Quote:
Originally Posted by KDCat
No, they really didn't. If you read the secession declarations for each state, they state very clearly that they are seceding because of slavery. They cloak it in "states' rights," but the right the states' right that they are seeking to protect is the right to own slaves.
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While I agree that slavery was a major factor (if not the major factor) in the war, let's not ignore the reason the North wanted to abolish slavery. It wasn't because they were more moral than the South or felt like slavery was a bad thing - it's because they were afraid that white people wouldn't be able to land paying jobs if they were competing against slave labor. Just wanted to point that out before this turns into a moral-North vs. hateful-South debate.
There are (at least) two distinct groups of people who wave the Battle Flag: one group who flies it as a nod to their heritage (not unlike Americans who fly the American flag), and another group who flies it in a less appropriate manner.
I personally don't fly it at all, but I can recognize why some people do. I don't automatically associate it with hate and/or slavery, but I recognize that some people do. It's a flag that has different meanings to different groups of people - the flag itself doesn't have its own intrinsic meaning.