Doug Mataconis makes a strong argument that in 2011, when the sesquicentennial of the beginning of the Civil War will be commemorated, that Gov. Bob McDonnell should declare April as “Virginia Civil War History Month.”
Virginia Civil War History Month could serve to remember the Virginians who fought and died for both sides during our nation’s worst time without the taint of honoring a regime created to preserve the institution of human bondage. It could also be a tremendous opportunity to teach people about Virginia’s role in the Civil War, on both side.
We can’t forget the Civil War altogether, of course, but there are better ways to commemorate it than what we are doing this year.
I agree. We cannot forget, nor should we forget the war that literally pitted brother against brother — some families such as the Crittendens and Terrills had brothers who were brigadier generals on opposing sides – resulting in the greatest spillage of American blood at the hands of one another. By broadening the context to include both Union and Confederate, it will bring to light the full history and deepen everyone’s understanding of the conflict as it relates to Virginia.
It will always be impossible to please everyone, but this is just plain common sense that most people will support. This takes nothing away from those of Confederate heritage while adding those descended from Union supporters. (As far as I can tell, all of my family arrived in the U.S. after the Civil War had ended.)
Not every Virginian (or Southerner for that matter) supported the Confederacy and not every Northerner supported the Union’s position (such as the anti-war Democrats known as “Copperheads” who encouraged Union soldiers to desert and Confederate P.O.W.s to escape — some things never change.) Will there be controversy and heat if Gov. McDonnell changes the name to “Virginia Civil War History Month” next year? You can count on it.
In April 2003, a statue of Abraham Lincoln with his son Tad was unveiled in Richmond commemorating his visit at the end of the Civil War. This, too, was not without controversy.
Earlier yesterday, the Sons of Confederate Veterans held a rally at Jefferson Davis’ gravesite in Hollywood Cemetery to protest the arrival of the Lincoln statue.
Among the participants was H.K. Edgerton, former chairman of the NAACP in Asheville, N.C.
“I’m a Southern man,” said Edgerton. “When somebody does something as ignorant as put Abe Lincoln in the capital of the Confederacy, how can I not come to protest it? You don’t put a criminal up and call it reconciliation, and Lincoln was a war criminal on top of it.”
(How ironic is it that a former chairman of an NAACP chapter was protesting the Lincoln statue and calling him a “war criminal”? Must be because Lincoln was a Republican and Democrats have tried to convince the African-American community that all Republicans are EVIL.)
Someone will always protest whatever a governor does. But after 150 years, Gov. McDonnell is in the unique position of being able to finally bind up the Commonwealth’s wounds once and for all.
Filed under: Bob McDonnell, History
i think Bob opened a few wounds that had been on the way to healing
That is just ridiculous.
Confederate History events already include Union tributes. How the devil do you think they do those battle dramatizations? They have BOTH Union and Confederate re-enactors.
Besides, Southerners refer to the War as the War for Southern Independence. Yankees call it the, “Civil War.”
There is no reason to try to suppress Southerners’ celebrations about their ancestors. Sure let the slavery apologists have their events, but it is just wrong to try to censor the celebration and honoring of Confederate Veterans.
If the Yankees and the New South apologists don’t like it, they can all go to Hell.
As a descendent of two who rode with Mosby, I’m okay with the healing process that would accompany the remembrance.
Gill, you’re right on the money. It was the “War against Northern Aggression”, however.
TBM, don’t go encouraging Gill until after you see the website his name links to. We’ve had to ban other people who associate with that site from VV, most notably J. Tyler Ballance.
Then, we need to end all types of proclamations that break down along racial and ethnic lines.
Would any “union” history month be expected to include Confederate points? There were plenty of Yankees that supported the South, so fair is only fair. However, somehow, I doubt any such proclamation would be so inclusive.
The vast majority of Virginians fought for the South. It’s simply wrong the only such proclamation needs to be inclusive in order to appease the PC police.
