What does the Confederate flag represent to you?

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Nurb

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Dec 9, 2008
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BioHazardMan said:
Nurb said:
BioHazardMan said:
Another example of the NAACP idiots finding reasons to be offended and see it as a personal attack at everything.

The sky is blue! Why can't it be rainbow! The sky is racist! We demand an ass kissing and an apology!
look at the post above yours
We are talking about people who use the flag as a symbol of the Southern spirit (extending to the music style) not for racism and slavery. I do understand a lot of people who use it that way are racist, but many others use it as a symbol of togetherness etc.

The south didn't even secede just because slavery, it was the argument over states rights.
The vice president of the confederacy said it spesifically started because of slavery. States rights to leave the union because they wanted to keep slavery and disagreed that slavery was wrong.

And saying it doesn't represent that anymore is bull, that's like someone saying "Oh I'm not a racist, I'm only part of the KKK for these awesome robes!"
 

crimson5pheonix

It took 6 months to read my title.
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Nurb said:
BioHazardMan said:
Nurb said:
BioHazardMan said:
Another example of the NAACP idiots finding reasons to be offended and see it as a personal attack at everything.

The sky is blue! Why can't it be rainbow! The sky is racist! We demand an ass kissing and an apology!
look at the post above yours
We are talking about people who use the flag as a symbol of the Southern spirit (extending to the music style) not for racism and slavery. I do understand a lot of people who use it that way are racist, but many others use it as a symbol of togetherness etc.

The south didn't even secede just because slavery, it was the argument over states rights.
The vice president of the confederacy said it spesifically started because of slavery. States rights to leave the union because they wanted to keep slavery and disagreed that slavery was wrong.

And saying it doesn't represent that anymore is bull, that's like someone saying "Oh I'm not a racist, I'm only part of the KKK for these awesome robes!"
You don't know that, someone may like the pointy hat! "It's like being the mystery pope!"
 

Kadoodle

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It think either one of these two things:
1. Rednecks (who else would be proud to represent the backwards slave owners who lost the war?)
2. White supremacists.
 

BioHazardMan

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Nurb said:
BioHazardMan said:
Nurb said:
BioHazardMan said:
Another example of the NAACP idiots finding reasons to be offended and see it as a personal attack at everything.

The sky is blue! Why can't it be rainbow! The sky is racist! We demand an ass kissing and an apology!
look at the post above yours
We are talking about people who use the flag as a symbol of the Southern spirit (extending to the music style) not for racism and slavery. I do understand a lot of people who use it that way are racist, but many others use it as a symbol of togetherness etc.

The south didn't even secede just because slavery, it was the argument over states rights.
The vice president of the confederacy said it spesifically started because of slavery. States rights to leave the union because they wanted to keep slavery and disagreed that slavery was wrong.

And saying it doesn't represent that anymore is bull, that's like someone saying "Oh I'm not a racist, I'm only part of the KKK for these awesome robes!"
Your just someone who likes to hold grudges. Probably one of those ultra-tolerant people I loathe so much.

The president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis said it was hardly because slavery, but because of the states inability to individualy nullify federal laws. I'm a history student I would know.

Also, poor analogy.
 

outcesticide69

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Im pretty sure it stood for states rights. Yeah slavery was a right the southern states wanted, but that has just been attached to the confederate flag, it really has nothing to do with what it stands for though.
 

Nurb

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Dec 9, 2008
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Irony said:
Nurb said:
Irony said:
To me the Confederate Battle Flag mainly represents the area in the U.S. commonly referred to as the "South". That area has a very distinct culture within the U.S. Being a bit history buff I will also associate it with the C.S.A.

