger to our way of life. They do not support the constitution, despite their claims to the contrary. They typically do not want state's rights. They want a strong government that they control. They use the flag specifically to enrage those who oppose them.

We are forced to accept that overcoming this group will be difficult. To achieve it requires those who support the flag for other reasons to strongly and forcefully denounce those who use it for their own evil purposes. Often we are so busy defending our stance we forget that freedom of speech includes the right to criticise those we oppose.

This is a fight that can not be won on the defensive, which is how those in the first three groups choose to fight in general. It is a two front war. The idea that the enemy of my enemy is my friend does not apply if the enemy exists primarily due to your link to the "friend". I hear lots of people defending their reasons for supporting the flag, but few who use significant energy to condemn the true enemies of the flag for their perversion of it's meaning.

Unless the last group can be defeated, this is not a winnable war. The options become to either give up, or to find another symbol, and let the racists keep this one, eventually leading to it's demise. I am not from the south, so I have no personal connection to the falg, it's history or southern heritage. I do, however, respect those with honorable motives for loving the flag. Unfortunately, their fight is being defined not by their beliefs but by those whom they ought oppose.

[raisincane]

The confederate flag represents American Southern history to me, and I'm a Hoosier. When we visit Dixie, we love the feeling we get from seeing that brave flag wave. We visited Murfreesboro battle ground in March of this year. We noticed immediately the lack of her confederate flag. PC stinks!

[POhara71]

Thanks for the post. I don't know when American's began being tought that the Confederacy was something to be ashamed of but it's time it stopped. I was taught respect for the sacrifice Southerners made for what they believed in. The end of slavery was never taught as the direct cause of the Civil War but as positive result brought about by compromise to preserve the union under the countries most difficult time. Now the left is rewriting history and its shamefull.

[Renatus]

Robert E. Lee, "Stonewall" Jackson, J.E.B. Stuart, James Longstreet, Johnston, etc. were TRAITORS because they had
all taken an oath (made a vow) to defend and protect the
Constitution of the United States. Their choices to rebel led to a bloodbath that resulted in the deaths of over a half a million Americans. Nothing honorable about that.

[SCDogPapa]

Yes it is! Thanks,,,

[SCDogPapa]

Yes it is! Thanks,,,