The "Southern Rights" Flag

Yesterday, while out running errands, I spotted a striking, bright red flag flowing in the brisk wind from the back of a pickup truck parked at a local restaurant. I could easily see a large white star and something written above it also in white, but that was it. I thought the flag looked familiar; however, I could not put my finger on where I had seen it before. So I drove over to get a closer look. From a distance of twenty or so feet I could finally see "Southern Rights" clearly written above the star. Only then, did I recall the flag and its historical significance.

 

Interestingly, it is the first time I have ever seen such a flag flown in public, let alone that it was either hand made or available for purchase. I had only seen this flag before in a textbook and an image on the internet. It is a curious flag, but in light of the criticisms of the Confederate flag and political sentiments in the South, odd that perhaps it is not flown more regularly (perhaps this has something more to do with the company I keep).

Before I discuss the historical significance of the flag, why not get a quick definition and historical context for "Southern Rights," eh? I will take the easy route here and simply reference a portion of Christopher Owen's encyclopedia entry for "southern rights movement" online to suffice.  

 

"For the greater part of American history, a disposition to resist federal authority has flourished in the South. Regional leaders have frequently expressed concern that national majorities would overwhelm southern institutions through control of the federal government. Consequently, southern politicians and intellectuals developed theories designed to prevent such interference. Frequently, linked to the defense of slavery, these notions evolved over the first half of the nineteenth century, culminating in the secession of eleven southern states in 1860 and 1860. Yet defense of southern rights continued well into the twentieth century, often aiding white political supremacy and the Jim Crow system of state-mandated racial segregation."

 

Fairly straightforward, eh? One can read the brief entry in its entirety at the link above, which traces the evolution from James Madison and Thomas Jefferson's Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, respectively, which established the core foundation for the southern rights case in contesting broad federal authority in the early Republic through the Civil War and Jim Crow eras to modern times. Essentially, Madison and Jefferson, as the southern rights movement's "founding fathers," argued that the Constitution, as it was written in 1798 with its then 11 amendments (Jefferson and his party would oversee the addition of a 12th Amendment), established the boundaries of federal power, and that the federal government should not trample on powers reserved to the states by the Tenth Amendment.  

 

Now, what about that "Southern Rights" flag? To the lay person, this bright, flashy flag may sum up their political sentiments. Perhaps they may even have an inkling that it is an actual historical flag, much as the "Don't Tread on Me" flags that seem to be in vogue again to express one's political beliefs. However, the gentleman who has chosen to fly the "Southern Rights" that I spotted yesterday may be best served to know that by flying this flag, he is doing exactly what the designers behind this flag in 1856 intended--to link the "southern rights" cause to slavery and its expansion across the nation.

 

What are the origins of the Southern Rights flag? The flag belonged to the Palmetto Guards, a group of armed South Carolinians who brought this flag (it also featured the words "South Carolina" on the other side) with them to Kansas in 1856 to establish the then federal territory as a slave state in the Union. Stop. Let that sink in for a minute. The flag of the Palmetto Guards is a reminder that southerners came to settle Kansas as a slave state, thus directly linking the southern rights movement to the expansion of slavery in the United States on the eve of the Civil War, which had been an ongoing vigorous contest waged between abolitionists (mostly Northerners) and Southern pro-slavery advocates ever since the Missouri Crisis of 1820.

 

Compromise, or rather, appeasement, had kept a tight lid on the dangerous tensions that had been brewing since before the signing of the United States Constitution. But everyone knew that Kansas, without another state to balance the number of free and slave states, would alter the power between North and South. But first, Kansas required a constitution--a constitution that the United States Congress approved before it could gain admittance to the Union. Only those residing in the territory would be eligible to cast a ballot to decide Kansas' status as either free or unfree. Thus anti-slavery and pro-slavery forces made a mad dash west to Kansas. All of these factors ensured that the admission of Kansas, wrapped up in the political struggle over slavery, would not occur without a fight.

 

The Palmetto Guards came armed for that fight (just as militant abolitionists such as John Brown did ushering in a period known as Bleeding Kansas). The Guards' goal was clear--to drive the abolitionists or free-staters from the Kansas territory. They carried the "Southern Rights" flag into battle when they drove a town of free-staters from Lawrence, Kansas, sacking the town on May 21, 1856. Prior to burning the town to the ground, they flew their flag proudly over both the Herald of Freedom (an abolitionist newspaper and symbol of the movement) and the Free State Hotel (the headquarters of the free-state movement). It is said that after the sacking of Lawrence, that the flag was prominently displayed at a banquet in Atchison, Kansas where "the most ultra slavery toasts were given, and the subjugation of Kansas by the victors of Lawrence, was spoken of by the Southerners as a thing achieved."

Palmetto Guards' "Southern Rights" flag (Kansas Museum of History)

 

But on September 11, 1856, the Palmetto Guards' luck ran out when a company of free-state men led by Captain James Harvey caught up with them, catching them by surprise as they camped along the Slough Creek. The Guards were overwhelmed and the flag was taken as a trophy. Harvey later presented it to Colonel E.B. Whitman of Lawrence who subsequently donated it to the Kansas Historical Society, which has preserved it and it currently sits on display inside the Kansas Museum of History.  

 

If you want to purchase a shirt with the "Southern Rights" flag proudly displayed on an appropriate gray background, for a modest $17.95-$19.95, you can visit Dixie Republic's website. But please carefully note the description underneath the flag on the shirt:

 

"This banner signifies The South's struggle for independence." 

 

Of course, now you know the historical context behind that flag, a flag that proudly boasts "southern rights" and which continues to be  appropriated for the southern rights movement was one originally taken into battle to establish a slave state for the South and to expand the cancerous tentacles of the institution of slavery into the western reaches of the Union.  

Source: Kansas Historical Society, "Southern Rights Flag"