Confederate Battle Flag
Dear Elizabeth Leland,
You stated the following in your article of August 11, 2012,,
"The flag is part of my heritage, too. But it's not something I'm
proud of. Our ancestors fought to keep slavery intact, and the flag is
a symbol of that misguided cause. It's past time we put it away."
How sad it is to see native Southerners turn their backs on
their heritage and swallow the Yankee Kool-Aid of "the war was about
slavery". There is ample proof that it absolutely was not about
slavery, and one would think that a professional journalist could do
just a little bit of research and find the truth instead of spouting
out the usual mythological talking points. Please, allow me to do
your job for you. Here is proof that shoots the Yankee mythology out
of the water:
Corwin Amendment
To refute the oft-repeated lie that the War for Southern
Independence (commonly but erroneously called "The Civil War") was
fought over slavery, I need only mention the Corwin Amendment --
proposed by Congressman Thomas Corwin of Ohio, passed by Congress 2
March 1861, and endorsed by Abraham Lincoln. That amendment read: "No
amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or
give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State,
with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held
to labor or service by the laws of said State."
If the seceded States had wished to perpetuate slavery, they had
only to re-join the Union and ratify that amendment. They did not
because they seceded to escape an overweening, all-intrusive big
government, the same reason that thirteen States seceded from Britain
in 1776, Mexico from Spain in 1818, and Texas from Mexico in 1836.
Clifton Palmer McLendon
Upshur County, Texas
Upshur County, Texas
Where is the logic? IF slavery was the cause of the War For
Southern Independence, and IF the North fought to free the slaves, why
then:
1. Was a 13th amendment presented in the U.S. Congress and
signed by Lincoln in 1861 that would have prohibited the U.S.
government from ever abolishing or interfering with slavery in any
state? (Corwin Amendment, 2 March, 1861)
2. Was West Virginia allowed to accede to the union as a "Slave"
state after 1863? (West Virginia was illegally and unconstitutionally
formed)
3. Was slave labor used to build the Capitol building in Washington D.C.?
4. Was the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, applicable only in
areas not under the control of the Union? (The Emancipation
Proclamation freed not one solitary person, but was a war measure
meant to cause a slave uprising, which did not
happen)
5. Was Union Gen. Fremont's order emancipating slaves in Missouri countermanded by Lincoln and the slaves sent back to their masters?
5. Was Union Gen. Fremont's order emancipating slaves in Missouri countermanded by Lincoln and the slaves sent back to their masters?
6. Why did New Jersey uphold its "Lifetime apprentices" rule until 1866?
7. Why were there six slave states in the union (Maryland,
Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, according to the
1860 U.S. Census) during the War For Southern Independence?
8. Was there a U.S. Resolution stating that the war had nothing
to do with slavery? (July 22, 1861) On July 22, 1861, the U.S.
Congress passed a joint resolution stating the purpose of the war:
"Resolved…That this war is not being prosecuted on our part in
any spirit of oppression, not for any purpose of conquest or
subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the
rights or established institutions of those states, but to defend and
maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and all laws made in
pursuance thereof and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity,
equality and rights of the several States unimpaired; and that as soon
as these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease."
This is further proof that the war was NOT fought over slavery.
The North did, however, conquer and subjugate the South, and the war
they initiated and waged against the South was both unconstitutional
and treasonous. It was fought to force the legally seceded South back
into the union for the purpose of continuing the collection of
excessive tariffs, which economically damaged the South, but was of
economical benefit to the northern industrialists. This shoots down
the Yankee claim of the war being about slavery. Our history was
rewritten during "Reconstruction" to brainwash all the Southern boys
and girls, and it has done a tremendous job of doing so for 150 years.
Read some true history to educate yourself. The Confederate Battle
Flag never did, and never will, represent a people fighting for
slavery. It represents a people fighting for independence from an
overreaching, all-powerful government intruding into every area of
private life. Of course, it has become "politically correct" to bash
and slander Southern Heritage and culture, but the same slander and
genocide would not be tolerated in any other area of the country on
any other people, but because it is perpetrated against the South, it
is accepted. I cannot stand by and allow such charges to go
unanswered out of duty, and respect for those who fought and died
defending the South from Lincoln's illegal invasion. It is up to
those of us who know the truth to do our best to enlighten those who do
not.
Even Lincoln himself stated that the war was not about slavery.
"We didn't go into the war to put down slavery, but to put the
flag back; and to act differently at this moment would, I have no
doubt, not only weaken our cause, but smack of bad faith..." Abraham
Lincoln. Speaks for itself.
Books that need to be read; "The Real Lincoln", by Charles L.C.
Minor, "The South Was Right", by James Ronald Kennedy and Walter
Donald Kennedy, "Red Republicans and Lincoln's Marxists" by Walter D.
Kennedy and Al Benson, Jr., "The Un-Civil War" by Leonard M. Scruggs,
and "Facts and Falsehoods Concerning the War on the South 1861-1865",
by George Edmunds.
This will give you a good start on the true history of that terrible and senseless war.
Jeff Paulk
Tulsa, OK
Tulsa, OK