Obviously alot of racist groups use it as "their" flag, but it's much the way that Mussolini's Fascist Italy liked to conjure up images of the Roman Empire or Nazi Germany evoking "Germanic" traditions. They are descendants of these things true, but their connection is not as close as they claim.
creager91 said:
Racism, thats all the flag represents to me. Not trying to offend anyone here but the South seceded because of racism. I'm not saying you should be ashamed to be from those states or live in them, but to sport the flag? To me thats racism. You're flying the flag of the soldiers who fought and died so they could keep "ownership" of another human being. I know many Southerners try to say the Civil war was not really about racism and I don't know what your education has taught you, but slavery was the driving force behind the South Confederacy.
The Civil War wasn't driven by racism. It was driven by the argument on how powerful the individual state governments had in relation to the Federal government.....
Not only was the start of the civil war about slavery (feared reversal of chattlehood policy), the confederacy was founded on racism; the idea that black people were in their rightful position to the superior white race because that's how God wanted it and needed to break away like the founding fathers intended them to do under that tyrant Lincoln. It's in their consitution and spoken about by their vice president.

"States rights" is a smoke screen to attempt to obscure the real reason. Just accept it and move on.

"The new Constitution has put at rest forever all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institutions ? African slavery as it exists among us ? the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jefferson, in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the 'rock upon which the old Union would split.' He was right. What was conjecture with him, is now a realized fact. But whether he fully comprehended the great truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted. The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old Constitution were, that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally and politically...

Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition."

-Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens, Cornerstone Speech, March 21, 1861.

/Discussion on start of civil war

I won't disagree that racism was part of the Southern culture at the time. Poor white trash was still seen as better than a slave and should be better. But how can say that the war was fought on a pro-slavery/anti-slavery split when there were several states that remained in the Union that were slave states? And what about the huge amount of racist northerners? Abolitionists were prophets of truth in the north and mouthpieces of the devil in the south, they were radicals everywhere. The only reason why Southern racism is so well known is due to the high concentration of people of African descent living in the area. Race wasn't that big of an issue up North because blacks were few and far between. So of course those in South would need to "worry" about race so much, they had to deal with it every day. Of course it would be easy for the Northern states to abolish slavery within their borders (those that did, once again the war was not split free states vs. slave states), their economy didn't depend upon it.

You can't take this war out of context and claim to know it's origins. There were years of cultural and political divide between the South and North as well as a pro-centralize government/pro-decentralized government argument that had existed ever since the original 13 colonies decided to break ties with Great Britain. As I mentioned before, the Kentucky and Virgina resolutions had existed for quite some time and were used to argue that the individual state governments had the right to overturn any federal laws that they deemed to be stretching the boundaries of what the federal government could do. The Southern economy was mainly based upon agriculture and slaves were used in great amounts as to help along. The North on the other hand was moving towards an economy based in industry (which lead to it's own form of economic slavery).

No not "/Discussion on start of civil war". Begin education about the true origins of the war, not what close to 200 years of separation have lead us to believe. Slavery was an important factor that lead to the begining of the American Civil War, true. But only because it had become entangled with some much older divides and issues.
Racism was the foundation for the confederacy, not "part" of it.

I don't get why this is so hard to accept

"It wasn't about slavery!"

"The vice president said it was all about slavery"

"States rights!"

"Ugh.."

And racism there is fueled by the holdover of Jim Crow laws, KKK terrorism, lynching, anti-civil rights demonstrations and laws that said interracial marriages were imoral and deviant. They're bitter, and so are the sore losers who can't stand they were wrong, so it just becomes a fucking cycle. I'm not saying it excuses anything, but it fuels it. Both have to let it go and move on.
 

ViaticalTarsier

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To me it just reminds me of southern culture. The laid back lifestyle, sweet tea, rope swinging, mudding, chilling by the lake, and the overwhelming friendliness of people. I mean you can easily start a conversation with some random person and they'll think nothing of it. We just seem to have a sense of community here in the south. I travel up north a few times a year and occasionally out west and starting a friendly conversation with someone just normally leads to funny looks or disinterested one word responses.


Kinda off topic... The south is really not filled with a bunch of racist rednecks like some people seem to think lol. I live in TN and we get labeled as country people thanks to Nashville but if you've ever been to the nashville/brentwood area (or any city from Memphis to chattanooga to Knoxville) it's anything but country. Sure you have your poor uneducated people, but trust me every state has its version of rednecks.
 

Nurb

Cynical bastard
Dec 9, 2008
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BioHazardMan said:
Nurb said:
BioHazardMan said:
Nurb said:
BioHazardMan said:
Another example of the NAACP idiots finding reasons to be offended and see it as a personal attack at everything.

