Hayseed: But other than all that, what’s the North ever done for us?
People called Yankies, they go, the house!
And in return, we gave the Yankees blues, bluegrass, rock and roll, jazz, country music, a whole mess of good eating, a metric ton of good literature, and the useful word “y’all.” How boring would American culture be without us? Goods for culture! A fair exchange! 
Yah well, look at that for what it is. Who is most likely to think the Confederate flag does not connotate racism? Poor white people. Who are the people most likely to do the heavy lifting in the promotion of racism as policy? Poor white people. At least, that is who American elites have historically manipulated to use public racism towards their own ends. I don’t think pwps are naturally racist fwiw.
Presuming to settle an issue like this with an opinion poll is just another race war tactic. It doesn’t take the most delicate intellectual draftsmanship to plainly lay out the various cases around the Confederate flag. Those who can follow the arguments will notice what the Confederate flag really stands for. Do the opinions of those who can’t follow the arguments really matter? Well, they might if one is promoting a racist agenda.
I agree it is a sign of rot and confusion over history.
Well I could do without y’all…
Let’s not forget the North Carolina research triangle. Or Cape Canaveral. Or Miami. Or Marti Gras in New Orleans. Or Coca cola. Modern air conditioning was mostly invented up north (Brooklyn as it happens), but not entirely: Stuart Cramer, a textile engineer from North Carolina, also deserves props. Dell Computer and Exxon run out of Texas, as does Texas Instruments. The US has the most efficient distribution system in the world and Arkansas’ Walmart has been a major innovators in logistics.
Air conditioning? Let me introduce you to John Gorrie of Apalachicola, FL.
Spoke,
Good points. The modern South is an equal part of the United States, but it owes nothing to the Confederacy.
Crane
As somewhat of a dual citizen, I’ll tell you we took the music, most Americans ignore the literature whether its North or South (but I appreciate it), but up in the North they pass on most of the good eatin’ (except BBQ, but you really can’t find good fried okra easily up here) and the use of the word y’all. And paid for it all in Seinfeld reruns. 
Y’all is an eminently useful word that entered my vocabulary shortly after my first exposure and never left.
The North’s industry complex was still new and growing, the things they were manufacturing were some what more expensive than shipping equipment in from England. The North imposed a tariff on these manufactured goods from England forcing the South to buy from the North for the cheapest price. From the point tomndebb brought up, it’s easy to see why the South was feeling a little disrespected. They were being tasked with paying their hard earned profits to help develop the North’s industrial base. And yet again “… slavery was behind [this] other reasons.”
John Charles Fremont was the first presidential candidate offered by the newly formed Republican party, and he was a major abolitionist very vocal in his 1856 campaign. He was the anti-slavery candidate, so Lincoln’s nomination in 1860 was a clear step back from that Republican position.
Unfortunately his idea went nowhere. My WAG blames weak southern capital markets. In the 20th century they were strong and the South prospered.