Battle over Confederate flag hits highways

Yahoo News ^ | August 4, 2008 | Patrik Jonsson

[Citizen Blade]

I’m a Union man, through-and-through. But this is private property, so these morons are free to put up the losers’ flag if they want.

[Citizen Blade]

Yes, but not before the Confederates killed 360,000 of the Yankeee sons-of-bitches.

You revel in the deaths of Americans? Interesting.

I can only hope in my lifetime that North and South will dance once more.

And you look forward to Americans slaughtering each other once again. How nice.

[Vietnam Vet From New Mexico]

Here are your heroes, conceding defeat.

They did have an alternate course of action that was suggested to General Lee. Disperse and continue the war as guerrillas. The war could have dragged on for years and left a legacy of bitterness that could have made us a divided country like Northern Ireland. Nothing could have been harder for Lee than to offer his sword, but he put America higher than honor and pride. And he held honor very high indeed.

[Vietnam Vet From New Mexico]

If the South had a right to secede, where in the Constitution is the process outlined?

Where does the Constitution forbid it? The Constitution granted specified powers to a federal government. All others were retained by the states or the people. Several states, both north and south, stated in their ratification that they reserved the right to withdraw if things didn't work out. Congress accepted those ratifications. After the civil war, several amendments were passed (at bayonet point in the southern states). None of the amendments mentioned the right to secede, so the Constitution today still has no prohibition on secession.

I won't even get into the argument that if the Founding Fathers had a right to secede from the British Empire, how could their descendants not have that same right.

[Just_de_facts]

At the time of the combat deaths, my ancestors were citizens of a country called the Confederate States of America. They had sworn an oath to protect and defend that country with their property and lives. America was the enemy and had amassed great armies to destroy the people and property of the C.S.A. The C.S.A. responded with an equally destructive army of their own citizens.

This creates a diversity of opinion as to which side is morally and politically the correct one no matter which side prevails militarily. I believe that the Confederates held the high moral ground on most issues except slavery. But any serious student of the war learns very quickly and early on that slavery was used primarily as a rallying point and wedge issue to promote and implement an agenda that was devoted to the dismantling of the constitution.

I believe that the only reason that the Federal government used force and eventually imposed martial law against the former Confederacy was to radically increase the power of the U.S. government and weaken state's rights. Not to mention the creation of a new type of citizen and sowing the seeds of destruction for the Bill of Rights.Then throw in the subsequent land grabs, the seizure of our economic and political systems along with punitive taxation.

Should the occasion rise again for the South and other like-minded states to secede from an overbearing, intrusive, arrogant, tyrannical government that is hell bent to destroy everything that is good here then sign me up.

[Caipirabob]

But some of us also have Union blood in our veins. Mine may have helped to take Vicksburg. I respect the right to fly the Sucessionist battle flag, ot any of the three national flags. However, in the end they lost, and rightly so.

Suffice to say we are infinitely better off without slavery! It would have directly impacted my family today. Even now I'm concerned with how the democrats approach and treat my wife and kids. Are they dealing with them as moreno Latinos or are they dealing with them as Americans?

However being born in the South, raised "Southern", I hope I reflect a far more open mind than the perception sold by the left of those of confederate heritage. I'm proud of my ancestry. Judging how the South is reliably red now and what that stands for, I think we've learned the lessons we need to learn to build the best kind of nation going forward.

And my little brother is the first Yankee born above the Mason-Dixon line in recent family memory, maybe going back 100 years. Tried and true Connecticut Yankee and he'll never leave. Love him to death, our biggest differences coming down to the preference of single malt scotch.

Really, whatever our ancestry is, we can all be proud of the principles our families embraced as those have likely survived through years of tradition.

And wherever we hail from, as conservatives today we have far greater battles to face together. Now where's that single malt scotch?!?...

[NucSubs]

Bless you.

[NucSubs]

But this is private property, so these morons are free to put up the losers’ flag if they want.

Agreed. 100% EVERY word.

[rustbucket]

I'd be careful with calling others morons lest you make a mistake yourself.

You posted an historically inaccurate painting above. Lee and his aide, Lt. Colonel Charles Marshall (a distant cousin of mine), were the only Confederates in McLean's room for the surrender, not four Confederates as your painting showed. Here's Marshall's account: Charles Marshall. I believe it is consistent with Grant's account.

[Diverdogz]

I'll trust you that the painting isn't historically accurate. I 'm quite sure you are much better versed on the details of the surrender than I. This one is better...

[rustbucket]

Yes, that is a more accurate painting. It is too bad they don't have a painting of what happened at McLean's house immediately after Lee, Marshall, and Grant left [Source: Lee and Grant, A Dual Biography by Gene Smith].

Wilmer McLean rushed about his room fending off the rampaging Yankee officers thrusting bills at him for his furniture. He flung their money on the floor, but they seized souvenirs anyway. Cane-bottom chairs were ruthlessly cut to pieces, haircloth upholstery was sliced from chairs and sofas and into patches and strips for carrying away. Sheridan forced two $10 gold pieces on McLean. ... He took the table Grant had used for writing his draft, handed it to Custer and told him to give it to Mrs. Custer.

Here is a link that says what happened to the table and other items: [Link]. Here is a National Park Service link about what happened to the doll that was stolen by a Federal officer from McLean's seven year old daughter: [Link2].