Why would the war have been unpopular? The Northern industrialized states felt that they were paying a disproportionate share of fees and levies, and decided to shift some of the onus to the agrarian, sparsely populated South. The South, however, contended that due to population, they were insufficiently represented. They tried to counter that slaves should be counted as 3/5 (if memory serves) of a citizen thereby giving the South greater representation. So the war was not a noble crusade to free the slaves; it started, as most wars do start, about money.

Thorritsu, you've given my ancient brain an inspiration.
If you haven't already noticed, Old Dino can have a dangerous imagination.
I've just had a vision of a buxom babe atop a wedding cake waving a rebel flag and singing, "You don't have to be lonely at Farmers Only-dot-Com."
(That cake is either mighty big if not stiff for stale or that country gal is mighty small).

Agree but disagree. If tarriffs and states rights were the only reason, the war would have been very unpopular, may not have happened when it did, and may even have had a different outcome.
It would have been a lot like getting people to reduce energy use and support energy independence to reduce the threat from the Middle East...yawn. But Climate Change! That is exciting.

Btw, were I still on active duty, and I drove through Columbia SC, as a soldier of the army of the U.S., I might feel obligated to cut down that confederate flag as an enemy flag.

I have seen photos of the primitive swastikas that you're talking about.
Sometimes the swastika was turned the opposite way.

Some of you have already seen the flag I created and posted elsewhere on this site.

Nine vertical red and white stripes - the original flag of the Sons of Liberty. With the following superimposed in blue:

I swear by my life and my love of it.

I created tshirts and such at cafe press (www.cafepress.com/iswearbymylife). But when I looked into actual flags it was going to be over $200 for a songle flag. I still might do it. Just not now.

At Porcfest this week I'm flying a Brandywine battle flag. It was flown by a PA regiment at the battle of brandywine in the Revolution about 15 miles from where I live.

All the better for delivering that challenge to a duel!

The Emancipation Proclamation only freed the slaves in the Southern States. It was meant to cause disruption in the South's war efforts. It didn't cause the war.

The Civil War was caused over representation levels in Congress. The Southern States wanted to promote a contradiction: that slaves were people for the purpose of counting representation in the House of Representatives after a Census, but not people insofar as they had actual rights. The 3/5's compromise was the attempt to try to codify this contradiction, but was really just an unsettled resolution that simmered for decades.

A sidelight of the war was over progress: the Northern States were the primary sources of industry and especially manufacturing while the Southern States were primarily agrarian. The bulk of the economic might of the United States had shifted significantly to the North as a result of this and there was much internal economic pressure being put on the Southern States to abandon slavery in that light - a bias that many there were unwilling to abandon.

It's a distraction. If we don't put it to rest, the left will pound that flag over the Rights head until 2016.
The Flag, Gay Marriage, Pot are all distractions and aren't real issues.
I miss seeing "Dixie" everywhere in the south, things change. That flag means different things to different people.
If you're looking for a symbol, there are plenty other to choose from.
Find one that makes the statement and promote it, then no one can confuse it with racism or hate. And you might get more people to rally around it.
The Confederate flag is nothing. Lets not lose the war to win a battle.

I thought about order a Confederate flag just because they say I can't. Just now got an email with nice offer for 12 game pump for $169 I think I'll opt for gun I think I'm going to need it more than a flag.

Personally, I think the laws that say businesses have to serve everyone are not only ridiculous, but contrary to human rights. Businesses should have every right to pick with whom they do business and it should be their right to refuse to do business with anyone for any reason. Why? Because how a business operates reflects their values and values are ultimately personal and not subject to someone else's approval or legislative fiat. If we are to be free to select our own values, we must be free to be able to express those as well regardless where we happen to be at the time. It is a purely nonsensical and progressive/liberal idea that people should constantly be changing their value sets/philosophies dependent on their location or circumstances.

Check your history...the War for States Rights started in 1861, and the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect in 1863. (Lincoln needed New York to get re-elected and that was what he used to buy the liberal vote.). Lincoln himself intended to deport the freed slaves to Liberia. In point of fact, only a minuscule percentage of the citizens of CSA were slave owners. So yes, most Southerners objected to the federal government imposing itself on what were to be considered matters that were the business of the individual states; tariffs being one of the most prominent. Slavery was incidental to the argument, but it became a powerful cause célèbre as the war dragged on. Just or unjust, it was not the proximate cause of the war.

Yep, but it is not banned.

This concept of banning "ideas" is VERY scary.

Perhaps we should file a suit against eBay and Amazon for discrimination against Red Necks. "I wanted one for my wedding cake!"

Well, if I owned, oh, let's say a bakery, could I refuse to sell a cake that celebrates a gay wedding?

(Sorry...just being the Devil's Advocate)

Agreed, but what was interesting to me was that the swastika was co-opted by the SS - it had existed for centuries (if not millenia) in other cultures such as the Basques and Native Americans. A black swastika on a field of red is almost certainly to be associated with Nazi-ism, but a green, rounded swastika is Basque.

I hear that that civil war wasn't over slavery, but I think it is BS. If slavery had been abolished, because it is wrong, not because the states should be able to do wrong things, I would argue that particular war would not have happened, and perhaps no other good argument to go to war could have been contrived.

The fact that the south refused to act like humans may be the reason states rights have been abridged in the United States!

The swastika instantly emotes more evil upon Old Dino's consciousness than even the hammer and sickle Soviet flag.
Recalling some of the signs carried by the Occupy Movement, I don't think the leftist PC Thought Police really cares if the Jews have hurt feelings.

To me, a flag is a symbol. The Gadsden flag (snake with "Don't Tread On Me") was designed to symbolize the desire for self-rule and rejection of tyranny. The United States flag symbolizes our nation with a nod not only to its current constituency (50 stars for 50 states) but its past constituency (13 stripes for 13 original colonies -> states). The Red, White and Blue also symbolize courage, loyalty, and honor.

What does the Confederate flag represent? To me that gets at the heart of the whole debate. To some, it is a symbol of rebellion against a strong central government. To others it is a symbol of slavery, the violation of basic human rights, or death of American citizens (civilian and military) the likes of which American has never seen in either total or percentage since. To me, the latter outweighs the former - especially when the Gadsden flag is available.

As to the banning of sales of flags, do we not argue that each business has the right to determine how it best is going to service its customers and that the market should determine the outcome? Why is this any different? Let those who wish to continue to sell the flags do so and those who do not wish to sell them cease.

Would anyone on the board feel offended if I flew the Jolly Roger on Talk Like A Pirate Day?
After all, pirates are among the worst looters to come down the pike--the Spanish Main, I mean.

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehom...

You can still get a Nazi Flag though!
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40...

To me the confederate flag represents States Rights vs The over bearing Federal Guvmint. To me the Civil War was fought over that issue and slavery was a symptom not the cause.

For me, for now, a simple U over-strike S would be great. An almost familiar symbol that might get people to look twice.

But if I had already made my mark on the world, I would want it to be the modern dollar sign, expertly crafted from the best materials in green on beige, the color of money. Hey, if you mean to say something, go ahead and say it.

Most people would never get this flag (or that it represents something virtuous). It might as well be an inside joke, so to speak.

If anybody does produce the flag, be sure and post a link. I might just buy one, if they don't ban it's sale before I can even click to pay for it... :)

I like the idea of U over S, gold on black.
Be sure to get back to me [among others] if she agrees to produce them, with a price.