Transcripts For CSPAN3 Lectures In History 20150418

Live coverage at 1 30 eastern on American History tv on cspan3. Next professor Jennifer Murray from the university of virginias college at wise talks about how reunions have change from the reconstruction era to the present. She described how the years after the war focused on reconciliation but has expanded to deal with slavery as a cause of the war. This class is 1. 5 hours. Last time we met with our discussion of the culture of the civil war commemoration we left off talking about david blake and reconciliation, and civil war reunions and we had a reading from james foster and his conversation of the confederacy. What i want to continue the conversation with today, for todays topic, the culture of civil war commemoration, looking at these themes we have talked about an postcivil war america, from 1855 to the present. What i thought would be useful backing up on the conversation this specifically with the context we have talked about, to reiterate the point on how important the American Civil War is and how monumental the event is in American History. I made the point last time we met that the American Civil War was from 18611865, the resulted in 600 toy 3000 american agile tease. 2 of the population. Taking that forward to today, the equivalent fatality rate to the 19th century population, 2 , would be how many fatalities stay if the u. S. Was in a war . What is the number . 6 million. Jennifer murray 6 million americans would be the rate if we had 2 of the population killed today in an american war. The American Civil War left no one untouched. The American Civil War became created suffering. It left the hard hand of war in print. Imprint. No one was left untouched. What we want to look at for our conversation today is the legacy of the American Civil War. How northerners remember the civil war, how veterans commemorate it, how southerners deal with defeat. How x confederate veterans deal with accusations of treason. The American Civil War solved questions of union and secession, freedom manifestation, sovereignty. This is the impact we see today. So, the defining moment in American History, certainly for 19thcentury america. What i want to do today, and our approach, it is twofold. One, i want us to walk through scenes of creating civil war memories and perpetuating these. We will start the discussion talking about the north, how Union Veterans commemorate the civil war, how northerners commemorate the civil war and then we will talk about what foster brought up in his conversation of the lost cause. We will talk about southern memories in the American Civil War. And then we will transition and talk about how africanamericans remember the civil war and their memories of dealing with the duality of freedom and emancipation. Then we will see, we will bring blight into the conversation and howard conciliation takes hold and how it was the dominant narrative, the dominant mode of civil war memory. Then, once we get these under these our belt, once we are comfortable with these narratives, we will take a look at gettysburg and walkthrough gettysburg as a case study on how these memories play out. And i hope that you will see that these narratives that these veterans created to deal with this event, 600 600,000 623000 fatalities, we will look at it from our own culture. We will look at how americans commemorate gettysburg and scenes of reconciliation in 1938, 1963 which parallels the Civil Rights Movement, how they look at it in the 1960s and we will end with a discussion of how today, in 2013, 2014, 2015 how we look at the war today. And its legacy. Now, the reason we picked gettysburg as a case study, my Research Deals with gettysburg and its history. More than that, it is the iconic battle of the American Civil War. It was fought in july, 1863. The union army of until this time was suffering a string of defeat, mead was the commander of the army, brings about 90,000 forces into pennsylvania and in three days the seemingly invincible robert ulee robert e lee and his army, after three days, the union army claimed victory. It was a monumental event and the civil war. The tide is turned. After 1865, the veterans come back to get and they commemorate a memorial, making it permanently set in American History and our narrative. Basically where the war was one. Won. And where the union was preserved. That is the direction we will take in our presentation today. We will move forward on how veterans remember the civil war. We will start with the north. Mystic chords memories. This aligned with president lincolns president s inauguration. Having people share a common past. Memories are created, we create memories in our own minds, we choose to remember things in a particular way. We manifest things, nostalgic memories. And these veterans did the same. Union and confederate veterans remember the war in different ways. Through different mediums. They form Fraternal Organizations, the grand army of the republic, this is the Fraternal Organization for the union, born in 1866. They write many amounts of literature, give speeches, take a look at parades, they mourn the dead. Southerners and northerners will invest in these types of things. Memorial day starts a few years after lee surrendered at appomattox. There are different ways that veterans and 19thcentury veterans remember the war. One of the dominant themes that will come out in the north in the commemoration of the civil war, for Union Veterans, it is how they view secession. How do Union Veterans and northerners view secession and the confederate, their southern brothers . We talk about reconciliation and reunion. How would david blight identify reconciliation . Trying to figure out how to put them back together, even though they were split. He wants to bring the northerners with the southerners, together. Jennifer murray would you say that reconciliation and reunion are synonymous terms . No. Jennifer murray how are they different . There is still separation between them. Jennifer murray this is seated the seceded states are brought back into the union, but reconciliation implies a degree of proactive participation among the northerners and southerners. Does it imply forgiveness . They have to forgive as far as the dead, but as far as how rebels as far as they rebelled and committed treason. Jennifer murray what dominant theme did you see in postwar union commemoration, as acknowledging the south as traitors. You see it explicitly, the union army suppressed the ask of act act of treason. Lets look at some quotes. Commemorating the suppression of treason. Victory to the rebellion meant death to the republic. Reunion is not an abstract concept. They have a tangible definition of what union means, what citizenship means. You see this theme of glorifying the cause for Union Soldiers for suppressing the ask acts of treason. Lets take an example. This is the dedication speech i gave you all last time. Very explicit in