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The Memory of the Civil War in American Culture
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The Civil War retains a powerful hold on the American imagination, with each generation since 1865 reassessing its meaning and importance in American life. This volume collects twelve essays by leading Civil War scholars who demonstrate how the meanings of the Civil War have changed over time. The essays move among a variety of cultural and political arenas--from public monuments to parades to political campaigns; from soldiers' memoirs to textbook publishing to children's literature--in order to reveal important changes in how the memory of the Civil War has been employed in American life. Setting the politics of Civil War memory within a wide social and cultural landscape, this volume recovers not only the meanings of the war in various eras, but also the specific processes by which those meanings have been created. By recounting the battles over the memory of the war during the last 140 years, the contributors offer important insights about our identities as individuals and as a nation. Contributors: David W. Blight, Yale University Thomas J. Brown, University of South Carolina Alice Fahs, University of California, Irvine Gary W. Gallagher, University of Virginia J. Matthew Gallman, University of Florida Patrick J. Kelly, University of Texas, San Antonio, Stuart McConnell, Pitzer College James M. McPherson, Princeton University Joan Waugh, University of California, Los Angeles LeeAnn Whites, University of Missouri Jon Wiener, University of California, Irvine
The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The "Great Truth" about the "Lost Cause"
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Most Americans hold basic misconceptions about the Confederacy, the Civil War, and the actions of subsequent Neo-Confederates. For example, two thirds of Americans--including most history teachers--think the Confederate States seceded for "states' rights." This error persists because most have never read the key documents about the Confederacy. These documents have always been there. When South Carolina seceded, it published "Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union." The document actually opposes states' rights. Its authors argue that Northern states were ignoring the rights of slave owners as identified by Congress and in the Constitution. Similarly, Mississippi's "Declaration of the Immediate Causes ..." says, "Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery--the greatest material interest of the world." Later documents in this collection show how neo-Confederates obfuscated this truth, starting around 1890. The evidence also points to the centrality of race in neo-Confederate thought even today and to the continuing importance of neo-Confederate ideas in American political life. The 150th anniversary of secession and civil war provides a moment for all Americans to read these documents, properly set in context by award-winning sociologist and historian James W. Loewen and co-editor, Edward H. Sebesta, to put in perspective the mythology of the Old South.
The Confederate Battle Flag: America's Most Embattled Emblem
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In recent years, the Confederate flag has become as much a news item as a Civil War relic. Intense public debates have erupted over Confederate flags flying atop state capitols, being incorporated into state flags, waving from dormitory windows, or adorning the T-shirts and jeans of public school children. To some, this piece of cloth is a symbol of white supremacy and enduring racial injustice, to others, it represents a rich Southern heritage and an essential link to a glorious past. Polarizing Americans, these flag wars reveal the profound - and still unhealed - schisms that have plagued the country since the Civil War. The Confederate Battle Flag is the first comprehensive history of this contested symbol. Transcending conventional partisanship, John Coski reveals the flag's origins as one of many banners unfurled on the battle-fields of the Civil War. He shows how it emerged as the preeminent representation of the Confederacy and was transformed into a cultural icon from Reconstruction on, becoming an aggressively racist symbol only after World War II and during the Civil Rights movement. historical emblem and as an invocation of the Confederate nation and all it stood for. Pursuing the flag's conflicting meanings, Coski suggests how this provocative artifact, which has been viewed with pride, fear, anger, nostalgia, and disgust, might ultimately provide Americans with the common ground of a shared and complex history.
Contemporary Southern Identity: Community through Controversy
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In Contemporary Southern Identity, Rebecca Bridges Watts explores the implications of four public controversies about southern identity---debates about the Confederate flag in South Carolina, the gender integration of the Virginia Military Institute, the display of public art in Richmond, and Trent Lott's controversial comments regarding Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist presidential bid. While such debates may serve as evidence of the South's "battle over the past," they can alternatively be seen as harbingers of a changing South. These controversies highlight the diversity of voices in the conversation of what it means to be a southerner. The participants in these conflicts may disagree about what southern identity should be, but they all agree that such discussions are a crucial part of being southern. Recent debates as to the place of Old South symbols and institutions in the South of the new millennium are evidence of a changing order. But a changing South is no less distinctive. If southerners can find unity and distinctiveness in their identification, they may even be able to serve as a model for the increasingly divided United States. The very debates portrayed in the mass media as evidence of an "unfinished Civil War" can instead be interpreted as proof that the South has progressed and is having a common dialogue as to what its diverse members want it to be.
Enduring Legacy: Rhetoric and Ritual of the Lost Cause
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Rhetoric and ritual commemorating war has been a part of human culture for ages. In Enduring Legacy, W. Stuart Towns explores the crucial role of rhetoric and oratory in creating and propagating a "Lost Cause" public memory of the American South. Enduring Legacy explores the vital place of ceremonial oratory in the oral tradition in the South. It analyses how rituals such as Confederate Memorial Day, Confederate veteran reunions, and dedication of Confederate monuments have contributed to creating and sustaining a Lost Cause paradigm for Southern identity. Towns studies in detail secessionist and Civil War speeches and how they laid the groundwork for future generations, including Southern responses to the civil rights movement, and beyond. The Lost Cause orators that came after the Civil War, Towns argues, helped to shape a lasting mythology of the brave Confederate martyr, and the Southern positions for why the Confederacy lost and who was to blame. Innumerable words were spent--in commemorative speeches, newspaper editorials, and statehouse oratory--condemning the evils of Reconstruction, redemption, reconciliation, and the new and future South. Towns concludes with an analysis of how Lost Cause myths still influence Southern and national perceptions of the region today, as evidenced in debates over the continued deployment of the Confederate flag and the popularity of Civil War re-enactments.
An Illustrated Guide to Virginia's Confederate Monuments
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As America was torn apart by the horrors of the Civil War, no state bore the brunt of battle more than Virginia. Home to the Confederate capitol of Richmond and the linchpin of the eastern theater of the war, the state now bears a myriad of testaments to its harrowing past, waiting to be explored. With An Illustrated Guide to Virginia's Confederate Monuments, Timothy S. Sedore presents the first volume to enumerate Virginia's southern Civil War memorials marking the bloody battles that took place on Virginia soil. Sedore's illuminating and highly readable guide catalogs 360 of the state's most infamous and obscure commemorations, and provides not only a fascinating compilation of locations but also a compelling vision of the public sense of loss in the post-Civil War South. From notorious sites such as Manassas, Fredericksburg, and Appomattox to the lesser-known locations of Sinking Spring Cemetery and Rude's Hill, Sedore leads readers on a vivid journey through Virginia's Confederate history in all its tarnished glory. Tablets, monoliths, courthouses, cemeteries, town squares, battlefields, and more are cataloged in detail throughout this compendium, accompanied by photographs and meticulous commentary. Each entry also contains descriptions, historical information, and location, providing a complete portrait of each site. Designed for the expert historian and the lay reader alike, the vast scope of these locations-from Clinch Mountain near Tennessee to the Eastern Shore, from the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., to the edge of North Carolina-is organized geographically by region for ease of use. Six maps also are provided for the reader's orientation. Much more than a visual tapestry or a tourist's handbook, however, An Illustrated Guide to Virginia's Confederate Monuments draws on scholarly and field research to reveal these sites not only as monuments to history but also as public efforts to reconcile mourning with Southern postwar ideologies. Unveiled here are dynamic memorials that are at once intimate and aloof, written on stone, bronze, or marble but forged from the language of suffering. Sedore analyzes in depth the nature of these attempts to publicly explain Virginia's sense of grief after the war, delving deep into the psychology of a traumatized area. Insight into these evocative elegies for lost sons, fathers, spouses, and other loved ones provides yet another dimension to this captivating volume. The first book of its kind, An Illustrated Guide to Virginia's Confederate Monuments will appeal to the traveler, historian, and armchair enthusiast alike. Never before has such a comprehensive collection of Virginia's Southern Civil War sites been gathered and examined in one volume. From commemorations of famous generals to memories of unknown soldiers, from the Shenandoah Valley to the Chesapeake Bay, the dead speak from the pages of this sweeping companion to history.
Living Monuments: : Confederate Soldiers' Homes in the New South
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While battlefield parks and memorials erected in town squares and cemeteries have served to commemorate southern valor in the Civil War, Confederate soldiers' homes were actually 'living monuments' to the Lost Cause, housing the very men who made that cause their own. R. B. Rosenburg provides the first account of the establishment and operation of these homes for disabled and indigent southern veterans, which had their heyday between the 1880s and the 1920s. These institutions were commonly perceived as dignified retreats, where veterans who had seen better days could find peace, quiet, comfort, and happiness. But as Rosenburg shows, the harsher reality often included strict disciplinary tactics to maintain order and the treatment of indigent residents as wards and inmates rather than honored veterans. Many men chafed under the rigidly paternalistic administrative control and resented being told by their 'betters' how to behave. Rosenburg makes clear the idealism and sense of social responsibility that motivated the homes' founders and administrators, while also showing that from the outset the homes were enmeshed in political self-interest and the exploitation of the Confederate heritage.
