David W. Blight: What Gives the Confederacy Its Staying Power
[David W. Blight is a professor of American history and director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery and Abolition at Yale University. He also is a member of the board of trustees of the National Civil War Center at Tredegar in Richmond, Va., and the author of "Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory." Readers may send him e-mail at David.Blight@yale.edu. He wrote this for The Free-Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va.]
In April, when Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell issued a proclamation reviving Confederate History Month in the commonwealth, he reminded us once again of the Confederacy's staying power. Wittingly or not, McDonnell demonstrated that historical "memory disputes" are always about the present, as he spoke in the tradition of a long line of Southern leaders beginning with the founders of the Confederacy itself.
Immediately, Civil War causation and slavery became the lightning-rod issues as McDonnell's defense of his proclamation flashed all over American media.
"There were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states," he said. "Obviously, it involved slavery. It involved other issues. But I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for Virginia."
It involved slavery. In that throw-away phrase, the governor spoke volumes, even if he didn't know it. To put it simply, yes, slavery was the cause of the Civil War....
Read entire article at Kansas City Star
In April, when Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell issued a proclamation reviving Confederate History Month in the commonwealth, he reminded us once again of the Confederacy's staying power. Wittingly or not, McDonnell demonstrated that historical "memory disputes" are always about the present, as he spoke in the tradition of a long line of Southern leaders beginning with the founders of the Confederacy itself.
Immediately, Civil War causation and slavery became the lightning-rod issues as McDonnell's defense of his proclamation flashed all over American media.
"There were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states," he said. "Obviously, it involved slavery. It involved other issues. But I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for Virginia."
It involved slavery. In that throw-away phrase, the governor spoke volumes, even if he didn't know it. To put it simply, yes, slavery was the cause of the Civil War....