The sky is blue! Why can't it be rainbow! The sky is racist! We demand an ass kissing and an apology!
look at the post above yours
We are talking about people who use the flag as a symbol of the Southern spirit (extending to the music style) not for racism and slavery. I do understand a lot of people who use it that way are racist, but many others use it as a symbol of togetherness etc.

The south didn't even secede just because slavery, it was the argument over states rights.
The vice president of the confederacy said it spesifically started because of slavery. States rights to leave the union because they wanted to keep slavery and disagreed that slavery was wrong.

And saying it doesn't represent that anymore is bull, that's like someone saying "Oh I'm not a racist, I'm only part of the KKK for these awesome robes!"
Your just someone who likes to hold grudges. Probably one of those ultra-tolerant people I loathe so much.

The president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis said it was hardly because slavery, but because of the states inability to individualy nullify federal laws. I'm a history student I would know.

Also, poor analogy.
>Confederate supporter
>still clings to confederate flag
>denies reality about start of war
>denies reality that the constitution said blacks were ment to be slaves
>bitter about losing
>Says someone else holds a grudge
>MFW


I'm so sorry

 

Grand_Arcana

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Aug 5, 2009
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Treason, regression, insensitivity, amongst other things. I don't understand why anyone would want any association with it. Regardless of what you think the Confederacy stood for, the flag is a stigma. I'm extremely biased so I won't say anything more unless prompted.
 

Nurb

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Dec 9, 2008
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squintzepalladoris said:
Nurb said:
squintzepalladoris said:
From Texas here. To me the flag represents my pride to be from the southern United States. The American civil war and slavery in America was a long time ago, and i couldn't really care less about the why's and why nots of the war. I'll try not to go into a whole rant here, but it pisses me off when people condemn something (be it a flag, word or what have you) because they say it means one thing, and because THEY say it means THAT, it can't possibly have any other meaning to anyone else.
The confederacy was founded on the subervience of blacks and that flag represented that nation. A failed nation that killed American troops who were fighting under the American flag, not that traitor flag.

To be proud of that flag is to be proud of one of the worst chapters in American history. If you want to be proud of the south, pick a different flag.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.268963-What-does-the-Confederate-flag-represent-to-you?page=4#10313988
So the CSA was founded on slavery and only slavery, and that makes the confederate flag evil and representing of slavery. Why doesn't the American flag also represent slavery? The emancipation proclamation only freed slaves in the rebel southern states, it did not free slaves in the union states.
Because it changed what it symbolized over time. The American flag represents the current nation. Not what it was. The US moved on, the confederates and their bitter decendants haven't
 

emeraldrafael

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Nurb said:
>denies reality that the constitution said blacks were ment to be slaves
Where do you read that? And how would you explain that, when there were black plantation owners even in the south? The Constitution agreed that a slave was counted as 3/5s of a person, not that they were meant to be slaves.

State laws just made it really hard to have blacks own land. After they did, they had rights just like anyone else.

Also:
Nurb said:
The vice president of the confederacy said it spesifically started because of slavery. States rights to leave the union because they wanted to keep slavery and disagreed that slavery was wrong.

And saying it doesn't represent that anymore is bull, that's like someone saying "Oh I'm not a racist, I'm only part of the KKK for these awesome robes!"
The only guy that the Union really cared to listen to before/during/after the war besides Davis was Robert E. Lee, and he didnt support slavery. he in fact was anti slavery, and only fought for the South for Virginia. If Virginia had stayed in the Union, Lee would have made huge advancements. Just cause the Vice President (who no one at all remembers of the top of their head) said something doesnt mean anything.

You're just trolling now, because just about anyone can tell you the Civil War was over way more then slavery. It never even started as a war against slavery.
 

TheNewDemoman

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It represents slavery. Not fighting or your right to do X. I mean that's like saying wearing a Nazi flag is for your heritage.


