Chapter 15: Transforming Fire: The Civil War, 1861-1865





The following activities accompany the Legacy for a People and a Nation on "The Confederate Battle Flag" in Chapter 15. Refer to page 424 of Norton, A People and a Nation, Sixth Edition for the complete text of this Legacy. There are three parts to this web page: Questions to Consider, Investigation, and Further Exploration.




Questions to Consider
1. What limits, if any, should we have on free speech? Should offensive language ever be banned? Under what circumstances?

2. Why is the Confederate Battle Flag relevant to our society today? What were its original use and meaning?

3. Do icons/symbols have intrinsic meanings, or are the values they represent ascribed to them?

4. Are conservatives the only ones to defend the display of the confederate flag? What role might the flag continue to have?


Investigation
When did South Carolina begin to fly the Confederate flag from its capitol building? Will a decision to fly the Confederate flag by the Confederate memorial signify a shift in thinking about the flag? Would the timing of the South Carolina decision to fly the Confederate flag give legitimacy to the African American claims that the flag represents racial oppression?

Use the following web sites to help you respond: Professor David Surrat at the University of Virginia has prepared a thoughtful site on the Confederate Flag controversy including its origins, its economic consequences, and its new role given the Confederate flag after World War II.
Follow the arguments by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for the complete removal of the Confederate flag from state property.





Further Exploration
1. Go to the National Public Radio web site and enter "confederate flag" as a search. Listen to various reports on the evolving controversy and efforts to resolve it.

2. Read "A Wave Against Confederate Flag," a Washington Post article about a 100+ mile march by protesters in April 2000, calling for the complete removal of the Confederate flag.

3. Darlington Raceway fans have the personal right to fly the Confederate flag, and many of them do. http://www.thestate.com/sports/racingdocs/bgill019apsaacd9zbf.htm