America’s civil warrior
QUESTION Was Confederate General Robert E. Lee a Democrat?
ROBERT EDWARD Lee (1807–70) was commander of the Confederate army of Northern Virginia in the american Civil war from 1862 until his surrender in 1865.
Lee was not overtly active in partisan politics. However, after the Civil war, he did sign a document endorsing democratic party nominee Horatio Seymour, who ran against Ulysses S. Grant during the 1868 presidential election.
during the war, the bulk of southern secessionists were members of the democratic Party. In fact, the southern states’ rights, pro- slavery/segregation faction made up much of the democratic Party’s ‘solid south’ base until the 1964 election when they defected to support Republican Senator barry Goldwater’s unsuccessful run for the presidency against anti-segregationist Lyndon b. Johnson.
the Republican Party was founded primarily on the premise of containing the expansion and working towards the abolition of slavery, and it was the Republican victories in the white House and Congress in 1860 that saw the election of abraham Lincoln which precipitated the war.
Clearly, Lee was not a Republican. Subsequently, he became president of what is now washington and Lee University. He lent support to democratic President andrew Johnson’s programme of reconstruction, while opposing the radical Republican proposals to give freed slaves the vote and take the vote away from ex-Confederates.
He urged the reintegration of former Confederate soldiers into the nation’s political life. Simon Cowan, Belfast.
QUESTION On holiday in Iceland I was amazed at the cost of everything — takeaway fish and chips were £26. Why is the cost of living so expensive?
ICELAND, an isolated landmass way out in the North atlantic, is beautiful, but inhospitable, with volcanoes, mountain ranges and geysers, and it is subject to extreme weather conditions.
Just 6 per cent of industry is agricultural and 5 per cent of this is fisheries. Most ingredients and equipment to make food must be imported.
However, importation of many agricultural products is strictly forbidden and there are price controls to encourage the sale of local products.
what’s more, nearly everything needed to run a modern mechanised farm in Iceland has to be imported, so farms are costly and inefficient.
the University of Iceland Institute of economic Studies estimates that local milk costs consumers and the state twice as much as imported milk would, but importation is forbidden. there is 11 per cent Vat on food, and 24 per cent Vat on nearly everything needed to make food.
Icelandic labour has a lot of mandatory overheads, such as 12 per cent union dues, 37 to 46 per cent income tax and parental leave on almost full pay.
that said, not all food is expensive. Fish is affordable (except in Reykjavik and tourist areas) and freshly baked bread is reasonably priced. Jon Dottir, Canterbury.
QUESTION Did American Anna Jarvis invent Mother’s Day?
AFTER the U.S. Civil war (1861-65), ann Reeves Jarvis, from Philadelphia, founded a number of mothers’ friendship clubs.
She wanted to bring healing and reconciliation to neighbours whose fathers, husbands and sons had fought each other in that bitter conflict. Her actions inspired a woman from boston, Julia ward Howe, to promote an annual Mothers’ day for Peace.
ann Reeves Jarvis had a daughter named anna, who had given up thoughts of marriage to nurse her mother. after ann’s death, anna began a campaign to have one day set aside when everyone could honour their mother.
She called it Mother’s day, denoting the singular possessive. It was not to be a day to honour all mothers, or motherhood, but that single, best-loved mother — everyone’s own mother.
anna elicited the financial assistance of Philadelphia store owner John wanamaker, so on Sunday May 8, 1908, at her local Methodist church in Grafton, west Virginia, the first Mother’s day was officially celebrated.
Her success spurred anna to campaign to have Mother’s day celebrated throughout the U.S., and in 1914 President woodrow wilson signed a declaration making the second Sunday in May the official Mother’s day.
anna’s vision was that the day should be given over to a quiet celebration at home between a mother and her family, when they could wear white carnations — her mother’s favourite flower.
alas, the anniversary was soon snapped up by eager florists, greetings card manufacturers and candy store and restaurant owners. anna’s attempts to discourage commercialisation failed.
Constance Smith, daughter of the rector of all Saint’s Church, Coddington, in Nottinghamshire, read an article about anna Jarvis and saw an opportunity to link the celebration of motherhood with the fourth Sunday in Lent.
with her friend ellen Porter, Constance began the Mothering Sunday movement in england. She gained support from the boy Scouts, Girl Guides, Mothers’ Union and YMCA. by 1938, Mothering Sunday was celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent in practically every british parish church and throughout the empire.
In world war II, GIs brought the U.S. Mother’s day celebration to the UK, and the holiday was merged with the Mothering Sunday traditions celebrated in the Church of england.
Ian R. Lowry, Reading, Berks.
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