What about the 60,000 to 93,000 free blacks who fought in uniform for the Confederacy????  Though records are spotty...because of the vast destruction in the south during the war....Blacks started fighting in 1861.  The Union didn't allow blacks in uniform until late 1863!  The war itself was not fought over the issue of slavery,  but state's rights (slavery being ONE of the issues).  There never would have been a war IF the S. Carolinians hadn't fired on Ft. Sumpter, and if Lincoln didn't respond militarily to "Preserve the Union"...which was the reason behind the war (not slavery).  The "flag" you are so upset about isn't the Confederate States flag, but the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia.  It was and is still an "American Flag."  (Also, there were 6 northern states, or under federal control where slavery was lawful, until AFTER 1865.) Emancipation Proc. only freed slaves in the seceded states!