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You have said this several times already in this forum. However you have continued to share your opinions and thoughts on this matter very well so far.

While it is almost impossible to change peoples preconceived ideas of what the CSA battle flag means to them at least perhaps they will see that there are millions of non-racist folks like us that see it differently.

Maybe I'm missing something but I fail to see how the states legislatures voting to secede was not legitimate and or legal. As I understand it up until the war it was assumed that any state reserved that right. I am saddened by people who would call our ancestors traitors and criminals.

Also as I understand it after secession the war started when the north claimed the forts that were built in the south were rightfully theirs and tried to take them back. The south was attacked.

Slavery has already been discussed to a great degree but it is interesting to note that after the Emancipation Proclamation the only place it was still legal to own slaves was in the north. By banning slavery in the south it was a brilliant propaganda coup that won foreign sympathy for the Union cause. It redefined the Civil War as a contest over slavery rather than secession, distracting attention from the basic question of whether a state could declare its independence of the Union.