Historical FactsThose knowledgeable of the reasons for secession and the
ensuing War Between the States realize that the slavery was not the consideration, but because of unfair tariffs levied against southern businesses by the northern-sympathetic congress. The battle flag became the symbol and rallying point of the southern forces when the north invaded to force us back into the union. Gov. Zell Miller of Georgia says the current flag "exhibits pride in slavery." As a professor of history, he should know that 90% of the soldiers in the Confederate Army didn't own any slaves and that Lincoln, between 1861 and 1862, didn't free any slaves in Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, or Washington D.C.; places where he had the power to do so. It is up to us, the descendants of these brave men, to take back our flag and to see that it is used only as a symbol of pride in our great Southern Heritage. Over one million Southerners, our ancestors, fought for four years under the Confederate battle flag. These men fought, and many died, for fundamental principles of Constitutional government given to us by the Founding Fathers. Although defeated by overwhelming manpower and resources, they have left us a great legacy of bravery, sacrifice, and devotion to duty , home and family. Prior to the Civil War, the United States government supported slavery, and long before that, the English did as well. They began trading slaves in 1562. The slave trade was introduced into the new world in 1503 by the Spanish. Massachusetts was the first colony to legalize slavery in 1641. When the Declaration of Independence was signed July 4, 1776, slavery was in all 13 colonies/states. Slaves were imported only under British and Spanish rule prior to the Revolutionary War or under the American flag. None were imported under the Confederate government. The focal point of the slavery issue is to rewrite history at the expense of fact. History is neither good nor bad, merely fact upon fact. The Battle Flag was not raised over slave quarters or slave auctions. The Confederate Constitution forbade the importation of slaves. Slaves were only imported under the Stars and Stripes in post-colonial America! It is ludicrous to think that educators and the general public are willing to accept the validity or lend credence to opinions and statements initiated by individuals who apply contemporary social standards to historic events. Yet, this is exactly the standard used by many of our opponents who so convincingly demonstrate their insensitivity and ethnocentrism by issuing derogatory hypotheses about the name of Admiral Raphael Semmes and our Southern heritage. Our ancestors had the right idea -- they created the Confederate States of America and fought under its banner because they were people of vision. They knew that through continual endeavor and self-discipline, under and equitable constitutional form of government, that they could achieve an egalitarian society full of opportunities to own one's farm, a home, or a business, without being impoverished by high taxes for which little or no benefit returned to the community. They did not go to war to take over or subjugate the North, but fought as their ancestors had during the American Revolution, for freedom and independence, and the opportunity to improve their lot by the sweat of their brow. All they wanted was the chance to better themselves and improve the quality of life for future generations, without interference of one-way Yankee taxes and politics. |
Hate GroupsThe Department of the Army of Northern Virginia has compiled
Defending the Colors... Advancing the Colors... for the use of all camps, divisions and armies in the Confederation. These quotations may be reprinted freely; no attribution or credit is necessary. Hate Groups Mis-use of Confederate Symbolism These organizations have stolen the use of the Confederate flag and use it inappropriately. We deplore their use of our emblems and what they stand for. There is a faction in this community, that is following a nationwide, well-organized movement of bias, bigotry and racial prejudice toward their fellow citizens. This group is attempting to instill their bigoted line of thinking on the majority of people by using slanted and miss-information. Presently they are attempting to discredit and take away the heritage of thousands of people, of all races, whose ancestors served, lived, and died for what they believed in. Merely because one segment views the Confederate battle flag as being a sign of hatred and slavery it does not make it so. It is the same old song and dance of "slavery, oppression, and racism" as their excuse for their opposition to flying the flag. The Klan flew plenty of U.S. flags at its rallies and marches. Why is that flag not "divisive"? It is true that certain groups, such as the KKK, have perverted the Confederate battle flag for their own vile uses. One of the reasons the KKK appropriated the battle flag is to use this beloved Southern symbol as a tool to win local support for their odious activities. The Sons of Confederate Veterans brought suit to prevent such uses of the flag. Unfortunately, the courts have ruled that the battle flag is in the "public domain." Isn't it time to take it back from those who have perverted its meaning and re-establish it as the noble symbol of Southern heritage that it truly is? When an individual or group raises the specter of racism over the selection of a name for a school, they certainly have an obligation to their supporters, to the community, and to the descendants of the accused, to provide documented evidence of allegations so represented. To raise the specter of racism is a very serious charge, and to do so without evidential proof is irresponsible, unconscionable, and definitely counter productive to improving ethnic relations. The questions to ask some of our opponents, who just recently purported in the press to be the "standard-bearer of justice and social equality," is: What litmus test does your organization use to determine racism? So far these accusatory public statements purporting the existence of racial overtones have been supported by nothing more than rhetoric based upon supposition, innuendo, or assumption. Quite frankly this form of public guileful behavior is an affront to the decision making process of the Board of Education, and it exhibits contempt toward people with a more egalitarian perspective or acquired sense of fair play. |
Black Confederate Heritage
The following fact sheet is
prepared by the Education Committee of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV)
for distribution to educational personnel, librarians, civic groups, press
officials and others interested in promoting an understanding of Confederate
History and Heritage. The fact sheet may be freely copied and distributed
without permission or notice; if republished in part or whole, please credit
the SCV.
