My Daddy doesn’t believe in or support any of the aforementioned people represented at the gun shows. He is a true collector of guns (doesn’t hunt and has never shot a living thing in his life). He goes to the shows to find new pieces for his collections and sometimes works the shows to sell his merchandise.
In fact, he tells Sauron all the time not to make any sudden moves around these people and to speak very slowly and avoid eye contact because most of them “are idiots.”
The average person then had no stake in the existence of slavery. The main motivation was more “Them goddamn yankees are coming down her to tell us what to do. Johnny, get yer gun!” This doesn’t mean they didn’t support the idea of slavery, though, and the yankees, by and large, didn’t consider blacks any more human than the rebels, sadly. I don’t really know what the average yankee soldier’s motivation was, though people back then didn’t really need much of an excuse to fight.
This thread perfectly illustrates the raison d’etre behind this sticker. The confederate flag is under constant attack. If you don’t believe it, reread this thread
I disagree with Sauron’s interpretation of it’s meaning. It’s a defense of the flag plain and simple.
The North was fighting for the same thing the South was: $$$$$.
The South faced massive economic losses if the North outlawed slavery (I always found it interesting that when Northern states outlawed slavery, they generally included provisions that gave you several years to sell your slaves South. Not set them free, but sell them to someone else.) If the CSA had become an independent nation, the North would have had to pay import taxes on all the raw goods they bought from the South, causing massive economic impacts.
The rank and file of the armies, however, didn’t have enough money to be worried about, and they certainly didn’t give a big fat hairy one what happened to the rich people. So the government in the South whooped a lot of emotion about them damn Yankees comind down here to tell us how to live. And the government in the North whooped up a lot of emotion about the evils of slavery, and treason. And both sides resorted to drafts pretty early on.
Some people see the flag as a symbol of treason and defeat. Other people see it as a symbol of hatred, racism, and slavery. And other people see it as a symbol of a people who were proud, independent, and willing to go down fighting rather than just knuckling under.
I don’t agree with slavery, or with the financial issues that really started the war, but I can’t help being proud of a culture that was willing to fight on in the face of sure defeat for the right to live as they see fit. You know, the way some folks get a swell of pride when they look at that symbol of treason with the red-and-white stripes and the field of stars in the corner.
I have no idea what joe-average’s reason for supporting or not supporting the Confederacy was, and I didn’t make any claim to know. I stated the obvious fact that the reason for the formation of the Confederacy was to protect the institution of slavery, and the reason for the 1956 flag changes were to protest desegregation.
My opinion is that these things are what associated the stars-and-bars with racism. It was not a general bash on all things Southern.
Now, to continue the hijack, in the GD thread about the confederacy, MEBuckner was good enough to post the following:
If you click on any of the links to the states’ seccesion documents you will see the word slavery appear over and over. People can pretend that the Confederacy had nothing to do with slavery all they want, but that doesn’t make it true.
I think we are fairly split down the middle here on what the flag means, what the bumper sticker meant and what the South is all about.
Thank you Sauron and Zoe, you guys are putting my feelings into words better than I have in this thread.
In my opinion, there are many things that constitute the Southern identity. Let me see if I can do half a good a job as Zoe.
History (and so it’s clear to some people, I mean FAMILY), respect, appreciation for music, food, love, chivalry, politeness, low country boils, God (for a lot of us), pride in ourselves and WHO we are, SEC football (Go Dawgs!), being true ourselves and our friends, always being there for people we love, being steadfast and honest, a slower pace of life, enjoying your time…fishing, hunting, cooking, spending time with family and friends, camping…honor, dedication, being hard working and modest.
Not all apply to every Southerner, but this is a major part of how I identify myself and my friends/family.
