The Confederate Battle Flag

The killing on June 17^th 2015 of nine people attending a prayer meeting in a historical Charleston SC black church has shaken that community as well as many across the nation. While senseless in the mind of most people, it was not in the mind the alleged murderer who clearly identifies himself as being a white supremacist. His stated intent was not only to terrorize that black community but to help spark a race war under the banner of the Confederate battle flag. Instead of triggering hate, he received back a demonstration of forgiveness and affirmation of life that has moved the nation.

 

At first SC US Senator Graham in talking about the Confederate battle flag flying on his state’s capital grounds noted the flag was part of the state’s heritage. His carefully worded response was an effort not to offend the citizens who form his base and elected him. On the surface the implication was that if the majority of the people wanted it fly on capital grounds that it would remain. His statement lacked passion and conviction hinting of an underlying implication carefully crafted response, that he would not be against its removal.

 

At the beginning of this week when Governor Nikki Haley courageously advocated for the battle flag to be removed from the state’s capital grounds Senator Graham joined her. When she stated that any flag flying over the seat of government should represent all the people, and that battle flag clearly doesn’t, Senator Graham concurred with her. While these two powerful South Carolina leaders have pushed the conversation on the flag into the open we wait to see if they secure the supermajority in both SC houses to retire the flag or if a symbol of racism will continue to be embraced and affirmed by the government of South Carolina.

 

Some claim that they fly the Confederate battle flag not as a sign of racism, but of pride in the old south, southern values, state’s rights and freedom of expression. There are many who say that the flag honors their forefathers, most of whom did not own slaves, who thought fighting and dying for their state in the civil war was the right thing to do. As noted in a prior post, if we would be revolted by a person of German heritage using the same rationale and similar statements justifying the flying of the Nazi flag in honor of his/her family members who bravely fought to the end in the German armed forces in World War II, then why do we not have the same reactions about the Confederate battle flag?

 

The Confederate battle flag is part of history and the heritage, a heritage that includes open overt racism as well as its more subtle forms. While such a symbol is part of its past, it should not be part of its future. No local, state, federal government should sanction its use on government lands and property, including license plates which are state sanctioned communication. Of course exceptions should be granted for filming of dramas and re-enactments, etc. There is a big distinction between private speech and government sanction speech...I may have the freedom to express a view but I should not expect my government to affirm my views through its various vehicles and symbols.

 

A private company should be allowed to determine for itself whether it wishes to produce and/or market the flag or items containing that flag. No retailer should be expected to sell any product it does not belief aligns with its corporate goals and/or image. If a retailer does, that is their choice and I in return have the freedom to support that retailer or take my business elsewhere if I’m offended strongly enough.

 

If a private citizen, or a private organization, wishes to fly the Confederate battle flag on their property, they should not be prohibited from doing so. They can do so as it is an expression of free speech. I in return have the freedom to dislike their expressed statement that they align themselves with a symbol and a heritage of racism, and take that into account in my interactions with them.  

American Civil War and States Rights

This year marks the 150th Anniversary of the commencement of the American Civil War (April 11), a war that on numerous levels transformed the United States. These transformations ranged from hundreds of technological advances to military strategy to the elimination of slavery to how the nation would think of itself both internally and internationally.

Why did the Southern States secede? One of the most commonly reason given is that the South seceded over a fight for state’s rights against an overbearing central National government. Over 55 to 70% of respondents today give this as the primary cause with slavery representing about 20 to 25% and the election of Lincoln receiving a slither of responses, 2 to 5%. Some surveys have 10 to 20% of respondents stating the cause was tariffs and taxes.

Was state’s rights the primary issue? Shortly following the Civil War, a growing number of the surviving Confederate civic, corporate and military leaders articulated states rights was the root cause. As the number of leaders articulating that states rights as the reason, it was not long before the general population of the southern states to state the same, and then by the middle of the 20th century a growing number in the northern and western states listing states rights as the dominant cause.

