The Stupidity Never Ends
Over 140 years later and we still have to deal with this crap because some people can’t figure out that it was treason, an armed rebellion against the elected government, and their ancestors lost. They are not going to get their “property” back, and they are not going to receive reparations.
In a report from Tallahassee [the Florida capital] we are told there is a controversy: Confederate Flag Hung From Noose Draws Ire. An artist built a gallows and hung a battle flag of the Confederate Army of Tennessee from the gallows.
Those upset with this are bringing up the stupidity of Florida law, specifically Chapter 256, of Title XVIII, on flags.
The law covers: “the flag or emblem of the Confederate States, or any flag or emblem used by the Confederate States or the military or naval forces of the Confederate States at any time within the years 1860 to 1865”.
256.10 Mutilation of or disrespect for Confederate flags or replicas.–No person shall publicly mutilate, deface, defile, defy, trample upon, or by word or act cast contempt upon the flags of the Confederacy, or replicas thereof, for crass or commercial purposes; provided however nothing contained herein shall be construed to prevent or prohibit the use of such flags for decorative or patriotic purposes.
The Supreme Court has already ruled that such laws are violations of the first amendment to the US Constitution, so any action is going nowhere, but that doesn’t mean that people aren’t going to waste time and tax dollars making something out of nothing.
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Another thing many people have not figured out is that the secessionists wanted to break our nation apart to preserve their right to own other people (in particular, black people) as property.
The secessionists were kind enough to leave a clear historical record attesting to this simple fact.
The states of South Carolina, Mississippi’s, Georgia, and Texas all issued “Declarations of the Causes of Secession”. The causes are stated most clearly in Mississippi’s, whose second sentence is:
“Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery — the greatest material interest of the world,” [My emphasis]
in a paragraph that closes,
“There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin.”
Similarly, that of Texas closes with
“In view of these and many other facts, it is meet that our own views should be distinctly proclaimed.”
“We hold as undeniable truths that the governments of the various States, and of the confederacy itself, were established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity; that the African race had no agency in their establishment; that they were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race, and in that condition only could their existence in this country be rendered beneficial or tolerable.”
“That in this free government all white men are and of right ought to be entitled to equal civil and political rights; that the servitude of the African race, as existing in these States, is mutually beneficial to both bond and free, and is abundantly authorized and justified by the experience of mankind, and the revealed will of the Almighty Creator, as recognized by all Christian nations; while the destruction of the existing relations between the two races, as advocated by our sectional enemies, would bring inevitable calamities upon both and desolation upon the fifteen slave-holding states.” [My emphasis]
The statements of S.C. and Ga. are equally focused on slavery, although their language is neither as forceful nor as direct as that of Miss. and Tx.
Actually, Jim, the real goal was the expansion of slavery as cotton was wearing out the soil and new land was needed to continue large scale production. Slavery was banned in the territories and the South wanted the law changed. There was never any real risk that the Federal government would act to outlaw slavery in the nation as the South could block any such move in the Senate.
The thing I find most annoying is that many of the people who are most supportive of this nonsense weren’t in the US at the time of the “unpleasantness.” The South was no more united than the North over the war, and Jefferson Davis was widely condemned in the South during the war for the measures he took to conduct the war. People need to read contemporary newspaper accounts and editorials to understand what people thought at the time.
Rewriting history has become a national pastime.
Bryan noted:
“The South was no more united than the North over the war”
Absolutely! And, beyand the internal political divisions, if I recall correctly, every Confederate state except S.C. had at least one regiment of volunteers in the Union army.
Jones County, Mississippi refused to join the Confederacy, which led to hard feelings. It was never as simple as people assume. Most people had their own problems and were interested in war, it was the people with money who started that mess.