Sunday, February 14, 2016

Va Flaggers: Week's End February 6, 201

*Great Letter to the Editor by our own H. V. (Bo) Traywick, Jr. in the Times-Dispatch this morning...

Southern states didn't rise in rebellion
Editor, Times-Dispatch:

A Correspondent of the Day accused Dr. Walter Williams of mythmaking concerning black Confederates. I would like to point out some myths in this correspondent's letter. The Southern states did not "rise in rebellion against the United States" in order to expand slavery. Quite to the contrary, in their attempts to peacefully secede from the union of states by the same method all states had originally acceded to it "through their respective sovereign conventions" the Southern states willfully gave up any opportunity of expanding slavery into the territories. In the process, they effectively removed slavery from the United States altogether. One would think the abolitionist North would have happily said "goodbye and good riddance" to them, but it did not. Why not?

With the Southern states out of the union, the North would lose its major source of cotton for its mills, its major source of markets for its manufactures, its major source of income from the tariff, and its control of the mouth of the Mississippi River. The Northern economy would collapse. So President Lincoln drove the Southern states back into the union at the point of the bayonet. The South was simply defending itself from invasion, conquest and coerced political allegiance -- just as the 13 slave holding Colonies had done when they seceded from the British Empire in 1776.
No one can argue that slavery is not a coercive labor system, but many faithful slaves (some bearing arms) accompanied their masters to war, rescued them from their wounds, and got them safely back home.

H. V. Traywick Jr.
Richmond

http://www.richmond.com/รข€¦/article_08b7a58c-bba0-56b7-bce4-4

Photo: 1918 Tulsa, Oklahoma UCV Reunion Parade with an unidentified African American Confederate veteran. He has "Rome, GA" blazoned on his chest, and is holding what appear to be two chickens. Confederate Veterans Encampment Photographs, 2015.056.16

*This from Lexington, earlier this week:
During a hearing to determine whether or not a store owner would be allowed to fly a U.S. Flag in front of his shop, the following comments were recorded...
"To this, (Planning Commissioner) Wolfe said she liked the idea of flying the American Flag, as a kind of counterweight to "ALL THE CONFEDERATE FLAGS" flying in the area..."
#winning

*And this...a cool photo of the RE Lee monument, captured by a Va Flagger Monument Guard volunteer on Wednesday evening...

 
Entering our 8th month of Monument Patrols, volunteers have logged hundreds of hours protecting our monuments, and we are always in need of a few good men (or women!) to help with this very important endeavor. If you are interested in learning more about how you can assist, please contact our Monument Guards coordinator at vamonumentguard@gmail.com.

The Virginia Flaggers

No comments: