On the Memory of the Confederacy

Was the Civil War about States rights? Yes. Was the Civil War about slavery? Also yes, it was about a State’s right to allow slavery. Would the Civil War still occured if the practice of slavery was banned with at the writing of the US Constitution? Possible, but unlikely. The stain of slavery will never leave nor be forgotten within this country, but we should also remember with disdain the former Confederacy because they were traitors.

Very few people remember the struggle and agony that the United States went through to not only unify the 13 original colonies in their fight against the British crown (Ben Franklin created the iconic “Join or Die” cartoon to try to help to sway opinion on the matter), but the even more difficult task of convincing those same newly freed colonies to unite together under one national flag. The desire for individual states to remain autonomous led to the initial creation of the Articles of Confederation. This confederation of very powerful state governments loosely joined by a national government was so ineffective at everything that a Constitutional Convention was held in secret to try to form “a more perfect union”. Once the US Constitution was written, some of the founding fathers were so worried about it not being approved that they were compelled to write 85 essays for publication in local papers in order to help sway public opinion.

In order to join all 13 states under one national government, our Founding Fathers made a difficult decision to allow slavery to remain within the US at the time of the Constitution. This decision was in order to help ensure what national unity could be achieved, even though it was against the beliefs of many of the signers and citizens of the early nation. They did provide a way for its hopeful, eventual dissolution by providing a moratorium on the import of new slave labor, but did nothing to affect the current slave labor. Between the signing of the Constitution and start of the Civil War, individual states were typically at liberty to determine whether to cling to the old system of slavery, or to adjust to a society free of slaves like most of the rest of the European powers at the time.

Throughout the early history of the US, states were continually challenging the limits of the federal government’s power over various issues such as tariffs, taxes, slavery expansion, etc…. Southern states felt well within the rights to withdraw from the United States in order to protect their institutions of slavery and the property rights and wealth that the institution implied. Would another issue such as interstate commerce or tariffs cause such a drastic reaction as warfare? It had occurred during events such as the Whiskey Rebellion, but those rebellions were of people, not a state. Slavery and a state’s ability to choose such a system was likely the only issue that could be utilized to flame emotions to create widespread open rebellion from state governments against a nation that already allowed some of the most liberal property rights within the world.

With this succession from the Union, and the decision by the US government to not recognize the ability of a state to leave the Union, the Southern states that formed the Confederacy were then in open rebellion and should be considered traitors against the United States. Skip to the end of the bloody and horrible Civil War, and we see something that is truly amazing, the losers are able to write the ever important first draft of the story retelling the causes and conduct of the Civil War. With this typically unheard of power, the Southern States were able to erect monuments, name streets and buildings, write books, and create flags in order to enshrine their heros in the minds of its citizens and history books. This ability to create a narrative for these events has shaped the world we live in today, and serve as flash points for emotional fires to be lit and fed. Regardless of the reason, traitorous actions against the United States does not warrant the prominence and recognition that these Confederate monuments receive.

We cannot change history, or erase the scars from it, we can only try to decide how to move forward without forgetting to learn from the past. As we all struggle with how to deal with things such as statues, memorials, streets, and buildings; let us also look to the battlefields. Throughout the South, there are battlefields where soldiers of both sides died and were buried, their deeds and motivations remembered. People can reflect on the reasons and tragedy of the Civil War at these battlefields, and reflect how similar and different that time is from today. Maybe this is the proper location for such monuments and relics, a site where people can escape the noise of our busy lives and reflect on the people, ideas, and lives that were given in support of one’s beliefs and shaped the country we live in today. What place do traitors have within our town squares? If we mean to keep their memories alive because they are of our lineage, why not do so at the same locations where they were willing to sacrifice their lives, the battlefield?

When it comes to flags, there are some very simple solutions. Owning and flying a flag is a personal choice, and the federal government or state should not be banning what a person chooses to display on their private property as a way of expressing their First Amendment rights. That choice can be limited by private organizations not allowing a certain flag design to be flown on their premises and their events, and choosing to fly controversial flags is fair grounds for people to question one’s beliefs. Given that an official flag represents the citizens of a state or nation, that flag should be chosen by the citizens. The method of that choice is up to the elected officials, but any clear and majority voice of the populace must not be ignored.

The founding fathers may not have been perfect, but in their attempt to form “a more perfect union” they enshrined a system of government which allows for changes to occur as the populace sees fit. We can honor the legacy of all who fought to mold this nation by continuing to develop a government that is representative of all people by continuing to create a nation in which citizens feel pride.