ProReduction said:
Yeah, and the Nazi swastika was established under the great ideals of nationalism and moral universalism!
What was the American flag established under? Democratic principles. These include liberty, equality, and other basic human rights. These are ideals that all rational people can agree with.
What was the confederate flag established under? Racism, bigotry, and slavery.
When you go to war, you go with the idea in mind that you may potentially sacrifice your life for your side's cause. Your ancestor was willing to give his life to maintain slavery, willing to die for an injustice. You can blow your "states' rights" horn all you want. The only right the southern states were fighting for was a right to enslave a racial group.
This is all being said by a man born and raised in VA (all my life). I do not share your sense of pride and I am ashamed that people still think this way in our society.
Ahhh, do try to remember that those who are victorious in wars tend to rewrite history. The history of America could best be revealed in a book much like the Da Vinci Code. I do promise that I will quite taking up your time and this will be my last post on the topic. But, the American flag was founded under these democratic principles of liberty, equality, and other basic human rights for all
white male landowners. Women, for example, couldn't even vote until the 1920s. America was founded in 1776, Ohio outlawed slavery in 1803, Indiana in 1816. New York had over 20,000 slaves in 1790 and it wasn't abolished until 1827. Check out this link for more info
http://www.nysun.com/article/21177
America as a whole was founded under slavery and used the Confederacy to cover up that fact. Lincoln wasn't even against slavery, he was opposed by southern states because he was against the spread of slavery. His main goal was to keep the union together but when the south began the war, he had no alternative but to fight back. If you want to read something really interesting, read about some of the things the British did to entice slaves to abandon the rebel (American) cause during the Revolutionary War. I would like to encourage any of you who have the opportunity, to ask an educated Native American about his or her interpretation of American History.
In your post you also assume that people had the choice to go to war. If you lived in the South, were a male, between the ages of 14-50, you were going to war no matter what you thought. A draft was formed and unless you had a slave take your place (which is how the rich got out of it), your property was burned and in many cases your life and that of your family was taken away. The sad part is that records of these events are not kept, only stories passed from generation to generation. If any records ever existed, they were burned as the union marched through the south. As I said before, after the war the vast majority of slaves would have been freed by their agreement to fight in the war. Anti-slavery sentiment was also hot in the south at the time. The only thing left for the Confederacy to fight for, was rule by other southerners and to eliminate the interference by the federal government. The end result of the Civil War is that all federal laws overrule state laws.
edit: I'm just trying to say that racism and slavery is a horrible thing. But the Confederacy is not the source of America's slave filled past. The Confederate flag, and capital in Richmond, are a symbol of something more, a heritage that meant so much more and I'm sad to see so many people just associate it with prejudice which was rampant in all of America at that time.
And I just checked the link, if the entire article doesn't come up, go to google and search 'new york sun and slavery in new york'. It should be the first link.