And BTW, the North had always been against slavery. The South seceded, and then everyone fought. I live in the South, believe me they will tell you that they were just minding their buisness, enslaving a race because of skin color, and BAM. We attacked them -_-.
 

emeraldrafael

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instantbenz said:
Racism and stupidity. Pride is okay, but I don't wave a German flag outside my apartment.
You dont? Cause there's a difference between a
<spoiler=German Flag>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Flag_of_Germany.svg
and a
<spoiler=Nazi Flag>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Flag_of_Nazi_Germany_%281933-1945%29.svg

There's a russian who lives in our neighborhood who flies the Russian Flag but we dont think communist.
 

Nurb

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Dec 9, 2008
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emeraldrafael said:
Nurb said:
>denies reality that the constitution said blacks were ment to be slaves
Where do you read that? And how would you explain that, when there were black plantation owners even in the south? The Constitution agreed that a slave was counted as 3/5s of a person, not that they were meant to be slaves.

State laws just made it really hard to have blacks own land. After they did, they had rights just like anyone else.
I should have clarified, the Confederate constitution said that

Also:
Nurb said:
The vice president of the confederacy said it spesifically started because of slavery. States rights to leave the union because they wanted to keep slavery and disagreed that slavery was wrong.

And saying it doesn't represent that anymore is bull, that's like someone saying "Oh I'm not a racist, I'm only part of the KKK for these awesome robes!"
The only guy that the Union really cared to listen to before/during/after the war besides Davis was Robert E. Lee, and he didnt support slavery. he in fact was anti slavery, and only fought for the South for Virginia. If Virginia had stayed in the Union, Lee would have made huge advancements. Just cause the Vice President (who no one at all remembers of the top of their head) said something doesnt mean anything.
Then I guess he was fighting for the wrong team then wasn't he? He could be anti-slavery all he wanted, but if his new constitution said that blacks were in their rightful place, then it doesn't matter what he thought does it?

You're just trolling now, because just about anyone can tell you the Civil War was over way more then slavery. It never even started as a war against slavery.
"This (slavery) was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution."
-Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens, Cornerstone Speech, March 21, 1861.
 

crimson5pheonix

It took 6 months to read my title.
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Nurb said:
Irony said:
Nurb said:
Irony said:
To me the Confederate Battle Flag mainly represents the area in the U.S. commonly referred to as the "South". That area has a very distinct culture within the U.S. Being a bit history buff I will also associate it with the C.S.A.

Obviously alot of racist groups use it as "their" flag, but it's much the way that Mussolini's Fascist Italy liked to conjure up images of the Roman Empire or Nazi Germany evoking "Germanic" traditions. They are descendants of these things true, but their connection is not as close as they claim.
creager91 said:
Racism, thats all the flag represents to me. Not trying to offend anyone here but the South seceded because of racism. I'm not saying you should be ashamed to be from those states or live in them, but to sport the flag? To me thats racism. You're flying the flag of the soldiers who fought and died so they could keep "ownership" of another human being. I know many Southerners try to say the Civil war was not really about racism and I don't know what your education has taught you, but slavery was the driving force behind the South Confederacy.
The Civil War wasn't driven by racism. It was driven by the argument on how powerful the individual state governments had in relation to the Federal government.....
Not only was the start of the civil war about slavery (feared reversal of chattlehood policy), the confederacy was founded on racism; the idea that black people were in their rightful position to the superior white race because that's how God wanted it and needed to break away like the founding fathers intended them to do under that tyrant Lincoln. It's in their consitution and spoken about by their vice president.

"States rights" is a smoke screen to attempt to obscure the real reason. Just accept it and move on.

"The new Constitution has put at rest forever all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institutions ? African slavery as it exists among us ? the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jefferson, in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the 'rock upon which the old Union would split.' He was right. What was conjecture with him, is now a realized fact. But whether he fully comprehended the great truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted. The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old Constitution were, that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally and politically...

Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition."

-Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens, Cornerstone Speech, March 21, 1861.

