As cities take down Confederate memorials, Florida bill seeks to stop them -- and put the statues back up

[ShazzieB]

Confederate monuments have come down in Orlando, Tampa and most recently Jacksonville as part of a nationwide reckoning with public memorials that commemorate the Confederacy. But if a bill becomes law next year, local leaders could be fined and even booted from office if they remove those monuments.

State Rep. Dean Black, R-Jacksonville, is pushing the measure to protect monuments, including memorials to the Confederacy, and punish local officials who remove them. He said his bill is retroactive and seeks to restore monuments removed by local governments after Jan. 1, 2017.

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Confederate memorials were erected to “scare and intimidate the Black community post-slavery,” said state Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville. “It is a horrible bill,” she said. “It is meant to throw red meat at a base of voters at a time when they know it is an election year.”

Nixon added about the Confederate memorials: “We should not be uplifting losers who wanted to keep my people enslaved.”

Lots more details in the article:
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/12/28/as-cities-take-down-confederate-memorials-florida-bill-seeks-to-stop-them-and-put-the-statues-back-up/

I'm sure DeSantis will leap at the chance to sign this trash into law once the Repunlican controlled Florida legislature passes it.

[AZLD4Candidate]

1. Ex Post Facto laws are illegal.

[NutmegYankee]

2. Fascism doesn't care.

The only law in fascism is might makes right.

[marble falls]

3. Crazy, since 90% of their heroes have nothing to do with Florida past insurrection ...

... -snip-

Florida served the Confederate States of America from the beginning of the American Civil War (1861–1865). Following Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860, the state of Florida joined other Southern states in declaring secession from the Union, the third of the original seven states to do so. With a small population, Florida would contribute more goods and supplies to the Confederate cause than manpower. It produced large amounts of sustenance and its large coastline made it difficult for Union Navy efforts to curb blockade runners bringing in supplies and material from foreign markets.

-snip-

Florida raised more than 15,000 troops for the Confederacy, which were organized into 12 regiments of infantry and 2 of cavalry, several artillery batteries, as well as militia and reserve units. While approximately 1,000 Floridians served in the Union's 1st and 2nd Florida Cavalry Regiments, nearly 1,000 escaped slaves and free blacks from Florida joined Union (colored) regiments in South Carolina. A compilation made from the official rosters of the Confederate Armies as they stood at various battles, and at various dates covering the entire period of the war, shows that Florida kept the following number of organizations in almost continuous service in the field: 10 regiments and 2 battalions of infantry; 2 regiments and 1 battalion of cavalry; and 6 batteries of light artillery. During the course of the Civil War, although Confederate records are notoriously incomplete, Florida suffered nearly 2,500 in killed and thousands more in wounded, according to Dyer, Frederick H., A Compendium of the War of Rebellion (1908). Additional sources, however, estimate that Florida suffered as many as 5,000 in killed. Nevertheless, Dyer (Compendium) and Fox (Regimental Losses) are considered eminent scholars in their respective fields and are cited and quoted by most historians and scholars. See also Total Union and Confederate Civil War Casualties in Killed, Mortally Wounded (Dead), and Wounded.

According to both The Florida Civil War Heritage Trails (produced by the Florida Association of Museums) and the University of South Florida Graduate School (Scholar Commons), "Approximately 16,000 Floridians fought in the Civil War, with 15,000 serving in the Confederate Army. Of these, 2,309—or 14.4%—deserted. Nearly 5,000 Floridians were killed in battle. Approximately 31% of those Floridians that served in either the Confederate or Union Armies met a violent end." Neither, however, apply citations or include Florida's total number of African-Americans who served in the Union military. See also African-American Military Units in Florida during the Civil War (1861–1865).

The Civil War resulted in numerous battles and skirmishes in Florida, including the Battle of Santa Rosa Island, October 9, 1861; Battle of Tampa (aka Yankee Outrage at Tampa), June 30-July 1, 1862; Battle of St. John’s Bluff, October 1-3, 1862; Battle of Fort Brooke (Tampa), October 16-18, 1863; Battle of Olustee (aka Battle of Ocean Pond), near Lake City, February 20, 1864; Battle of Gainesville, August 17, 1864; Battle of Marianna, September 27, 1864; Battle of Fort Myers, February 25, 1865; and Battle of Natural Bridge, March 6, 1865. The only major battle in the state, however, was the Battle of Olustee near Lake City.

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http://www.thomaslegion.net/americancivilwar/floridacivilwarhistory.html



Let them put up some monuments to the 20% of the troops (black and white) raised in Florida that fought for the Union if they need some statues of heroes.