I am writing in response to a letter titled “The Confederacy was more than a movement based on hate.” The writer, Sallie Smith, states that, in the South, “Slavery was the basis of their economic system, so they were fighting for their economic welfare.”

I take issue with the concept that economics takes precedence over what is morally right.

I have ancestors from the Irvine Valley, near Kilmarnock in Scotland, where the economy was based on the weaving industry. Despite their dependence on American cotton, the area had an ardent Anti-Slavery Society.

We attended the Loudoun Church of Scotland, in Newmilns, and were surprised to see an American flag hanging in the front of the sanctuary. It is a replica of a flag donated to Newmilns by Abraham Lincoln in recognition of their stand against slavery.

Barbara Wright

Bristol


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