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Published Saturday, April 18, 2009 in Local
Confederate Day at Oak Hill
The Newnan Times-Herald
Confederate flags marked the graves of the Confederate soldiers buried in Oak Hill Cemetery -- reminders of the sons of this community who possessed "courage and stamina" in the face of adversity.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans Coweta Guards Camp 715 and Sharpsburg Sharpshooters Camp 1729 -- along with the United Daughters of the Confederacy of Coweta County -- gathered in the Confederate section of the cemetery Saturday to observe Confederate Memorial Day.
During the program, Coweta County Commission Chair Paul Poole read proclamations declaring Saturday Confederate Memorial Day and April Confederate Heritage Month. Mayor Keith Brady read proclamations on behalf of Newnan declaring the same.
Also during the program, Commander Mike Webb presented Earlene Scott, owner of Scott's bookstore, with a certificate of appreciation for her willingness to convey Confederate history. According to Webb, Scott has invited several authors of Confederate subjects to do book signings at her business.
Saturday's guest speaker was Rep. Tim Bearden, whose constituency consists of parts of Carroll and Douglas counties.
"The folks we're honoring understood individual liberties -- they fought for that," said Bearden.
Bearden read a passage from the Declaration of Independence that gave the people the right to abolish or restructure a government that becomes "destructive."
"When government becomes too big, people must stand up for their rights," he said. "It is time to get the government back in check."
Bearden is a "staunch" supporter of the second amendment right to bear arms. "If the government can disarm you, they will enslave you."
He said citizens do their children a "great injustice" if they don't teach them about this nation's past -- including the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.
"I would rather fight and die ... than do nothing and watch [our children] be bound," he said. "When we quit caring, we go into socialism."
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Many Confederates fought just to defend their families and land from mercenary soldiers who stole or destroyed everything in sight. They were not traitors, they actually were defending the Constitution and States Rights. The same argument we are coming upon now in 2009. Slavery was going away regardless of the outcome of the war, it's not the main cause of the War Between the States, it was Federalism and too much power for the Federal Government. There were more racists in Pennsylvania than Georgia and Alabama put together.
Posted by Belle at 6:23 PM
It's truly ignorant that you would claim that all people who fought for the Confederacy were racist traitors. In fact, they had just as much loyalty to their homeland and state as anyone who fought for the north; they just took a different point of view. Remember: the antebellum south wasn't the image so often depicted by Hollywood. It was full of yeomen farmers working their farms themselves and struggling to survive. Less than 5% of the population of the South had slaves, but far more than that percentage went to fight for the Confederacy. It was an economic war plain and simple. Politics was about money back then just like it is now. Honest, God-fearing men who loved their homes and country got caught up in the economic rhetoric on both sides.
Posted by Marvin at 6:25 PM
Great event!
Posted by Jules at 12:31 PM
People who died should be remembered and honored, but not necessarily the cause they fought for. Make no mistake: the Confederates were traitors to the United States and tried to destroy the Union. If you wave a Confederate flag, you might as well burn the Stars & Stripes. If you call yourself a Confederate but not a racist traitor, then you're the ones forgetting history.
Posted by True American at 10:36 AM
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Confederate Day at Oak Hill
4/17/2010
Link To This Comment
God Bless the Sons of Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy who honor and remember our noble Conferate ancestors.
Have a Dixie Day!
Posted by Calvin Johnson at 9:00 PM