Over at History News Network is a new piece by Robert Cook, author of the recent Troubled Commemoration: The American Civil War Centennial, 1961-1965-- "150 Years after the Civil War, Can We finally Remember It the Way We Should?"
"Southern whites," Cook writes, "must be shown what they were not shown in the 1960s: That they seceded and fought primarily to protect slavery and defend the racial order that was based upon it."
Cook--and everyone else--needs to separate the two. Southern whites seceded to protect slavery; they fought for a variety of reasons. It's two different questions. We can see this in other wars (Vietnam, for example), that there is an obvious distinction between the reason for the war and the reason individuals fought in that war. Why do we have so much trouble understanding that for the Civil War?
Thursday, August 9, 2007
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5 comments:
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for posting this! I can't tell you how many of my students really think the Civil War was fought over "states' rights." Yeah, the right to own other human beings. They fail to see that their poor white ancestors were duped into fighting a war for rich people who could then own human beings, make those slaves work for free, and therefore depress the wages that might be paid to poor whites.
Thanks a million for this post! Can you suggest any more reading on the topic?
Hey Miss Kitty,
Thanks for writing! I'll post something later today re: additional readings.
Why must "southern whites" be shown anything? It never ever works to try to force something that you perceive as an unpleasant truth down another person's throat.
I grew up in a little redneck town in north Florida where the southern feeling ran thick and the schools were forcibly integrated in the early 70s (both blacks and whites having to be forced as the two schools were equally bad except for the lunchrooms where the black ladies had a decisive advantage). I then have lived in various northern and midwestern areas and one thing that I found ironic - racial prejudice was everywhere, just more subtle than in the south. This was rather disappointing to me.
I have spent 30 years rooting out my own prejudices with much success but the idea of southern whites being told anything still stuck in my craw.
And yes, I do believe that states rights were a major factor. I do not deny that slavery was the main impetus. I contend however, that there is a strong likelihood that slavery would have died out over the same time period that it took to get anything close to equal civil rights for black people and at much less cost to the economy of the South which would have benefited all, black and white.
Word History Thanks for sharing. word history!!
Word History Thanks for sharing. word history!!
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