1st tenn.
6th tenn.
14th tenn.
23rd tenn.
For a few.
Posted on 02/10/2004 6:16:00 AM PST by stainlessbanner
IS THE Confederate battle flag a symbol of hate? Although there are certain connotations that have been improperly associated with the Confederate flag, there are still many people within the American population who display it to show pride in their heritage.
Heritage, not hate.
The Confederate States of America was a compilation of southern states that seceded from the United States of America. Following the formation of this new government, the grievances between the North and South produced hostility and warfare.
Our differences divided us as a nation. Yet during that period, there arose a certain Southern solidarity that people cannot forget.
A liberal federal judge has banned the display of Confederate flags in cemeteries near our area. Could he, not the Southerners who revere the flag, be the prejudiced one?
Only two days out of 365 in a year are people allowed to fly the Confederate battle flag in Point Lookout in Maryland. There have been many appeals, but the judge concluded that it "could" cause hateful uprisings and counter-actions to prevent the flag from flying.
So much for those who died during the Civil War bravely fighting for the South. 3,300 Confederate soldiers died at Point Lookout Cemetery, and the flag would commemorate their lives and their deaths.
Although many people do not understand or agree with what the Confederate States of America stood for, these men gave their lives and had the courage to stand up for what they believed in.
In fact, Confederates fought for the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution--states' rights, no taxation without fair representation and freedom from oppressive government.
They weren't fighting for hate. They weren't fighting to destroy a race.
They were fighting to preserve the government that they had chosen--the Confederate States of America--the government that allowed them to preserve their own way of life.
Fact: The overwhelming majority of Southerners never owned slaves. Slavery as an institution was fading, and making way for more pragmatic agricultural practices, including the use of immigrant labor.
Too many people today do not agree with what Southern soldiers stood for, often basing their opinion on faulty history or willful ignorance. That doesn't mean that we should respect the soldiers from Dixie any less.
Ignorance has turned the South's past into a history of hate. I have grown up in the South. I am not racist. I consider myself to be an open-minded person.
I do have Dixie Pride, though.
I grew up in a Civil War town that has a Confederate Cemetery in the middle of it. There's even a store called "Lee's Outpost."
Yes, there are people who live in Fredericksburg who consider the Confederate flag as a symbol of hatred and racism. However, they do not know what it is truly about.
The war between the states was a time when brother fought against brother. It was a time when people didn't have the choice to be passive.
Ultimately, regardless of one's feelings about the flag, banning the Confederate flag is unconstitutional under the Bill of Rights. Flying the flag is considered a form of speech--and if it is legal to burn an American flag, it should be legal without question to fly the Confederate one.
I do own a Confederate flag. I'm a Southerner, proud of my heritage, and I take pride in the fact that my ancestors rose to the occasion and fought for their form of government.
They did not give their lives to protect slavery in the South. They did not die to keep African-Americans from sharing the same liberties and freedoms that they were blessed with. They believed they were fighting for their families, homes and states against an oppressive government in the North.
The book "The South Was Right" provides many facts to support this.
In the end, it almost doesn't matter why they fought. We claim to be a nation that believes in freedom of speech, where everyone can have their own beliefs and not be looked down on for it.
Are we or aren't we?
What makes this country great is that we have the right to make up our own minds about things. People are asked if they believe in freedom of speech. They reply, "Yes, of course I believe in freedom of speech."
Yet when they don't agree with the speech, sometimes they contradict themselves.
As a nation with millions of citizens, we will never agree on any principles or ideas as a whole--except for the fact that freedom cannot be replaced, and rights cannot be sacrificed.
So why should the Confederate flag be an exception? Free speech applies to everyone, and Southerners have great reasons to be proud of their past.
BUFFY RIPLEY is a sophomore at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Sorry. Try this one: Flag History
Gen. Johnston of the Army of Tennessee in 1863 picked the rectangular battle flag commonly known today as the CBF. It was Johnston who proposed the St. Andrews cross on the battle flag back in 1861, when the battle flag was being designed. As senior officer he approved the final design of the battle flag that was used in 1861 (the square flag of the Army of the Potomac, later known as the Army of Northern Virginia). The Confederate War Department recognized it as a battle flag.
Rectangular St. Andrews cross battle flags were also flown in the Trans-Mississippi Department. Most were square but there were some rectangular ones in the Trans-Mississippi.
Must disagree, the southern soldier and leadership was far superior to the north for most of the war. And calling the southerners a bunch of deserters is just plain incorrect. It is incorrect on both sides. The battles of the civil war showed American men that gave and took better than men should have to. Please re-think what you have suggested. It is hisorically incorrect as well as disrespectfull to the soldiers who died and were maimed on both sides.
It's just economics, the north used a fraction of its resources to fight the war. The South used all of theirs. Frankly, if Lincoln would not have been reelected the south would have won. This was what Jeff Davis was counting on. Even Lincoln thought he would loose the election.
The screwy thing was that the south had the moral upper hand issue of States Rights. Until Lincoln stumbled into freeing of the Slaves. This changed opinion in the north in ways that Lincoln didn't even expect. It gave the northern soldiers and populous their moral mandate to win.
Well, three of the houses closest to me are owned by black families. If, for some strange reason, my copy of the UDC monthly magazine got delivered to them by mistake, I'd feel mighty embarrassed.
Anything you're ashamed to do in public, better not to do in private.
I fly the flag of the Army of Tennessee, which is where some of my ancestors lived during the war. How about you?
boy, your love-life must be real boring :-)
1st tenn.
6th tenn.
14th tenn.
23rd tenn.
For a few.
The Union did not give birth to night riders who terrorized blacks under the flag in the latter part of the 19th century and then again in the mid 20th century.
And, if I were black and looked at the overall history of America's treatment of my ancestors I might very well harbor a corner of resentment toward both flags. There are lots of black Americans who do.
What seems to me to be inescapable and irreconcilable in this flag issue is that there are two opposing views as to what the flag means and both views are legitimate and understandable. It further seems to me that there are those on both sides who use the flag to antagonize. These people (whom I see as the NAACP boycott types and the all yankees are dirt and can go to hell types) accomplish nothing but the deeper entrenchment of the other side and the loss of goodwill from those of us with nothing at stake.
The gulf between die hard folks on the opposite sides will not be bridged anytime soon, if ever.
Now I can sit back and wait for my words to be twisted and intentionally misinterpreted. To those who will try to tell me what I must really mean, let me say now that you're wrong and I will not bother to reply.
Our civil war was when my uncle George flew his 25 daylight missions over places like Dresden. And my Dad patrolled the Atlantic. One of my Grandmothers had the last letter from any family we had over there from just before the war. Haven't heard from them since. Life in East Germany must have been a bitch.
Hey, I'm just waiting for his answer. This should be good.
In the future, don't be surprised if everything you read after running a "grep doc 'slavery'" focuses on slavery.
3rd Tenn.
41st Tenn.
Here we go. Your right they differed by regiment as well as date as well as materials used to make them. The previous group were silk. These look like cotton.
I'm sorry but I'm not aware of any evidence at all that exists in support of any of your claims. Slavery wasn't dying out, it was thriving. Few, if any, people down south had a problem with it, and few slave owners freed their chattel because all the southern states made it difficult to do so. The cotton gin was the reason for the resurgance in slavery in the early 1800's because it made large scale cotton production profitable, not unprofitable. And in the south before the Civil War, blacks no vote, no rights that a white man was bound to recognize, no political voice at all, much less one powerful enough to end an institution as ingrained as slavery was.
Damn those subsidiaries anyway.
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