Collection: Scavenger Hunt 1
Camera: Canon EOS-30D
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM
Date: Apr 1, 2009
Galleries: History
Date Uploaded: Apr 3, 2009
Viewed: 217
Comments: 0
Favorites: 0
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My favorite one of the bunch. I like the "freshness" of the blue sky, pink tree and new grass contrasted with the rebel flag.
I know the flag is controversial in many areas, and I mean no disrespect for those people who are offended by it. This is one of the oldest cemeteries in the county, and many that are buried here are Civil War veterans, as well as quite possibly some Revolutionary War veterans. I'm not sure who puts the flags on the sites.
Western NC and the Civil War is a bit of an enigma. When NC was voting to secede, the Western part of the state did not want to for several reasons. One, the area is (was) largely secluded and isolated, and they seemed to think that things were fine how they were. Also, it was not a huge agrarian lifestyle like most of the rest of the south. No plantations. No HUGE farms. Most of the farmers and families were sustenance farmers. As a result of this, slavery was not as much an issue; the families here were simply too poor to have slaves, and the rest really didn't need them.
There were slaves in the area, though -- my great grandmother and her brother were raised by freed slaves when her parents died. According to family history, and other documentation from this area, at that time, slaves were considered more a part of the family and not a part of the property.
Due to lack of sufficient representation, NC voted to secede, and the western part had to go along (as it was surrounded by TN, SC, GA, and VA). Men and boys from this area fought on both sides -- I have ancestors that were in both armies. I have one great something or other that was in both armies. He started out in the Confederate army, got captured, said he was defecting and joined the Union. He later died of chicken pox or mumps or something while in the field.
So the whole "Southern Pride" thing was a bit late arriving in Western NC, and is a bit late in leaving, as well. |
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