understanding what union and civil war meant. This is june 12, 1889 in gettysburg, the 25th anniversary, 26 years since the battle at gettysburg. The Union Veterans are coming back to the battlefield and they are erecting monuments. When they erect these monuments, they give exclusive and give very explicit understandings of what they thought of their sacrifice. Based on what you read last time from this dedication speech and i will throw up some of the quotes on the screen, where did these Union Veterans come down on this issue . There was they believe it was their solemn duty to proclaim and reiterate that loyalty was, is, deep dark and treason will be deep dark and a mobile. Deep, dark, and doubtful. Deke ddpeep dark and damnable. Murray was he also suggesting in the last sentences about relating the battlefield and landscape and those who fought there, to treason . Basically, for the people who died there, they died for nothing, those who were treasonous. Jennifer murray what did lincoln say when he dedicated the cemetery . They did not die in vain. So, this was almost a mockery of where soldiers fell. If you do not acknowledge that this was treason, then those Union Soldiers who died there and other places have died in vain. Back to the first part. Anything strike you about sentiments of reconciliation or divisive parts, in this passage . You can look at the first couple sentences. He is saying he is calling it treasonous. Jennifer murray are we buying into this . Or look toward the last sentence. What is he saying . The feeling of bitterness. Jennifer murray is he contradictory or what . We dont have feelings of a bitterness, but no offense, but came but then saying something very offensive. Jennifer murray right, how can he get away with this . This very overthetop rhetoric about calling the south treasonous. Who is his audience . Almost all former union people there that day. At this point, it is all northerners. Jennifer murray well, other dedication speeches like this, they are northern veterans, from this regiment. This is michigan day. These are soldiers that he fought with for the last few years and these are the same in composition. So, to what extent does that dictate what he could say . They all agree with them. They will all agree with them on how the south was. Jennifer murray so if you had a mixed audience, what would happen to this type of rhetoric . Treason comments would be out of the question. Jennifer murray right, you know your audience. So save and doesnt go to nick saben doesnt go into auburn and say, roll tide. You have to know your audience. So these reconciliation comments are for his audience. Are they overstated . Yes, the northerners and southerners would be at odds for years to come. Jennifer murray right, but they would need to bridge this chasm and we will see if the writer changes. And you will see pretty particular rhetoric from Union Soldiers, they acknowledge courage of southern soldiers. They were brave, but they were still what . Still traitors. Jennifer murray so, now that hes in recognizing valor and courage, but that does not mean that they were not committing treason. They are it is still reconciliation on the northern terms. Jennifer murray 25 years after the war, reconciliation and reconstruction. The south is not happy participants. Socially, i mean. Not officially, but among people who are there. Jennifer murray we will see if that same lesson deepens further out from 1865. So from the view of the north, the takeaway, reconciliation is the dominant theme of civil war memory. Reconciliation and other dominant themes, you have reconciliation and what else . Emancipation. Jennifer murray reconciliation is the dominant theme, so blight says. Reconciliation is not monolithic. It is not monolithic. In fact, there are issues, discords, that really underscore these deep animosities between northerners and southerners. For the north, the union is not abstract, it is concrete. So, if you sit down in alabama virginia, how will you take to this rhetoric coming from the yankees up north . What will you respond . It was not treason. Jennifer murray right. So what is the south going to do . We are switching gears. The south will create their own constellation of civil war memories. And the south will create and perpetuate the very same notion of the lost cause. So reconciliation is the dominant theme of postcivil war america, but it is not monolithic. It is changing. And when you take Union Veterans and confederate veterans and you stack their memories together, you get a complicated and colorful tapestry of civil war memories. Everyone remembers things differently, particularly in the northern and southern divide. This is relative to what we talked about last time when you read out of james foster plus james fosters book. So the southerners will not passively accept the allegations of treason that the northerners are placing on them. They will be proactive in creating their own versions of memories and promoting their own narrative. Edward pollard, he is a virginian and he will be the one to coin the term, lost cause. Is 1866, one year after robert e lee surrenders. So how does the lost cause work into these memories . How would you define the lost cause, based on what you have read . How would you define the lost cause . The south Jennifer Murray yes, over 600,000 americans died, over 300,000 of them are southerners. What did they die for . Did they get their independent . Independence . What did they die for . Nothing. Jennifer murray seems that way. Now they have to deal with the idea that god was on their side, but now they lost, so they have the religious experience, coping with physical destruction of the south. Sherman who marched through the south. How do you cope with the defeat . What does the lost cause become . The rationalization of the war, the only way that they can cope with it is through this explanation. Jennifer murray an explanation of why they lost. How they cope with the fee. Explanation of why they lost comes from general robert e lee himself. Surrendering in appomattox, just over 30,000 men in the army, the next day he addresses them in the famous general orders number nine. The first paragraph. The first sentence. How does he explain the confederate feet . Defeat . Resources, population, had nothing to do with their debris bravery. Jennifer murray right, for every confederate soldier, the union camp without five soldiers. So they say that they did not have enough manpower, materials, not because they were inferior or that slavery was bad. Not because their society is on capable, but because they do not have enough stuff. This is one of the most enduring myths of the lost cause. It takes hold right away. What will continue in this lost cause philosophy, the rationalization, is that we will not talk about the causes of the civil war. So what will we really not talk about . Slavery. Jennifer murray right, and what permeates is that slavery had nothing to do