Just for the record, this is NOT the Confederate Flag:

[Uncle Joe]

17. That's the Confederacy's sole purpose because it lost, was frozen in time

and had no chance to evolve.

Make no mistake about it, had the U.S. lost the Revolutionary War, Great Britain; which had outlawed slavery by 1772 would have written the history books and labeled the Patriots as being both treasonous and supporters of slavery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolitionism

The last known form of enforced servitude of adults (villeinage) had disappeared in England by the beginning of the 17th century. In a 1569 court case involving Cartwright, who had bought a slave from Russia, the court ruled that English law could not recognise slavery, as it was never established officially. This ruling was overshadowed by later developments. It was upheld in 1700 by the Lord Chief Justice John Holt when he ruled that a slave became free as soon as he arrived in England.[4]

(snip)

African slaves were not bought or sold in London but were brought by masters from other areas. Together with people from other nations, especially non-Christian, Africans were considered foreigners, not able to be English subjects. At the time, England had no naturalization procedure. The African slaves' legal status was unclear until 1772 and Somersett's Case, when the fugitive slave James Somersett forced a legal decision. Somersett had escaped, and his master, Charles Steuart, had him captured and imprisoned on board a ship, intending to ship him to Jamaica to be resold into slavery. While in London, Somersett had been baptised; three godparents issued a writ of habeas corpus. As a result, Lord Mansfield, Chief Justice of the Court of the King's Bench, had to judge whether Somersett's abduction was legal or not under English Common Law. No legislation had ever been passed to establish slavery in England. The case received national attention, and five advocates defended Somersett.

In his judgment of 22 June 1772, Mansfield declared:

"The state of slavery is of such a nature that it is incapable of being introduced on any reasons, moral or political, but only by positive law, which preserves its force long after the reasons, occasions, and time itself from whence it was created, is erased from memory. It is so odious, that nothing can be suffered to support it, but positive law. Whatever inconveniences, therefore, may follow from a decision, I cannot say this case is allowed or approved by the law of England; and therefore the black must be discharged."[8]

Although the exact legal implications of the judgement are unclear when analysed by lawyers, it was generally taken at the time to have determined that slavery did not exist under English common law and was thus prohibited in England.[9] The decision did not apply to other British territories; by then, for example, the American colonies had established slavery by positive laws.[10] The Somersett's case became a significant part of the common law of slavery in the English-speaking world, and it helped launch the movement to abolish slavery.[11]

Howard Dean had to apologize for claiming to represent all Americans including Confederate Flag Wavers, because the forces that wish to divide rather than unite were too powerful.

I'm supporting that we get over this shit and quit giving our power away.

We should be Americans first despite our differences.