Civil War Reasons Different Than Once Thought

Repubs And Dems Worlds Apart

In retrospect, Republicans were the anti-slavery party, believing in a colorblind society, while Democrats supported slavery and turned water hoses and dogs on Black protestors in the sixties. Remember, George Wallace and Bull Connor were both Democrats. Interestingly, the Civil Rights Act had 82 percent of Republican senators voting for it, but only 64 percent Democrats.

Today, Affirmative Action is the belief Blacks are too inferior, and must be helped out. That’s why it’s so disingenuous so many Blacks have bought liberal propaganda about conservatives hating them. Neither Left nor Right has a monopoly on bigots, but far more seem on the Left.

Anthony Hervey: Advocate Of Confederate Flag

This last year, Anthony Hervey, an outspoken black advocate for the Confederate flag, was killed in a car accident. A surviving passenger in Hervey’s vehicle, said they were forced off the road by a carload of “angry young black men.” This was just after Hervey, wearing his Confederate top-hat, stopped at a convenience store before heading home to Oxford, Mississippi. He died from gross ignorance, and anger about the War of 1861. Ignorance stems from the fact most Americans believe the Civil War was initiated to free slaves. Incorrect. Freeing slaves was a tertiary reason at best.

grunge flag of confederacy by evmir1
grunge flag of confederacy by evmir1

Confederate Blacks In Combat

During the War, ex-slave Frederick Douglass observed, “There are at the present moment many colored men in the Confederate army doing duty not only as cooks, servants and laborers, but as real soldiers, having muskets on their shoulders, and bullets in their pockets … and do all that soldiers may to destroy the Federal Government and build up that of the traitors and rebels” (Douglass’ Monthly, September 1861).

“For more than two years, negroes had been extensively employed in … operations by the Confederacy. They had been embodied and drilled as Rebel soldiers, and had paraded with White troops at a time when this would not have been tolerated in the armies of the Union.” (Horace Greeley, in The American Conflict).

Over 3,000 Blacks were included with the Confederates. These were clad in all kinds of uniforms, but in coats with Southern buttons, shabby but not shabbier than white men in rebel ranks. Most of the Blacks had arms, rifles, muskets, sabers, and bowie-knives, and were an integral portion of the Southern Confederacy Army. They were seen riding on horses, driving wagons, and among the entire rebel horde. This related by Dr. Lewis H. Steiner.

In April 1861, a Virginia, newspaper proposed “three cheers for the patriotic free Negroes of Lynchburg” after 70 Blacks offered to act in defense of Virginia.

Confederate Flag Flap

Those are only some examples of the importance of Blacks as soldiers, and freemen on the side of the Confederacy. The flap over the Confederate flag is not quite so simple as race “experts” make it. They say the flag represents racism. Yes, racists have ‘used’ the Confederate flag as their symbol, but racists have also marched behind the U.S. flag and have used the Bible. Should we ban the U.S. flag from state buildings and references to the Bible?

If you’re not Catholic, you probably have no idea the “X” on the Confederate Flag represents the cross of St. Andrew, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ, who is also the patron saint of Scotland. St. Andrew was crucified by the pagans on a giant cross, shaped like an “X,” called a Latin “Crux decussate.”

Martyrdom of andrew.
Andrew the Apostle crucified on an X shaped cross.

Flag Description

The red field of all four of these combined designs of the Confederate flag represent the Blood of Christ. The white border represents the protection of God. The blue “X” in all three of the other flags represents the Christian cross of Saint Andrew, the first Disciple of Jesus Christ and Patron Saint of Scotland. The 13 stars in these four flags represent the 13 southern states of secession in the U.S. during the Civil War.

Thus, the message of the three national flags of the Confederate States of America is:
“Through the Blood of Christ, with the protection of God, We, the Thirteen States, are united in our Christian fight for liberty.”

In 832, the Christian Scottish king Óengus II led an army of Scots against the pagan Angles. The Christians were vastly outnumbered by the heathens. But the king vowed if he won against the enemies of Christ, he would dedicate Scotland to St. Andrew. When the battle began, a giant cloud shaped like Andrew’s cross appeared in the sky. Invigorated by what they saw, the Christians fought with all passion and defeated the pagans. Because of this, Scotland made its flag with the “X” shaped cross.

The Flag of Scotland.
The Flag of Scotland

Black civil rights activists, their white liberal supporters and ignoramuses, who attack the Confederate flag have committed a deep, dishonor to our patriotic Southern Black ancestors who fought and died – not to protect slavery – but to protect their homeland from Northern aggression. Dr. Leonard Haynes, a black professor at Southern University: “When you eliminate the black Confederate soldier, you’ve eliminated the history of the South.”

Robert E. Lee’s History Change

Robert E. Lee’s pres­tige within the Confederacy surpassed the president’s. Lee invited his men to speak out, and most declared they needed and wanted Black reinforcements. In January he wrote a Virginia legislator the Confederacy should include Black troops “without delay.” Lee not only had confidence they could “be made efficient soldiers,” he also argued the Confederacy should give immediate freedom to all who enlist, together with the privilege of residing in the South.

Lincoln’s policies change this considerably, and American society in 1865 still had racism clouding the social landscape in both North and South. Although the war settled the question of secession vs. union, it failed to bring equal rights to Blacks. Before 1865 had passed, three Northern states, Connecticut, Wisconsin and Minnesota, voted against giving suffrage to Black men. Equality for Blacks would have to be sought in Reconstruction, and it would be an elusive goal for many decades following the war’s end.

Paul D. Escott is the Reynolds Professor of History at Wake Forest University. Information from this column is taken from his most recent book, “What Shall We Do With the Negro?” His column on Blacks in the Civil War can be read on African-Americans In The Civil War | HistoryNet.

A former Chemical Engineer, Kevin Roeten enjoys riding the third rail of journalism: politics and religion. He is a Guest Columnist for the Asheville Citizen-Times, and the Independent (Ohio), writes for numerous blogs, is an amateur astronomer, and delves into scientific topics.