with the civil war. Completely disassociating slavery with succession. Giving us one of the most perverse interpretations of the American Civil War possible. It is how southerners cope with it. So, one of the most enduring sort of proactive southern champions of the lost cause is jubal earl. The south will perpetuate their own memories through a couple of different organizations. The north has different ghr posts and the south has different societies. The Southern Historical society is formed to new orleans in 1869. The virginians, the writers of the civil war narrative, they will give influences to the Southern Historical societies and be very influential. After the war, flees the country, he cannot deal with defeat. He will come back and settle in lynchburg and be a supporter of the loss caused narrative. And hell be a supporter of the lost cause narrative. After the civil war what does he go after . Southerners who devote who deserted after the war. The Southern Historical society is important. Three other proactive organizations that some really promote that promote lost cause ideology is the united confederate veterans formed in 1889, very comparable to that ghr gar. The confederate veteran is a magazine published in nashville and it contains writings by confederate veterans who publish memories. Fantastic source, a journal space. And then you see a component of southern women redirecting civil war narratives and memories. The united daughters of the confederacy, udc, formed in 1894. They would have many chapters in the south. By world war i, they have over 100,000 members. So these organizations are proactive in responding to northern allegations of treason. They are proactive in having the discussion of the lost cause and actively disassociating slavery as a contributor factor to secession in the American Civil War. So looking specifically at some of these activities and the language that southerners put forth in creating their own tapestry of civil war memories. We will talk about the udc united daughters of the confederacy. This is Mildred Rutherford. She is georgian, from athens. She will occupy the position of historian general for five years. And take a minute and read, let it steep in, the explanation that she has for slavery and the civil war. Two quotes. And then you have me your reactions to that sentence. Not true. Jennifer murray what part of it is not true . The first one. There might have been a few that were really taken care of, but as a majority in the deep south, well fed if they acted well closed clothed. I think it is a lie. Jennifer murray we make generalizations about slavery and what being a slave was like, so where you were a slave mattered. Your experience and virginia is different than further south. And when you were a slave, matters. So, what about the second part of it . Has the negro benefited from freedom, what does she say . No. She is implying that they had more freedom while they were slaves, that is what it sounds like. Jennifer murray we can go in a number of directions with this. Lets start with a couple of things. Would southerners agree with this, or is she on the french . Fringe. Most would agree. Slavery was part of their livelihood. They want to cover it up. Jennifer murray move forward, into the old south. How did southerners justify slavery . Slaves come in the early 1600s there has been two centuries of slavery, it is part of the political and social hierarchy. So how do they justify slavery . They want to have the ideal of the paternal relationship keeping them, they are a lot better as slaves in america than they were as people in africa. Jennifer murray where else are they comparing opportunities for blacks . They are saying it is better to be a slave in the southland a free man in the north. Work for wages in the factories in the north . Surely it is better to be fed and sheltered as a slave in the south. So do you see more continuity in these justifications of slavery . You will hear from people today who feel the kin to the lost cause. Jennifer murray yes, they say that slaves were treated well. What they have in a fitted from freedom, no. So is this a majority opinion, are you comfortable with her as a spokesman for the south and the loss cause . Not comfortable with her conversation in 2015, but at the time is she radical . No. Jennifer murray no, she is a reflection of the time and representing continuity and how southerners dealt with justifying slavery, the paternal tendencies, the negro much worse off post 1855 then they were before. 1865, than they were before. She is creating a mythology, the lost utopia where southern slaves were happy, well closed clothed, taken care of. We talked about this before, the notion of a happy slave, mammy in gone with the wind. Does this fit with the loss cause . Lost cause . Absolutely. Another example of disassociating slavery with the civil war, moving forward, the united daughters of the confederacy was very proactive in shaping this narrative. Udc and southern women are responsible for reclaiming confederates from battlefields the dead at gettysburg are denied burial places at the national cemetery, because the civil war is still going on, so until the 1870s, the southern women go and collect the remains of their confederate dead. They bring them back home. They take them to richmond virginia. So they were not buried in any way . Jennifer murray they are buried by comrades, often haphazardly. They might be put in a trench grave. The dirt is thrown over them and the army leaves. Now, a place like gettysburg sharpsburg, people live there, so civilians going out to put crops and, in, they would see a constant reburial, dealing with the remains on their land. A complicated experience in the civil war. That is something that the udc does and they will undertake monument dedications. They will be proactive in creating southern history textbooks. We dont like our history to be politicized, but the union is active in doing so. So the udc raises money to facilitate direction of monuments, in southern towns maybe cemeteries, that is a natural place for them. This is in wilmington, north carolina. This is a cemetery. Then a larger image on the right is a confederate management monument in alabama. Creating a lost cause, then a flurry of activity in richmond. Why richmond . Why . Capital. Jennifer murray what is the famous place in richmond where all the monuments are . Monument avenue. Jennifer murray who do find it there . Stonewall, robert e lee. Jennifer murray jefferson davis, arthur ash, who has created all sorts of controversy, putting a tennis player there. This is a dedication for robert e lee in richmond. The loss cause lost cause, a psychological means to cope with defeat. You see the evolution of it in the latter part of the 19th century. It was a means to explain to defeat but then becomes why the south lost, what they died for then it transitions into something that is celebratory. And we start to celebrate the south. And we celebrate people like robert e lee, confederate soldiers. Look at the image the monument itself is spectacular but what strikes you about the picture . Do we have a number on how many are there . Jennifer murray over 100,000 people they think attended the dedication of the monument. 