"There are at the present moment, many colored men in the Confederate Army doing duty...as
real soldiers, having muskets on their shoulders and bullets in their
pockets...." Frederick Douglas, former slave & abolitionist (Fall, 1861)
How many? Easily tens of thousands of blacks served the
Confederacy as laborers, teamsters, cooks and even as soldiers. Some estimates
indicate 25% of free blacks and 15% of slaves actively supported the South
during the war.
Why? Blacks served the South because it
was their home, and because they hoped for the reward of patriotism; for these
reasons they fought in every war through Korea, even though it meant defending
a segregated United States.
Emancipation? President Lincoln's
Emancipation Proclamation did not free a single slave. Issued at a time when
the Confederacy seemed to be winning the war, Lincoln hoped to transform a
disagreement over secession into a crusade against slavery, thus preventing
Great Britain (and France) from intervening on the side of the South. The
proclamation allowed slavery to continue in the North as well as in Tennessee
and large parts of Louisiana and Virginia. It applied only to Confederate-held
slaves, which Lincoln had no authority over, but not to slaves under Federal
control.
Lincoln's Views? "I am not in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office...."
9/15/1858 campaign speech "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to
interfere with the institution of slavery...." 3/4/1861 First Inaugural
Address "I am a little uneasy about the abolishment of slavery in this
District [of Columbia]...." 3/24/1862 letter to Horace Greeley "If I
could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it...." 8/22/1862
letter to Horace Greeley, New York Tribune
editor
Confederate: Famed bridge engineer and
former slave Horace King received naval contracts for building Confederate
warships. A black servant named Sam Ashe killed the first Union officer during
the war, abolitionist Major Theodore Winthrop. John W. Buckner, a black
private, was wounded at Ft. Wagner repulsing the U.S. (Colored) 54th
Massachusetts Regiment. George Wallace, a servant who surrendered with General
Lee at Appomattox, later served in the Georgia Senate. Jim Lewis served General
Stonewall Jackson, and was honored to hold his horse "Little Sorrel" at the
general's funeral. Captured black cook Dick Poplar suffered cruelty by Yankee
Negro guards at Pt. Lookout, MD for being a "Jeff Davis man."
Union: A daring Robert Smalls engineered theft
of the CSS Planter, presenting it to the Yankee blockading fleet at Charleston.
Black Medal of Honor awardees Christian Fleetwood and William Carey bravely
carried the banner at Ft. Wagner's assault in
1863.
Colonial: The first man to die for the American
cause of freedom was Crispus Attucks, a black seaman from Boston. At the time
of the American Revolution, New York City held almost as many slaves as all of
Georgia combined.
Surprising Facts: In St.
Louis, General John Fremont freed slaves of "disloyal" Missouri Confederates;
an angry Lincoln fired him. Slaves in Washington, D.C. were not freed until
April 1862, a year after the war began with the firing at Ft. Sumter. Slavery
continued throughout the entire war in five Union-held states: DE, MD, WV, KY
and MO. The New York City draft riots of July 1863 resulted in burning of a
beautiful black orphanage and lynching of blacks. A provision in the
Confederate Constitution prohibited the African slave trade outright (unlike
the U.S. Constitution). Encouraged by General Lee, the CSA eventually freed
slaves who would join the army, and did recruit and arm black regiments. C.S.
General Robert E. Lee freed his family slaves before the war; Union Gen. U.S.
Grant kept his wife's slaves well into the war. Many blacks owned slaves
themselves. In 1861 Charleston, for example, a free colored planter named
William Ellison owned 70 slaves. Even in 1830 New York City, three decades
before the war, eight black planters owned 17 slaves.
