There comes a point where you have to say wait a big, fat minute. Have we all forgotten history? I love this Facebook post by Leonard J. Siebert.
“Interesting take on the Confederate flag but first we need to address your headline claim of ignorance and racism.
In 1860, northern and western electoral votes (shown in red) put Lincoln into the White House.
The United States began its first Civil War on April 12th 1861, by all historic and documented accounts; Abraham Lincoln issued the ‘presidential order’, the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. So your premise that the Civil War was started over slavery, is not supported by the chronological timeline.
When we address cause and effect attempting to pigeon hole a cause can cause erroneous conclusions. Why in your article you claim ‘slavery’ as the cause of the Civil War, the actual historic cause is cited as the secession by seven states in the south, whose economies were all based on cotton. While I cannot deny that there were slaves in those states and slavery in any form is wrong; we need to know what caused the secession of these states as that has been cited as the cause of the Civil war.
Abraham Lincoln with Allan Pinkerton and Major General John Alexander McClernand at the Battle of Antietam.
Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election without being on the ballot in ten of the southern states. His victory triggered declarations of secession by those states.
In general Economic and social differences between the North and the South is cited as the top factor contributing to the actual war with State’s rights versus Federal rights (an interesting parallel, playing out currently) and finally the fight between abolitionists and slave owners, is cited as the third contributing cause with varied degrees and schools of thought as to whom and what was involved.
While Massachusetts was one of the first states to rule slavery unconstitutional, a decision of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts based on that states Constitution of 1780. It was in 1780 that Pennsylvania passed the ‘Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery’ that freed the future children of slaves. Those born prior to the Act remain enslaved for life. The Act becomes a model for other Northern states. Last of that states slaves were freed 1847.
The cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney on March 14, 1794 and could be cited as a point of conversion of America’s society from agrarian culture into an industrial one although most historians cite 1760 as the transition year, due to labor going from hand production methods to machines, new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes, improved efficiency of water power, the increasing use of steam power, and the development of machine tools.
I however bring up the cotton gin as the South had long relied on hand labor and agriculture, economically they could not compete with the North and as machines became more efficient and autonomous, slavery was already headed the way of the dinosaur in most industrialized countries; save for the Middle East, that still boast a rather booming and active slave trade.
The key points to take from this is; Slavery was not the chief cause of the Civil War but it was a cause and even us ignorant Southern Okies, have a better grasp of history than you do.
Let me take this a step further with your comment:
“Defenders of the flag need to realize that after the Civil War, nobody was flying this thing, including Robert E. Lee. It is funny how “heritage” didn’t suddenly become important until the descendants of the people who used to be slaves suddenly started to get the same rights they had.”
Did you bother to read this for how contradictory this statement is to the heart of your angst against the Confederate flag? If nobody was flying it; not even Robert E. Lee, than your representation of it being a symbol, like that of the Nazi flag, being one of hate; suddenly becomes negated.
However you were accusing Southerners of ignorance and this is about me highlighting you own or are you just lying. The South had many flags during the Civil War and this caused a great deal of confusion during combat as many resembled ‘Old Glory’. That was what flags and banners are for, you know, identification and communication of combat units, at a distance, during battle, before ‘radio’ existed. Yet addressing your erroneous point more directly:
“On November 28, 1861, Confederate soldiers in General Robert E. Lee’s newly reorganized Army of Northern Virginia received the new battle flags in ceremonies at Centreville and Manassas, Virginia, and carried them throughout the Civil War. Beauregard gave a speech encouraging the soldiers to treat this new flag with honor and that it must never be surrendered.
Many soldiers wrote home about the ceremony and the impression the flag had upon them, the “fighting colors” boosting morale after the confusion at the Battle of First Manassas. From that point on, the battle flag only grew in its identification with the Confederacy and the South in general. Later, a 13th star was added for Kentucky.”
So, what does the above factual history about the Confederate Battle Square or ‘Stars and Bars’, mean in context to your article. It means that you and your editors are either very ignorant of the Civil War, very stupid or lying and using a hate filled rant full of erroneous propaganda to incite more hate against a symbol that will forever be etched in American history; like it or not.
So where was all your righteous indignation over the Confederate flag for the last 154 other years of history or did you only just learn to write? Perhaps you need to devote more time to reading before you start spouting off about history or any other subject.
Basically I have proven the subject matter you used to make your points erroneous; as such the entire headline you maintain is equally erroneous. I am not denying that racism exists, it does but the Confederate Battle Square is not the representation of it, as you are trying so desperately to claim. It is rather a reminder of a tragic point in our history, one that should not be forgotten, ever.
After all, those who do not remember the sins of the past; are doomed to repeat them. Based on the your article; I’d say your more than half-way there.”
– By Leonard J. Siebert
Thank you Mr. Siebert for setting people straight. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Note: The graphics I added.