One cannot rid the Commonwealth of her Confederate history as much as some would like that to be the case. Those of us that are lucky enough to have Confederate ancestors will always remember and will always celebrate our Confederate heritage.
McDonnell and Cuccinelli seem to have a penchant for dredging up issues that are serving no purpose today except for getting them press, and to some extent making a ‘name’ for themselves as if they are doing something constructive….this is destructive nonsense, again, just like the ‘gay’ thing that they are using on our backs……..now, get to work Bob and Cucc…..like you said you would!!!
How about a proclamation asking McDonelll and Cucc to get to work instead of trying to make headlines for themselves!!
remember when “PC” just meant that you were trying to be respectful of basic human dignity by not confusing slurs with proper names. now it’s just a set up for being sued for discrimination.
One side won, another lost, but both were Americans! Abe Lincoln WAS President of the United States at the time, and if he would’ve lived the country would know have been different – for the better – than would came after. If the Civil War, or The War Between The States, or what ever name you want to pin on it, it proved that war can settle alot, and settle alot it did. There is more to American history than the years between 1861-65. Remember and react to your heart’s delight. Just don’t try to recreate a reality that never was and never will be.
Danny L. McDaniel
Lafayette, Indiana
I can see and respect your views on this topic. Still, it was more than “blood shed on both sides”. The city where I grew up was burned to the grown and only the building that was used as the union hospital stands today. Northern soldiers were brutal in their treatment of Southerners, not just soldiers, but of citizens as well. Southerners disagreed with northern policies being inflicted upon them and they stood up for their beliefs. Nobody now believes that slavery should exist (well, maybe some wacky folks somewhere, but certainly not people of any significance) and most people understand that slavery was a sideline issue and not why the civil war started. Only the wealthiest of people, a very small percentage, owned slaves. Still, following the war and still today the south and the real issues of the war are overshadowed by a manipulation of the facts. While I see the point you are making and respect it, just as I respect you so much, I would hate for Virginia to take her history and turn it into some sort of tribute to the people who acted out of aggression, manipulated the issue of slavery, and to this day manipulate the facts, particularly on the issue of race relations.
The bigger question on this particular subject of changing the title, in my opinion, is why anyone would even try to bring this up and make it a conversation. We have all grown as a nation, northerners today should not be held accountable for the transgressions of their ancestors, just as southerners should not continue to be lumped into the category of “racists” just because they sympathize with the struggles that the southern states faced (outside of the issue of slavery). That said, there’s also no need to act as though it never happened. Southern states and southern people have their own peace to make with pain and wrongdoing to our own citizens. We don’t need northern help in doing that, nor does the north need sympathy that would water down their actions. That’s already been done more than sufficiently.
The past should be left in the past and individual states/regions should be left to reflect and remember as they see fit. Pretending we now can somehow act as though all sacrifices were equal and it was just a bad family fight is insensitive and damaging.
As Hellen Keller once remarked, ” Every king is a descendant of slaves, every slave a descendant of kings.” The beauty of America is that it is both the dream and the nightmare. We can all dwell on the past and over-identify with something we were not part of. It is form of mental escape from reality. For example, many American set around and play fantasy football for real money. But that will never make them real owners, coaches or players. Remember your ancestors, but it is foolish to constantly relive their lives and fight a battle impossible for you to have recollection of, from a moment in history over century before you were born. It would be more believable to say that you personally met Gen. Robert E. Lee.
America has more cities, counties, parks, schools, streets, etc. memoralizing wars, battles and military heroes than the rest of the world combine. We are “Number One” in the world to memorial building, literally. The US has more American Legion and VFW Halls than Asia and Europe has libraries and hospitals combined. We will not run out of memorial building anytime soon. The idea is to put anicent history into proper perspective, not make it current events.
Thanks for the heads up, Riley. I’ll check ot out and consider the “whole” picture.
Danny,
Nobody is trying to relive the war. Except for those that are making a mountain out of a mole hill. It’s in the proper context, a short proclamation and that’s it.
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