Today marks the surrender of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston’s army to the forces of General William T. Sherman in North Carolina — ending for all intents and purposes the War Between the States east of the Mississippi. Though some Confederates would hold out, most notably General Kirby Smith (yes, the very same who our tallest and least aesthetically pleasing dorm is named after), all was over but the shouting.
The shouting, however, has lasted for the past 140 years and shows little sign of abating soon.
Whether it is the continuing dispute over the flying of the Confederate flag in public places in the South (a controversy that has cropped up in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina, at least in recent memory), the debate on why the war was fought, or, at our University, whether the Purple and Gold Battle Flag is a symbol of school pride or racism, the war continues to linger in both the background and foreground of our lives.
What is it about the Civil War that makes it so special in the hearts and minds of Americans, especially those of the Southern states? Is it due to the intercine nature of the conflict, which literally pitted brother against brother, friend against friend?
Perhaps it is the fact that the war marked the end of the old, agrarian vision for the United States — with victory going to the largely industrialized North over the caste-bound, mostly rural South. Maybe it has do do with the fact that the war marked the last time there was a concerted effort made by citizens to actively fight what they saw as the usurptions of an out-of-control federal government.
Whatever the reason, no one can deny the impact of the war on the present day.
I have written before on the War Between the States, yet for those who were not here for the last column, I should restate where I am coming from.
From what I know of my family roots, I have Confederate ancestors, though my family has lived around Philadelphia for 100 years. Having spent some years in the South after a northern birth, I think I have a relatively unique perspective as to the after effects of the Civil War on both the mid-Atlantic and the deep South.
For me, the war remains the defining aspect of American culture. It encompasses race, culture, economics, religion and politics. Without the war, whether the peace had been kept and the split avoided, or if the South had been allowed to secede peacefully, I believe the country, or both countries if the latter were true, would be more cohesive and freer of conflict than they would from suffering through the fires of civil strife. Of course, this is all mere conjecture, and useless to consider beyond the questions of academics.
Now, 140 years later, why are we still fighting the war? Why do white Southerners cling to the actions of their ancestors when white Northerners have, by and large, left the blue uniforms to the civic preservation societies. Should the descendants of Confederate veterans shed their identity and leave the War Between the States behind with the War of 1812 and the Mexican War?
No.
Every people and every group are entitled to their heritage — if not publicly then at least privately. Despite the failure of the Confederate States in arms, those who are descended from those who fought bravely for something, even if it was not the most noble cause under the sun, have every right to celebrate their past.
What both sides of the equation ought to do is to finally put an end to the war, which threatens the ability of our country to ever put the past behind us.
Of course, it may prove to be that the South is still the same place that William Faulkner described when he said that “In the South the past isn’t gone, it’s not even past.”
Only time will tell.
