While the SBM has remained under ground for many years, as the politicians continue to ignore the will of the people, more and more members are coming out.  How many members do we have?  Enough!

Many myths have been told regarding the Confederate Battle flag.  For many Americans, they believe this flag represents slavery.  By first removing the astigmatism slavery brings, and solely looking at the time period this flag was flown, slavery does not even enter the equation!  It is important to remember that the North had slaves and the South had colored men fighting on their behalf!  So to simply equate the Confederate Battle flag with slavery does not make sense.

So if the Civil War was not about slavery, what was it about?  Ironically enough, much of what Americans disagree about today!  The North believed the government should be very involved in the lives of the citizens.  The South disagreed, believing the citizens should be more free of government interference.  Because of these views, it is no wonder the government sided with the North!  And regarding slavery, Abraham Lincoln did set the slaves free, but he intended to send them back to where they came from, so although credited with ending slavery, he was not desiring an integration of the slaves into society.

As a Brotherhood with deep connections to the Confederate Army, and with many of our members being descendants of the South, it is important that we point out the truth behind the Stars and Bars.  It is not a flag of hate, just as we are not a people of hate.  It was simply a flag that flew representing a segment of America that believed (and was willing to fight) to keep the government out of our everyday lives.  And that fight has not ended!

“The real issue involved in the relations between the North and the South of the American States, is the great principle of self-government. Shall a dominant party of the North rule the South, or shall the people of the South rule themselves. This is the great matter in controversy.”
Robert Barnwell Rhett (Montgomery, Alabama, 1860)

“The cause of the South was the cause of constitutional government, the cause of government regulated by law, and the cause of honesty and fidelity in public servants. No nobler cause did man ever fight for!”
Rep. Benjamin Franklin Grady-Duplin Co. NC 1899

“Any society which suppresses the heritage of its conquered minorities, prevents their history or denies them their symbols, has sown the seeds of their own destruction.”
Sir William Wallace, 1281

“The flags of the Confederate States of America were very important and a matter of great pride to those citizens living in the Confederacy. They are also a matter of great pride for their descendants as part of their heritage and history.”
Winston Churchill

“The Northern onslaught upon slavery was no more than a piece of specious humbug designed to conceal its desire for economic control of the Southern states.”
Charles Dickens, 1862

“All that the South has ever desired was that the Union as established by our forefathers should be preserved and that the government as originally organized should be administered in purity and truth.”
Robert E. Lee

“I tried all in my power to avert this war. I saw it coming, for twelve years I worked night and day to prevent it, but I could not. The North was mad and blind; it would not let us govern ourselves, and so the war came, and now it must go on unless you acknowledge our right to self government. We are not fighting for slavery. We are fighting for Independence.”
President Jefferson Davis, CSA