Subject:
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Re: What the Confederate flag stands for. (was Re: Just wh...)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Fri, 14 Feb 2003 18:02:06 GMT
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Viewed:
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643 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler writes:
> In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Mike Petrucelli writes:
> >
> > Slavery was central but it was the secondary issue. The primary issue was the
> > states right to secede, that is why the war was fought. Of course in this case
> > the states tried to exersice their right to secede because the Federal
> > Government outlawed slavery.
>
> Interesting. I'm not sure I can reconcile that claim with Stephen's
> statements (which assert outright that the institution of slavery is of
> paramount importance), but at least I understand your view better now.
> Thanks for the clarification.
I would have to argue that Mike isn't quite understanding what he wrote.
Slavery was central but a secondary issue? No, it is either not central, or
it wasn't a secondary issue. The chain of events over the previous decade
makes it fairly clear that slavery was a very central issue. The right to
secede (politically correct speak for the right to revolt against an
authority you no longer agree with) was simply the mode of expression. The
reason is the core (the "why"), not the mode of expression (the "how").
Now, why an individual may have fought is something else entirely. As Mike
noted, Robert E. Lee felt a greater loyalty to his state than a central
government. The state as nation was a much stronger notion, then. The
common man did not perceive he was fighting for slavery so much as fighting
for his state (regardless that his state was asking him to effectively fight
for slavery). And therein lies the anomoly of the Confederate flag: many
(white) southerners feel it was about states rights, because their ancestors
fought for their state, not slavery directly, without really facing that the
state itself had seceded over slavery (directly or indirectly).
-->Bruce<--
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