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Confederate Flag Essay

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My closing thoughts on the Confederate Flag. I feel that the future of this debate, if there is one, depends highly upon how well we understand history. When I look at history and the intricate relationships that formed the Confederate flag and what it represented at that time, I cannot help but to synthesize a conclusion that symbolism is both a powerful yet potentially dangerous motivator, in this case good or bad, you decide. The simple thought of symbolism and its implications from a bygone era contemporaneous with the emergence of divergence among millions of Americans is as powerful today as it was when slavery began. This is another area where even I have to admit, I did not know the full truth, and slavery came about long before racism. …show more content…

Most notably were the slaves brought to Jamestown by a Dutch ship in 1619. There were 20 Africans, all of whom where indentured servants. By being indentured, they would work for a certain period in exchange for transportation, housing and food. They were also given land after their service and were then considered free Negroes. In comparison to life in the 21st century where one must work, often up till or near death to pay for their home and food, hardly making ends meet, one might think that the rewards of being indentured: housing, food and land was actually a more desirable system. Of course all that gleams is not gold and the downside to this system was the involuntary settlement of Africans from their homeland, often under brutal conditions. From that time, the complexity of the relationship expanded, as well as the practice and need for more slaves as greed grew exponentially due to a cash crop that changed the new world; cotton. Luckily for Southerners their greedy needs were addressed by a war that had its roots planted deep in the slavery of Africans now under the Flag of the

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