/Discussion on start of civil war

I won't disagree that racism was part of the Southern culture at the time. Poor white trash was still seen as better than a slave and should be better. But how can say that the war was fought on a pro-slavery/anti-slavery split when there were several states that remained in the Union that were slave states? And what about the huge amount of racist northerners? Abolitionists were prophets of truth in the north and mouthpieces of the devil in the south, they were radicals everywhere. The only reason why Southern racism is so well known is due to the high concentration of people of African descent living in the area. Race wasn't that big of an issue up North because blacks were few and far between. So of course those in South would need to "worry" about race so much, they had to deal with it every day. Of course it would be easy for the Northern states to abolish slavery within their borders (those that did, once again the war was not split free states vs. slave states), their economy didn't depend upon it.

You can't take this war out of context and claim to know it's origins. There were years of cultural and political divide between the South and North as well as a pro-centralize government/pro-decentralized government argument that had existed ever since the original 13 colonies decided to break ties with Great Britain. As I mentioned before, the Kentucky and Virgina resolutions had existed for quite some time and were used to argue that the individual state governments had the right to overturn any federal laws that they deemed to be stretching the boundaries of what the federal government could do. The Southern economy was mainly based upon agriculture and slaves were used in great amounts as to help along. The North on the other hand was moving towards an economy based in industry (which lead to it's own form of economic slavery).

No not "/Discussion on start of civil war". Begin education about the true origins of the war, not what close to 200 years of separation have lead us to believe. Slavery was an important factor that lead to the begining of the American Civil War, true. But only because it had become entangled with some much older divides and issues.
Racism was the foundation for the confederacy, not "part" of it.

I don't get why this is so hard to accept

"It wasn't about slavery!"

"The vice president said it was all about slavery"

"States rights!"

"Ugh.."

And racism there is fueled by the holdover of Jim Crow laws, KKK terrorism, lynching, anti-civil rights demonstrations and laws that said interracial marriages were imoral and deviant. They're bitter, and so are the sore losers who can't stand they were wrong, so it just becomes a fucking cycle
Racist Lincoln!
"I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races - that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything."
Davis teaches his slaves advanced skills so that they may better integrate with free society!

Taught to read and write by his owners, Montgomery eventually became responsible for overseeing the entire purchasing and shipping operations of the plantation. The Davis family taught him many skills including land surveying, flood control, and architecture.
 

Irony's Acolyte

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Nurb said:
Irony said:
-Sniped for length-
Racism was the foundation for the confederacy, not "part" of it.

I don't get why this is so hard to accept

"It wasn't about slavery!"

"The vice president said it was all about slavery"

"States rights!"

"Ugh.."

And racism there is fueled by the holdover of Jim Crow laws, KKK terrorism, lynching, anti-civil rights demonstrations and laws that said interracial marriages were imoral and deviant. They're bitter, and so are the sore losers who can't stand they were wrong, so it just becomes a fucking cycle. I'm not saying it excuses anything, but it fuels it. Both have to let it go and move on.
Yes, because one man mentioning it in the constitution means that it was entirely about it. I wouldn't be surprised if the Vice President was chosen to help bring the support of those who were very involved in slavery and it's continuation.

And as for why South Carolina, the original state to secede, broke it's ties to the Union? Well lets read for ourselves [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_scarsec.asp]. Here's the opening part of the declaration:
The people of the State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled, on the 26th day of April, A.D., 1852, declared that the frequent violations of the Constitution of the United States, by the Federal Government, and its encroachments upon the reserved rights of the States, fully justified this State in then withdrawing from the Federal Union; but in deference to the opinions and wishes of the other slaveholding States, she forbore at that time to exercise this right. Since that time, these encroachments have continued to increase, and further forbearance ceases to be a virtue.
Doesn't look like they were really focusing on slavery there were they? More like, oh I don't know, state rights.

As for the racism; that was due to a long line of conflict between what happened to between two different races. If you look at slavery pre-USA, you'll notice that as you move along the timeline slavery seems to get worse and worse. Slavery was initially just a way of subjugating your defeated enemy. Eventually European nations realized they could get more labor by buying slaves from Africa (from other Africans, slavery already existed in the area for a long time). Large amounts of these slaves were shipped to areas that need an increase in manpower. This meant that there were areas where the slaves (who were all mainly of African descent) greatly outnumbered the free people (usually all European colonials). I would also like to quickly note that this was due to the low native populations of these areas; throughout the Spanish and Portuguese areas of South America, the native populations were used for a work force and imported African slaves weren't needed as much. With slave uprising occurring (mainly due to perceived poor treatment, whether imagined or real) you can see a pattern forming. Every time a slave uprising occurred laws pertaining to slave rights became stricter and stricter. These eventually became tradition. Eventually the idea that Europeans had a God-given right to lead these savage Africans to their salvation (no doubt to help calm the more morally conscious minds). So ultimately all that racism that existed back then (and to further extent, now) was due to historical relationships that were slowly transformed over many generations from what they originally were.

