I’m still waiting for an answer from the defenders of the State flying the Confederate Battle Flag as to why their not also agitating to have the State fly the United Kingdom’s Union Jack.
Because that attempt at secession worked.
Nope. Alabama’s flag resembles Florida’s flag. It’s actually the Georgia and Mississippi flags which have the “Southern Cross” flag as a component.
(sure hope this works)
Alabama
[file]c:/alabama_small.bmp[/file]
Florida
[file]c:/florida_small.bmp[/file]
Mississippi
[file]c:/mississi_small.bmp[/file]
Georgia
[file]c:/georgia_small.bmp[/file]
For a good history of flags of the Confederacvy, feel free to check http://members.xoom.com/JKMcNeillSCVcamp/Flags.htm plus the book Mr. McNeill mentions on that site.
(this should work)
Alabama
c:/alabama_small.bmp
Florida
c:/florida_small.bmp
Mississippi
c:/mississi_small.bmp
Georgia
c:/georgia_small.bmp
Mississippi/Alabama. . .
What’s the difference?
Georgia sold them to the Spanish, and we were dumb enough to take 'em back.
Georgia most certainly did NOT sell Alabama or Mississippi to the Spanish.
The northern parts of those states were claimed by the French, Spanish and English variously during the 17th and 18th centuries. The treaty that ended the French and Indian war in 1763 ceded the French claim on the area to Britain. The British and the Spanish dickered over the northern boundary of Florida during this time. By the Treaty of Paris (1783) ending the Revolutionary war, Spain recovered Florida, including the panhandle which extended all the way to the Mississippi River and the United States got the northern parts of the states. The northern boundary of the Florida colonies of Spain was set in 1799 at the 31st Parallel. Georgia sold its interest in that area to the federal government in 1802. The western boundary of Florida’s panhandle was established in 1813 after the US took over the Mobile area during the War of 1812. The Florida colony was finally obtained in its entirety by the Adams-Onis treaty in 1821, by which time both Alabama and Mississippi were states of the Union (the US relinquished its claim on Texas in return for Florida, can you believe it?).
I think this pretty well sums it up. In my experience, most of the people that fly confederate flags do it not out of racism, but because:
(1)It is a symbol of their identity. I still say that Southerners are, for all practical purposes, a distinct ethnic group. There are lots of ethnic groups that don’t have a nation of their own. The Kurds of Iraq/Iran/Syria come to mind.
(2)It symbolizes the mindset that “big government is bad government.” This is why alot of militia-types like the Stars and Bars.
Of course, given the history of the Confederate States of America, it’s easy to see why blacks don’t like the Confederate flag. The NAACP’s position is not unreasonable (Although you know the Civil Rights movement has lost its momentum when the most noble cause Jesse Jackson can find is a bunch of expelled juvenile delinquents.) However, the pro-flag people have a reasonable position themselves (They have as much right to celebrate their heritage as anybody).
So all in all, we have yet another divisive issue that has no easy solution. Sigh File it away with all the others…I already have enough causes that I care about.
–It was recently discovered that research causes cancer in rats.
*Monty: (this should work) *
Only for you. The links you posted were file paths on your computer. All we saw were little red X’s.
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The Canadians. They walk among us. William Shatner. Michael J. Fox. Monty Hall. Mike Meyers. Alex Trebek. All of them Canadians. All of them here.