Do the South’s pre-Civil War newspaper reports, letters from leadership and the secession documents speak of state’s right? If this was the primary cause, not slavery, then we would find state’s rights repeatedly articulated in the South’s documents and newspaper reports before and during the Civil War. There is not a hint of state’s rights in South Carolina’s “Ordnance of Secession” or in the passionate rhetoric filling the Palmetto State’s newspapers. Instead they speak of the right to own and trade African Americans. Mimicking the Revolutionary call “give me liberty or give me death,” the cry of the South Carolinian leaders was “Give us slavery or give us death.”

South Carolina’s complaint was that their northern neighbors have “deliberately refused, for years past, to fulfill their constitutional obligations, and we refer to their own Statutes for the proof” and to “an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery.” What SC were referring to was northern states banning slavery from their soil, allowing slaves to marry and in some cases granting them citizenship and the right to vote in local elections. If anything, with northern states exercising rights to ban slavery, South Carolina was against their northern neighbors exercising states rights and their anger that the national government was not repressing the actions of the north, including prohibiting the formation and meeting of anti-slavery associations.

Mississippi’s and Georgia's Secession documents and newspapers speak of slavery, not state’s right. State after state in the Confederacy echo South Carolina’s documents, letters and newspapers. States right is not found as a triggering cause. Slavery was the primary cause and the election of Lincoln, a man who openly and strongly argued against slavery, was the last straw and the end of a process that started in the 1830s with South Carolina’s nullification crisis that President Jackson put down.

What has occurred is that after the Civil War those who know that they seceded over slavery restating their rationale with a falsehood, and the general population of succeeding generations has accepted a falsehood as truth.

Last of Pictures From Charleston SC

On the eve of heading out for a week's vacation on the Outer Banks I am posting the last pictures from Charleston SC. The following are from the Battery, an area with large homes for those of significant means.

Charleston

Below are some pictures taken during our July visit to Charleston SC. I enjoyed the visit and walking around the historic old town. It is well worth the visit, and staying in the heart of the historic district for a few days is well worth it as it allows you the opportunity to explore the town at your our pace at various times throughout the day. Next visit, now that I know the area somewhat and what to look for, I would like to find one of the bed and breakfasts that are in one of the old homes.

College of Charleston

Evie noted in her blog the College of Charleston. It is a beautiful campus. Though most of the classroom buildings go back over two hundred years, there are a few like the first picture that are of a more recent vintage.

A number of the old houses are now faculty office buildings. A few are designated for student housing.

Admissions to the college is one of the more competitive colleges in the country.

Below is the Admissions Building. As you can see the campus is well shaded by grand trees....it has to be due the heat from May through to October.

This above building is also found on Evie's blog. It is an adminstrative building and was used in the filming of the Patriot. Below the exterior pictures are pictures of the auditorium and its vintige 1700s and 1800s furniture.

Fort Sumter

During our trip to Charleston SC we took a trip to Fort Sumter, the target of the first shot of the American Civil War. The fort is well away from the city and its guns could not reach the city, but the fort guarded the harbor entrance and if the Confederacy was to use the harbor, the Union had to give up the fort.

The fort, which was three stories high, was hardly damaged by the initial bombardment. As the fort was not yet completed, it was not active and not fully manned. None of the 85 Union soldiers died during the bombardment. Major Anderson (later General Anderson) surrendered the fort when they ran out of food and when the barracks caught fire.

The fort we see today is a shell of the original. The top to layers are long gone due to Union bombardments later in the war. The Union shelling over months crumbled the top two levels and the rubble surrounded the lower. Though heavily shelled the Union did not conqueer the fort.

During the Spanish American War a two gun battery (12.5 range guns) were installed in the center of the fort upon a concrete platform (today painted black). Following are some pictures I took at Fort Sumter. First is the flag that flew over the fort at the start of the Civil War.

Above is the fort. Note the black concrete of the battery built during the Spanish American War that was built onto the parade ground.

Charleston can be seen in the distance. Below is the parade ground with the remains of the officer's quarters on the left (the quarters caught fire during the Confederate bombardment).

Note Union fire shell damage. In the first picture you can see the remains of a Union shell and below it to the left a hole created by another. In the last you can see several shell holes....the brickwork was five to eight feet thick.