Dear editor:
Letter writer David Welch makes the false assumption that the Confederate battle flag is a racist symbol without basing his allegation on historical or constitutional fact. If his accusation is rooted in the premise that the unconstitutional "Civil War" was fought over the institution of slavery, then he should explain to the readers why it was necessary to fight a war over a right that was federally protected by the U.S. Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land.
Speaking of this unconstitutional war, Mr. Welch should research some significant facts concerning the Convention of States that was held in Philadelphia during 1787 which eventually produced a document by which the federal government was created. Edmund Randolph of Virginia submitted to the Committee of the Whole his Virginia Plan which was the final prototype that was approved by the several states. His Resolve 6 proposed "to call forth the force of the Union against any member of the Union failing to fulfill its duty under the articles thereof." This part of Resolve 6 was unanimously rejected by this committee.
James Madison's notes stated that "It would look like a declaration of war" and the more he deliberated, the more he doubted the practicability, justice and efficacy of using force against a state. In the end, the Constitution was to contain no clause calling forth a national army against a state or section. There were no exceptions in James Madison's notes or written in the Constitution and the Convention of States took extra precautions by inserting Article III, Section 3 which defines treason as levying war against any sovereign state. I fail to see the difficulty in comprehending this fact!
Since the newly created federal government was not granted the constitutional authority to levy war against a sovereign state in 1787, there was certainly none given in 1861. Even Abraham Lincoln admitted this in his first Inaugural Address when he stated: " ... the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any state or territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes." Yet he contradicted himself by initiating war anyway and was in direct violation of Article III, Section 3.
Simply stated, had the Northern states abided by the Constitution in 1861, there would have been no secession, no war and certainly no Confederate battle flag. For the record, it is beyond ludicrous to believe this flag is some sort of racist symbol due to the fact that the Confederate army also consisted of black, Jewish, Native American, Italian, Oriental and Hispanic soldiers. Interestingly, the first person of the Jewish faith to serve as an American presidential cabinet member was Confederate Secretary of War and Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin under Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The very first Native American to hold the rank of brigadier general in any American army was Confederate Gen. Stand Watie. This seems to be a fairly diverse group of "racists" according to David Welch.
Loy Mauch
Bismarck
Editorial on 07/28/2016