This was a post from my good friend Ryan S. He posted this originally on Fb in regards to someone who was being belligerent about confederate statues being removed. I copied his post below.

Ten Things to Consider About Statues and Flags from the Confederacy:

– 1 – The Civil War was 100% over slavery. When Lincoln won the election of 1860 with ~39%. Lincoln ran with the intention to prevent the use of slaves in new expansions to the West. South Carolina seceded on 20 Dec 1860. Other states shortly followed and the Confederate States of America were formed

– 2 – The Constitution of the Confederate States of America states in Article 1; Sec. 9. (4) No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed.

(Other than it’s laws concerning slavery, it’s pretty much the Constitution of the United States of America.)

– 3 – Alexander Stephens, the Vice President of the Confederate States of America stated in his Cornerstone Speech on 21 March 1861 to explain why they left the Union, “Our new government is founded exactly upon the opposite idea; it’s foundations are laid, it’s corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition.”

– 4 – The Civil War began on 12 April 1861 when Confederate soldiers bombarded a Union outpost in South Carolina (Fort Sumter). It was a literal ambush.

– 5 – On 21 April 1861 publication was made that the secession of the Southern states was a direct act of treason. .

– 6 – The modern day Confederate Flag was adopted as such in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement. It’s actually the Battle Flag of Virginia and the 2nd Confederate Navy Jack. It is a small portion of the 2nd and 3rd versions of the Confederate Flag (upper left corner only). The reason for a different battle flag than the actual flag is because it kept getting confused for surrendering, so Union soldiers stopped reacting to white flags being raised to surrender. This 2nd flag became known as the “unstained banner”. Later this was resolved further by adding a “red bar” to the right of the flag (adopted from the flag of France). This third flag became known as the “blood-stained banner”.

– 7 – The majority of Confederate statues throughout the nation were erected during the Civil Rights Movement era. I wonder why that was…

– 8 – We have entire museums dedicated to each and every single one of the battles of the Civil War. We have plaques on buildings that were built by slaves. We have the Lincoln Memorial for fuck’s sake. Why do we need statues to traitors and racists? We don’t. We need them for patriots and heroes. We need them for breakthroughs and advancements.

– 9 – Here are the things Robert E. Lee said in regards to statues:

a – in regards to a statue of himself at the University of Virginia) “As regards the erection of such a monument as is contemplated, my conviction is, that however grateful it would be to the feelings of the South, the attempt in the present condition of the country would have the effect of retarding, instead of accelerating its accomplishment, and of continuing, if not adding to, the difficulties under which the Southern people labour,”

b – in regards to a statue of Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson) “I do not think it feasible at this time,”

c – in regards to a ceremony for a statue to be erected in the North) “My engagements will not permit me to be present, and I believe if there I could not add anything material to the information existing on the subject. I think it well, moreover, not to keep open the sores of war, but to follow the examples of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil strife and to commit to oblivion the feelings it engendered.”

d – in regards to Lee believing that the South needed to forgive and forget and get on with the business of being Americans: after being shown a memento of the war) “Cut it down and forget it.”

– 10 – The designer of the 2nd Confederate flag known as the Stainless Banner is a point of contention. Some books accredit it to William Miles, William Thompson, or P.G.T. Beauregard. One things remains clear: William Tappan Thompson posted an editorial in The Savannah Morning News championing the Stainless Banner design with the words stating, “As a people we are fighting to maintain the Heaven-ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race; a white flag would thus be emblematical of our cause.” He would later always refer to the Stainless Banner as “The White Man’s Flag”.

This originated as a response to someone being ugly towards someone’s post. That post pertained to Civil War statues. I in turn responded in regards to Civil War. I wrote much of this from memory, and I’m sure there are typos. Feel free to chime in.