What does that have to do with whether the flag in question represents slavery as opposed to warring against tyranny?
The question pertained directly to the issue of the motivation of the Confederate Soldier. My hypothesis is that in many if not most cases they had no real choice BUT to sign up, the Confederate South was notably intolerant of dissent, between that and slavery among the more UNFREE places in America...
Egad! look how the vote over Secession was handled in Virginia... I gotta say a genuine disappointment (from Wiki)....
Virginia's ordinance of secession was ratified in a referendum held on May 23, 1861, by a vote of 132,201 to 37,451.
The referendum was a perfunctory endorsement of the Governor Letcher's decision to join the Confederacy and was not a free and fair election.
The Confederate Congress proclaimed Richmond to be new capital of the Confederacy and Confederate troops moved into northern Virginia before the referendum was held. The actual number of votes for or against secession are unknown since votes in many counties in northwestern and eastern Virginia (where most of Virginia's unionists lived) were "discarded or lost." Governor Letcher "estimated" the vote for these areas.
Many unionists feared retaliation if they voted against secession because it wasn't a secret ballot and Virginia's pro-confederate government would have a record of their votes. Unionists who did attempt to vote were threatened with violence and even death on some occasions. Birdwatcher
