Is the Confederate flag a symbol of racism?

Something like that...SC seceded because they were unhappy with many decisions the Federal gov't had recently made, along with the thought that Lincoln would abolish slavery outright. SC, and the other confederate states, believed they, as states, should have the right to govern themselves independently while still being under the Fed. gov't.

While the "causative" reason (slavery) may be different, the general premise is no different than the American Revolution...The colony of America believed that they should be able to govern themselves and rose up and fought for what they believed in

Seceded

interesting viewpoint

while youre at it if thats your view...you can add the current SC flag

Current version used since 1861

same with the Virginia and Texas state flags IIRC and several other Southern state flags are very similar to designs used during the war


To single out a particular image as a symbol of a belief is human nature, but we must realize that there are others out there who view it differently

Ywen's ideas are no different than most other folks who were born/raised above the mason dixon line that i've met...as from what I can tell from talking to people...the history of the civil war is taught differently up there (and other areas of the country as well)

The thing is though, the north can speculate all they want, and so can historians, but the only people who TRULY know why SC seceded, and the other states followed suit are those that made the decisions to do so.

Southern history will continue to be filled with stories of wanting state's rights, and the north will continue to teach that the south was fighting only over slavery...when in reality people up north owned slaves just the same...

There will be important details left out on both sides that conveniently skew the viewpoint in favor of the side telling the story...

Its interesting to read everyone's thoughts here, as I was about 3 hours short of a minor is Southern History while in college

A good read for anyone interested is a book called South Carolina: A History by Walter Edgar

He writes this book using letters, diaries, and other first hand accounts during many stages in the history of the state, and gives you a better account at what was going on than many history books.



Now then, some interesting parts that I dont think have been brought up...

The abolishment of slavery in confederate states did occur at the end of the war, but not because Lincoln believed in ending slavery, but because he wanted to punish the South for its secession...this is why there is so much poverty in the South to this day.

At the beginning of the war, there were several attempts to compromise with the confederacy, one of which involved allowing confederate states to retain the right to slavery...the confederacy refused...

had the war been SOLEY over slavery...this wouldve ended the issue directly