Thanks to Nathan for the plug, but he put the wrong URL into the hyperlink. Anyone interested in my reading of the Mississippi declaration can go here.

James Mcpherson had a nice article on this subject in the New York Review of Books a couple years ago. Subscription only, now, unfortunately.

Sure it was about states' rights. Their rights to enslave people.

Just as 20th century states' rights advocates fought to maintain their rights to disenfranchise, exploit and even murder their citizens.

The question I want to hear at a White House gaggle: "The president used Confederate flag controversies and his Bob Jones U. appearance to signal his solidarity with racist Americans. How does he plan to send that signal in 2004?"

Look, I won't deny that the Confederete ruling asses wanted to preserve slavery---and I don't for a minute beleve the Civil War was fought for "states rights."

But for me, the idea that the Union fought to free the slaves is as much a Big Lie as, to choose a perfect example, the claim on the part of the Amerikkkan government that it invaded Iraq to "liberate" that country's people. In fact, the Union victory merely led to slavery for the stolen Africans (and, to a lesser extent for white ethnic working-class folks) by other means. In fact, I read somplace that slavery was becoming bad for the bottom line---far better to create the sharecropping system for the blacks (and the factories for the white workers), the better not to have to pay for accomdations, howerver hellish they were, for the slaves.

For this reason, I feel that isolating the Stars & Bars as a symbol of racism, genocide, slavery and stuff like that ---while not admitting that the Stars & Stripes symbolizes all of that to most people around the globe (including me) is divisive and hypocritical to the max. No wonder the so-called "left" in the U. S. of A. has alienated people south of the Mason/Dixon line.....

Bud, you need to get you facts straight on history. The War for Southern Independence was not fought over slavery, but over state's rights, excluding slavery. Where are you from anyway? Probably somewhere way up north, and have your head stuck so far in a snow bank you can't see the real truth; because you know it would degrade this country's so-called historical 'northern' accuracy. You 'somehow' failed to mention that the oppressive Federal->'yankee' government put overwhelming tariffs on Southern Ports for the benefit of their on accord. This was a tremendous tax burden on the Southern People. LESS THAN 6% of SOUTHERNERS OWNED SLAVES... You 'somehow' failed to mention that too in your wonderful article also. My ancestors were yeomen farmers they didn't own any slaves; As most North Carolinians at the time were. I'm proud to be a Southerner, what do you have to be proud of? Nothing probably. Tell your people to stay up there, I'm sick of hearing them try to say ya'll.