The Battle Flag Of The Confederacy

When I first came across the Negative Views assignment, I immediately thought of the Confederate Flag. It was an obvious choice considering all the attention and the controversy surrounding it in the past few weeks. For me personally, if I was asked six months ago what I thought about the Confederate flag, I would say I loosely associated it with the term “redneck.” I looked up the definition of “redneck” on Internet Slang and it said redneck means, “Unsophisticated rural person from Southeast USA.” That is a good explanation of what I think of when I think of the word “redneck” and when I associate it with the Confederate Flag. There was a mild negative association with this flag. But I need to back up a bit before I continue.

The confederacy is dead. The Civil War is long over, and the United States has experienced much growth and development since its end, much of this due to the outcome of the war. A new, united America flourished throughout the late eighteen hundreds gaining a great deal of power through high levels of commerce and trade. There is no doubt that America is better off now because of the outcome of the War between the States. However, many of the symbols of the Civil War remain very active in the present world; they are very much alive and charged with meaning and power. Probably the best known among all of these symbols is the Confederate Battle Flag. The “rebel flag” has taken on

The Civil War arose through the desire of southern states that wanted to secede from the Union when Abraham Lincoln became the sixteenth president of the United States. These states believed that Lincoln’s point of abolition of slavery would harm them. Therefore, they declared for the secession. However, the Federal Government never wanted the separation in the country, so they rejected this declaration and tried to preserve the Union. This led to the Civil War in which the Federal Government got the final winning.

There are many symbols from the Civil War that embrace and celebrate the ideals of the Confederate States of America (CSA): the “stars and bars” of the CSA flag, high schools who are nicknamed “Rebels”, and just a few miles from Lake Braddock is a major highway, the Jefferson Davis Highway, named after the President of CSA. Today, over 150 years after the creation of the CSA, these symbols need to be abolished as they are offensive to a significant number of Americans. Though there might be many secondary reasons for the creation of the CSA and the start of the Civil War, the primary reason was for the “right” of white people to enslave black people. The symbols that celebrate the Confederacy, therefore, are also symbols celebrating the

Currently there is a lot of controversy regarding the Mississippi State flag. The flag is composed of the Confederate Battle symbol and three stripes. The symbolism that the flag represents carries different meanings for opposing sides. In the debate featuring Dr. Turnipseed we are presented with these contradicting views.

The Confederate Flag has been around since the nineteenth century. It was used by the Confederate Army to show that they unite under a different union, and not the one that will bind our nation as a whole. In the articles: “Executive Order Banning Confederate Flags, Memorabilia,” “Ban Backlash: Confederate Flag Backers Ready to Battle,” and “Everybody Has Suddenly Noticed Confederate Flag is Widely Available.” it is illustrated that the ideas about how the Confederate Flag are being used today as a racial integration; declaring that the discontinuance of the Confederate Flag is completely ethical and is a priority to ensure the end of riots.

The Confederate flag has a huge and long history representing heritage and beliefs of the south. Today there has been a big debate whether this flag should be taken down or to let it fly. It has been told this flag represents slavery and racism amongst African Americans. Racism has rose to a new height since the civil rights movement and social media spreads it faster across the world. Although this flag represents merely heritage and sacrifice by many Americans even African Americans. The flag was to be created for a national flag during the civil war but was turned down. This flag is nothing but a symbol of heritage and pride like the national flag today.

Today in America, there are many conflicts involving racism, injustice, and oppression. Recently, there has been a plethora of controversies regarding the “Confederate flag”. Said flag, although it has been recognized as the national Confederate flag, was actually utilized as a battle flag for the Army of Northern Virginia. Nevertheless, the fact that many Blacks have felt offended by it and in general believe it adds to the overarching struggle they face still remains. The Confederate flag should be forbidden because of its ability to invoke negative feelings amongst the general public and its support of a debunked and destructive cause.

McPherson’s book explains that the Civil War was started because the Confederacy wanted liberty from the tyrants (the north), property, democratic principles, and way of life (McPherson, 27). The Union causes were government unity, to restore law and order, and to the preservation of the nation (McPherson, 56). The evidence he used to back up these claims was from

This article from The Clarion Ledger by Ryan Walters discusses the removal of the confederate statues across the southeast. This article discusses the push politicians Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker are making for the removal of the state flag. The push has seen a drastic increase since the deadly shooting in South Carolina committed under the Confederate banner. With this article being posted on The Clarion Ledger it is attempting to bring awareness of the push for the removal of the flag by state

The Confederate flags those hung in the campus of Harvard University on March, 1991 triggered many controversial disputes among the faculty of the Harvard community. Many students argued with the hanging of those offensive flags in the window of the dormitory are the symbols of Slavery and offer many offensive message, while others claimed that those symbols are the form of freedom of speech and it should be protected according to the First Amendment.

Thomas Jefferson’s motto, “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God”, that originates from the Declaration of Independence sparked rebellious characters in U. S. History. Society has delineated the definition of rebel in several ways. Many, in the new era, do not know the history behind the meaning of a true rebel. The definition of rebel has changed in America from patriot in the time of the American Revolutionary war to confederate in the Civil War and to redneck in today’s societal controversy concerning the image of the Confederate flag.

personal liberties shall be protected as long as they do not cause reasonable harm to another individual. It is incredibly difficult and unjust to promote a system to which state authority prevents speech that they find offensive. It is nearly impossible and impractical for a state entity to understand what can and can’t be considered offensive, and what is offensive to some and not to others. That is why the harm principle is a great principle to understand the limits of how far free speech should and can go. Free speech should be protected and promoted so long as it does not create credible harm to another persons individual liberties. Credible and reasonable harm should thus be defined as harm that occurs to ones idnivual liberties including: life, liberty, and property. For example Looking at the confederate flag, one can see the conflict of harm versus free speech it imposes. The idea of the original confederate flag did stand as symbol of racism and pro-slavery. The confederate flag was in its due time flown as a symbol of war and a threat against those who do not stand by the principles of the confederation. During the civil war the confederate flag could very legitimately be seen as a harmful form of free speech. However in present day, the confederate flag, for the most part does not carry the same meaning or same threat. Many people, who express themselves through the confederate flag as a symbol, do so as a form of showing southern pride or southern heritage.

The debate over the recent mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina has sparked a controversy involving the presence of the Confederate flag. Apparently, there is a common perception among Democrats that the Confederates are associated with racial crime and hate in America. The suspect behind the shooting in Charleston has confessed that he acted about the idea of white supremacy in the South. A large section of the American population agrees the flag is a symbol of racism since it was established in honor of white civil war soldier who wanted to preserve slavery in the region. Interestingly, the flag has remained a monumental symbol in the states and is still erected in the front of South Carolina’s state house. For years after the

The Civil War was the war that divided the young American nation into two opposing sides. One side being the North, also called the Union, and the second side being the South, also called the Confederacy. The root cause of why the South seceded from the Union has been debated and argued since the beginning of the war in 1861. Most people argue that the argument, between the North and the South, over slavery was the main reason why the South left the Union. However, the issue has to be more complex than just the issue with slavery. The root cause of the of the South secession from the Union was a combination of the South’s aggravation and fear over their dependence on the North for their economic prosperity and their dependence on slavery for a highly profitable economy.