I've beaten this one to death already....do a search on the best/worst presidents I have a long post on the civil war. So, if you are serious and not a troll....here goes...
Basically to get a good answer, you need to read on American history from religious, social and economic perspective. One single disipline, history, for example, doesn't give you enough background on the forces that not only shaped both the Union and Confederate forces, but also their battle for the _historical representation_ of the war--and therefore the flag.
After all, history is a living and breathing subject that is constantly revised on the basis of new material. More importantly with the case of the civil war and the south, new intellectuals whose personal agendas dissapate as the historical period fades take a more critical view of the Northern and Southern representation of the war.
To start, you need to get a good background in antebellum american religious history, and studies of indenutered servitude and slavery in both the U.S., N. Africa, W. Africa, W. Indies and in Ancient (Greek & Roman as well as biblical) from an economic, social and religous perspective.
In addition, you need to read on international history, especially the major European powers who stood by in interest as the U.S. principles of democracy were tested. (Governance in the south was far more similar to aristocrisy/church/political structure of Europe than the North.)
pxxx had a good summary, I'd only add that slavery was _the_ economic system in the south, you could actually get loans on your slaves...therefore if slavery ended, the south's capital stock would be ruined.
The actual war didn't have as much to do with racist intentions rather it was a battle over cold hard cash. (like most wars ;)
However, the religious and racist sentiment was derived during and after the war itself--mainly to justify the huge price the average southerner would pay to secure the economic well-being of the gentleman-planter aristocrats taht dominated southern society on every level (religious, social and political).
That's the part that always makes me laugh about poor whites appropriating the use of the confederacy for racist intentions--it was never to help poor whites--only the rich aristocrats LOL!!!!!!!
Anyway the racism takes root heavily mainly during the reconstruction when blacks were given equal rights in the south...tthen all those rights were yanked away to help appease the newly humbled south by president's with shit for brains... that's when you have the rebirth of the KKK, birth of Jim crow laws, lynchings etc...
All those rights "granted by the constitution" were fought for until the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s...kind of fucked up huh?
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Originally posted by BradM
What did/does it mean to you? It's long gone now but what did/does the flag still represent to YOU?
I love history and want to learn more about this period. Doing some google reading right now. I want to buy some books too.
So tell me... what was this group of people all about?
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