Submitted by D. A. Anthony, Aug 8, 2007 13:51

Mr. Wyman, I found your comments on my post in the New York Sun interesting, but I would appreciate if you would provide me with some of the historical bases upon which you made the statement that, "...he's (Kevin Mulligan) also correct to point out, once again, that slavery was indeed the true cause of the War." I re-read Mr. Mulligan's post myself several times, and found that the point he was attempting to make was that, "Slavery was one of a host of issues which divided the two regions." I agree with Mr. Mulligan's point, but I believe I have provided adequate historical quotations within this brief exchange to substantiate my statement that "The institution of slavery played a very small role..."

The unequivocal nature of your comment makes me think either that in all my years of studying American history, particularly the history of the 1850s and 1860s, I have missed some very substantial historical documentation that proves "that slavery was indeed the true cause of the War", or that you are simply parroting the propaganda passed off in public schools by the victorious North without having any historical facts with which to back up your statement.

As I mentioned in my original post, I, too, went to public schools, albeit it here in the South, but I was "spoon-fed" the same slanted information about the "Civil War" that all other public school students receive. It was not until I began doing my own research and a great deal of personal reading that I began to realize that what I had been taught all along as being "gospel" was actually Northern propaganda to portray the North as "the good guys" and the South as "the bad guys." Unfortunately for the North, the historical facts just do not back up their version of what happened.

This reminds me of a quote in 1864 by Confederate General Patrick Cleburne, an Irish immigrant who was an extraordinary warrior, who once said very presciently, "Every man should endeavor to understand the meaning of subjugation before it is too late...It means the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the war; will be impressed by the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, and our maimed veterans as fit objects for derision..." Mr. Wyman, Nostradamus could not have had more foresight on this subject than did Gen. Cleburne!

You also made the statement that "The problem, however, with displaying the Confederate flag, is that, regrettably, it has come to also symbolize racism and bigotry and opposition to equality and justice under our laws." As I pointed out in my response to Mr. Mulligan, "...the only flag which is required to be present at Klan rallies is the United States flag. I have numerous photographs taken by the media over the years of Klan rallies and parades that depict only the U.S. flag without a Confederate flag anywhere in site. If the Klan is required to display the U.S. flag at its various meetings, why is it only the Confederate flag that has been besmirched by its association with the Klan, whereas the U.S. flag gets off scot-free?"

If you will Google "KKK"AND"flag", you will find several websites that provide information on the flags required to be present at official Klan functions. The following is a direct quote from the website www.kkklan.com, if you want to substantiate what I am saying for yourself:

The great revival Klan of 1915-1944, which had the largest Klan membership, power, and influence ever, what was their True Klan flag? Imperial Wizard Simmons made it plain. He openly declared that there was but one official flag of the Ku Klux Klan and that was the Stars and Stripes. He made it Klan law that NO flag at any Klan function was to fly above it and NO flag was to fly equal to it. All flags would fly beneath the flag of the United States! And if you look at old photos of the revival Klan for the most part the ONLY flag you ever see IS the Stars and Stripes.

Polls have also been made on the subject of whether or not the Confederate flag is considered to be a symbol of racism and slavery, and the results showed that a sizeable majority of Southern blacks do not think the Confederate flag is a symbol of racism, and a majority of blacks throughout the United States also do not think the flag is a symbol of racism. Now, that means to me that a sizeable majority of Americans of all races do NOT think the Confederate flag is a symbol of racism. Assuming that poll has some degree of reasonable accuracy, why is it considered politically-correct to always interject that the Confederate flag "...has come to also symbolize racism and bigotry and opposition to equality and justice under our laws," but make no similar statement regarding symbols of other groups which may be considered divisive?

You are correct in stating that Gen. Robert E. Lee urged all Southerners to "...go home and be good citizens.."; however, Gen. Lee made a few other statements that seem to be frequently overlooked such as the following:

"All the South has ever desired was that the union, as established by our forefathers, should be preserved; and that the government, as originally organized, should be administered in purity and truth."
~~ Gen. Robert E. Lee 1866

"I yet believe the maintenance of the rights and authority reserved to the States and to the people, not only essential to the adjustment and balance of the general system, but the safeguard to the continuance of a free government. I consider it a chief source of stability to our political system, whereas the consolidation of the states into one vast republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of that ruin which has overwhelmed all those that have preceded it." ~~ Gen. Robert E. Lee 1866

"Governor, if I had foreseen the use those people designed to make of their victory, there would have been no surrender at Appomattox Courthouse; no, sir, not by me. Had I foreseen these results of subjugation, I would have preferred to die at Appomattox with my brave men, my sword in this right hand." ~~ Gen. Robert E. Lee 1866

As a retired Army officer who served his country for 28 years, I agree with you that the United States is the greatest republic the world has ever known, but I do not agree that we are necessarily better off because the South was held in this "voluntary" union by force of bayonets. Do you believe that the citizens of the Baltic States of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia believe they would be better off being held against their will in the U.S.S.R.? I sincerely doubt it! As a matter of fact, based upon present-day financial estimates, if the Confederate States of America were still in existence, it would have the 4th highest GNP in the world, which isn't all that bad.

Government with the consent of the governed has always been the foundation of our Republic, and when Abraham Lincoln decided to hold the South in a "voluntary" union against its will, he destroyed the Republic as it was designed by the Founding Fathers, and stood the Constitution on its head.

Even though our Founding Fathers all agreed to the Constitutional right of secession, Abraham Lincoln decided he needed to fight a war of aggression resulting in the deaths of 600,000 American soldiers, and then claimed he did it to end slavery and preserve the Union. The United States is the only modern nation that needed a war of the scope of that of 1861-1865 to put an end to slavery--all the other Western nations were able to end slavery through negotiation and legislation.

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