Confederate States of America

The flag of the CSA has 13 stars on it that represent the states that seceded. However, only 11 states left the Union in 1861. The other two stars represent delegations sent to the Confederate Congress from Kentucky and Missouri, two states that did not join the CSA but remained loyal to the Union. In other words, these two states had delegations in both congresses. I came across this item while perusing a World Book Encyclopedia from 1969. The 13 stars appear on the "confederate battle flag" or "Southern Cross". The flag known as the "stars and bars" has only 7 stars in a circle in a field of blue in the top left corner.

(Source: Vol 4 of the World Book Encyclopedia 1969 page 753).

"Operation Pedro Pan"

Between 1960 to 1962, some 14,000 Cuban children were "spirited out of the country" by parents afraid the incoming Communist government of Fidel Castro was going to "take control of their children". Flights out of Cuba were organized by the Catholic Church and many of the children never saw their parents again. The children stayed in refugee camps-like Camp Matecumbe in south Miami-they foster homes or orphanages. "Cuban officials and some researchers have long maintained the effort was a CIA-backed plot to create a brain-drain form the island. The US government denies those accusations". The term "Petro Pan" is Spanish for "Peter Pan".

(Source: "'Petro Pan' children reunite 50 years later" by Laura Wides-Munoz of The AP. In The Virginian Pilot on 11/13/10).

Update: www.campeatecumbeveterans.com notes that this was the "largest exodus of children in the Western Hemisphere".

Civil War and Revisionism

Edward Ayers is a Civil War historian at the Univ of Richmond who argues that the coming of the Civil War was "perfect storm" of conditions and the "most important consequence (of the war) was the emancipation of 4 million slaves". He notes how the view of the war has changed over the years. In the late 1800's the war was seen as a "necessary sacrifice to end slavery". After WWI historians questioned if the war was "unavoidable or worth the price". One historian-Edmond Wilson-"compared Lincoln to Lenin" in that both were trying to re-shape the world to their liking. During WWII the war was taught as "worth dying for". Then with the civil rights era those in the south emphasized the "states' rights" position while northerners believed in the "need for federal intervention to right and enduring wrong". In Virginia this year the governor issued a proclamation honoring Confederate History Month without noting the existence of slavery. Edward Ayers believes the Civil War "is at the heart of what this nation is about" and a proper teaching of it is important. The war came about by a complex of issues and one explanation-like slavery or states' rights-is the wrong approach.
(Source: "A Perfect Storm Caused Civil War, Historian Says" by Frederick Kunkle of The Washington Post. In The Virginian Pilot on 11/7/10).