Slavery & the Civil War

Engine · 02-08-2012, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuna

Well, I guess the best I can provide is a comparison. Would you find it okay if an adult today was hanging this flag over his house:

because his grandfather fought bravely in WWII and he wanted to honor his legacy? I think the American Civil War is very unique in that the Confederacy (the losing side) is celebrated almost as much as the Union. Just take a trip down south and you'll see all the monuments dedicated to the bravery of the South. Not something you'd find in Germany I'd imagine.

I think that's an unfair comparison because you're comparing two entirely different political landscapes. To answer your question, I feel that in a perfect world, a non-bigoted German would be allowed to fly that flag in honor of his grandfather, and not be a social outcast.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuna

Out of interest, what do people think of John Brown, a domestic terrorist or a hero?

Hero. I would have been an abolitionist personally.

midnight rain · 02-08-2012, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Engine

I think that's an unfair comparison because you're comparing two entirely different political landscapes. To answer your question, I feel that in a perfect world, a non-bigoted German would be allowed to fly that flag in honor of his grandfather.

Well you yourself say 'in a perfect world' which I think means that bias aside, it's not a terrible comparison. Keep in mind that not only did the Confederacy represent the belief that one race was superior to the other it also represents treason to our country. I guess you look at it as detaching the beliefs that inspired those actions from the picture, leaving just the heroic actions of the Confederacy?

If the laws had been upheld properly, Robert E. Lee and all the other generals of the CSA would have been executed for their crimes.

Quote:

Hero. I would have been an abolitionist personally.

And I would agree with you.

Engine · 02-08-2012, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuna

Well you yourself say 'in a perfect world' which I think means that bias aside, it's not a terrible comparison. Keep in mind that not only did the Confederacy represent the belief that one race was superior to the other it also represents treason to our country. I guess you look at it as detaching the beliefs that inspired those actions from the picture, leaving just the heroic actions of the Confederacy?

If the laws had been upheld properly, Robert E. Lee and all the other generals of the CSA would have been executed for their crimes.

I don't believe in capital punishment, I don't think the idea that the Confederacy was treasonous to the US matters much, and I know that US citizens in the free states were generally as racist as those in the slave states.