That’s a euphemism for slaves who were forced to work for the Confederate government during the war or who accompanied a master into the army. Of the ten men who will be recognized today in Union County North Carolina, nine were slaves. All received pensions after the war, but not for their service as soldiers. [...]
Lost Cause
Here is a short clip of Tom Dugan portraying Robert E. Lee. There is a short interview with Dugan and the director, but the clip that I found most interesting was Dugan’s portrayal of Lee’s views on slavery and race. What you get is a very loose reading of the historical record and a great [...]
From Mark Vogl: Back on June 28th, 2012 an article here at Nolan Chart reported that the Confederate War College established a clock to help illustrate whether the environment within the United States was favorable to the idea of states seceding from the Union. The original setting of the clock was 6 Pm, the point [...]
What follows is a guest post by Thom Bassett, who recently took a trip to Virginia to explore Civil War battlefields and other sites. He took the time to visit the new MOC museum at Appomattox and sent along this review. Thom teaches at Bryant University in Providence, R.I. He has written numerous essays for [...]
David Blight’s Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory has dominated the historiography of Civil War memory studies since its publication in 2001. Beyond academic circles, Blight’s emphasis on the triumph of reconciliation over an “emancipationst narrative” can be found in documentaries, news articles, and even historical tours. Rarely do historical interpretations enjoy [...]
Byron Thomas made a name for himself not too long ago by hanging a Confederate flag in his dorm window at the University of South Carolina – Beaufort. Since then he has utilized YouTube to promote his own vision of a post-racial society. Some of it is worth watching and some of it is not. [...]
I have a fairly large file of emails that I’ve accumulated over the years from folks who interpret my writings as anti-South/Confederate or some other variation. It’s a narrative that I’ve grown accustomed to and represents a clear misunderstanding of what I do. More importantly, it reflects an oversimplified reading of the past, particularly when [...]
My latest column at The New York Times’s Disunion page is now available. The essay briefly explores the relationship between John Christopher Winsmith and his body servant, Spencer. The Winsmith letters are housed at the Museum of the Confederacy and offer an incredibly rich account of the war from a Confederate officer in the slaveholding [...]