Blacks
Today: Nelson W. Winbush, a retired educator and SCV member, lectures
on his black Confederate ancestor, private Louis N. Nelson. A black Chicago
funeral home owner, Ernest A. Griffin, flies the CSA battle flag and erected at
his own expense a $20,000 monument to the 6,000 Confederate soldiers who are
buried on his property, once site of the Union prison Camp Douglas. Black
professor Leonard Haynes (recently deceased) of Southern University (Baton
Rouge) spoke regularly on black Confederates. American University's professor
Edward Smith also lectures on the truth of black Confederate history and, with
Nelson W. Winbush, has prepared an educational videotape entitled "Black
Southern Heritage" (available at (954) 963-4857)
Info?
Contact: Dr. Edward Smith, American University, 4400 Massachusetts
Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20016 (202) 885-1192; Dean of American Studies,
Dr. Smith (a black professor) is dedicated to clarifying the historical role of
blacks.
Websites: Library of Congress Black History
Resource Guide -
http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html
Sons
of Confederate Veterans, International Headquarters - http://www.scv.org
Books:
Charles Kelly Barrow, et al. Forgotten Confederates: An Anthology About
Black Southerners (1995)
Iver Bernstein. The New York Draft Riots
(1990)
Ervin L. Jordan, Jr. Black Confederates and Afro-Yankees in
Civil War Virginia (1995)
Larry Koger. Black Slaveowners: Free Black
Slaveowners in South Carolina, 1790-1860 (1985, 1995)
Edward A. Miller,
Jr. Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls - From Slavery to Congressman, 1839-1915
(1995)
Richard Rollins. Black Southerners in Gray (1994)
Cornish Taylor. The Sable Arm: Negro Troops in the Union Army,
1861-1865 (1956)
prepared by the Education Committee of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV)
for distribution to educational personnel, librarians, civic groups, press
officials and others interested in promoting an understanding of Confederate
History and Heritage. The fact sheet may be freely copied and distributed
without permission or notice; if republished in part or whole, please credit
the SCV.
"There are at the present moment, many colored men in the Confederate Army doing duty...as
real soldiers, having muskets on their shoulders and bullets in their
pockets...." Frederick Douglas, former slave & abolitionist (Fall, 1861)
How many? Easily tens of thousands of blacks served the
Confederacy as laborers, teamsters, cooks and even as soldiers. Some estimates
indicate 25% of free blacks and 15% of slaves actively supported the South
during the war.
Why? Blacks served the South because it
was their home, and because they hoped for the reward of patriotism; for these
reasons they fought in every war through Korea, even though it meant defending
a segregated United States.
Emancipation? President Lincoln's
Emancipation Proclamation did not free a single slave. Issued at a time when
the Confederacy seemed to be winning the war, Lincoln hoped to transform a
disagreement over secession into a crusade against slavery, thus preventing
Great Britain (and France) from intervening on the side of the South. The
proclamation allowed slavery to continue in the North as well as in Tennessee
and large parts of Louisiana and Virginia. It applied only to Confederate-held
slaves, which Lincoln had no authority over, but not to slaves under Federal
control.
Lincoln's Views? "I am not in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office...."
9/15/1858 campaign speech "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to
interfere with the institution of slavery...." 3/4/1861 First Inaugural
Address "I am a little uneasy about the abolishment of slavery in this
District [of Columbia]...." 3/24/1862 letter to Horace Greeley "If I
could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it...." 8/22/1862
letter to Horace Greeley, New York Tribune
editor
Confederate: Famed bridge engineer and
former slave Horace King received naval contracts for building Confederate
warships. A black servant named Sam Ashe killed the first Union officer during
the war, abolitionist Major Theodore Winthrop. John W. Buckner, a black
private, was wounded at Ft. Wagner repulsing the U.S. (Colored) 54th
Massachusetts Regiment. George Wallace, a servant who surrendered with General
Lee at Appomattox, later served in the Georgia Senate. Jim Lewis served General
Stonewall Jackson, and was honored to hold his horse "Little Sorrel" at the
general's funeral. Captured black cook Dick Poplar suffered cruelty by Yankee
Negro guards at Pt. Lookout, MD for being a "Jeff Davis man."
Union: A daring Robert Smalls engineered theft
of the CSS Planter, presenting it to the Yankee blockading fleet at Charleston.
Black Medal of Honor awardees Christian Fleetwood and William Carey bravely
carried the banner at Ft. Wagner's assault in
1863.
Colonial: The first man to die for the American
cause of freedom was Crispus Attucks, a black seaman from Boston. At the time
of the American Revolution, New York City held almost as many slaves as all of
Georgia combined.
