150 years after Appomattox, Civil War still divides U.S.
Associated Press
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — When the Civil War was over, when the dead were buried and the Union was reunited, it came time to tell tales and write history. In reunion gatherings and living rooms alike, differing versions of the causes of the conflict became as hardened as sun-baked Georgia clay.
More than a century and a half later, those dueling narratives are with us still.
Did 620,000 die, as Northerners would have it, in a noble quest to save the Union and end slavery — the nation’s horrific original sin? Or was the “War Between the States” a gallant crusade to limit federal power, with slavery playing a lesser part, as Southerners insisted?
After all this time, it could be argued that it doesn’t matter, but the blood that was shed over a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, divisive future may be lined Va., is powerful evidence with discussions rather than that it does. The national dispute shouting matches; more over the fate of stone complete history lessons; local, and bronze monuments rather than state or national raises this larger question: action; and a renewed How does one country with focus on individuals who two histories move forward? fought and were affected by
The answer, some say, is the war, including the deprivations by seizing a rare chance to they endured. build a shared history The drafting of men for through small steps. the war, desertions in the
“This is a moment to acknowledge Confederate and Union the incredible armies, political disagreements change that we have seen and dissent are among American people among things not well-represented when they look at their in the memories of past,” said Peterthe conflict, especially not Carmichael, a history professor through monuments, said at Gettysburg College. Stephen Rockenbach, history
Academics and others professor at Virginia told The Associated Press State University. Americans the road to avoiding a more can draw on primary sources, including writings of people who lived during that period and their diaries to understand different viewpoints.
“The danger occurs when you only look at one aspect, one person, one battle, even one time frame,” he said.
Historians often don’t reach consensus on interpretations of the past and the public can’t be expected to, either, Mr. Rockenbach said.
“How then do we convey this huge experience that all kinds of Americans went through in meaningful ways?” he said. “Statues do not do a very good job of doing that on their own.”
Mr. Carmichael, the Gettysburg College professor, said some of the problems of today could be addressed by doing a better job of explaining the war and how it affected a group that generally was ignored by both sides after Appomattox Courthouse: black Americans.
Rather than simply tearing down statues, interpretive markers should be used at Confederate monuments to show the systematic oppression of black people through lynching, the denial of voting rights and segregation, he said. That way, Americans can understand that the system of slavery destroyed by the Civil War didn’t create equality but instead ushered in Jim Crow laws.