Again, were the US a democracy, Robert E. Lee would have been our third king (or prince consort to our first queen, technically) so his pedigree as Lighthorse Harrys biological son and son-in-law of Washingtons adopted (and only) son is far more representative of the South in toto than Stephens. Hell, part of the land he inherited through his wife is Arlington National Cemetery! The Lees embodied the entire UNITED STATES more than anyone else in 1860, and certainly far more than Stephens.

Yes, but, as VP, Stephens was not among those who fought, bled, risked and in many cases LOST their lives and limbs for the Confederacy (i.e. the soldiers without whom those who voted for secession would have been no more than a few hundred traitors promptly strung up from the nearest gallows.) Lee not only was such a man, but led all of them, so his declaration he fought for the SOUTH and despite HATING slavery AND secession speaks more loudly for the Souths martial motives than any statement from any civilian, even at the highest levels of government.

Stephens disagreement with Lee on slavery is interesting BECAUSE of the differences in their station and ancestry: Stephens was born to poverty and more representatives of the countless Southerners then and since who sole consolation for illiterate incestuous impoverishment was the belief that "at least I'm better than a n----r!" Many may well have fought for that false belief, but imagining them willing to DIE for it is almost as difficult as imagining the 75% of Southerners who neither owned slaves nor ever COULD would die for a "right" already permanently denied them: What, exactly, could Abolition have "cost" such people? Remember, the going price for slaves was $50,000-$125,000 in 2015 dollars; how many sharecroppers would have that much disposable income in their entire lives?

Come now, Mardi Gras, Carnival and the broad FAMILY of pre-Lent festivals are symbols of Catholicism, but few even IN France think of any place but New Orleans when they think of Mardi Gras. And, yes, Jazz and Blues are traditionally African-American music: SOUTHERN syntheses of African and American folk music blended by imported African slaves assimilated into Southern society. One can hardly claim the Confederacy simultaneously PREDICATED on and DISTINCT from slavery. Slavery was far from the Confederacys sole or even primary basis, but was certainly and shamefully an integral one. Just as in the US itself, and if the US can purge itself of slaverys sins while retaining its own honor derived from more noble principles, surely the South can do likewise. Presuming the South and racism inseparable is a notion unworthy of any but Klansmen.