100,000 people . Jennifer murray 100,000 spectators. Who will be who will these kinds of activities make upset . The north. Jennifer murray right, this is response and reaction. The north is sitting there and thinking, you are putting up a monument to a man who committed treason. And the northern response to this is fantastic. Here is an example. 1892, two years after the monument goes up. This is from minnesota. This is comrade kassel. What is he saying about the south . He likes to use the word treason. Jennifer murray putting up these monuments to their own band of traders traitors, saying they are delusional. Is this reconciliation . No. Jennifer murray no. So, i made a point, overstating reconciliation, people believing into this. Even in the south, this discussion is a lost is not a consensus, it is not 100 of southerners that buy into the lost cause. The majority yes, but there is a sense in the new south about the war and these commemorative activities. For example, John Singleton mosey. Take a look at this quote. Immediately, this should make you recoil. What is he doing or acknowledging . Slavery. Jennifer murray he could not be any more explicit. The south went to war for slavery. Then what does he say toward the end, does he get more bold or does he retract . He retracts. Jennifer murray in what way . He talks about it being for his country, fighting for his country even though the values werent there. May be from slavery, but not a retraction from the fact that he fought for the south. Jennifer murray and he is also said just in what in the middle of the quote . He is advocating the role of responsibility. Jennifer murray yes. So why nations choose to go to war, it is the response ability of whom . The politicians. Jennifer murray so he is fighting for what . His country. And it seems like robert e lee and his point of view, where my country goes i go. Jennifer murray right. John singleton mosby is a famous confederate, he is dissenting from the concept of the lost cause. So if you read it some of his account, they are fantastic. Some of his exchanges, he will actually admit that he committed treason. He does not backtrack or apologized for his service, but he admits that it is an act of treason. Individuals had to apply for a pardon, right . Applying for that pardon is an admission of guilt. You write on a piece of paper in order to Jennifer Murray right. The peace terms at appomattox, they are what . It was, go home and we will leave you alone. Jennifer murray it was a very amicable, it did not require the south to admit exactly. They got to keep their stuff horses, baggage. What does it say if we put this quote against Mildred Rutherford . Which one wins in the competition for memory . Rutherford. Jennifer murray and voices like mosby will be pushed to the side. Who does that leave us with . The north is talking vividly about treason, the south creating a lost cause, trying to cope and will disassociate slavery with the American Civil War and we have one other tradition, emancipation. So we will fit them into our narrative. You can imagine memories of the civil war being complex for africanamericans. Abraham lincoln issues the emancipation proclamation, that is in january 1863. Emancipation happened at different times, depending on a variety of factors, when they get their freedom. But when the war is over, 4 million africanamericans are free. Life is different than it was. They talk about the old south and the new south, you see more continuity in the new south van than change. I love this quote by Frederick Douglass. If a war among white rot peace and liberty to blacks, what will peace among the whites bring . Reconstruction is 1865 and onward. What would you tell Frederick Douglas about this . Very little. Jennifer murray he talks a lot about how does this fit into the narrative . Booker t. Washington is another example, how does what is their competition memories . The primary issue is how to deal with memories of the south, among individual former slaves. While booker t. Washington kind of advocates for moving on and forgiving, Frederick Douglas says you need to remember, be aware of what we went through and where we need to go. Jennifer murray sell among the even among africanamericans their consensus, there is not a consensus. They are diverted. Booker t. Washington was consolatory in his own right. How did africanamericans commemorate the civil war . Blue and gray for journalism blue and gray fraternity seems to overshadow any true meaning. One thing they can and will commemorate is, emancipation day. Throughout the northern and southern communities emancipation day is celebrated. This is a richmond virginia. A number of them peter out further south. Jennifer murray as we move forward in time as well. So, if you have to put into a hierarchy, reconciliation, emancipation, where will you put that . At the bottom. Jennifer murray at the bottom. And at the top, reconciliation. So, between the north, south africanamericans, do you have questions on these competing modes of memory . A good sense of where each stand . North, south, africanamericans. Seemed like many were on the fringes. Booker t. Washington almost is an advocate of the fraternal relationship. He talks about being better off as slaves, and africanamerican saying it. Jennifer Murray Booker t. Washington was born a slave, so his experience is pragmatic, where you have someone else who does not have the same experiences, a free man, a northerner come a educated who goes to harvard. Who you are and how close you are in time to this event, changes how you view it. Not all africanamericans will look at slavery in the same way. It is very confiscated. It is very complicated. Tremendous amount of discord. Lets move forward and look at reconciliation taking hold. To bind the nations wounds is from another lincoln address. It sits aptly with reconciliation. One reason the American Civil War remains so popular in modern america is because, one, many can trace ancestors back to the civil war. It is on our own soil. We have a great record of primary sources, soldiers from both sides who wrote a lot about the war. They wrote letters home, kept diaries during the war. Very good accounts. And those things that popped up after the war, as far as publishing and records, they couldnt get enough of people writing these. Jennifer murray yes, it became popular, contributing this material about the war and recollections of it. Civil war historians make the joke that the civil war is the most written about topic in American History and they will say that there is a book written on the American Civil War every day since the war ended. You can go into any bookstore