A Study in Irony

The founder of the Virginia Flaggers holds up the flag of a failed rebellion against the United States as she chats with a gentleman at a political event for prospective candidates in Wakefield, Virginia next to a poster accusing Lincoln of treason. It doesn’t get any better than this, folks.

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Our Confederate Dead

Update: Just received a private email stating that I am “incapable of feeling anything but hate for Confederate soldiers.” As always, thanks for taking the time to comment. This weekend I was in Petersburg, where I gave a talk to a group of educators as part of teachers conference sponsored by the Civil War Trust.  [...]

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Remembering United States Colored Troops on C-SPAN

I finally had a chance to watch the panel on USCTs that I moderated at Gettysburg College last month.  C-SPAN aired it this weekend.  I think the discussion went better than what I remembered, though I still get the sense of a subtle or perhaps no so subtle divide among the panelists between a detached [...]

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What Can Holocaust Memory Teach Us About Civil War Memory?

Next year I will be teaching a course that explores the Holocaust and historical memory as well as how our own Civil War has been remembered.  I am excited and horrified given what little I know about the Holocaust and WWII.  Perhaps I would feel this way about any historical subject next to my knowledge [...]

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USPS Civil War Commemorative Stamps Show Clear Bias

Has anyone else noticed that the stamps released thus far by the United States Postal Service reflect a clear bias?  Perhaps it should come as no surprise that an agency of the federal government would favor the United States during the Civil War.  Next month the USPS’s Forever stamp marking the 150th anniversary of the [...]

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Crater Talk at Virginia Festival of the Book

First things first. Thanks to all of you who emailed yesterday to share your concerns about our safety in light of the attacks that took place here in Boston yesterday.  My wife and I have lived in Boston for close to two years.  After watching the response of our community to yesterday’s tragic events, I [...]

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No Confederate License Plates in Texas

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ruled earlier today that the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles did not violate the First Amendment when it denied an application by the Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans for customized plates that depicted the Confederate flag.  Here are a few excerpts from the judge’s ruling. “The issue before the [...]

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Confederate Officers Beg For Food From Former Slaves

Following the surrender of Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 4, 1863 a New York Times correspondent reported on the confiscation of Confederate camp servants and their enlistment into the Union army in full view of their former masters.  

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