Neo-Confederacy: A Critical Introduction
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A century and a half after the conclusion of the Civil War, the legacy of the Confederate States of America continues to influence national politics in profound ways. Drawing on magazines such as Southern Partisan and publications from the secessionist organization League of the South, as well as Dixie-Net and additional newsletters and websites, Neo-Confederacy probes the veneer of this movement to reveal goals far more extensive than a mere celebration of ancestry. Incorporating groundbreaking essays on the Neo-Confederacy movement, this eye-opening work encompasses such topics as literature and music; the ethnic and cultural claims of white, Anglo-Celtic southerners; gender and sexuality; the origins and development of the movement and its tenets; and ultimately its nationalization into a far-reaching factor in reactionary conservative politics. The first book-length study of this powerful sociological phenomenon, Neo-Confederacy raises crucial questions about the mainstreaming of an ideology that, founded on notions of white supremacy, has made curiously strong inroads throughout the realms of sexist, homophobic, anti-immigrant, and often "orthodox" Christian populations that would otherwise have no affiliation with the regionality or heritage traditionally associated with Confederate history.
Symbols That Bind, Symbols That Divide
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This work explores the function of both divisive and uniting symbols in various conflict settings around the world. It takes a fairly broad perspective on what constitutes a symbol, to include objects such as flags, signs, language, and monuments, all of which convey conflicting meanings in a society affected by conflict. In addition, the authors include commemorations and other dynamic events that serve as a means for groups or individuals to connect with past generations, celebrate a heritage, and possibly express religiosity. In order to provide context for the nuances surrounding the symbols, there are brief historical overviews for each conflict featured in the volume. In each chapter, three issues are emphasized: the particular symbols that are divisive in the specific culture; how these symbols were used to perpetuate conflict; and how these symbols can be used or modified to bring unification. Contributions come from authors from around the world that have conducted empirical studies on intergroup relationships or have provided significant academic contributions in the area of symbols and collective memories represented in theoretical publications. Taken together, the contents of the volume provide a rich tapestry of intellectual analyses to the diverse selection of conflict settings from around the globe. In addition to the nine case studies, there is an introductory chapter, which grounds the discussion in current peace psychology literature as well as provides future directions. This volume is a valuable resource to many, as the focus on symbols can span many disciplines such as political science, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and art. Furthermore, it is of significant interest to all scholars and peace activists studying these various countries and their conflicts.
Circulating books may be checked out in 3 week intervals.
The Civil War: Opposing Viewpoints
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Primary sources and documentary evidence present differing views of issues and events surrounding the Civil War.
The Cause Lost: Myths and Realities of the Confederacy
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This work investigates the facts and fictions of the South's victories and defeats during the American Civil War. It debunks long-standing legends, offers evidence explaining Confederate actions and considers the idealism, naivete and courage of military leadership and would-be founding fathers.
The Confederate War
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If one is to believe contemporary historians, the South never had a chance. Many allege that the Confederacy lost the Civil War because of internal divisions or civilian disaffection, others point to flawed military strategy or ambivalence over slavery. This book argues that we should not ask why the Confederacy collapsed so soon, but rather how it lasted so long. The book re-examines the Confederate experience through the actions and words of the people who lived it, to show how the home front responded to the war, endured great hardships and assembled armies that fought with spirit and determination.
The Dispossessed: America's Underclasses From the Civil War to the Present
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This study of the roots of poverty in the USA explores the wrenching displacement of millions of rural Americans, both blacks and whites, beginning after the Civil War and following their great trek into the industrial centres and urban ghettos of the North.
Dixie Rising: How the South is Shaping American Values, Politics, and Culture
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In a provocative exploration of the triumphant South--the region that increasingly defines American politics and values--the former Atlanta bureau chief of The New York Times illuminates the people, places, and passions of this influential section of the country--an area that has effectively decided the outcome of every presidential election in the past 30 years.
Understanding Words That Wound
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Successor and companion volume to Words that wound , the first book to argue for recognition of hate speech as a serious social problem. The current volume greatly expands the coverage of hate speech, including chapters on children, the Internet, recent cases, campus hate speech codes, and international responses. Deals expressly with arguments against hate-speech regulation, as well as the case for it. Written by leading critical race theorist Richard Delgado and Jean Stefanic, this volume succinctly explores a host of issues presented by hate speech, including legal theories for regulating it, the harms it causes, and policy arguments pro and con suppressing it. Chapters analyze hate speech on campus, the history of hate speech in America, the careers of particular words as "nigger," "spick, "wop," and "kike," hate speech against whites, and the special case of children. Particular attention is devoted to hate on the Internet, talk radio, and to the role of white supremacist groups in disseminating it. Designed to be accessible to the general public and students, this book features reading lists, exercises, and questions for discussion. This book is accompanies and expands on the prize-winning volume Words that Wound: Critical Race Theory, Assaultive Speech, and the First Amendment , also published by Westview Press.
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America After Charleston
This new PBS town hall meeting, moderated by Gwen Ifill, explores the many issues around race relations that have come to the fore during this tense few months, after a white gunman shot and killed nine African-American parishioners in Charleston, South Carolina, and the removal of the Confederate flag from the state capitol grounds that followed.