and look at that section. Gettysburg, a threeday battle just the one battle has over 6000 books written on it. Plus mine. Pretty incredible. [laughter] so 6001. The written literature aside the photographic literature is a primary source. When you look at civil war photos, the first two i show you, the impact of seeing these bodies, americans see this in the newspaper too. This is the first war that is photographed. These photographs we will see from gettysburg, they are from the archives, a photographic collection, and some of them are from my coworker who does a great Facebook Page on the field perspective. How the scenes have changed over time. This one is from 1913, an image of reconciliation at its finest. Union and confederate veterans sitting sidebyside, on the wall. This is day three action of picketts charge, they come back and now they are sitting sidebyside. So, we will see how these men to define reconciliation. One thing that struck me when i was doing research was the way in which contemporary events define how americans understood the civil war. We can get deep in the weeds and talk about civil war memories, but step back with me for a second and think about what is going on in society at large. It is the 25th anniversary of the American Civil War, what is going on in the u. S. . Segregation. Jennifer murray segregation has set in. The Supreme Court case that defines segregation, plessy versus ferguson. Separate but equal. So the United States has legally become a segregated society. The rise of jim crow in segregation parallels this reunion for northerners and southerners. So answering Frederick Douglass question, what does peace among whites bring . It brings segregation and jim crow. Segregated memories for a segregated society. And lets see how they play out in the late 1890s. Late 19th century. One of the very tangible ways that union and confederate veterans reconciled and deal with postcivil war issues is to commemorate and preserve Civil War Battlefields. So, all this writing that they are doing, the monuments that go up, richmond, battlefield preservation is an important aspect of reconciliation. In the late 19th century, the golden age of battlefield preservation will come to ford. Chattanooga will be the first federally preserved battlefield, shiloh, gettysburg, then mix then vicksberg. These sites are funded by the federal government. If you like going to battlefields, the early preservation occurs as part of the reconciliation. The monuments that go up, they are part of the reconciliation. Congress is eager to find money to buy land for preservation activities, because who is in congress . Veterans. And they preserve these battlefields has tangible, physical landscapes to commemorate the men who fought and died there. The living memorials. There is no intent to have conversations about why the war was fought on these battlefields. You want to talk about slavery it will not happen at the battlefield. They are disassociating it. It is reserved to talk about heroism, valor, a story we can create and agree on. That is the consensus. They say these in these dedications, they will ignore it. Jennifer murray yes, it is very deliberate. If you have free time to read mystic chords of memory, it talks about this phenomenon about the natural phenomenon where people will remember things that are happy and positive. You go back and talk to your grandparents about how when what they were kids, they never had shoes, they are walking up hills both ways, what are they doing . They are remembering fondly, creating a nostalgic view where you look back at something and remember it fondly. That is what the civil war veterans are doing. Instead of talking about the reality of combat, the visceral experience of being at close range, we will talk about these generic ideas of heroism and value are. Heroism and valor. We will erect a monument, shake hands, and everyone will have a good feeling about the civil war. This theme, the veterans create this. We deal with us today. Are they narrowminded . No, but it is reconciliation and it is deliberate. Lets look at gettysburg and we will have some examples of this. Gettysburg, the high tide of the confederacy, it becomes after appomattox, the epicenter of civil war commemoration. How many of you have been there . A couple. One of the things we talked couple. One of the things we talked about over the summer was the process of commemoration. There is over 1000 monuments on the gettysburg battlefield. This is where the veterans come back to memorialize gettysburg. It is the waterloo of the American Civil War. Heres a photographic example of reconciliation. My civil war people you should , be familiar with the names union and confederate veterans standing on it East Cemetery hill. General alexander, confederate. General mahone, confederate. Standing amongst the governor of pennsylvania. General dan sickles. Northerner. The famed controversial northerner. They are meeting on the battlefield to start crafting and shaping civil war memories. This is an example. E. D. Cope is one of the first administers of the battlefield. This is james longstreet, the bearded guy on the left, in the middle of the image. Remember your mutton chops . To his right is stan butterfield, the Union Veteran. Southerners initially do not have a lot of interest in commemorating gettysburg. Why would they not want to commemorate gettysburg . Because they lost there, right . Commemorating a defeat is not very palatable. Gettysburg is in a union state in pennsylvania. The surge of commemorative activity that mirrors reconciliation happens around the 25th anniversary of the battle. Reconstruction is over. The south is imbued with the lost cause phenomenon and they , will go to pennsylvania and help northerners lay out the monument to mark the place where they fought. And they create this infrastructure at gettysburg to talk about the war, preservation of the battlefield to talk about the war. 1913 is the iconic moment of reconciliation. It is the 50th anniversary of the battle. 1913. It is this moment of blue and gray fraternal is him fraternalism. 53,000 veterans go to gettysburg for the celebration. 