I don't understand; why do people defend things such as the confederate flag

[Aroura]

There was also more to the colonial rebellion than unfair taxation without representation.

I was discussing the main, driving forces.  I at no time claimed these were the only reasons.

To try and downplay the role that slavery played in the civil war strikes me as odd. Why are you so eager to defend the southern states on their stances on slavery? 

I'll let the first state to secede speak for itself
"On Dec. 24, 1860, delegates at South Carolina’s secession convention adopted a “Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union.” It noted “an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery” and protested that Northern states had failed to “fulfill their constitutional obligations” by interfering with the return of fugitive slaves to bondage. Slavery, not states’ rights, birthed the Civil War.

Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union

When you said "the South wanted independence specifically because of slavery" I thought you were saying that this was the sole reason. I agree it was a reason. But don't think it's fair to say it was the main reason.

As for my motives, I have no dog in this fight. I grew up in the North and was never from a Southern state. I just feel like there's this popular idea of the Civil War being all about slavery when it wasn't. I wonder if it might be due to some underlying dislike/prejudice of Southerners and Southern culture, which is why I speak up. I'm not saying that's the case with you, just in general I wonder if that may be a factor sometimes.

The south has many wonderful traditions and a rich culture that I find beautiful and fascinating.  When have I ever said anything nasty about southerners?  There are many wonderful people who live in the south, and many rat bastards who live in the north.

But I won't go so far as to deny slavery being the main reason for their secession.  That's just dishonest. They themselves said so at the time!  Yes, there were many, many reasons, and a lot of massive disagreements leading up to it.  But the straw that broke that camels back was slavery, it became the driving force.  That does not make every southerner in 1860 a racist, nor every northerner a paragon of virtue, nor am I saying that, or even alluding to it.

I love Germany, despite atrocities committed by some people there in the past.  People need to own up to their mistakes, not make excuses for them.  I respect people who do the former, as the Germans have done.