It is a gross oversimplification to state that the prima facie for the Civil War was slavery and slavery only. At the time the United States was just that- a group of entities that saw a grouping as giving them greater strength on the world scene. The Revolutionary War had ended a mere 80 years previously, and men yet lived who could say they were born in the Massachusettes or Virginia Colony. They were first and foremost Pennsylvanians,Kentuckians or Vermonters- the United States of America was still a relatively new concept. And at the time of the Revolution, the power-base was relatively evenly spread across North and South. As time passed, the Industrial strength and sheer numbers of the North meant that it would carry a stronger and stronger voice in the direction of the new nation. The South felt the balance of power shifting, and it's dependence on slaves for it's solvency as a sparsely populated and agrarian economy was a significant factor in it's increasing alienation. Tariffs imposed by the National government aided the budding Northern Industrial base, but hurt the cotton-growing south, which depended not only on the Northern Markets, but on European ones for solvency. Federal aid plans such as the Homestead Act directed tax money toward the expanding population base in the Northwest and industrial areas of the North. Some Southern States decided at last to go their own way, violating a contract that they felt was no longer in their best interests.

Certainly, it seems the causes of the Civil War were many and complex. Among them Slavery was perhaps the most crucial. But to say that the War was only about slavery does the intelligence and integrity of many who lived in the South an injustice. To say that the Confederate Battle Flag was only a symbol of repression and injustice is inaccurate. And to say that the two are inseparably the same is a fallacy.

But,just to make no mistake, I believe that the flag should not fly as a sanctioned government symbol- however,I believe that free individuals have the right to ascribe to it either their highest hopes, or direst fears, as they see fit in this free nation that we have created.