53,000 union and confederate veterans. Move forward, this is the 50th anniversary. The average age of the veterans there is 74. They are there for over a week. States contribute to get their transportation so veterans can take the train to get to adams county and participate. Who is president at the time . In the black suit. Woodrow wilson. Woodrow wilson is a southerner. He is a democrat. Southerner. Kind of northerner. By birth, he is a southerner born in stanton. Wilson will come to gettysburg on july 4 to give a commemorative address. July 4, 1913. Here is part of wilsons speech. What is your reaction to that . Too good to be true. Jennifer in what way . The fact he talks about how far they have come and they are this band of brothers and everything. Essentially, it was all based around forgetting slavery and this awful part of their history together. Jennifer ok, so he is fashioning this utopia sort of place. Why is his tone going to be more evenhanded . He cannot risk being biased in any way at all because he is president. Jennifer ok, so politically he has to be couched in this. He has to be worried about political ramifications. Who is his audience . Both sides. When we said the north could be very verbose and descriptive talking about treason, their audience is northerners with the monuments and dedication speeches. Wilson will be more calculated. Did Woodrow Wilson fight in the civil war . No, he is not a veteran. You find this sort of overthetop with the reconciliation sentiment . Battles long past, quarrels forgotten. Manly devotion looking into each others eyes smiling. You picture a group of Southern African americans feeling we are still here and , need help. I would assume there are not many there. Jennifer these people, right. They are left out completely of the narrative. They are left out of crafting Civil War History in the memory of. Absolutely. Quarrels forgotten, this is 1913. Jim crow. That is wilson. The other primary account i gave you all last week last time was from the governor of virginia, remember william h. Murray. Mann. He is the one sitting on the right. He is governor of virginia from 1910 until 1914. He was born in 1843. He serves in the civil war and is fighting with the 12th virginia. He is a young man but has service in the civil war. I printed out the whole speech he gives in 1913 for you. The parts to really draw down on is what i have on the screen. What is he saying . What caused the war. Jennifer not to discuss the cause of the war, which means , lets not talk about slavery. This is what you would expect from a virginian and a member of the 12th virginia confederate veterans . Absolutely. Lets not talk about slavery. Instead, lets talk about the battle. Lets talk about where the 11th virginia was. Lets talk about the fighting on Little Round Top and lets have conversations about strategies and generals and soldiers. Lets not talk about causes and consequences. Lets leave that narrative out. The iconic image of the 50th anniversary is this one. This is july 3, 1913. 50 years earlier is the final day of the battle of gettysburg. Robert e. Lee and the Confederate Army and george meade and the union army have been fighting for two days and neither side has gained victory. The battle falls on the third day. Robert e. Lee believes his army is invincible. It is a quote he uses. And eager to gain success in pennsylvania on the third of july, he will assemble 13,000 confederate infantrymen in a final assault, a line that is a milelong soldier to soldier. He preludes the assault with a big artillery bombardment. At 3 00 in the afternoon after the confederate artillery is quiet, the 13,000 infantryman step across the field, open field, we have been there, we have walked this. Remember the distance, how long it took us to get across the field . It is a mile from Cemetery Ridge to seminary ridge. What happens when the confederate soldiers get to the center of the union line . Do they break it . No, they hit the wall and are repulsed. This is the angle to be there their focal point on july 3. At the end of the day on july 3, 1863, by 4 00 in the afternoon the high tide of the confederacy receded. They are falling back to seminary ridge. Robert ealy will say, it is all my fault. Robert eal. Lee will say, it is all my fault. 50 of the confederates who made the attack will be killed, wounded, or captured. Lee no longer able to fight in pennsylvania will decide on the fourth of july to start the retreat at the cost of 20,000 men killed, wounded, captured. That event becomes the iconic moment in which the union army triumphs against the tide of concession and confederacy. 50 years later, you have veterans from those regiments who marched across those fields 50 years earlier or the Union Veterans who defended the fields. Here they are shaking hands, reconciling. In a nation united. Iconic image of reconciliation. That is 1913. That reconciliation scene continues. There is no deviation for the next reunion 1938, the next big , iconic reunion. In between, i told you about how society impacts changes in society and how they impact how we remember the civil war. I wanted to mention this before we go to 1938. Popularizing the lost cause and the influence of film and popular culture. The image on the left is the placard for birth of a nation. You are familiar with it probably nominally. It is based on a series of books. The film comes out very much in step with the lost cause phenomenon. It victimizes the white south in the film. You have this era of negro rule where freed African Americans politically are subjugating the white south. Who rises to defend the honor of the white south . The klan, the k. K. K. It is dramatized as being the heroes protecting virtuous white southern women, subjugating African American rule. Incredibly popular. Woodrow wilson will watch this when it comes out taking making comments about how true to history it is. The other one comes out after. This is gone with the wind. You have probably seen bits and pieces of this. I know it is long. But very relevant in popularizing the lost cause. The theme is the faithful slave. You have scarlett, helpless damsel scarlett. She cannot even dress herself. And then you have the mammy, the faithful, obedient slave. Think about how slavery is popularized in gone with the wind. This is an image that comes out in the 1930s. America is in the great depression. This image really permeates and becomes firmly entrenched in american culture. Does this reinforce the lost cause . Absolutely. Move forward to 1938. Back to pennsylvania. 1938 is the 75th anniversary of the battle. The image i showed you in 1913 the iconic hands across the wall, same idea. This is now 1938. By 1938, the veterans are fast fading. There are just over 1500 of them present for the 75th anniversary and commemorative activities. But the theme of reconciliation continues to hold. In july of 1938 for the veterans that are there and the spectators, the sons and daughters of civil war veterans by now, they come to commemorate the battle and create their own memories of the civil war. By now, the Union Veteran in the center, by now, gettysburg has become a National Park. The National Park service acquired gettysburg and the other Civil War Battlefields i put on the list. The National Park service acquires the sites in 1933. Franklin d. Roosevelt will bring them into the department of the interior. Now you have the government fashioning Civil War Battlefields, and they are moving forward with this theme of reconciliation. At the 75th anniversary of the battle, one of the most iconic monuments on the gettysburg battlefield is dedicated. This is the eternal light Peace Memorial. You can sort of see the crowds packed, density. The speakers platform is off to the bottom right. You