This was definitely an interesting class with an interesting topic. I remember taking a War and Remembrance class here at GMU where we talked about the Text Book Scandal. While it is unlikely there were that many color soldiers in the Confederacy, due to the laws restricting them joining the armed forces, the possibility of any of them being rear-guard so not to rouse suspicion is possible. Still, when Lewis Steiner claims to have seen 3000 “negro men under arms” it raises numerous questions about that. As discussed in class, they probably weren’t actually soldiers, merely ancillary staff and support units. Then, looking at the picture of Shane and James (I think those were they’re names) makes me wonder about the people who owned slaves and the like. Did any of them actually see blacks as people, or were they all indoctrinated?

Also, faking a photograph to show black and white soldiers dead on the field together is an interesting tactic, and would certainly be something to talk about. The real question however, is who staged it? Confederates trying to show that their slaves were loyal unto death? A Unionist trying to show that the slaves weren’t worth saving? Hard to say, maybe even impossible to know.

On the topic of Confederates, the “Son of the Confederate Veterans.” Of all the scum of the earth, these are some of the worst living on American soil. Why glorify what is now generally considered to evil? Why defend your ancestors who were either mere cannon fodder troops or slimy racist? I was in Norfolk once, and I saw the statue memorializing the “southern dead.” I commented, “They should add a sign that says, ‘they fought on the wrong side.'” Rude and ignorant, I know, but the praise a batch of deep South tourists were giving it boiled my blood.

One of the historical topics I still argue about today is that the South should have been punished. The Union should have crushed the old plantation owners into the ground and made sure that none of the Confederate supporters got a position in any form of government, local or federal. Because the North desired “reconciliation,” Southern politicians got off Scott Free! No fines, no jail time, nothing! They were allowed to keep their jobs, which, I argue, is one of the major reasons we had Jim Crow Laws able to be put into effect. Because the South was never punished, they never learned.

Thought of the Day:

Don’t cut off the head of a movement; they body will still struggle. Instead, cut off their feet; that way they never get anywhere.