Surprising Facts: In St.
Louis, General John Fremont freed slaves of "disloyal" Missouri Confederates;
an angry Lincoln fired him. Slaves in Washington, D.C. were not freed until
April 1862, a year after the war began with the firing at Ft. Sumter. Slavery
continued throughout the entire war in five Union-held states: DE, MD, WV, KY
and MO. The New York City draft riots of July 1863 resulted in burning of a
beautiful black orphanage and lynching of blacks. A provision in the
Confederate Constitution prohibited the African slave trade outright (unlike
the U.S. Constitution). Encouraged by General Lee, the CSA eventually freed
slaves who would join the army, and did recruit and arm black regiments. C.S.
General Robert E. Lee freed his family slaves before the war; Union Gen. U.S.
Grant kept his wife's slaves well into the war. Many blacks owned slaves
themselves. In 1861 Charleston, for example, a free colored planter named
William Ellison owned 70 slaves. Even in 1830 New York City, three decades
before the war, eight black planters owned 17 slaves.
Blacks
Today: Nelson W. Winbush, a retired educator and SCV member, lectures
on his black Confederate ancestor, private Louis N. Nelson. A black Chicago
funeral home owner, Ernest A. Griffin, flies the CSA battle flag and erected at
his own expense a $20,000 monument to the 6,000 Confederate soldiers who are
buried on his property, once site of the Union prison Camp Douglas. Black
professor Leonard Haynes (recently deceased) of Southern University (Baton
Rouge) spoke regularly on black Confederates. American University's professor
Edward Smith also lectures on the truth of black Confederate history and, with
Nelson W. Winbush, has prepared an educational videotape entitled "Black
Southern Heritage" (available at (954) 963-4857)
Info?
Contact: Dr. Edward Smith, American University, 4400 Massachusetts
Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20016 (202) 885-1192; Dean of American Studies,
Dr. Smith (a black professor) is dedicated to clarifying the historical role of
blacks.
Websites: Library of Congress Black History
Resource Guide -
http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html
Sons
of Confederate Veterans, International Headquarters - http://www.scv.org
Books:
Charles Kelly Barrow, et al. Forgotten Confederates: An Anthology About
Black Southerners (1995)
Iver Bernstein. The New York Draft Riots
(1990)
Ervin L. Jordan, Jr. Black Confederates and Afro-Yankees in
Civil War Virginia (1995)
Larry Koger. Black Slaveowners: Free Black
Slaveowners in South Carolina, 1790-1860 (1985, 1995)
Edward A. Miller,
Jr. Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls - From Slavery to Congressman, 1839-1915
(1995)
Richard Rollins. Black Southerners in Gray (1994)
Cornish Taylor. The Sable Arm: Negro Troops in the Union Army,
1861-1865 (1956)
Hispanic Confederate
|
Southern BlacksBoth Blacks and Whites served under the banner which some
would now banish. 3,000 armed Blacks were with Stonewall Jackson in Frederick, Maryland, in September 1862. They served in an integrated southern army struggling for an independent nation. The historic records of pro-southern Black military involvement under the Confederate battle flag was engraved in fact with their sacred blood. Their sacrifices along side of their white southern brothers have earned them honor of southern memories. To the estimated 93,000 blacks who served the Southern cause during the war, the battle flag represented their hope for freedom in a free and independent nation. Confederate blacks first engaged Union blacks at the battle of the Crater in Petersburg. The fighting was very tough, and at close quarters. Each side was motivated by love of country, devotion to duty, and the causes they represented. Each followed his own flag. Ed Smith, professor of history at American University inWashington, D.C., has publicly argued that the Confederacy would not have lasted four months, much less four years, without the support of Southern blacks. During years of extensive research, Smith has located numerous instances where blacks served the young Confederacy not as chattel, but as patriots. Absurd, you say? Smith likens blacks serving the Confederacy to blacks serving in the jungles of Vietnam -- serving in a country which had not yet provided full civil rights. You may recall that the Voting Rights Act was not passed until 1965, long after many blacks had died in those faraway jungles and all of American's other wars. The deeds of these men stand today as a shining testimony to patriotism. Smith, incidentally, is a black American. BLACK PARTICIPATION IN THE WAR. The truth is that Black Yankee regiments were segregated units and generally ostracized by the regular and volunteer forces. However, Blacks in the Confederate Army were integrated in existing regiments, treated with dignity and respect, served along side and received the same accommodations as their white counterparts. |