can see it draped in flags. The nonveteran audience, these are sons and daughters of confederate veterans, hear in gettysburg the president of the United States give a commemorative address. This is president franklin roosevelt. Roosevelt will be on hand to dedicate the eternal light Peace Memorial on july 3, 1938. What is his dedication speech ringing of . Patriotism. Patriotism of whom . America. This is more underscoring that point with roosevelt saying and honoring the confederate veterans, we are going to do what . [indiscernible] jennifer because they are all americans. If you look to the right of the obelisk, you see the two people unveiling the american flag. One is a Union Veteran and one is a confederate veteran. The inscription on the bottom of the monument, this is what it looks like today, the inscription says peace eternal in a nation united. Reconciliation through the 20th century, still deliberately ignoring the wars causes and consequences. That gives us the 75 years. Jump forward with me 100 years which takes us to the civil war centennial. This is where america has an opportunity to provide a fuller, more accurate civil war narrative. What is going on in the United States in the 1960s . The Civil Rights Movement. Some African Americans say the Civil Rights Movement is the second reconstruction. The reconstruction is the civil wars unfinished business, and the Civil Rights Movement is an effort to bring political, economic, social, cultural freedom and equality to African Americans that the civil war and reconstruction did not bring. This is an interesting example where you can see the civil war centennial, 100year celebration, simultaneously occurring with social discourse in the American South where African Americans are clamoring for equality. It is an opportunity for americans to provide a more fuller narrative of the American Civil War. Gettysburg will be an opportunity to have that discussion. In the context of 100 years of civil war celebrations, the Civil Rights Movement. Think about the freedom riders in 1961. Think about rosa parks, the bus boycott, civil disobedience taking place down south, the citizens occurring in public facilities throughout the south starting in north carolina. All this is going on. The president at the time is john f. Kennedy. The cold war is escalating. America is fighting communism abroad and social turmoil and discord within. In that context, americans are going to sit down and celebrate and commemorate the American Civil War. Do African Americans have what lincoln promised them at gettysburg . Do they have a new birth of freedom . No, it is empty promises promises left unfulfilled. So gettysburg becomes the iconic occurrence of the civil war centennial. The heritage syndrome, the Michael Kammen expression, a deliberate ignoring of something that makes us uncomfortable. When you get amnesia, you forget things. Think about historical amnesia. You are just going to forget something you dont want to remember. In gettysburg, two weeks of activities will occur. Some are purely celebratory like the big reenactment. Other occurrences over the course of two weeks involve dedications of monuments, this one. This is the state monument for georgia. When i mentioned gettysburg is the most monumented of the Civil War Battlefields, there are over 1300 of them, the vast majority on the gettysburg battlefield are Union Monuments. Remember driving up and down Cemetery Ridge. All the monuments we saw. Union monuments go up around the 25th anniversary of the battle. The south not wanting to commemorate defeat. Gettysburg is in a union state. They start to put monuments at the centennial, the 1960s. You will see confederate state monuments along seminary ridge. This one goes up in 1961, this is georgia. These are occasions where northerners and southerners will come to the gettysburg battlefield. They will dedicate or rededicate monuments, and then they blend civil war and its legacy with contemporary social, domestic, Foreign Policy and discord. An example. The first one is an extract from the union dedication of a monument. This is the new jersey governor rededicating one of the Union Monuments on the battlefield in july, 1963. What is he doing in this setting . What is he encouraging americans to think about in 1963 . Equality. Jennifer slavery. The inequality that was left. Jennifer the war was not fought to preserve jim crow. It was fought to bring justice to all. He is encouraging americans to think about slavery, inequality, the causes of the war, the unfulfilled promises. This is the contemporary event that parallels it. You see in the 19 city three 1963 celebratory event at the centennial americans are underscoring and acknowledging the unfulfilled promises of the American Civil War and what it means to them in that generation. President john kennedy visits the gettysburg battlefield in the spring. March 31, he takes a tour of the battlefield. This is 1963. This is kennedy. You see jack kennedy to the left. Kennedy will be assassinated later that year in dallas, texas, in november. His Vice President also visits gettysburg. Lyndon johnson goes to gettysburg memorial day. Lyndon johnson is from what state . Texas, the lone star state. Johnson has a very poignant memorial day speech. From johnson, this is may 30 1963. What is Lyndon Johnson doing . He is addressing the inequality of blacks in america even as a southerner from texas. Jennifer yes. It is important to note where they are doing this. They are doing this on the gettysburg battlefield. How does the speech have more power at gettysburg than somewhere in texas or even d. C. . Gettysburg was the biggest battle of the civil war and the civil war was fought over slavery, despite what everyone was saying about it. Jennifer yes, he is using the power of the place to make more meaning or more power behind his message. It is not only that. The previous speeches at gettysburg had nothing to do with it. They were specifically asking to not talk about anything like this. Jennifer what do we start to see with themes of commemoration . Continuity or change . You are seeing a shift, a change. They are starting to talk about slavery and its association to the war. He made a direct connection to how it affects modern times too. Jennifer yes. I will show you another example of that. In fact, my next one. Good segue. If the United States wants to look strong in the face of communism, what do we not want to be brought to the fore . Racial inequality, internal discord. Jennifer this is the florida congressman making that exact point. A separate event paralleling civil war commemorative activities. L. B. J. , texan, you see both sides, union and confederate northerners and southerners having this conversation about recognizing slaverys place in the civil war narrative. There is one exception to this. One of the delegates and political officials who will speak in gettysburg in july, 1963, is the governor of alabama. Who is the