Edit: Edited for proper quotation.
 

emeraldrafael

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Nurb said:
The only guy that the Union really cared to listen to before/during/after the war besides Davis was Robert E. Lee, and he didnt support slavery. he in fact was anti slavery, and only fought for the South for Virginia. If Virginia had stayed in the Union, Lee would have made huge advancements. Just cause the Vice President (who no one at all remembers of the top of their head) said something doesnt mean anything.
Then I guess he was fighting for the wrong team then wasn't he? He could be anti-slavery all he wanted, but if his new constitution said that blacks were in their rightful place, then it doesn't matter what he thought does it?

Well, it appearantly does since after the war, he got a pardon and was one of few people allowed to live a peaceful life and made some rather nice strides for black rights.

You're just trolling now, because just about anyone can tell you the Civil War was over way more then slavery. It never even started as a war against slavery.
"This (slavery) was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution."
-Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens, Cornerstone Speech, March 21, 1861.[/quote]

Oh he can say that for suceeding, but the CIVIL WAR was started for entirely different reasons, which I summed up here:
emeraldrafael said:
The Unworthy Gentleman said:
Well it means nothing to me, I'm English.

But if you're arguing that the flag means racism because of the civil war then you have to think of the racism that followed the civil war up to mere years ago. Really, you could argue that the current US flag represents racism, just like you could for other country's flags.

General consensus is that the civil war was fought over slavery though, as far as I understand it (GCSE level) it was fought over slavery more so than other things.
Originally it was never about slavery. It was more about the Union getting back the troublesome deserters. Then the Union realized "oh shit, the confederacy support slavery made cotton, and was one of the biggest exporters of such cotton to the British (who had at the time abolished slavery [EDIT] in 1833). That means that its only a matter of time before Britain decides to throw its weight in the form of troops, boats, etc." because, I guess Britain wasnt above getting goods made from slave labor even though they didnt use slavery anymore or something like that.
Then lincoln looked at this and was like, "wait a minute! if we can villianize the south and say this is a war against slavery, Britain will lose all respect in the world's view, mainly cause they're hypocrizing." But the problem with that was, there was the boarder states to think about (Maryland, Missouri, [later] West Virginia, and Kentucky) who still enjoyed slavery. The real issue was mostly Maryland, cause then you'd have washington DC flanked on the north/east by confederate supporting Maryland and west/south by Virgina (which is VERY bad to have your capital like that).
So then Lincoln made the Emancipation Proclimation came around, which stated (paraphrasized) Slavery is now illegal in all territories of rebellion against the Union. However, the clause of that was slavery was still legal IN the union.
So it told slaves, "hey, run to the north, you wont have to break your back in the field picking cotton, and we can cripple the south and win your freedom." Then once they crossed intot he north, they were drafted or put back into slavery in the north, and their "saviors" just sorta shrugged and were like "what? Oh, didnt you read the fine print?"
And there were in fact Slves that fought for the south out of freewill (I know, the irony of that statement) cause they liked the way of life better. I mean, there were black plantation owners and slave holders.

So yeah, the who slavery thing was an afterthought. First and foremost, it was keep Britain the f--k out of this as much as possible (since the Union was staring down blockades and having their merchant ships raided by English Privateers. And that solely depended on keeping the south from winning a major battle (Antietam/Gettysburg) and making the war about freeing the slaves and making it look like a major country that had abolished slavery would be supporting it. Thats why for my college history final paper I wrote about how Antietam was the real turning point, and not Gettysburg, because it pretty much promised that Britain couldnt get into the war without taking major flak from other "free" nations and let Lincoln give his pre Emancipation Proclamation speech.