Am I A Racist For Having A Rebel Flag Sticker On My Truck?

Let me start by putting this quite plainly... I AM NOT A RACIST!!!  There.... Now that's been taken care of we can move on to the reason of this blog. 

I've been told by a few people that by having a Rebel Flag sticker on my truck, I am considered a racist.  In all honesty, this bothers me.  Because, truthfully, if this flag actually does offend you, you really DO need a history lesson.

This flag dates back to the Civil War.  In fact, it was the flag of the Southern States.  Which is why a lot of people have a problem with it.  55% of Americans today believe that the Civil War was fought souly over slavery.  That is an astonishing number if you consider it.  But then I thought back to my days of being in history classes and I recalled that in public schools (at least the ones I attended, anyways) teach children that the main cause of the Civil War was slavery!  So not only are we teaching our kids the wrong things, but in doing so, we're giving fuel to the fires of censorship, bigotry, and misunderstanding.

So shall we explore the REAL reasons the Civil War was fought?  I think we should...

The Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865 and caused over 618,000 casualties.  Its causes can be traced back to tensions that formed very early in our nation's history.  Listed below are the top five causes of the Civil War:

1.  Economic And Social Differences Between The North And South:

The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793, cotton became extremely profitable.  This machine made the separation of seeds from cotton a much faster process, but it also increased the number of plantations willing to farm cotton.  More plantations meant that people were in more need of cheap labor, slaves in this case.  Thus, the Southern economy became a one-crop economy, depending largely on cotton, and therefore, slavery.  On the other hand, the Northern economy was based more on industry than agriculture.  In fact, the Northern industries were purchasing the raw cotton (farmed mostly by slaves) and turning it into finished goods.  Now I don't know about you, but to me it seems that the North was not only condoning the use of slaves, but financially supporting it by buying the cotton!  But, the disparity between the two set up a major difference in economic attitudes.  The South was based on the plantation system while the North was focused on city life.  This change in the North meant that society had evolved as people of different cultures and classes had to work together.  On the other hand, the South continued to hold onto an antiqued social order.

2.  States Versus Federal Rights:

Since the time of the Revolution, two camps had emerged:  Thos arguing for greater states rights, and those arguing that the federal government needed more control.  The first organized government in the United States after the American Revolution was under the Articles of Confederation.  The 14 states formed a loose confederation with a very weak federal government.  However, when problems arose, the weakness of this form of government caused the leaders of the time to come together at the Constitutional Convention and create (in secret) the US Constitution.  Strong proponents of states rights, like Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, were not present at this meeting.  Many felt that the new constitution ignored the rights of the states all together.  They felt that the states should still have the right to decide if they were willing to accept certain federal acts.  This resulted in the idea of nullification, which meant that states would have the right to rule federal acts as unconstitutional.  The federal government denied states this right.  However, proponents such as John C. Calhoun fought hard for nullification.  When nullification would not work and the states felt that they were no longer being respected, the moved towards secession.

3.  The Fight Between Slave And Non-Slave Proponents:

As America began to expand, first with the lands from the Louisiana Purchase and later with the Mexican War, the question of whether new states admitted to the union would be slave or free arose.  The Missouri Compromise in 1820 made a rule that prohibited slavery in states from the former Louisiana Purchase to the latitude 36 degrees 30 minutes north, except in Missouri.  During the Mexican War, conflict started about what would happen with the new territories that the United States expected to gain when they won.  David Wilmot proposed the Wilmot Proviso in 1846 which would ban slavery in the new lands.  However, this was shot down to much debate.  The Compromise of 1850 was created by Henry Clay and others to deal with the balance between slave and free states, Northern and Southern interests.  One of the provisions was the fugitive slave act that was discussed in number one above.  Another issue that further increased tensions was the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.  It created two new territories that would allow the states to use popular sovereignty to determine whether they would be free or slave.  The real issue occurred in Kansas where pro-slavery Missourians began to pour into the state to help force it to be slave.  They were called "Border Ruffians."  Problems came to a head in violence at Lawrence Kansas.  The fighting that occurred caused it to be called "Bleeding Kansas."  The fight even erupted on the floor of the senate when anti-slavery proponent Charles Sumner was beat over the head by South Carolina's Senator Preston Brooks.  Imagine turning your TV. to C-Span and seeing THAT!!

4.  Growth Of The Abolition Movement:

The Northerners were becoming increasingly polarized against slavery.  Sympathies began to grow for abolitionists and against slavery and slaveholders.  This occurred especially after some major events including: the publishing of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (an AMAZING read... I highly recommend it), the Dred Scott Case, John Brown's Raid, and the passage of the fugitive slave act that held individuals responsible for harboring fugitive slaves, even if they were located in a non-slave state.

5.  The Election Of Abraham Lincoln:

Even though things were already coming to a head, when Lincoln was elected president in 1860, South Carolina issued its "Declaration of the Causes of Secession."  They believed that Lincoln was anti-slavery and in favor of Northern interests.  Before Lincoln was even president, seven states had seceded from the Union.  Thos states were:  South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.

We all know how things ended, or so I hope.  Col. Robert E. Lee surrendered and the South lost the war.  Slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and shortly after the war ended, President Lincoln was assassinated.

The Civil war caused much harm, but also much good.  The states banded together and formed a stronger bond than ever, and if you've ever watched National Treasure 2, then you know that "before the Civil War, people said 'the United States are...'.  It wasn't until after the war that people started saying 'the united States is...'  Under Lincoln, we became one nation."  And that is a very true statement.

Which all brings me back to my original topic... The Rebel Flag.  Just because a person has a rebel flag doesn't make them a racist or mean they're pro-slavery.  They just may know their history a bit better than 55% of the country.  The Civil War was fought over many many different reasons. 

So to the people who want to shout "RACIST BITCH" at me while I'm driving down the road, maybe you should stop.  Take a second to re-learn your history.  And open your mind before you open your mouth.