governor of alabama in the 1960s . Wallace, George Wallace. Here is George Wallace shaking hands with one of the reenactors. George wallace delivers speeches in which wallace says the civil war and the confederates were fighting for states rights. Constitutional rights for states. Wallace is not going to get involved in the realigning of the war narrative. Think about the context. This is july, 1963. What has George Wallace famously done before he travels to gettysburg . Weeks earlier . [indiscernible] jennifer this is George Wallace. Alabama has two big division i schools. You have the veteran of schools, the better of schools auburn. And then you have this unsavory Sister School in tuscaloosa, the university of alabama. This is where George Wallace is standing, at the schoolhouse doors of the university of alabama, physically defying integration. This is the context that brings him to gettysburg. When the civil rights centennial fades, come 1965, gettysburg showcases a different commemorative tradition in 1963 than in 1938 or 1913. You dont have a dramatic shift in the general populations understanding. The lost cause mythology is still firmly ensconced even at the close of the centennial. Historians and academics are starting to write more objectively and much more honestly about slaverys role. But writ large, the lost cause is prominent. Move forward one more commemorative year with me. These are the thoughts i want you to take away from todays lecture. Move forward to today. Latter part of the 20th century, early part of the 21stcentury. Reconciliation is still the dominant narrative. If you go to gettysburg in the 1960s, 1970s, early 1990s, you would find a narrative and a landscape that talks about soldiers, generals, union and confederate tactics and strategies. You will not find talk about reconstruction and its failure. 1990s, there is a lot of cultural volatility going on in the United States. This is the period of the culture wars where we start to politicize our history. You have the big, controversial explosion about the preservation and presentation of the enola gay in the smithsonian, the plane that dropped the atomic weapon in japan in 1945. You start to see americans looking for a more objective and more accurate version of their history. They are going to look for the civil war to fill that objectivity and accurateness too. In the late 1990s, the National Park service at gettysburg will start to include discussions of slavery in their civil war narrative. This is the superintendent at the time. This is the 1995 speech he gives. John latschar. The superintendent at the time has a phd in history. He says they have ignored deliberately this concept of fixing any blame for the war talking about slavery as a cause. Do you think this makes John Latschar very popular . No. One of the interesting periods i got to research for the book was this exactly. This speech creates this storm of controversy. Sons of confederate veterans leave the opposition. They will write. Other people will, too. They ask for his resignation. Southerners say if you talk about slavery, your maligning you are maligning our history. It is an offense to southern history, an offense to Southern Confederate heritage dishonoring southern heritage. Hugely controversial politically controversial. The federal government gets involved. We will leave this program and take you live to the university of virginia in charlottesville. They continue the allday conference on the end of the civil war. Live coverage on American History tv on cspan3. Welcome back, everybody, to our afternoon session. I always feel like we are leaving out one half of the audience. We dont mean to be doing that back here. This is the slot in the daylong program. It is hot outside and dark in here. We ask if you fall asleep, do so with your heads forward rather than back. Our topic for the third panel is the union cause in the war and within the framework of how americans remembered it from the wartime generation and later. Everybody is awake. Matt john, and joan are our panel this time around. The first question i want us to talk about is what union meant to the loyal citizenry during the war. To begin, i would like all of you to discuss what loyal mea nt within the context of the u. S. Effort during the war. Joan i will start. One of the members of the audience came up to me and asked me to make sure there were more jokes in the session. [laughter] i will try. I think at a very basic level, i think these concepts are very tied together, Union Loyalty and sacrifice, patriotism, nationalism. It meant loyalty or country, loyal to the country that was founded in the revolutionary war and was established by the constitution, followed through by george washington. That is what northerners thought. Keep the union whole. American exceptionalism was popular back then. I think we can look at the speeches of Abraham Lincoln for that. The point is that it was a country that was very well aware of that history and the importance of keeping the country together. John not just the confederacy. I agree. The union is looking back at that as well, the common heritage. I would like to suggest that loyalty probably depends in many respects on your relationship to the coming war. Border states, for example, who might be loyal to the union, but at the same time, feel that perhaps a war against slavery would not be particularly welcome. Gary let me interrupt. It is a misnomer to say there is a war between the north and south because three Southern States remain loyal to the United States. Missouri kentucky, maryland, delaware. John absolutely. We even have northerners who are a few northerners who make statements to suggest that if they are entirely loyal to the nation. They are not necessarily willing to oppose it militarily. Wayward sisters, go in peace. Gideon welles. Loyalty itself, though i think we will use it in the shorthand term, talking about the way the jones talked about it, there are places where it is the union as it was, the union as it might be the union with slavery the union without slavery. It is complicated. Matt i would say at a base level, the actual expectation is really much lower than we might think. To be a loyal citizen in the union is to support the war. When a friend says, if you are in favor of the war, you say yeah. Be honest. Dont cheat. There are multiple ways where you can be dishonest and keep this cheat the system. You cant do that. The last thing, the second half of the war dont whine. A loyal citizen doesnt whine. That is articulated over and over in all sorts of ways. You dont have to do anything, but follow the rules and dont whine. Gary that would mean, dont sell shoddy goods to the government for use in the war effort. Is that something you could do to break the rules . Matt it is fine to profit off the war and sell stuff. It is built upon capitalism. It is not fine to cheat by selling goods that fall apart. It is not fine to sell materials that don